ANTHROPOLOGY | +40 articles

[mr peabody]

1901​

Ibogaine was first isolated from Tabernanthe iboga by Jean Dybowsky.

In the Contes Rendu Societe Biologue, Cesaire Phisalix first described the visionary effects of ibogaine.

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1902​

An early article on peyote titled “Mescal: A Study of a Divine Plant” was published in Popular Science.

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1904​

American mycologist Franklin Sumner Earle was the first person to collect and identify Psilocybe cubensis in Cuba.

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1907​

British occultist, ceremonial magician and author Aleister Crowley first ingested the Parke-Davis fluid extract of peyote. He went on to form the Thelema religion, which embraced the sacramental use of peyote. He often used peyote in combination with opium, hash and absinthe.

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1918​

James Mooney, a Smithsonian Institute archeologist who traveled through Oklahoma in 1891 participating in various peyote ceremonies, became convinced of the need to unite the Indians and protect their legal right to worship with peyote. He wrote the charter and incorporated the Native American Church.

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1919​

Dr. Blas Reko published an article stating that teonanácatl was a hallucinogenic mushroom. His reports were ignored.

Mescaline was first synthesized by Ernst Spath.

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1924​

Louis Lewin published Phantastica, a landmark book on psychopharmacology.

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1927​

Chemists E. Perrot and M. Raymond-Hamet isolated the active agent from Banisteriopsis caapi and name it “telepathine” due to accounts that it induced telepathy in Amazonian tribes.

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1929​

Shortly before his death, Louis Lewin published his monograph Banisteria Caapi.

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1931​

DMT was first synthesized by British chemist Richard Manske and named “nigerine.”

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1938​

Dr. Albert Hofmann, working for Sandoz laboratories, synthesized LSD-25. He stated, “I had planned the synthesis of this compound with the intention of obtaining a circulatory and respiratory stimulant”. Colleagues showed no interest in it, so testing was discontinued.

 

[Nas47]

Great work

 

[Nas47]

A female hunter who may have killed big-game animals in the Andes 9,000 years ago.

Native Americans used psychedelic plants and painted rock art, study finds

by Katie Hunt | CNN | 23 Nov 2020

The first clear evidence that Native Americans consumed psychedelic plants at rock art sites has been found in the Pinwheel Cave in Southern California, according to new research.

The cave is home to a striking image of a pinwheel thought to represent the distinctive shape of the sacred datura flower, or Datura wrightii. This perennial plant species, native to California, is known to have psychoactive properties. Quids -- small packages of leaves and fibrous material from the plant -- that were typically chewed were found stuck in crevices in the cave ceiling.

Chemical analysis of some of the quids showed that they contained psychedelic alkaloids, and most were confirmed to belong to the datura plant. Three-dimensional analysis of the quids showed that they had been mashed and chewed, and that they dated back to between 1530 and 1890.

"While it has long been thought that rock and cave art was made during trance states induced by psychedelics, unambiguous evidence of the consumption of psychedelics has not been reported from any rock art site in the world," the study said.

However, the findings called into question some long-held assumptions about rock art in the region, said David Robinson, lead author of the study that published Monday in the journal PNAS.

Some scholars believe that rock art was predominantly produced in caves visited and "owned" by individual shamans. The paintings, these researchers suggested, represented the visions that came to them during the drug-induced trances.

"The idea (is) that a male shaman goes off to a hidden space and takes his sychedelic at his vision quest site and he reproduces his visions on the rock," explained Robinson, a lecturer in archaeology at the School of Forensic and Applied Sciences at the University of Central Lancashire in the United Kingdom.

Robinson however, said that his new study, along with other recent research, suggests that while there are a few sites that might have been used for "vision quests," the majority of rock art sites were places where people lived. The paintings, he said, were about communicating "the core belief systems" of the community that lived there.

The pinwheel also wasn't the result of one artist's vision; it was painted over and retouched several times, the study found. In fact, much of the art in the region shared common symbols or designs about things things that were important to the local culture.

"It's a form of visual communication within indigenous society that is for everyone's benefit. That's the main thing this research is showing. It's not about an individual's cognitive experience."

When the sacred datura (Datura wrightii) blooms, it has a distinctive pinwheel shape.

"If it were shamans, you'd expect a lot more variety and a lot less common compositional elements across the whole region," explained Robinson.

"The idea of the male shaman painting rock art," he said, "has seeped into contemporary native Californian discourse."

"Female members of Native American tribes are hearing this from anthropologists but there's no reason women couldn't have been involved in rock art. So this sort of narrative has some negative impacts."

So why might the people who lived in this cave have taken the psychedelic plant? The study didn't give any hard answers.

But datura has been associated with adolescent group initiations in Native Californian culture, the study said, though most evidence points to the plant being brewed as a drink rather than chewed as the evidence in this particular cave revealed.

*From the article here:

Native Californians got high on hallucinogenic plants and painted rock art, study finds | CNN

The first clear evidence that Native Americans consumed hallucinogenic plants at rock art sites has been found in the Pinwheel Cave in Southern California, according to new research.

www.cnn.com

Impressive articles,hats off Mr Peabody.You won my heart

 

[mr peabody]

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Psychedelic-laced beer may have helped forge ancient Peruvian empire*

by Andrew Curry | SCIENCE | 11 Jan 2022

Between 500 and 1100 C.E., the highlands of Peru were home to a far-reaching empire known as the Wari. Like the Inca after them, the Wari managed to spread their culture over the vast distances and rugged terrain of the Andes Mountains. Now, new finds from a small site in Peru suggest the Wari may have forged political alliances by serving drug-laced beer to local elites at periodic parties, extending their empire one trippy feast at a time.

The idea that the Wari used hallucinogens for political maneuvering and not solitary religious rituals “makes a lot of sense,” says University of North Carolina, Greensboro, archaeologist and Wari expert Donna Nash, who was not involved in the research.

