- Course: Ayahuasca Healing, Science and Indigenous Knowledge - February 10, 2026
- Course: The Science of Psychedelic Healing 2026 - February 9, 2026
- What does art have to offer to psychedelic therapy? - February 4, 2026
“Psychedelics 101” will be taught in collaboration with Ligare Christian Psychedelic Society
Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines is excited to announce a new educational offering and partnership that will provide support to community religious leaders, rooted in ethics and Indigenous reciprocity. “Psychedelics 101” will bridge the spiritual, psychological, and scientific understanding of psychedelics and offer educational training specifically for religious leaders. Created in collaboration with Ligare: A Christian Psychedelic Society, the thirteen-week course will prepare religious leaders to provide consultation and guidance to foster informed, inclusive, and spiritually grounded discourse on psychedelics. The course is supported by the Emory Center for Psychedelics Spirituality and the Graduate Theological Union, and received a grant from Unlikely Collaborators, which helps people and communities uncover and shift limiting beliefs shaped by their life experiences so they can resolve inner conflict, connect more deeply with others, and act with greater clarity and compassion.
As psychedelics enter mainstream discourse, awareness and curiosity about them has grown. Professional religious education has yet to catch up with the growing need for preparation, integration, and guidance that community members are seeking. In religious communities, clergy and lay leaders can meet this critical need by gaining a foundational understanding of the risks, benefits, and cultural contexts of psychedelics. Psychedelics are intertwined with spiritual and ceremonial practices – an area of overlap with religious experiences that warrants further exploration and careful attention to remaining within one’s scope of expertise and experience. The course will pay particular attention to how these healing substances have been respected and nurtured by Indigenous communities in the Americas, with strategies for repairing the relationship between institutional religion and Indigenous and Black medicine communities.
“This course is essential in the current moment, as more and more people turn to faith leaders with questions about psychedelics.”
Henrique Antunes, PhD, Chacruna Research Director and Program Co-Director
“This course is essential in the current moment, as more and more people turn to faith leaders with questions about psychedelics,” says Chacruna Research Director and Program Co-Director Henrique Antunes, PhD. First responders in their own right, religious leaders play an essential role in attending to immediate and long-term spiritual and emotional needs arising from violence, trauma, and other crises. Psychedelic education is essential to ensure that leaders are prepared with evidence-based education and practical tools grounded in confidence, sensitivity, and wisdom.
“This pilot course shows once again how critical the work of Chacruna and its partners is,” says Chacruna Executive Director Dr. Bia Labate. “Through this collaboration with Ligare, we are working at the forefront of the psychedelic movement to ensure that psychedelic plant medicines are integrated into our social, legal, and healthcare systems in ways that are equitable and just.”
Topics covered will include psychedelics in religious traditions; legacy of religious colonization in Indigenous traditions; social taboos; prohibitionism and the War on Drugs; developments in psychedelic-assisted therapy; Indigenous use, traditions, reciprocity, and right relationship; spiritual, religious, and existential risks of psychedelics (including spiritual emergencies); hybrid and syncretic traditions; and ethics.
“By equipping clergy with knowledge and ethical frameworks, this project aims to empower faith leaders to navigate and thoughtfully respond to the contemporary intersection of psychedelics and religion within their communities with wisdom and care for the risks that are present in the broader culture.”
Hunt Priest, Ligare Founder
“Ligare is honored to partner with Chacruna in this collaborative educational initiative specifically designed to provide religious leaders with trusted, research-based resources on psychedelics and spiritual practice,” says Hunt Priest, Ligare founder and director of community relations, and program co-director. “By equipping clergy with knowledge and ethical frameworks, this project aims to empower faith leaders to navigate and thoughtfully respond to the contemporary intersection of psychedelics and religion within their communities with wisdom and care for the risks that are present in the broader culture. Together, Chacruna and Ligare seek to foster informed dialogue, spiritual growth, and responsible engagement with psychedelics among today’s and tomorrow’s religious leaders.”
A great deal of focus in the psychedelic movement has been placed on training mental health therapists. Chacruna and Ligare recognize that religious leaders play a critical role in supporting community members who seek spiritual expansion or healing through psychedelic-assisted therapies or through attending psychedelic retreats and ceremonies. This program is truly a “Psychedelics 101” and does not endorse or promote clergy to lead psychedelic experiences, nor certifies them as facilitators, shamans, or guides.
Pre-recorded lectures and engaging conversations between faculty and key experts will be sent to participants over the course of eight weeks, paired with weekly asynchronous discussion groups with presenting faculty. The cost of the course is $500, with scholarship support for underrepresented and BIPOC leaders. Check out the full course description and register here.
About the Chacruna Institute
The Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization co-founded by Brazilian anthropologist Dr. Bia Labate and American psychologist Dr. Clancy Cavnar, based in Northern California and with strong ties to Brazil and Mexico. We promote reciprocity in the psychedelic community, and support the protection of sacred plants and cultural traditions. We advance psychedelic justice through curating critical conversations and uplifting the voices of women, queer people, Indigenous peoples, people of color, and the Global South in the field of psychedelic science.
Media Contact
Lorien Chavez
Chacruna Institute
[email protected]
415-390-6157
Take a minute to browse our stock:
Did you enjoy reading this article?
Please support Chacruna's work by donating to us. We are an independent organization and we offer free education and advocacy for psychedelic plant medicines. We are a team of dedicated volunteers!
Can you help Chacruna advance cultural understanding around these substances?
Become a Chacruna Member
To make a direct donation click the button below:
