Spirituality Rituals & Sustainability

Pioneering the inclusion of Spirituality & Sustainability

Our Vision

To create a world where spiritual practices, ceremonies, and rituals are recognized and utilized as powerful tools for personal and planetary healing. We envision a future where the strengths of Indigenous and non-Indigenous approaches to holistic health, well-being, transformation, raising of consciousness, learning, and relationality are combined to achieve sustainable and regenerative futures.

Our Mission

The mission of the SpiRitS Lab is to:

  1. Investigate: Conduct transdisciplinary research on the role of rituals and ceremonies in fostering sustainability.
  2. Collaborate: Partner with Indigenous communities, cultural institutions, academic entities, and spiritual practitioners to co-produce knowledge and innovative solutions.
  3. Educate: Disseminate our findings through academic publications, public engagements, and educational initiatives to raise awareness and promote understanding.
  4. Transform: Develop and implement practical applications of our research to address existential and ecological challenges.

What We Do

At the SpiRitS Lab, we engage in a variety of research and collaborative activities, including:

  • Research Projects: We explore diverse topics such as spirituality and addiction through sweat lodges, creativity through ECOtarot, ecological grief through art and doula practices, and transformation and sustainability through entheogenic uses of ayahuasca and cannabis.
  • Collaborations: We work with a wide range of partners, including Indigenous communities in the Amazon, globally situated cultural institutions, shamanic practitioners, and academic institutions like the Psychopharmacology Department at Maastricht University.
  • Workshops and Retreats: We host proposal development workshops and retreats to foster collaboration and innovation among researchers and practitioners.
  • Public Engagement: We develop web and media presence to disseminate our findings and engage with the public through podcasts, videos, and publications.
  • Community Involvement: We provide stipends for collaborators, including Indigenous practitioners and ritual and ceremony leaders, to ensure their voices and expertise are integral to our research and proposals.

Our Collective Lab

The Spirituality, Ritual, and Sustainability Science (SpiRitS) Lab is a pioneering research initiative dedicated to exploring the transformative role of rituals and ceremonies as spiritual technologies that bridge the inner and outer dimensions of sustainability. Our lab investigates how rituals and ceremonies, whether traditional, modernized, or intercultural, foster interconnection, reciprocity, and a deep sense of relationality with life. By focusing on the intersection of spirituality, ritual, ceremony, relationality, and ecological well-being, we aim to illuminate pathways for inner-outer transformations that foster resilience, harmony, and sustainable ways of living.