Between 2013 and 2017, archaeologists excavating near Arequipa in southern Peru found evidence of a small Wari outpost, some 800 kilometers south of the capital at Huari. Called Quilcapampa today, the site was probably home to only 100 Wari at its peak—perhaps three extended families and a few others, plunked down in a remote, arid valley more than 200 kilometers from the nearest large Wari settlement.

Artifacts suggest the surrounding area was populated by locals who maintained their lifestyle after the Wari arrived in the middle of the ninth century. And though their outpost boasts typical Wari architectural styles and houses objects such as elaborately decorated drinking vessels, feathered ceremonial clothing, and stone tablets, it lacks any weapons that might signal a military presence. How could a small group of foreigners so far from home, researchers wondered, get locals to accept them and perhaps even recognize their authority?

Clues came from Quilcapampa’s dry soil, which yielded hundreds of thousands of dried plant remains. After spending months sorting them, Dickinson College archaeobotanist Matthew Biwer found 16 seeds from a hallucinogenic jungle plant called vilca.

Vilca seeds, which some Amazonian tribes still consume today, produce intense, incapacitating hallucinations akin to the psychedelic ayahuasca when pulverized and snorted. Archaeologists have documented thousands of years of vilca use as part of South American religious rituals, and vilca seed pods have been depicted on Wari drinking vessels. But the tree doesn’t naturally grow near Quilcapampa, Biwer says. That fact—and the fact that the seeds were found only in the Wari compounds—suggests the vilca was imported by the Wari.

Why they brought the drug was another question. Consumed alone, vilca brings on intense, private hallucinations. However, when added to alcohol—particularly the fermented fruits of the molle tree—the seed’s hallucinogenic compounds are diluted but remain active. “Instead of an abrupt out-of-body experience, you would have a more elongated high [that] you would be able to enjoy with other people,” says Royal Ontario Museum archaeologist Justin Jennings, who led the excavation. “The Wari take something that is an antisocial drug and make it a social one.”

Sure enough, the vilca at Quilcapampa was found near pits full of desiccated seeds from the berries of the molle tree, which had been soaked and fermented, presumably to make a strong beer known as chicha. That suggests vilca was a controlled substance, Jennings says. He and his colleagues also think it may have been used to make friends with the locals and influence regional elites, likely during exclusive feasts or parties. “The Wari are telling the locals, ‘Bring the molle, and we’re going to add the special sauce.’”

Rather than organizing grand public ceremonies or military invasions, the Wari may have built their empire one party at a time, the researchers theorize today in Antiquity. Artifacts from other Wari sites suggest they had a heady party culture: Much of their pottery is dedicated to beer brewing or serving. “Wari statecraft is happening on a smaller scale,” Jennings says. “I see these as boozy family dinners, building social relationships one [feast] at a time.” And because vilca was an exotic substance in Quilcapampa, a vilca-fueled party there would have been special, cementing the new arrivals’ prestige.

The Quilcapampa finds could help reveal how Wari politics worked on a larger level, Nash says. “To find vilca at a smaller provincial site is interesting–and demonstrates not only that the high priest was using the drug, but that the use might have been more pervasive than we thought,” she says.

Around 900 C.E., after just a few decades, the Quilcapampa settlement was abandoned. Breakdowns in long-distance trade meant the Wari there were cut off from their supply chains, and Jennings thinks their efforts to win over the locals eventually failed. The goodbye party was a rager, though. In one last, massive blowout, residents of the compounds spread smashed pottery, burned food, and left offerings on the clean floors of their houses. Then they blocked off doorways and abandoned the site, in a signature Wari farewell.
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In 1897, a Russian archaeologist called Nikolai Veselovsky came across some curious, tube-like objects while excavating an enormous burial mound. Known as a kurgan from the Old Turkic, the burial site was discovered outside of Maikop, a village in the northwestern Caucasus. The mound dated to the Early Bronze Age, some 5,500 years ago — the tubes, meanwhile, were made of gold and silver, and decorated with bulls and other animal motifs. Veselovsky theorized they were a sign of high stature, scepters perhaps. But more than 100 years later, archaeologists have a rather different, delicious theory: They are extremely extra, extremely old beer straws.

What’s new — In a paper aptly titled “Party Like a Sumerian” published Wednesday in the journal Antiquity, archaeologists present a meticulous re-examination of these objects and argue they are likely more ancient beer bongs than scepters.

The problem with the old theory, these researchers note, is that the past analyses didn’t account for the tube’s complete design, such as its intricate configuration and hollow center.

“The idea of reinterpreting the ‘scepters’ first came to me about a decade ago, and I even shared it with my colleagues, but I didn’t get any support,” the paper’s first author, Viktor Trifonov wrote to Inverse. To prove his argument, Trifonov, an archaeology researcher at St. Petersburg’s Russian Academy of Sciences, knew he needed more substantial evidence.

The kurgan in which the straws were discovered comprised of a large chamber divided into three compartments, each containing the body of an adult in the fetal position. The body in the largest section was adorned with rich fabric and precious stones, as well as eight long, thin, hollow tubes. Since their discovery, they have been preserved at the Hermitage in St. Petersburg.

Components of the ornate tubes, originally identified as scepters, found at Maikop kurgan. -Viktor Trifonov

The breakthrough came when researchers found the supposed scepter’s inner filter curiously contained barley starch residue. The clue suggested something containing barley, such as beer, may have passed through these metal tubes.

This was the turning point for Trifonov.

“I decided to check if there was any residue left from the beverage inside the Maikop tubes in the Hermitage,” he wrote to Inverse. “Everything else fell into place when my teammates found the starch, phytoliths, and pollen grains inside the filter.”

This schematic drawing depicts the eight long, thin tubes — four of them with bull figurines —
in the position previous scholars assumed they would be placed. -Viktor Trifonov

Why it matters — If these are indeed drinking straws, they represent the earliest physical evidence of drinking through long tubes, a practice which became common during feasts in the third and second millennia B.C.E. in the ancient Near East.

