Rites and ceremonies

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. 

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...