Explore the use of psychedelics across centuries and cultures - drawing on historical objects, new discoveries and modern science.About this Event
Psychadelics: Ancient Cults to Modern Clinics
Explore the use of psychedelics across cultures and centuries - drawing on historical objects, new discoveries, scientific methods, and archival evidence to examine how altered states have been recorded, understood, and ritualised.
Luca and Rayyan will explore cutting-edge research at Imperial College London and beyond, revealing how these substances are reshaping approaches to mental health, addiction, and the broader human experience.
By weaving together history and science, the talk invites the audience to consider that the answers to how we might use these drugs today may, in fact, lie in the past - offering a striking new perspective on an ancient practice.
Talk Commences at 6:45pm.
Dr Rayyan Zafar
Dr. Rayyan Zafar, PhD MRSB, is a Neuropsychopharmacologist and Wellcome postdoctoral fellow at Imperial College London’s Centre for Psychedelic Research. Working with Professor David Nutt, he studies brain mechanisms of addiction and psychedelic therapy. Zafar is leading the world’s first clinical and brain imaging study on psilocybin therapy for gambling addiction.
He is also a senior researcher at Drug Science, a lead research partner at ITER Investments, and an advisor for companies in the psychedelic, cannabis, and wellness industries.
Through media appearances and talks, Zafar shares his insights on drugs, mental health, and psychedelics, aiming to foster understanding. He was recently named one of the top 25 emerging leaders in psychedelic science.
Luca Mitchell
Luca is a Historian and researcher whose work explores ritual, belief, and altered states of consciousness, with a focus on the ancient and early modern Mediterranean. His current research examines how ritual practices, material culture, and sensory environments shaped transformative experiences in ancient Greece.
He holds an MA from the Courtauld Institute of Art, where his thesis on inebriation in Renaissance Venice explored intoxication as a social, symbolic, and visual force. His work bridges ancient and early modern worlds, treating ritual and embodied experience as central cultural phenomena.
Luca is particularly committed to histories that foreground women, queer communities, and marginalised voices, challenging narrow or Eurocentric narratives of the past.
He has collaborated with institutions including the British Museum, the V&A, the Palace of Versailles, and the Museum of West African Art, and champions research-led public scholarship via Instagram and Tiktok with the aim of making History accessible and relatable to wide audiences.
Event Venue
The Arding Rooms, 7 Saint John's Road, London, United Kingdom
GBP 27.80