We know that straws have existed for millennia. The earliest depictions of people drinking through a straw are on seal impressions dating back to the fifth or fourth millennia B.C.E. The next oldest surviving straws are about 4,500 years old from the Royal Cemetery at Ur, which is current Southern Iraq. Trifonov points out a gap of about 1,000 years between these Maikop straws and the ones found in Iraq.

This detail is important when it comes to looking at funeral rituals in the region. Royal funerals resembled what Veselovsky found: A body buried with a luxurious set of items — including the straws.

In the paper, Trifonov posits the set of eight hollow tubes could represent feasting tools for eight people. In life, these people would all sit around one large vessel and guzzle beer with their straws. Skillfully forged from precious metals, the straws demonstrated one’s wealth and elite status. Aside from jewelry, the tubes were the objects placed closest to the deceased in the tomb.

Three of the perforated silver tips from the now thought to be straws found at Maikop kurgan.
- State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

Digging into the details — The complete set of straws includes eight composite gold and silver tubes, all measuring more than a meter long and 10 millimeters in diameter. The ends and centers are hollow, leaving a five-millimeter diameter tube through which a liquid could easily pass. While long, these objects are only about 200 grams (not quite half a pound) in weight.

The straws are highly decorated, and each includes what appears to be a figurine of a bull or gazelle, which itself measures 70 to 90 millimeters from the tips of the horns to the tip of the tail.

Four gold and silver ornamental bull figurines found at the Maikop kurgan were both decorative and functional,
acting to balance the straws. -State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

What’s next — This reinterpretation offers a far clearer picture of life in Bronze Age Sumeria. Trifonov points out how the straw’s simple yet sophisticated engineering extends even to the exquisite bull figurines, which are decorative but also act as balancing devices.

This development could also refine our understanding of Maikop funeral rites and their religious significance throughout Western Asia at the time.

“The Maikop drinking equipment provides a hint at the possible existence of similar ‘royal’ funerals in the Near East of the mid-fourth millennium [B.C.E.], which we know almost nothing about,” he writes.

The next time you unsheathe a straw from a paper sleeve, or stick your stainless-steel one into a glass, imagine how maybe you’re partying like a Sumerian, too.​

*From the articles here :

Science | AAAS

www.science.org

100 years late, archaeologists realize they found an ancient beer bong

By reinterpreting ancient objects found at Maikop kurgan, archaeologists realize what they thought were scepters were drinking straws used in funeral practices.

www.inverse.com

 

[mr peabody]

The role of Indigenous Knowledges in Psychedelic Science

by Evgenia Fotiou | Journal of Psychedelic Studies | 13 Dec 2019

This paper reflects on potential contributions from anthropology to the field of “psychedelic science.” Although the discipline’s beginnings went hand in hand with colonialism, it has made significant contributions to the understanding of Indigenous knowledge systems. Furthermore, recent calls to decolonize our theoretical frameworks and methodology, notably the “ontological turn,” open up the space for engaging meaningfully with Indigenous worldviews. At this critical juncture of the “psychedelic renaissance,” it is important to reflect on whether the current model is satisfactory and on ways to decolonize psychedelic science. What we need is a shift in paradigm, one that will acknowledge the validity of Indigenous worldviews as equal partners to scientific inquiry. Acknowledging the contributions of Indigenous knowledges to psychedelic science is necessary and needs to go hand in hand with attempts to revise biomedical models to be more inclusive in substantial ways. The paper does not argue for the abandonment of the scientific paradigm, rather for the abandonment of its privileged position. Decolonizing psychedelic science will require allowing multiple perspectives to coexist and contribute equally to our efforts going forward.
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Introduction​

As the psychedelic renaissance is intensifying, we are at a very critical juncture. We can either continue business as usual and perpetuate the hegemony of western science over other ways of knowledge, or step back and reevaluate our frameworks and methodologies to allow for multiple perspectives to contribute to our research. I argue that this is a double imperative; first it is political, as it will disrupt the legacies of colonialism and the systematic oppression of Indigenous peoples and second, it might just broaden our lens in ways that will enhance our research efforts. I join multiple scholars who have been arguing for decolonizing the academy and focusing on epistemic justice and others who have pointed out the validity of Traditional Knowledge.

Despite statements on social change, western discourse on psychedelics has been individualistic – focusing on personal transformation – and medicalizing. As Feinberg (2018, p. 40) argued, “any attempt to understand the meaning of substance use that relies only an individualist and medicalizing focus on their therapeutic “effects” will miss the point in understanding the social meaning of substances and their circulation.” Indeed, the effects of these individualist and medicalizing discourses are at least twofold: on the one hand, they erase the traditions from which these substances were appropriated, rendering native traditions to romantic stereotypes of noble savages, and on the other hand, they cause us to miss important lessons that could potentially transform the way we do science. Anthropologists also challenge the universality of psychedelic experiences and caution that we might be imposing western concepts on Indigenous traditions. This too contributes to the erasure of Indigenous shamanisms and the accompanying ontologies and epistemologies.

Psychedelic science encompasses a variety of substances, but I will be focusing on psychedelic plant medicines whose knowledge was passed on to us by Indigenous peoples. Some of the first people who brought back this knowledge were not necessarily supportive of their popularization and integration to western life. When it comes to such plants, what are our obligations as researchers? How do we decolonize psychedelic science? What role can Indigenous knowledge systems play in this endeavor?
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The Story So Far​

Despite western cultures’ ambiguous relationship with drugs, certain ideas still inform much of the research being conducted today, especially regarding the therapeutic potential of psychedelics. Even though the recent renaissance seems to be related to the countercultural movements of the 1960s, the “romance” of the West with these substances seems to be much older. The role of psychedelics in human culture is considered by some to be so important that several authors have connected the origin of religion to psychedelics, among them anthropologists Weston La Barre and Peter Furst. Numerous artists used them as tools for self-exploration and inspiration. Romantic poets Coleridge, Poe, and Shelley investigated their dreams and trance states also using drugs with the intention to probe the far reaches of the mind as an act of resistance to modernity and the industrial revolution. Mind-altering substances also became a way to explore cultural otherness by making direct contact with “primitive” knowledge. For example, Artaud attempted to recover the sense of the sacred that European culture had lost by participating in peyote rituals in Mexico.

