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Paper short abstract

This paper examines spiritual practices with psychedelic substances in what we term 'ritualised emerging contexts', characterised by their informality. Drawing on ethnographic observations, we analyse variations within these ritual contexts, while considering methodological and ethical challenges.

Paper long abstract

In recent years, there has been a notable increase in research on psychedelic substances in different geographical contexts and scientific domains. This trend is particularly evident in the health sciences, where promising clinical trials have revealed the potential of different substances to address a range of mental health symptoms, fostering a debate about their possible medicalisation. However, in non-clinical fields, such as sociology and anthropology, research remains limited, often overlooking the role of other variables present in real social contexts, which could explain possible therapeutic and transformative benefits. Based on the SPIRECTS research project (funded by FCT, 2023.13311.PEX), which is dedicated to studying spiritual practices and psychedelic substances in light of their therapeutic and socio-cultural implications, we intend to contribute to this debate by examining naturalistic contexts, and specifically what we term ‘ritualised emerging contexts’. These are characterised by their informality and spontaneous nature, existing outside institutional frameworks. What variations do we observe in these informal and self-organised contexts, and how do collective or group dimensions shape expectations and eventual effects, as reported by participants? Methodologically, we have adopted a qualitative, ethnographically inspired research strategy, that involves observing various contexts and conducting in-depth interviews. Studying these informal and underground contexts offers significant epistemological advantages and also presents inherent research challenges. In this paper, we intend to address these challenges by discussing their methodological and ethical implications for understanding psychedelic research.