Psychedelics and the Future of Religion

Edited by Aaron Michael Ullrey The following Research Reflection is part of an ongoing series spotlighting the academic study of religions. It is challenging for me to imagine a time before the concept of “the psychedelic” existed, despite its emergence...

Ayahuasca originated in the Amazon and has long been considered sacred by many Indigenous and mestizo communities across South America. Fueled by the “psychedelic renaissance” and growing interest in its visionary and healing potential, groups serving the...

Public conversations about both psychedelics and gender transition have often been constrained by two parallel limits: a focus on clinical applications and the presumption that those who take psychedelics or change gender do so primarily as “patients.”...

According to the 2024 Global Psychedelic Survey, while personal growth and well-being are common reasons for illicit drug use, recreation—music events, festivals, parties, raves—remains a leading but poorly defined motive. This panel featured Michelle...

Anthropologist Manvir Singh, PhD, joined Professor Charles Stang for a conversation about Singh’s new book, Shamanism: The Timeless Religion (Knopf, 2025), which draws on immersive research with shamans in Indonesia and the Colombian Amazon. Singh...

Edited by Aaron Michael Ullrey. The following Research Reflection is part of an ongoing series spotlighting the academic study of religions. In my research on novel psychedelic spiritual communities (NPSCs) in North America, my interlocutors regularly...

Psychedelics are pushing into the mainstream—whether through FDA decisions, court cases on religious freedom, visual and material culture, or commodified retreat centers and mushroom-infused chocolate bars—prompting a deeper understanding of the role of...

In this conference breakout, the following panelists participated: Rachel Harris, Author, Swimming in the Sacred and Listening to Ayahuasca ,“Swimming in the Sacred”. Michelle Lhooq, Journalist & Author, WEED: Everything You Want to Know But Are Always...

On April 1, 2023, The Harvard Psychedelics Project at Harvard Divinity School, a student organization, held the "Explorations in Interdisciplinary Psychedelic Research" conference gathering together faculty, researchers, and students from across Harvard...