Aldous Huxley might be the most influential figure for psychedelic researchers today. Through the psychedelic experience, he wanted to achieve an overall understanding of the world and believed that psychedelics could help people with fundamental questions about life. He argued that they can provide direct access to a transcendental reality and become a tool for social change. Walter Benjamin also saw the pursuit of visionary experience as an extension of a rational and intellectual quest and considered consumerism responsible for the loss of ritual in the West – ritual that would facilitate “ecstatic contact with the cosmos." He argued what many still argue today: the only way to effect social change is to change the relationship of the senses to the world, in other words, change one’s perspective.

Early 20th century approaches centered on the idea that these substances ostensibly induced “madness,” clinically identifiable, but perceived as having divine origin by “simpleminded” Indigenous communities. This discourse was part of the image of the irrational and childish “savage.” The term psychedelic – mind-manifesting – was introduced in 1957 by Humphrey Osmond, who hoped that this new label would liberate “scientific investigation from the enduring influence of the psychotomimetic (madness mimicking) paradigm, which offered limited field application and a definite pejorative bias." In his research with alcoholics, Osmond found that patients felt that psychedelics could shed light on the eternal question of the purpose and meaning of life and observed that the patients who derived greatest benefit were those who reported mystical experiences.

Today, the fact that psychedelics create powerful religious feelings in people cross-culturally is considered unlikely to be coincidental. Winkelman suggests a “neurophenomenological” framework to approach Altered States of Consciousness (ASCs). He argues that psychedelics do not merely cause temporary “psychoses” or “mere hallucinations” in people but instead work with existing, adaptive mechanisms in the brain for generating ASCs that can be used constructively. Such researchers do not see shamans as maladjusted, but instead as people who use psychedelic plants to fulfill their roles in the community. Today, the term “entheogen” – meaning “bringing forth the divine within” – is preferred by some and indicates a shift to sacramental use of some of these substances. However, the psychological paradigm tends to dominate discourse, as most westerners will pursue psychedelic plant medicines for psychological healing.

In the 1960s, artists and writers, such as Allen Ginsberg with his poems on LSD, contributed to the increased interest in psychedelics. This interest has had an enormous impact on the native peoples who originally used them. Gordon Wasson, a former banker, who visited Mexico in the 1950s and tried psilocybin mushrooms with Maria Sabina, is responsible for the waves of Western seekers that flooded Oaxaca in the 1960s the effects of which were rather disruptive. Something similar is happening in Amazonia surrounding ayahuasca today. Wasson himself, even though he was responsible for popularizing mushrooms and effectively changing the history of the area, frowned upon these spiritual pilgrimages.

Ayahuasca is a particularly interesting case of a psychedelic plant medicine that left its traditional context in the Amazon jungle to spread throughout the world. Any history of the ayahuasca brew will usually mention a lineage of White men who discovered, reported on, or studied it. One of the earliest western encounters was recorded in 1853 by Richard Spruce, a botanist looking for new plants to collect and classify in the Vaupés area in Colombia. Since then, ayahuasca has been reported by several explorers, botanists, and ethnographers.

Interest in ayahuasca arose in the 1960s, with several books introducing ayahuasca to popular audiences. William Burroughs, a known heroin-addict, hoped to find in ayahuasca what he did not find in other drugs. He characteristically wrote: “Yagé may be the final fix.” Burroughs traveled to South America to try ayahuasca and 7 years later Allen Ginsberg did the same; their correspondence from that period resulted in the Yagé Letters. Burroughs did not find what he was hoping for in ayahuasca or in Peru – he reported “…I had been conned by medicine men” – while Ginsberg’s account is closer to a stereotypical first-person account. There was a fundamental difference between researchers like Schultes and Wasson who only had interest in studying psychedelics and people like Burroughs who hoped to integrate them in western cultural and spiritual life.

Some anthropological studies also raised awareness about ayahuasca most notably Dobkin de Rios, who discussed urban folk ayahuasca uses. Eduardo Luna’s work on mestizo ayahuasca use increased knowledge of ayahuasca and made clear that ayahuasca practices were different from other psychedelics. Dobkin de Rios felt responsible for the popularization of ayahuasca and later published a short piece of expressing regret.​

Some work has been carried out on native plant classification, although little progress has been made in integrating any of this knowledge into western botanical classifications of ayahuasca, although the argument for this has been made. Indigenous groups are said to distinguish at least six different botanical sources of ayahuasca. Schultes and Hofmann reported that South American natives,

"...often have special names for diverse “kinds” of ayahuasca, although the botanist frequently finds them all representative of the same species. It is usually difficult to understand the aboriginal method of classification: some may be age forms; others may come from different parts of the liana; still others may be ecological forms growing under varying conditions of soil, shade, moisture, etc. The natives assert that these “kinds” have a variety of effects, and it is conceivable that they may actually have different chemical compositions. This possibility is one of the least investigated yet most significant aspects in the study of ayahuasca."​

Most scientific research has focused on working out any therapeutic applications of ayahuasca and its constituents as well as its physiological effects. The need for more research to understand how psychedelics affect cognitive processes has been argued and clinical research conducted in Spain at the Autonomous University of Barcelona on healthy volunteers attempted to remedy this. Several psychological studies suggest that “inner,” spiritual, or mystical experiences can be scientifically studied and there is a greater effort to determine uses of ayahuasca in western medicine and psychology. Several psychologists approach ayahuasca as a tool to explore the human psyche, despite evidence of Indigenous use that there is much more to the story than this. As Shanon – a cognitive psychologist – says, “The real puzzles this brew presents pertain, I think, neither to botany nor to culture but rather to the human mind. As such, the study of ayahuasca belongs first and foremost to the domain of psychology, and more specifically cognitive psychology – the discipline investigating the workings of the human mind.”

During the past two decades, several small studies have shown that psychedelics such as ketamine and psilocybin can be beneficial in treating mental illness, including depression, obsessive compulsive disorders, and anxiety. Even more recently, rigorous research conducted at Johns Hopkins University has revived the interest in the potential uses of psychedelics, in this case their use in relieving anxiety in terminally ill patients. In addition, there is a lot of interest in using psychedelic plant medicines including ayahuasca and iboga to treat drug addiction. Takiwasi, a unique clinic combining Amazonian medicine and western psychotherapy with a strong Catholic flavor, has been operating in Tarapoto – Peru since 1992 as a non-profit organization and their staff includes doctors, psychologists, empirical ethnobotanists, healers, and several assistant therapists. Similar efforts in Canada were met with legal obstacles. Thus, there is a sustained interest in the scientific community since the 1960s for more research with psychedelics, although some researchers like Jeremy Narby have also argued for the need to integrate Indigenous ways of knowing with western science.
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Decolonizing Psychedelic Science​

In the past decades, science has turned psychedelic plants and fungi into an object of study by standardizing them into capsules and other preparations to control dosage. However, this is far from how these plants are used by humans in different cultural contexts. These interventions not only change the object of study but might also implicitly delegitimize the traditions from which these plants came from. Given the climate of prohibition that we live in, most research to date has focused on whether psychedelics can cure some of the most pervasive conditions of our time. I argue that their therapeutic potential has been well established, and we should be entering an era when we can begin asking more complex and nuanced questions while “unsettling colonial logics and institutions." A starting point in decolonizing psychedelic science should be to stop approaching Indigenous ethnomedical systems as subjective, symbolic, and constructed, and biomedicine as objective and factual but rather as another ethnomedical system among others with its own culture. We also need to acknowledge the limitations of scientific knowledge. As feminist scholars have pointed out, all knowledge is “situated” – arising from a certain viewpoint – and is intimately connected to power structures. Claiming objectivity and universality obscures the positionality of scientific knowledge. We can only start crossing the “abyssal line” in western scientific knowledge by engaging with local ontologies and epistemologies in our research projects, thus approaching cognitive justice.

Despite the great number of scientific studies on ayahuasca and other psychedelic plant medicines, the accompanying local knowledge systems are understudied. Certain well-established stereotypes about the spiritual or noble savage still plague much of the western discourse on Indigenous religious and medical systems. For example, discourse about “mother earth” as a pan-Indian belief, which has been exposed as a western scholarly construction, contributes to a superficial engagement with Indigenous ontologies and epistemologies. Westerners tend to approach ayahuasca as a psychological tool, while the vast majority of evidence we have on Indigenous use indicates that ayahuasca and accompanying plants are used in very different manners, specifically to modify the body. The separation between physical, emotional, and spiritual is a western artifact and largely absent in Indigenous knowledge systems. Indigenous knowledge systems depend on an empiricist deductive approach as much as science and in my own research I have found that knowledge about spirits and spiritual matters is experiential and often mediated through the body, which is in turn manipulated using plants.

What other valuable lessons are we missing from Indigenous knowledge systems? A lot has been written about the relationality between humans and nature or other than human persons as well as the lack of the dualisms dominating western epistemologies. Reciprocity with the natural world is based on a principle of “equivalence between humans and non-humans sharing the biosphere” and humans are viewed as participating in a wider community of living beings including non-human persons. In Amazonian cosmologies, where humans, animals, and plants are all people, plants can be powerful subjects with the ability to influence human society in profound ways. According to the Napo Runa, plants and human relationships rely on a fundamental shared humanity. Humans can maintain with them “individual relations governed by a code of behavior similar to that which prevails among the Indians themselves." More recently, scholars have argued for the importance of interspecies ethnography. If we are to attempt to reconceptualize relationships between humans and non-humans as has been argued in recent years, we should actively revalorize non-Eurocentric epistemologies by making them central to our scientific investigations utilizing collaborative ethnographic methodology. This way we can reverse the process that Santos terms “epistemicide” and identifies as a cognitive injustice: an unjustified lack of “equity between different ways of knowing and different forms of knowledge.”

In most cultural settings where ayahuasca is used, it is seen as an intentional agent, indeed a “plant teacher," something that cannot easily be reconciled with scientific epistemology without broadening our lens. Questioning the nature of knowledge was part of the scientific enterprise early on; why then is it not the case today? The answer may be in cultural context within which science operates, one in which a neoliberal paradigm is taking over all areas of life leaving little space for risk taking in the production of knowledge, and thus be limiting how far our efforts might go.

Another lesson would be honoring experiential modes of learning through the body. According to Michael Uzendoski, “to describe ayahuasca as a hallucinogenic or a drug is to invoke Western histories of repressing people and substances. It would be to ignore the visceral role the body plays in experiencing ayahuasca poetry.” Despite scientific efforts to standardize psychedelics, ayahuasca and other psychedelic plant medicines confound “the simplistic pharmacological reductionism that some authorities would impose on it, to cast it as essentially a preparation of “hallucinogenic” alkaloids and to attribute any discernable therapeutic effects to these constituent chemicals." The more interesting question to ask is what else might be contributing to the healing effect of psychedelic plant medicines – indeed how does healing happen?

A lot of discourse on the therapeutic use of ayahuasca repeats Eliadean tropes of shamanic flight, although much of Amazonian discourse indicates the centrality of the body in native experience. For the Napo Runa, drunken states are seen positively, as a means of attaining knowledge. McCallum has also stressed the relationship between knowledge and health, showing on the one hand that among the Cashinahua the same substances and experiences that can be transformed into knowledge may also become illness-causing agents, and on the other hand that “illness can be understood as a disturbance in the body’s capacity to know.” Practices like the dietas, common in ayahuasca shamanism, that numerous westerners participate in recent years are understudied. Although these constitute local technologies of the body, there is little scientific investigation to illuminate the mechanisms of acquiring knowledge and healing and communicating with plant entities.

