Sacred and Profane
How Psychedelics Help Men Engage with Spirituality
This article is from my Men + Mushrooms research project accompanying my MSc Psychedelics: Mind, Medicine and Culture degree course at The University of Exeter, UK.
‘How Psychedelics Help Men Engage with Spiriutality’ debuted on US university Boston College’s London campus at its Psychology and the Other 2024 conference. Besides exploring how ritual psychedelic use might appeal to men this presentation addressed why men are exploring mystical psychedelic approaches, what may possibly go wrong (or already is) plus future ways more chaps can benefit.
I’d be delighted to discuss more themes from Men + Mushrooms at upcoming events. Get in touch here and find out more about me here.
Men in crisis – on acid
Today’s psychedelic revival happens while men face challenges:
Precarious masculinity
Men’s issues, ranging from chronic unemployment to personal violence, cost the USA alone $500billion annually (Seidler et al., 2017).
Three times more men’s lives end in “deaths of despair” (Pattee & Farber, 2008). Male suicide is a global concern (Naghavi, 2016).
Attainting Western standards denoting successful masculinity is less likely now: plus, once achieved, any status is more “precarious” to maintain, affecting male health (Vandello et al., 2023).
No more heroes?
Trends like infantilisation suggest a need for male role models (Reeves, 2022). But who? Norms ever evolve – masculinity too (Bridges & Pascoe 2014; Connor et al, 2021).
Besides socially desirable feminised approaches, fresh male archetypes are emerging (Reeves, 2022; Walsh, 2010) alongside the psychedelic revival (Springer, 2023). Some adopt spiritual and mystic approaches to issues presented by the ‘male crisis’, helping redefine notions of success and meaning.
Strength through god(s)
Psychedelic experiences cater for men’s spiritual and wellbeing needs:
Mystical experiences assist psychedelic therapy
Psychedelic treatments, considered promising by healthcare, share characteristics with therapeutic approaches recommended for men (Seidler et al., 2023).
Spiritual characteristics of the psychedelic experience played a major role in mental health breakthroughs among patients with treatment resistant depression (TRD) in medical trials (Griffiths, 2006; McDaniel, 2017; Palitsky et al., 2023).
Men’s wellbeing, psychedelic effects + spiritual benefits align
Psychedelics aside, men seek to address spiritual needs in general (Men's Health, 2020; The Guardian, 2022; NHS, 2022; THEOS, 2022).
But more men leave clinical mindfulness programs before completion (Landau & Jones 2021), plus men benefit less from them overall (Ford et al, 2020).
However, schoolboys engaged more successfully with adapted mindfulness programs (Kang, 2018) suggesting tailored masculine approaches have some potential to improve services.
Men search for meaning, connection, self-esteem...
‘Meaning-making’, a sense of direction or purpose, is believed key to men’s mental health (Brown et al., 2023). It’s among masculine needs shown to benefit from the psychedelic experience, which also include improvements in senses of connection, self-compassion, embodiment and enchantment (Ko et al., 2022; Rabinowitz, 2017; Seidler et al., 2023).
Defined as a sense of purpose, ‘Meaning-making’ can also be stimulated by spiritual and religious practices (Park, 2013), arguably especially so in conjunction with psychedelics.
Many men choose psychedelics over talk therapy
Psychedelic ceremonies with spiritual themes (like ayahuasca rituals) attract and retain higher proportions of men than therapy services (Palmer & Maynard, 2022). Archaeological evidence of psychedelic use in South America dates to 3500BC.
Clinical frameworks for integrating spiritual and religious beliefs emerging from, or prior to, psychedelic therapies are already in use (Kamboj et al, 2015; Sjöstedt-Hughes, 2023).
How do men benefit by exploring spirituality with psychedelics?
Knights of the Jaguar
Psychedelic experiences illuminate mystical paths to modern manhood:
Bottom-up metaphysics
Sanitised ‘new age’ spiritualities fail men just like simplistic therapy narratives do (Spiers, 2022).
Organically-acquired faith in, for example, Amerindian cosmology adapted during ayahuasca use, personal Christian adaptations, or the neo-pagan revival, can claim theological authenticity (Whitehead & Letcher, 2023), especially so in comparison to consumer-driven new age platitudes.
Rediscovering visionary tradition
‘Shamanism’ is a problematic Western construct, but psychedelic heritage almost always refers to visionary tradition (Williams et al., 2022).
A localised example is the visionary poet and artist William Blake (Jerusalem, The Tyger) used by clinical psychologist Carol Leader (2015) to guide clients in a manner similar to Jung’s ‘active imagination’ combining clinical standards with intuitive methods.
Mysticism is an evolutionary marker…
Extensive popularity of the Dune movies for example shows wider interest in complex, subjective, spiritual philosophies (Crickmore, 2023).
Evolutionary psychologists suggest ritual participation increases placebo effects and mating chances, plus cultivates senses of belonging and community connection (Boyer, 2001; Kettner et al., 2019; Nesse & Williams 1994; via Orsolini et al., 2017).
The Eagle + The Condor
Amazonian animist tradition insists on localised relational cosmologies, supporting heterodox, personal, and authentically Western interpretations of psychedelic animism – encouraging diversity (Bournemann et al 2021; Engel et al 2022; Thal et al., 2022; Turkia 2022; Stengers & Bononno, 2010).
Exisiting animist tendencies include Westerners naming and relating to EG their favoured automobiles (Doroud et al., 2018; Harvey, 2019).
