Spiritual Promiscuity, Psychedelic Interdependence, and The First World Congress of Sorcery

Summary

Annie Dillard's Pulitzer Prize-winning book, A Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, reflects her journey through Virginia and her unique blend of spiritual beliefs from various traditions, which she termed 'spiritual promiscuity.' This approach emerged during the 1970s counterculture, where individuals sought to create personal spiritual systems in reaction to traditional religions. The psychedelic movement contributed to a sense of unity between humans and nature, fostering curiosity about diverse spiritualities and leading to cultural explorations beyond established doctrines.

Study at a glance

Abstract

In 1975, American writer Annie Dillard won the Pulitzer Prize for her book A Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, in which she describes her year-long journey through Virginia, reflecting on transcendence in nature.1 The book reflects what, decades later, Dillard called her “spiritual promiscuity,” a personal belief system blending Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, and Sufism.2 Deliberately mixing spiritual traditions to construct an otherworldly, private landscape, this stance is built upon a shared transgressive and exploratory theological ethos of the counterculture era during the 1970s. Reacting against the doctrines of monolithic religious systems such as Christianity, spiritually promiscuous individuals asserted their autonomy in building innovative and personal spiritual systems to reinterpret their immediate realities and beyond. The psychedelic movement and psychedelic experiences prevalent during this time allowed a growing sense of interdependence between human beings and non-human entities. These perceptions of continuity and unity spurred a heightened curiosity around non-hegemonic spiritualities, leading to the establishment of interdenominational explorations as a cultural zeitgeist of this period.