When it comes to healing, the notion that a specific treatment should be applied to specific diseases is unique to biomedicine. Healing in other medical systems, including those that use psychedelics, is a more holistic affair. Indigenous rituals involve all the senses through a variety of elements including music, smell, language, and touch to such a degree that it is difficult to isolate the effects of one element versus another. It is more likely that all the elements work together to bring about healing. Scientific approaches tend to isolate alkaloids and although “set and setting” are recognized to be important, our models tend to medicalize psychedelic plant medicines. It then makes sense to approach healing and efficacy from a non-biomedical perspective when dealing with healing processes that work on multiple levels.

Our current model of the double-blind clinical trial, arising from and serving people of a certain cultural background, cannot begin to scratch the surface of what is possible with psychedelic plants when used in an Indigenous setting. Many scholars have indicated the role of culture in shaping subjective experience. On the other hand, Indigenous rituals tend to be rich sensorial experiences engaging all the senses, and by trying to control the sensory experience, we might be limiting it. Healing is a complex process as the placebo effect indicates and we might get closer to understanding its mechanisms if we widen our lens. The social nature of health and disease has been discussed extensively in the medical anthropology literature; when we universalize western concepts of illness, we are missing crucial pieces of the healing puzzle. A more holistic approach would also mean the recognition that social and structural solutions need to be implemented. Examples from numerous cultures indicate that communal rituals where the community comes together to heal individuals as well as relationships. Many of these ceremonies, including the Native American sweat lodge, are based on an ethic of reciprocity and maintaining balance of interrelationship. Another example is the relationship between language or narration and healing in native cultures.

A common argument for the current design of scientific protocols – including the insistence to use placebos – is that they can measure efficacy more objectively. However, the meaning of efficacy is not something to be taken for granted. An important distinction that has been made in the literature is the difference between curing and healing. Biomedicine seems to aim for a cure – as in elimination of disease – while many traditional systems seek to heal. What complicates things further is that healing – as in alleviation of suffering – can happen without curing a disease, and at least one study on psilocybin with cancer patients demonstrates this. However, what we are seeking with most of the current research on psychedelics seems to be cures for a variety of ailments that biomedicine has failed to “cure,” such as depression. Despite the positive results, such studies of psychedelic plant medicines are still conducted from a biomedical perspective to find solutions to biomedically defined diseases. Although it is widely accepted in the literature that the setting is important in obtaining such positive results, we have not made any advances in understanding efficacy from an Indigenous perspective to counteract western biases. It is the job of researchers to educate regulatory bodies on the limitations of our current approaches, if we are to overcome them.

Last but not least, it is important to reflect and find concrete ways that psychedelic plant medicines can be used to benefit and empower the populations from which we appropriated them. They suffer from a variety of issues due to historical and intergenerational trauma, while the recent surge in western uses evokes critiques of neo-colonialism. Indigenous peoples are not a-historical others but historical agents here and now. Superficial representations of Indigenous peoples and their knowledge systems only cause further trauma. When using plants that have been previously used by Indigenous peoples, at the very least they should be consulted about respectful ways of using them.
​

Conclusions​

The stories we tell are important. The stories about psychedelic science have been dominated by medicalization, stereotypes, and the heroization of the White men who “discovered” psychedelic plant medicines risking the erasure of the people who initially used these substances. The question we faced is “Do we want to perpetuate the erasure of Indigenous peoples and knowledge systems or are we ready to embrace them as equal partners?” The call for papers for this special issue indicates that enough researchers think it is important to not perpetuate oppression and structural violence as we move forward. I do not profess to have all the answers, rather I hope that this contribution will amplify the voices saying that we cannot continue business as usual. Rather we must rework the epistemological foundations of scientific inquiry to ask new questions and serve new goals.

I have argued for the political imperative of acknowledging the value – and validity – of Indigenous knowledge systems. I join others that have approached science as one way of knowledge among others, and argue that local epistemologies – including corporeal ways of knowing and related technologies of the body – can enhance our research efforts. One way to bring together different types of knowledge such as western science and shamanic knowledge is intercultural translation with ethnography offering the most significant contribution to this effort. We no longer need to stay on one side of the “abyssal line” in western knowledge that deems everything on the other side of the line as “incomprehensible magical or idolatrous practices." The paper does not argue for the abandonment of the scientific paradigm, rather for the abandonment of its privileged position. Decolonizing psychedelic science will require allowing multiple perspectives to coexist and contribute equally to our efforts going forward. Can we go as far as including Indigenous methodologies in psychedelic science?

I have also argued that there are lessons to be learned from Indigenous worldviews that we are missing in the renaissance of psychedelic science. We need to move beyond appropriating and medicalizing substances and techniques from Indigenous cultures to find the deeper lessons that can be learned from Indigenous worldview and praxis. Unlike biomedical approaches, Indigenous approaches challenge the separation of mind and body. Considering that psychedelic plant medicines in their original context address body and mind as inseparable, it makes sense to revise our methodologies accordingly. What can we learn about healing from Indigenous rituals and other technologies? What about the social aspects of health and healing? Most importantly, how can we support the rebuilding of Indigenous communities as they heal from colonial trauma?

I admit that what I argue here is not easy especially because of mistrust due to centuries of exploitation and marginalization. Another scholar has argued that “The greatest fear of Native researchers may be that traditional healing practices, if written down, will be corrupted and commercialised, thus removing traditional healing from the spiritual realm to a mere prescriptive act." This is in fact what we have done with many an Indigenous practice. At the very least, we need to treat Indigenous knowledge systems as integrated systems that include a variety of components and not just appropriate those that will serve our purposes.

What I am proposing here requires a fundamental rethinking of our methodologies and approaches and an honest reevaluation of the knowledge already produced in the field. However, I argue that the potential rewards are such that will make this work worth it. What if instead of misrepresenting Indigenous “others” in the guise of science we begin to describe the world using their concepts and eventually reach “cultural humility” – as is argued in another paper in this volume. We need to acknowledge how little we know especially when we tread into conceptual territories that native peoples inhabit. Too much is already lost for us to not take up this work immediately. There is much more for us to gain than there is to lose.

