Psychedelic Awakenings
August 8, 2025 DOI: 10.4324/9781003601616-10 (opens in new tab) via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractChapter 7 examines the history of psychedelics and religious life in the Americas, focusing on two "Great American Psychedelic Awakenings" and their contemporary spiritual impact. The authors argue that psychedelics such as LSD, psilocybin, MDMA, DMT, ayahuasca, and mescaline are becoming prominent sacred drugs, altering America's collective consciousness and reconfiguring its religious landscape. The chapter traces how these substances have entered popular awareness and influenced modern American religious life, suggesting that their role is expanding and likely to continue shaping spirituality in the future.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Historical analysis |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Psychology |
| Key finding | Argues that psychedelics are reshaping America's religious landscape through two historical awakenings and their ongoing spiritual effects. |
Abstract
Chapter 7 examines the rich and surprising history of psychedelics and religious life in the Americas, and in modern American life. The sacred drugs du jour now and likely into the future are psychedelics. LSD, psilocybin, MDMA, DMT, ayahuasca, and mescaline are several of the organic and synthetic psychoactive, serotonergic agents that have entered popular consciousness and are in the process of altering America’s collective consciousness. In other words, America is tripping out on psychedelics, and these drugs are altering if not helping to more radically reconfigure America’s religious landscape. The chapter unpacks the two Great American Psychedelic Awakenings and their spiritual reverberations in the present.