Episode
Psychedelics and Religion with Hunt Priest, MDiv
- Published
- Feb 4, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2751
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Summary
In this episode, Hunt Priest joins to discuss the intersection of psychedelic experiences and religion. Hunt is the founder of Ligare: A Christian Psychedelic Society and was a participant in the Johns Hopkins/NYU Psilocybin Study for Religious Leaders in 2016. The epiphanies he had at Hopkins forever changed the trajectory of his work and led him to start Ligare in 2021. In this conversation, Hunt Priest reflects on how participating in the Johns Hopkins study reshaped his understanding of Christianity, embodiment, and spiritual experience. Drawing on his background as an Episcopal priest, he explores the deep resonance between psychedelic experiences and Christianity, arguing that non-ordinary states of consciousness have always been central to religious life, even if institutional churches have often marginalized them. The discussion ranges from spiritual emergence and theological disruption to healing, discernment, and the role clergy can play in preparation and integration. Hunt also shares his own profound embodied experience during the study where he encountered Vedic and Upanishadic concepts firsthand. He explains how it ultimately led him to found Ligare, a Christian psychedelic society aimed at bridging psychedelics, healing, and the Christian mystical tradition. In this episode, you'll hear: Hunt's ideas of how psychedelic experiences connect with Christian sacraments and liturgical practices How psychedelics connect with understandings of religious pluralism and the diversity of spiritual experiences Resources for working through ideas that psychedelic experiences could be sinful or demonic Hunt's thoughts on navigating theological disruption, spiritual emergence, and expanded images of God Why embodiment and bodily wisdom are central to spiritual insight a…