Hands writing in an open journal on a wooden table beside a cup of coffee

Setting an intention for a ceremony

BySafe Ceremonies

Sooner or later a facilitator will ask what your intention is. For some people the answer comes straight away. For others the question feels vague or a bit precious, and they make something up on the spot. This guide is about doing it properly, without making it into more than it is.

An intention is a short statement of why you’re going and what you’d like to pay attention to. It doesn’t have to be spiritual, and it isn’t a contract with the ceremony. Think of it as a note to yourself that you can come back to during the experience and in the weeks afterwards.

Why preparation of the mind matters

Researchers have long argued that what you bring into a psychedelic experience shapes what happens. The usual shorthand is “set and setting”: your mindset, and the place and people around you. The evidence is still young, but it points in a consistent direction.

In a 2018 prospective study, researchers surveyed people before and after a psychedelic experience they had planned themselves. Those who reported clear intentions beforehand were more likely to have mystical-type experiences. Feeling prepared and in a positive frame of mind made a challenging experience less likely. The authors noted their limits: the participants volunteered online, were mostly enthusiastic about psychedelics, and many dropped out before the later surveys.

A 2021 systematic review pulled together studies of what predicts how people react. People who were open and accepting, and who were in a state of surrender during the experience, were more likely to have positive experiences. People who were apprehensive, preoccupied or confused going in were more likely to have adverse reactions. The authors stressed that many of the studies were small and that most findings still need to be repeated.

None of this means a good intention protects you. It means that thinking about why you’re going, and arriving as settled as you can, is worth the effort. It won’t replace screening, a safe place and trained people.

What a useful intention looks like

Good intentions tend to share a few features. They’re short enough to remember when your thinking is scrambled. They point at something you want to understand rather than an outcome you need. And they’re yours, not borrowed from a website or the person next to you.

Some examples:

  • “I want to understand why I keep pushing people away.”
  • “I’d like to look at my grief for my father without rushing away from it.”
  • “Show me what I’m avoiding.”
  • “I want to notice what I’m grateful for.”
  • “I’m curious, and I want to stay open to whatever comes.”

Curiosity is a perfectly good intention. You don’t need a wound to justify going.

How to write one

  1. Write down, without editing, why you booked. Include the reasons that feel small or embarrassing.
  2. Look for what keeps coming up. It might be a relationship, a decision, a loss or a pattern.
  3. Turn it into a question or an invitation. “Why do I…” or “Help me see…” leaves room for answers you didn’t expect.
  4. Cut it down to one sentence you could say in a single breath.
  5. Say it aloud. If it sounds like something you think you’re supposed to want, try again.
  6. Keep it somewhere you’ll see it in the days before the ceremony, and bring it with you.

Some people find it easier to talk this through with a friend, a therapist or the facilitator than to write it alone. A good facilitator will ask about your intention during preparation and won’t judge it.

Expectations worth leaving at home

An intention turns into a problem when it becomes a demand. Watch for these:

  • Expecting a cure. “This will fix my depression” sets you up to feel you’ve failed, and it’s a promise no ceremony can make. If a center told you to expect it, read our guide on grounded or “woo woo” groups.
  • Setting yourself a deadline for a decision. Big life decisions, such as leaving a marriage or a job, are better made once the effects have fully worn off and you’ve had time to reflect.
  • Carrying someone else’s agenda. A partner who wants you to “come back different,” or a facilitator who sets your intention for you, is putting their goals in place of yours.
  • Planning to relive trauma on purpose. Painful memories may come up, and that can be meaningful. Going in determined to dig into trauma without a therapist’s support is a different matter, and worth discussing with a professional first.
  • Treating a single dramatic vision as the measure of success. Many people have quiet, bodily or confusing experiences. They aren’t doing it wrong.

Holding the intention during the ceremony

Many facilitators suggest that you say your intention to yourself as the ceremony begins, then let it go. The experience may head somewhere unrelated. That happens often, and some people find later that it connected after all.

Safety guidelines published by Johns Hopkins researchers for psychedelic research sessions describe a similar approach to difficult moments: rather than fighting distress, a volunteer is encouraged to surrender to the experience, trusting that their usual state of mind will return, and to approach frightening imagery rather than run from it. In those studies, monitors spent many hours with each volunteer beforehand building trust. A ceremony usually offers far less preparation, which is one reason to ask your facilitator, before the night, what they’ll do if you’re frightened.

Surrender has limits. It’s the right response to fear, sadness or strange thoughts. It’s the wrong response to chest pain, trouble breathing, or someone touching you in a way you didn’t agree to. Ask for help with those straight away.

Other ways to prepare your mind

  • Learn what the experience is likely to involve, physically and emotionally, so fewer things surprise you. Our guides on specific ceremonies describe what to expect.
  • Talk to the facilitator about your fears before the night. Saying “I’m afraid of losing control” out loud often takes some of its weight away, and gives them useful information.
  • Agree in advance about touch. The Johns Hopkins guidelines describe practicing hand holding during preparation so that it feels familiar if a volunteer needs it. You can ask for the same agreement, or ask for no touch at all.
  • Get some sleep in the days before, if you can. Arriving exhausted makes everything harder.
  • Plan the days after. Knowing you have a quiet day to rest and someone to call afterwards can make it easier to let go during the ceremony.

Coming back to it afterwards

An intention earns its keep in the weeks after a ceremony. Write down what happened as soon as you can, then read it alongside the intention you set. Ask what, if anything, the experience had to say about it, and what you might do differently in daily life. Integration circles and therapists who know this area can help with that. Our guides on integration after a ceremony and finding integration support cover the options.

If nothing seems to connect, that’s fine too. Sometimes the meaning shows up later. Sometimes the experience is simply what it was.

If something from the ceremony is troubling you, Fireside Project’s free psychedelic peer support line, 62-FIRESIDE (623-473-7433), takes calls and texts from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Pacific time every day.

More guides

A center’s preparation process tells you a lot about how it will treat you during the ceremony. You can search the Safe Ceremonies listings and read what past participants say about preparation and follow-up, including at psychedelic-assisted therapy providers and integration and aftercare services.

Sources

Photo: Journal Notepad by Cathryn Lavery, CC0 1.0.

Safe Ceremonies
Author: Safe Ceremonies

User reviewed ceremonies

Similar Posts