Tune in, Turn on: Religious Music and Spiritual Power in the History of Psychedelic Therapy.
Soc Hist Med December 8, 2022 DOI: 10.1093/shm/hkac057 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Mysticism Psychedelic-assisted therapy |
| Keywords | Psychedelic treatment Hallucinogenic therapy Entheogenic therapy Mind-altering therapy Music therapy Therapeutic music Sound healing Musical intervention Auditory healing Spiritual experiences Religious experiences Transcendent experiences Inner journey Transformative journeys Personal transformation Profound insights Emotional healing Self-discovery |
| Citations | 5 |
| Key points | Argues that contemporary psychedelic therapy recapitulates historical practices of using religious sounds and music, which may hinder broader applicability. |
Abstract
Psychedelic-assisted therapy has attracted considerable clinical attention in the past decade for its ability to bring therapeutic benefits to patients in treatment-resistant categories. In contradistinction from other psychopharmaco-therapies, contemporary psychedelic therapists, like their predecessors, paid close attention to the 'set and setting', and argued that the mind-set of the subject and the conditions or environment of the session was as influential as the pharmacological reaction itself. In this paper, we examine how religious sounds and music were both incorporated into and strategically avoided in the early psychedelic therapeutic sessions in an effort to achieve spiritual epiphanies at peak experiences. Prominent contemporary practices, we conclude, recapitulate many of the practices of the past, relying, we argue, on aesthetic premises that could hinder the therapy's broader applicability.