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Luigi Zoja

Drugs, Addiction And Initiation

The Modern Search for Ritual

144 pages, ISBN 3-85630-595-5 / 978-3-85630-595-6, Daimon

Luigi Zoja argues that the pervasive abuse of drugs in our society can in large part be ascribed to a resurgence of the collective need for initiation and initiatory structures: a longing for something sacred underlies our culture’s manic drive toward excessive consumption. In a society without ritual, the drug addict seeks not so much the thrill of a high as the satisfaction of an inner need for a participation mystique in the dominant religion of our times: consumerism.
A far-reaching yet incisive cultural analysis, The Modern Search for Ritual is a vigorous exposé, drawing its methodology from history, literature and anthropology, as well as Analytical Psychology. From its critique of drug cures based on detoxification to its discussion of the esoteric-terrorist cult of the Assassins, Zoja’s work is a classic in the field of psycho-anthropology.