Interpreting psychedelic experiences
Psychedelic experiences are framed by various contextual factors:
Set. Expectations, intentions and other psychological factors
Setting. Environmental and physical factors
Integration. Values, knowledge and other semantic factors
Various models of set, setting and integration are emerging that provide different types of values to interpret and give meaning to these experiences.
Ceremonial model
The coining of ‘set and setting’ is commonly credited to Timothy Leary in the 1960s but it’s predated by ceremonial and indigenous uses of plant medicines that emphasise the guiding role of ritual, music and song.
In The Art of Losing Control, Jules Evans reminds us that these uses are not foreign to Western culture; for example, ergot based Kykeon was drunk at the Eleusinian Mysteries in ancient Greece. However, modernity has tended to denigrate these uses, associating them with ‘primitive cultures’ and fearing that they could undermine the self-control on which Western morality is based.
He also notes how the shaman served two roles- priest and performer- but at some point in ancient Greece they became separated. The Eleusinian Mysteries were experienced as a cult while the Dionysian festivals became cultural celebrations of new comedies and tragedies.
His concern is that ‘we’re a civilisation that has lost its central cult ... all we have is a culture of transgression, sensation and shock without any cult to riff off’ so that our art ‘becomes all about experiences, descending into a sort of consumerist thrill seeking’.
Medical model
In the early 1950s, LSD was used as a ‘psychotomimetic’ (‘mimics psychoses’) to help patients suffering from schizophrenia. This medical model may be limited if psychosis- and other altered states of consciousness- are interpreted only as symptoms of neurological disease. It might also limit the acceptability of psychedelics if they should be used only for ‘healthy’ reasons.
Therapeutic model
In the 1960s, LSD was used as ‘psycholytic’ (‘mind loosening’) in talking therapy. Training for psychedelic therapy is now being standardised and licensed, transforming therapists into new guides. Neuroscientist Robin Carhart Harris advocates that non-naturalistic beliefs should not be challenged during the psychedelic experience itself but afterwards during integration- just like beliefs are discussed and tested in therapy sessions: ‘combining psychedelic therapy with a secular wisdom teaching, such as depth psychology, may have considerable value in this regard, helping to ground psychedelic science and medicine, while inoculating against evangelism’.
Political model
Later in the 1960s, LSD was used as a ‘psychedelic’ (‘mind manifesting’) during what David Ruben refers to in Psychedelic: optical and visionary art since the 1960s as a ‘Dionysian epoch’ that ‘represents a threshold of transformation that has not been met or matched’.
Some people advocate that the current psychedelic renaissance should re-assert a countercultural challenge to the status quo. This political model may be naive. Psychedelics are often associated with the progressive politics of the 1960s but there are historical and contemporary counterexamples. Some people continue to hold pre-existing, non-progressive views or even develop an affinity for non-progressive views as a result of psychedelics. Psychedelics enhance suggestibility that fosters social connectedness and reinforces group norms but based on how the specific set, setting and integration defines the in-group. After all, ayahuasca has been used in some cultures to prepare for war and improve killing abilities.
Recreational model
Psychedelics are mostly consumed recreationally for pleasure. Since psychedelics can enhance creativity, Michael Polan asks in How to change your mind: ‘why not ‘recreate’ ourselves?’. However, he warns against the dangers of unguided, DIY approaches to psychedelic use. What’s needed is a ‘cultural vessel of some kind: protocols, rules and rituals that together form a kind of Appolonian counterweight to contain and channel their sheer Dionysian force’.
Designing new rituals
Artists could draw on a range of cultural and scientific insights to design new rituals that create safe spaces for people to loosen their egos- a new type of cult to make their artworks more than sensational thrill seeking. Artists could also collaborate with therapists to understand their duties of care to guide their audiences to participate safely in their artworks.
New sound rituals
For example, the effects of music listening during psychedelic therapy had not been empirically researched until recent studies showed that the interaction between music and the psychedelics is critical for therapeutic effectiveness. According to Wavepaths, three key factors include:
Liking. How much the patient likes the music
Resonance. How harmonious the music is with the patient’s emotional state
Openness. How open, and accepting, the patient is to the experience and imagery evoked by the music
How much the music is liked seems to be a prerequisite for experiencing resonance and openness. Personalised playlists are being curated to facilitate ‘liking’. Generative design can maximise ‘resonance’ so that playlists can adapt to the listener’s experience.
New audiovisual rituals
Designers collaborated with neuroscientists to create the Dream Machine- a collective experience that induces kaleidoscopic visualisations in viewers.
The musician, Jon Hopkins, composed the accompanying music, having produced the deep listening album, Music for Psychedelic Therapy.