# Psychedelics and Spirituality Past Programming ## expand\_more Find Psychedelics and Spirituality event videos and news stories below. Event recordings are also available on the Center's [YouTube page](https://www.youtube.com/@HarvardCSWR). ## Psychedelics and Spirituality: Event News and Videos [### How Psychedelic Science Invented a History of Religion ](/news/2026/05/26/how-psychedelic-science-invented-history-religion) May 26, 2026 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... ![Lab desk with magnifying glass, scrolls, plant specimens, and tinctures](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-05/iStock-1185392487.jpg?itok=Kww27Y3j) [### Video: Global Ayahuasca: A Book Talk with Anthropologist Alex Gearin ](/news/2026/03/26/video-global-ayahuasca-book-talk-anthropologist-alex-gearin) March 26, 2026 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... ![Title card for Book Talk with Alex Gearin](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-05/YT%20Thumbnail.Psychedelics.Book%20Talk%20Alex%20Gearin%20Global%20Ayahuasca%20%281%29.png?itok=6DxLc8rX) [### Video: Transcendence, Transformation, and Trans-Psychedelia with Hil Malatino and Susan Stryker ](/news/2026/02/26/video-transcendence-transformation-and-trans-psychedelia-hil-malatino-and-susan) February 26, 2026 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.”... ![Title card for Transcendence, Transformation, and Trans-psychedelia](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-05/YT%20Thumbnail.Psychedelics.Trans-psychedelia%20Malatino%20and%20Stryker%202.26.26%20%281%29.png?itok=51gf9B2b) [### Resacralizing Contemporary Psychedelic Practice: Reflections on Tending the Spiritual in Psychedelic Care for Community Settings ](/news/2026/02/02/resacralizing-contemporary-psychedelic-practice-reflections-tending-spiritual) February 02, 2026 During the final days of the Fall 2025 semester, I huddled in the conference room at the Center for the Study of World Religions (CSWR) over blueberry muffins while snowflakes dusted the garden outside. I sat in a circle with thirty strangers—clinical... ![Participants listening to a lecture](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-02/Lila%20Workshop%20photo.jpg.resize_0.jpg?itok=8V0EL_mt) [### Center for the Study of World Religions Brings Psychedelic Chaplaincy to the Forefront ](/news/2026/02/02/center-study-world-religions-brings-psychedelic-chaplaincy-forefront) February 02, 2026 Photos by Jeffrey Blackwell A global resurgence of scientific, medical, and public interest in the therapeutic and transformational potential of psychedelic drugs, plants, and fungi is raising questions about the availability of spiritually responsive... ![Instructor gesturing towards an image on the screen while participants look on](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-02/251205PsychedelicsWork10.jpg.resize.jpg?itok=65xnv8bW) [### The Holy Inquisition and the Genesis of Seventeenth-Century Peyote Banning ](/news/2025/12/03/holy-inquisition-and-genesis-seventeenth-century-peyote-banning) December 03, 2025 Edited by Aaron Michael Ullrey The following Research Reflection is part of an ongoing series spotlighting the academic study of religions. In 2022, a previously unknown European-style manuscript came to light at an auction held in Bogotá, Colombia: “Don... ![Pencil etching of peyote](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-12/2.%20LOPHOPHORA%20WILLIAMSII%20PEYOTE%20OR%20HIKURI.jpg?itok=rXeJaPG1) [### Raving, Recreation, & Religion with Michelle Lhooq and Luis Manuel Garcia-Mispireta ](/news/2025/11/05/raving-recreation-religion-michelle-lhooq-and-luis-manuel-garcia-mispireta) November 05, 2025 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... ![Title card for Raving, Recreation, & Religion](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-05/YT%20Thumbnail.Psychedelics.Raving%20Recreation%20Religion.%20Lhooq%20Garcia-M%2011.5.25%20%281%29.png?itok=5f2dBjdK) [### What Makes Psychedelic Experiences Sacred? ](/news/2025/10/21/what-makes-psychedelic-experiences-sacred) October 21, 2025 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... ![Fading light in the sky, clouds, treeline and birds in the far distance.](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-10/iStock-1415545142.jpg?itok=zOKVHDMo) [### Video: Shamanism: The Timeless Religion – a Conversation Between Manvir Singh and Charles Stang ](/news/2025/10/15/video-shamanism-timeless-religion-conversation-between-manvir-singh-and-charles) October 15, 2025 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... ![Title card for Book Talk: Shamanism with Manvir Singh](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-05/YT%20Thumbnail.Psychedelics.Shamanism%20Book%20Talk%20Singh%20%281%29.png?itok=g8dyAkGg) [### Center for the Study of World Religions Releases Report on Psychedelic Facilitation Training ](/news/2025/07/23/center-study-world-religions-releases-report-psychedelic-facilitation-training) July 23, 2025 The Center for the Study of World Religions (CSWR) at Harvard Divinity School has released “Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Training in the US: A Landscape Analysis,” an assessment of the current state of psychedelic facilitation training programs across the... ![abstract galaxy ](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-10/iStock-2218894338.jpg?itok=VVFYTwzi) [### Charting Novel Psychedelic Spiritual Communities ](/news/2025/03/charting-novel-psychedelic-spiritual-communities-0) March 17, 2025 Novel psychedelic spiritual communities are often radically inclusive spiritual communities that do not require members to have the same beliefs. They set forth pluralistic, non-binding doctrines, whose common belief is the possibility that psychedelics... ![Large gathering againt bright light](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/peopleandlight_1.jpg?h=2136ce96&itok=bq1e5Bg7) [### Unveiling the Mystical: How Scholars Are Advancing Psychedelics Study ](/news/2025/03/unveiling-mystical-how-scholars-are-advancing-psychedelics-study) March 04, 2025 By Jeffrey Blackwell The term “psychedelics” can conjure surreal images of mind-altering journeys through a mystical realm that connects the body to the soul and the soul to divinity. Dreamlike visions can pave the way for healing and transcendence... ![Elías García Méndez speaking at the conference](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-02/250215Psychedelics2.jpg?itok=SC_TnlPe) [### Video: Symposium: A Decolonial Lens on Psychedelic Ethics ](/news/2025/01/video-symposium-decolonial-lens-psychedelic-ethics) January 30, 2025 To conclude the 'Psychedelics and Ethics' series, visiting scholar Christine Hauskeller facilitated a symposium that explored material covered during the psychedelic ethics and decoloniality workshop. This symposium focused on the harm caused by... ![abstract image of swirling colors](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/hds_cswr/files/istock.pfr_.hauskeller_0.png?itok=7DB1Htu5) [### Science Standards Fail Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy ](/news/2025/01/science-standards-fail-psychedelic-assisted-psychotherapy) January 14, 2025 The methodological requirements for large-scale clinical trials attempt to standardize and control every aspect of a new treatment in order to derive generalizable data. More research is needed to calibrate psychedelic-assisted psychotherapies treatments... ![Book cover, philosophy and psychedelics](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_scale_small/public/2025-01/Philosophy%20and%20Psychedelics%20hi-res%20%281%29.jpeg?itok=KnyFNhtZ) [### With Best Intention: Psychedelic Intention-Setting Rituals as Rites of Sacralization ](/news/2024/12/best-intention-psychedelic-intention-setting-rituals-rites-sacralization) December 08, 2024 This essay assesses the ritual function of psychedelic intention-setting ceremonies, using ethnographic data from Burning Man 2023. The piece argues that intention settings are rites of separation that symbolically sacralize the trip for participants. ![Headshot of Jeffrey Breau](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2024-12/breau_headshot_internet_1.jpg?h=2fbc4b41&itok=UT0lSw3n) [### Psychedelic Atmospherics ](/news/2024/11/psychedelic-atmospherics) November 26, 2024 The spaces where psychedelic experiences unfold are never neutral. Whether in dense forests, urban retreats, or clinical settings, these environments shape how psychedelic senses and emotions are experienced. Psychedelic atmospherics offers a lens for... ![Photo of Alex Gearin smiling in the jungle](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-01/20241227_103620.jpg?itok=mPg5NQbh) [### God’s Pharmacy: On the Use of Entheogens in Jewish Mystical Traditions ](/news/2024/11/gods-pharmacy-use-entheogens-jewish-mystical-traditions) November 09, 2024 Building on Derrida’s essay *Plato’s Pharmacy*, the current article examines sacred versus profane illuminations within the spiritual realm of Judaism. As exemplified by the marking nut (*balādhur*), the author surveys exoteric-curative and esoteric-altered... ![Anna Sierka looking into the camera](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2024-11/Sierka-Anna-e1626874067989.jpg?itok=boHAyu7Y) [### Manufacturing the Entheogenic Underground ](/news/2024/11/manufacturing-entheogenic-underground) November 01, 2024 Ethnographic research suggests that people across the United States are increasingly gathering to commune with their creators, to interact with their ancestors, to enter the spirit world, to gain supernatural insights, and to engage in what they otherwise... ![Brad Stoddard smiling into the camera](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2024-11/Screenshot%202024-11-07%20094613.png?itok=bKJSYB-v) [### Ritual and Religious Uses of Psilocybe Mushrooms in Mesoamerica ](/news/2024/10/ritual-and-religious-uses-psilocybe-mushrooms-mesoamerica) October 09, 2024 *Far from mere “drugs,”* psilocybe *mushroom rituals and Indigenous knowledge about them are an indispensable part of world cultural heritage.* ![Codex Vindobonensis Mexicanus 1. Plate 24.](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2024-10/CODEX%20VINDOBONENSIS%20PLATE%2024_crop.png?itok=jAkhHxoM) [### Video: Book Talk: Psychedelics: A Visual Odyssey, with Erika Dyck, PhD, University of Saskatchewan ](/news/2024/10/video-book-talk-psychedelics-visual-odyssey-erika-dyck-phd-university-saskatchewan) October 02, 2024 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... ![Artistic painting of flowers, people smoking a pipe, mushrooms](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2024-09/PFR%20Book%20Talk%20Erika%20Dyck%20%281%29_1.imageonly.jpg?itok=4PLDZTbh) - Previous page chevron\_left - [1](?page=0 "Current page") - [2](?page=1 "Go to page 2") - [3](?page=2 "Go to page 3") - [ Next page chevron\_right ](?page=1 "Go to next page")