Post: When a Modern Psychedelic Meets an Ancient Ritual of Grief

One rainy Sunday in December I hosted thirteen diverse strangers with two things in common: Judaism and grief . The former inspired me to look to an ancient religious tradition and the latter drove me to pursue a novel pharmacological treatment. Each participant ingested 120 milligrams of MDMA and, together, we sat shiva and mourned.

This was not a traditional shiva in many ways. We were not mourning a singular person but rather a state of a people. Each participant came with their own sense of loss: loss of a sense of safety, loss of friendships, loss of a worldview. Together, we learned that one participant was mourning the loss of her cousin’s freedom and safety since he had been taken hostage by Hamas on October 7th.

I was inspired to host this event because of the work of Charley Wininger, a psychotherapist and author of Listening to Ecstasy . According to his account, with the assistance of MDMA and group support, his wife and former nurse, Shelley Wininger, was able to process the grief of her son’s death during a gathering that took place nine days after his death. Witnessing her catharsis deeply moved me. Charley’s careful protocol for the administration and facilitation of group experiences on MDMA emboldened me. The Science of MDMA and Trauma

MDMA therapy is likely going to be approved by the FDA within the next year or two as a treatment for post- traumatic stress disorder ( PTSD ). This follows more than forty years […]

When a Modern Psychedelic Meets an Ancient Ritual of Grief