The Mystic Masculine
Psychedelic spirituality encourages positive identity development:
Into the male-strom
Psychedelics aid confusion around identity and social roles during ‘liminal times’ (Bhatt & Wiseman, 2024; Roseman et al., 20021).
Under psychedelics men can examine male stereotypes, developing new strategies on individual terms (Petersen et al., 2022). Interpretations of nature religions like modern druidry provide inspiration (Feraro, 2022, 2023a & 2023b).
Not tonight lads?
A decolonised psychedelic framework permits the exploration of concepts, identities, strategies and cognition outside of rigid, Western, post-Enlightenment dualism (Hauskeller et al., 2023).
However, currently, ritual psychedelic approaches are only available through traditional or ‘underground’ practicioners (Hauskeller et al., 2023; Whitehead & Letcher, 2023).
Growth, values and relationships
‘Decolonisation of the self’ is a lifelong process of growth, towards a personal vision, aligning values and relationships (Matahela & van Rensburg 2023; Shields, 2008).
Decolonisation initiatives amongst South African hospital workers led to wider appreciation and wiser choices (Jooste & Frantz 2017) – AKA ‘sense making’ an external form of ‘meaning-making’ also sought after amongst Western men.
International man of…
Indigenous values seen as desirable to some men also include primacy of ‘knowledge how’ or first hand experience (Dev, 2018), supported by cognitive science (Wallis 2008; Devitt 2011; Roth & Cummins 2011).
Psychedelic tradition also promotes masculine values correlating with widespread prosocial norms: for example ‘Heart’ in a neo-shamanistic context equates to authenticity and sincerity (Hill, 2015).
What can go wrong when men explore their spirituality with psychedelics?
Major bummers
Challenging psychedelic experiences men experience – and create:
Tripping with a condom on
The same authority that criminalised psychedelic use, because it caused insanity and social withdrawal, now intends psychedelics as cures to a mental ill health crisis (Hauskeller, 2023).
Traditionally, pharmacology demonises alternative approaches to clinically approved drug treatment (Langlitz et al., 2023), which could include those appropriate for men and/or spiritual exploration, which remain hard to access.
Fake shamans + abusive therapy
The perceived ‘super-natural’ aspects of clinical psychedelic experience require better management (Carharrt-Harris & Friston, 2019; Yaden, 2020).
Current fallout caused by experimentation might include ‘fake’ Western ‘shamans’ (Churchill, 2010; Singh, 2018), plus abuse uncovered at underground ceremonies, and during major Western clinical trials (Peluso et al., 2020).
Tests of faith
Psychedelic spirituality may not provide all the answers for men:
Chasing unicorns
‘Peak’ psychedelic experiences with mystical character are linked to the most beneficial treatment results (Griffiths, 2006). But occasions are rarer than understood: we must avoid the emerging tendency to chase, demand, or mandate ‘mystical experience’ (Ko et al., 2022).
A further example of platitudinous jargon, but from beyond established research, could be popular male interpretations of a ‘divine feminine’ energy offering opportunities to ‘spiritually bypass’ personal and social behaviour changes (Crane, 2022; Erlam, 2019; Yakushko, 2021).
Back to the office
Goodwill towards psychedelic cultures will inevitably fade (Harvey & Wilkinson, 2007; Yaden et al., 2022) and tensions fester as social norms violated (Petersen et al., 2022).
The “negative externalities of luxury communism,” may currently appear inescapable (Davis, 2010; Fisher, 2011 & 2022). Within, personal mystical development is not a consideration to a financial system that so keenly seeks opportunity (Ouma & Premchander, 2022).
What’s the future of men’s psychedelic spirituality?
Hold space for the lads
How psychedelics can benefit more men:
Broader psychedelic church
Inexperienced WEIRD (‘western, educated, industrialised, rich and democratic’) clinicians present challenges to widespread engagement (Nielson & Guss, 2018; Phelps, 2017 & 2019).
Black disengagement, for example, may or may not be due to cultural unfamiliarity (Smith et al., 2021) or racial disconnect (George et al., 2020). UK thought leaders claim positive results with diverse male youth groups using bottom-up approaches (Springer, 2023).
Men with conventional social networks may encounter challenges accessing unoffical fringe, or non-local, psychedelic services (Smith, 2024). How should psychedelic ceremony be tailored for conventional Western tastes, if at all? Further study is required.
Feeling the forca
Major Western research labs are reluctant to explore ‘woo-woo’ spirituality (Carharrt-Harris & Friston, 2019; Cheung & Yaden, 2024).
So how will it replicate the forca found in traditional group ritual (Sadowska, 2020 & 2022), and consequently the mystical elements the same labs consider key to benefits?
Diverse psychedelic approaches are required to fulfil any clinical potential (Thal et al., 2023).
From:
Psychology and the Other
Boston College, Northeastern University, London 2024
‘How Psychedelic Treatments Can Help Men Engage with Spirituality’
More:
I’m Steve Langsford Beale, recently MSc. Psychol. (GMBPsS). I’m a journalist and magazine editor who’s worked in what are considered ‘male spaces’, like magazines Arena, Homme Plus and FHM, for menswear brands Stone Island and Ben Sherman, plus in the sport of mixed martial arts (not competing).
Here’s my website and work email plus a sample piece on how to talk to your boss about mental health in Mr Porter Journal. By all means hit me up on LinkedIn. The especially intrigued can read this interview with me in Resident Advisor by Harriet Sheperd.
I blog about my psychedelic studies here at newpsychonaut.com and via @newpsychonaut. All emails go to the same place but get in touch about psychedelic stuff via steve@newpsychonaut.com.