What Traditional Entheogenic Healing Practices Can Teach the Psychedelic Renaissance about Optimal Set and Setting

Since early clinical research on psychedelics the principal determinant factors of variation in the experiences induced were recognized as involving set and setting. These have been considered arbitrary personal and situational factors, respectively. This presentation proposes a scientific, ethnological, and evolutionary perspectives that suggest ideal set and setting should adapt to biogenetic features reflecting evolutionary adaptations. Descriptions from the Handbook of Entheogenic Healing (Winkelman, Brill, 2025) of extant entheogenic healing practices of the Americas (Wixárika/Huichol, Mazatec, Nahuas, Mixtec, Otomi, Kamëntsá, Shipibo-Konibo, Peruvian vegetalismo, San Pedro, Peyote Church) are briefly presented and analyzed to identify common approaches to set and setting.