Author and noted theorist, Luigi Zoja evinces the unsettling argument that the pervasive abuse of drugs in our society can to a large extent be ascribed to the resurgence of a collective need for initiation and initiatory structures. a longing for the 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 the inner need for a participation mystique in the dominant religion of our times: consumerism.

A broad yet incisive cultural analysis, The Search for Ritual is a vigorous study drawing its methodology from history, literature and anthropology as well as analytic 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 destined to become a classic in the field of psycho-anthropology.