#  Novel Psychedelic Spiritual Communities 

 



*Novel Psychedelic Spiritual Communities* is a multisite ethnography of new religious movements that use psychedelics. This project examines how novel psychedelic churches form, navigate legal frameworks, and address safety and ethics. More broadly, it explores how psychedelics are reshaping religion and religious freedom in North America. Historically operating underground, these communities constitute an emerging area of inquiry for the study of psychedelics and the study of religion.

The central questions driving this research include: What are the ritual practices of novel psychedelic churches? What beliefs and theologies undergird these spiritualities, and how are these beliefs shaped by psychedelic experience? How are these churches building communities, and how do those communities inform members’ everyday lives? What safety and community care practices are in use? In what ways do these emerging traditions connect to, or diverge from, historical religious movements and alternative spiritualities?

*Project point person:* [*Jeffrey Breau*](/people/jeffrey-breau "Jeffrey Breau")