Beyond Zero and One (Andrew Smart) / quote 29 of 171
Hallucinogens as a shared ritual
Eventually, I fell asleep. When I woke up, I thought about the fact that I was now a person who had taken LSD. I was no longer a pharmacological virgin. Taking hallucinogens is a public ritual among some South American indigenous groups, and these societies provide much social and cultural support for integrating the experience into life, which is obviously very different from how Western societies view the taking of hallucinogenic drugs. Hallucinogens have been used for millennia in cultures all across the world. The informal bonds of friendship that form from sharing an LSD trip are crucial. Yet we lack any