Experiences With Sacred Mushrooms and Psilocybin In Dialogue: Transdisciplinary Interpretations Of The “Velada”

The Mazatec velada, a ritual of divination and healing involving sacred mushrooms, is examined through both its cultural context and findings from experimental neuroscience. Psilocybin's effects on neurobiology—emotions, decision-making, and sensory imagery—help explain the subjective experiences of participants. However, experimental research often overlooks an individual's personal and collective history, which the velada incorporates. The authors argue that the ritual can inform experimental designs by integrating a person's history and beliefs. The resurgence of psychedelic medicine calls for a transdisciplinary dialogue merging anthropological perspectives with the set and setting of the entheogenic experience.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Abstract We present the set and setting of the velada , the Mazatec ritual of divination and healing. We highlight the subjective experiences of individuals who consumed sacred mushrooms and interpret them from their cultural and community contexts, but also from findings derived from experimental and neuroscientific research. We understand that the experiences connected to sacred mushrooms can be explained by the effects of psilocybin on the neurobiology of emotions, decision making, and visual, auditory, and bodily imagery. But we also understand that experimentation does not consider the individual and collective history of the person, and that the velada can provide guidance for integrating a person’s history and beliefs into experimental designs. The resurgence of psychedelic medicine prompts us into a transdisciplinary dialogue that encompasses both the anthropological perspective and the set and setting of the entheogenic experience during the sacred mushroom ritual.