HANDBOOK OF ENTHEOGENIC HEALING. Edited by Michael J.Winkelman. Brill Handbooks on Contemporary Religion, 23. Brill, 2025. Pp. xxxii + 644. Hardback, €220.00.
Year: 2026
Type: book-review
Abstract: Winkelman is an anthropologist focusing on cross-cultural and interdisciplinary research on shamanism and psychedelics. The volume offers a comprehensive and methodologically rich exploration of entheogenic practices across a wide range of cultural and historical contexts. Bringing together contributions from anthropologists, psychologists, medical researchers, and Indigenous scholars and practitioners, the volume provides a multifaceted account of the role of psychoactive substances in healing, ritual, and spiritual life. Structured into five thematic parts—ranging from traditional Indigenous practices to modern clinical applications, the volume traces both the continuity and transformation of entheogenic healing systems. Particularly notable is the section on traditional practices of the Americas, which presents detailed ethnographic accounts of living ritual traditions involving substances such as peyote, psilocybin mushrooms, and ayahuasca. These chapters highlight the persistence and adaptability of Indigenous knowledge systems in the face of long-standing colonial and legal pressures. One of the volume's most significant contributions lies in its collaborative approach. By including Indigenous researchers and practitioners as contributors, the book moves beyond a purely external, Western analytical framework and incorporates insider perspectives on entheogenic practice. This emphasis on reciprocity and knowledge exchange lends the volume both ethical and methodological depth, foregrounding the voices of communities for whom these practices remain culturally and spiritually central. Thematically, the volume challenges reductionist approaches that isolate entheogens as pharmacological agents. Instead, it emphasizes the importance of ritual context, social relations, and belief systems, often conceptualized through the framework of “set and setting,” in shaping therapeutic outcomes. In doing so, the book contributes to ongoing debates within the contemporary “psychedelic renaissance,” particularly regarding the integration of traditional knowledge into modern therapeutic models. Overall, this volume is a well-balanced and substantial scholarly contribution. It will be of considerable value to researchers in religious studies, anthropology, and psychedelic studies, as well as to those interested in the intersections of healing, ritual, and cultural knowledge.
Source: Religious Studies Review
DOI: 10.1111/rsr.70311
Author: Andrej Kapcár
Institution: Masaryk University
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W7208826158
Cites:
Cited by:
Related to: