![]() These patterns play out in many different dimensions, historically expressed in attitudes, ideas, and behaviors. I will highlight certain themes, that, although expressed in many different forms and domains, carry enough family resemblance to be seen as distinct patterns. But what are the more essential characteristics of psychedelics? In this study I intend to explore the ambiguity that results from asking a question of essentials to a such an opaque subject. In popular culture psychedelics are presented in the context of rich galleries of craziness and surrealism, of artistic descent into the liminal – often colourfully communicated in movies. For instance, within the American counter-culture the appetite for novel ideas, radical reform, and the deconstruction of established norms could very well be linked with the boundary dissolution that occur on psychedelic chemicals. Reflecting on the history of psychedelic culture, we can observe a particular set of associations that continue to influence both expert and non-expert interpretations of these phenomena. Since the controversial introduction of psychedelic use in the West during the countercultural days of the sixties’ hippie generation, psychedelic substances have been associated both with spiritual enlightenment and emotional healing, as well as being seen as psychologically destructive and destabilizing. Recent years have seen a resurgence of scientific and scholarly interest in psychedelic drugs, leading some to proclaim the advent of a “psychedelic renaissance”.
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