The role of Indigenous knowledges in psychedelic science

This paper reflects on potential contributions from anthropology to the field of “psychedelic science.” Although the discipline’s beginnings went hand in hand with colonialism, it has made significant contributions to the understanding of Indigenous knowledge systems. Furthermore, recent calls...

akjournals.com

 

[mr peabody]

The Ancient Tradition of the Peyote Ceremony

by Sasha Sisko | MICRODOSE | 26 Nov 2021

Since the dawn of civilization, Peyote has been consumed by countless Indigenous American communities. It wasn’t until 1918 that the Native American Church (NAC) was officially established within the state of Oklahoma as a “Christian religion with the practice of the Peyote Sacrament."

Though the NAC has revered Grandfather Peyote as a sacrament for over a century, outsiders know very little about what exactly goes on within the Native American Church ‘meetings’. In this article, we’ll trace the history of the Peyote ceremony and describe its modern elements so that others may understand and appreciate the value of these cherished cultural practices.

Before we get started, we ought to remember that Peyotist faiths have faced oppression for centuries. Because of centuries of intergenerational trauma within the Native American community, congregations within the NAC are well aware that sharing information with outsiders has led to devastating outcomes for their people.

As you will read, these consequences were not limited to imprisonment, torture, and even murder. Ever since the Spanish conquistadors and missionaries instituted the Entheogenic Inquisition of 1620, Indigenous Americans have, to borrow the words of Robert Gordon Wasson, kept Peyote “close to their hearts, sheltered from desecration by white men, a precious secret.”

The first peyote visions

Thousands of years ago, Sacred Peyote grew abundantly on the land surrounding the US-Mexico border. When Paleo-Americans first witnessed naturally-growing Peyote in the xeric scrublands of the Southwest, they likely saw the spineless desert cactus as a potential source of food.

Soon after the bitter taste of the cactus subsided, the very first ‘button eaters’ certainly had something profound to share with their kin. Though no one can accurately estimate when this happened, archeologists have concluded that Peyote has been consumed by Indigenous Americans for at least 5,700 years.

Passed down by oral tradition, Native American communities have formed numerous folktales about the origin of the Peyote ceremony. Within many of these stories, there’s a common link. The teaching goes something like this:
​

"Dehydrated and famished, a person was wandering the desert and unable to find their way home. As their exhaustion began to take hold, they laid down and worried that they might not wake from their slumber. Fortunately, they were awoken by a voice. Though no one was nearby, close to the ground was a patch of Grandfather Peyote in blossom. Feeling nourished after eating the cactus, they found their way back home and shared the valuable plant with their community."​

Consumed within group and individual settings for millennia, this greyish-green cactus quickly propelled its users into mystical states of awareness. Aware of its medicinal and entheogenic qualities, Peyote was (and remains to be) a precious resource to Indigenous Americans.

By the time Spain conquered Mexico, conquistadors and missionaries held a fundamentally different opinion — they viewed Peyote as a major impediment in their pursuit to convert the Natives to Christianity. As history has proven, Europeans began a ruthless campaign to conquer, control, and convert the Indigenous people of Mexico at any cost.

Entheogenic inquisition

On June 29th of 1620, the Holy Office of the Inquisition declared in Mexico City that the use of Peyote was a heretical act of “pagan idolatry”. Posted in every major city and village, this decree advised the inhabitants of New Spain that “We, the Inquisitors against heretical perversity and apostasy […] order that henceforth no person […] may make use of the said herb, Peyote.”

What were the penalties for disobeying this decree? The edict advised Indigenous Mexicans that possessing Sacred Peyote would result in “pecuniary and corporal penalties within our discretion.” Simply put, violators of the edict would be met with torture and murder for centuries. Reluctant to forego their way of life, countless innocent Natives bravely fought against these edicts only to find themselves bound in chains.

Hernando Ruiz de Alarcón, author of Treatise on the Heathen Superstitions, relentlessly tortured Indigenous Mexicans in an inhumane attempt to force admissions about the use of “la raíz diabólica” (the diabolical root). One victim of the Entheogenic Inquisition, an Acaxee man, was sadistically tortured for three consecutive days before his captors gouged his eyes, lacerated his abdomen in the shape of a “crucifix,” and turned “ravenous dogs loose on his innards.”

From the Inquisition onward, the sacramental ingestion of Peyote was driven underground so as to avoid detection by the Spaniards. Only in remote landscapes would these entheogenic sects survive. The various mountain ranges and deserts of Mexico were notoriously difficult for the Spaniards to traverse, much less effectively govern. For centuries, Peyotism survived as a secret passed down from generation to generation in hushed tones — a secret so powerful that one might lose their life if it were revealed to the wrong person.

The modern origins of the peyote ceremony

By the end of the 19th century, Native Americans were facing some of their darkest days. By instituting an unwritten policy of Indigenous genocide, the United States had effectively deprived our First Nations of their natural resources, land, health, families, and “even their names.” In response to this unbearable oppression, many began embracing a variety of new and traditional religious practices to ease their individual and collective sense of suffering.

While the Ghost Dance movement was spreading across the United States circa 1890, Native Americans began to incorporate something new into their religious practices — Peyote. In stark contrast to the Ghost Dance, Peyotism offered Native Americans a means to practice their ceremonies “out of view of white people.”

In fact, that is how the term “meeting” came to be associated with Peyote ceremonies. Melissa Haag, wife of the President of the NAC of Oklahoma, recently told The Oklahoman that early NAC congregants had to use code words to conceal their practices. As she put it, someone would “go to someone’s house and say ‘Hey, we’re having a meeting.’ That’s what they did until it became OK.”

Why are Peyote meetings conducted? The Church provides communal ceremonies centered on spiritual growth and healing of the individual as well as the community-at-large. Oftentimes, meetings will be conducted for those suffering from spiritual or physical illnesses, to give thanks for good fortune, or to seek divine guidance during uncertain times. Given the dignified nature of these ceremonies, entire families often join the ceremony while wearing their finest clothing.

The first Western account of the Peyote ceremony was documented by the ethnologist James Mooney. After observing the solemn ritual among the Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache in 1891, Mooney described a nocturnal ceremony led by a “Roadman” in which “worshipers sit in a circle around the inside of the sacred tipi, with a fire blazing in the center.” As congregants chew Peyote, everyone engages in prayer and reflection. Participants also take turns singing sacred songs while utilizing a variety of instruments (e.g. sacred rattle, eagle-bone whistle, water drum, etc).

One traditional Lakota Peyote hymn popularized by Robbie Robertson (Mohawk and Cayuga), Wani Wachi Yelo, poetically asks a divine “Father” for support during times of misery. When translated, a section of the hymn reads “I am in misery, I pray to you. I want to live on, Father I say this to you […] A life to come, a life to be. A life to come, I wish to be on that road.”

Though practices within the Church differ slightly, the Roadmen often supply the Sacred Peyote, find a location for the meeting, officiate the ceremony, and provide the next morning’s breakfast. Though NAC meetings are often portrayed as a ritual that only takes place in a teepee, this is not at all a requirement. For example, the case of People v. Woody described three NAC members who conducted an official NAC meeting within a “hogan made of railroad ties.”

Last year, Sandor Iron Rope (President of the NAC of South Dakota) was asked by Michael Pollan (author of How to Change Your Mind) why NAC meetings are often conducted within teepees. Sandor made it clear that every individual component of the teepee serves as a traditional symbol of members of the extended family. As he put it, even the individual “pegs that hold the tepee down, those are all your children. So when you go into the tepee you are going into that spiritual family for help, for prayers, because we are all related.”

Though it is true that Peyote serves as the NAC’s sacrament much like the Christian Eucharist, Peyote is considered to be more than a sacrament. Within many Native American Church congregations, Peyote is viewed as an “ancestor and living relative”, a “health restorer,” a “deity”, the “flesh of God,” the “flesh of our ancestors, an “omniscient spirit,” a “teacher, and a “protector.”

Perhaps you can now see why describing Peyote as a ‘drug’ is insulting to the NAC? Peyote is more than a sacrament. For millions of Native Americans, it’s their family’s way of life.

Current State of the NAC

Over the past few decades, the Native American Church has witnessed a sharp decline in the overall supply and quality of naturally-grown Peyote — a grave issue known as the Peyote Crisis. Various factors have come into play, but we can be assured that nearly all of these are caused by a disconnection between humankind and Mother Earth. Unfortunately, capitalist politics place profit and power over the needs of the less fortunate and our environment.

Peyote’s natural habitat in Texas and Mexico has become entangled in a web of factors that have led to its endangered status. In the US, the DEA imposes unreasonably high fees to those who wish to take on the practice of cultivating Peyote for the NAC. Every year in Mexico, thousands of tourists flock to the deserts to search for this elusive cactus.

Many improperly harvest Peyote by uprooting the entire plant instead of harvesting the above-ground portion. What’s worse is that this practice is common for illicit harvesters — those who seek to sell Peyote within the black market. Land development and mining of natural resources also impacts the sustainability of the Peyote Gardens. Given that the vast majority of state-side Peyote resides on private properties, only a few sparse plots of land are available for the NAC to gain a foothold on the supply of their Sacred Medicine.

Thankfully, various Indigenous organizations have begun massive efforts to secure a supply of their sacrament for future generations. In October of 2017, the Indigenous Peyote Conservation Initiative (IPCI) purchased 605 acres of land in Southern Texas — a major victory for the NAC. Though the Indigenous community was overjoyed by this news, the IPCI understands that much more needs to be done if the NAC is to survive.

Psychedelic CSR

While the industries surrounding the field of psychedelics mushroom into existence, our community should advocate for the protection of Indigenous religious practices, welfare, and ways of life. Zealously defending Native American communities demonstrates true allyship and allows us to give thanks to those who have contributed priceless knowledge to our field of research.

Back in September, I had the pleasure of hosting the ‘Law & Regulation’ panel at Microdose’s DMT Masterclass. Among other questions, I asked a panel of attorneys about policies that psychedelic organizations can adhere to as a way to honor the Indigenous wisdom that is foundational to our movement.

Ruth Chun, CEO of Chun Law, told the audience that psychedelic organizations must self-reflect and honestly ask themselves about what values they hold dear. She also suggested Environmental Social Governance (ESG) investing “not as an add-on social tax but how you integrate your corporate values and deploy your capital”, adding that such practices are “palatable in the board room and in investment communities.”

Speaking from experience as a woman of color, she lamented that boards-of-directors within psychedelic organizations are mostly composed of white men. Resting on the principles of diversity and inclusion, Ruth made it clear that true reciprocity would inherently include bringing Indigenous people into positions of power within psychedelic organizations.

Serena Wu, partner at Plant Medicine Law group, echoed Ruth’s points and shared how organizations can establish Public Benefit Corporations (PBC’s) so that they are “beholden not just to share-holders but other stake-holders” who are culturally invested in these “sacred” medicines.

David Wood, Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel at PsyGen Industries, drew from personal experience and explained that “everyone benefits” in non-Native allies adhere to our values and respect Indigenous communities and individuals alike.

Where do we go from here?

As we move forward in this psychedelic paradigm that does not give enough respect to Indigenous wisdom, we learn how to honor Indigenous people by sincerely listening to their concerns, learning about their cultures and history, and ultimately honor their beliefs and positions. To this end, the psychedelic community must stand in solidarity and proclaim that:​

1. The NAC is a proud tradition that has faced significant oppression.​
2. The Peyote Crisis must be urgently addressed.​
3. People without Indigenous heritage should abstain from consuming Peyote so as to honor the NAC.​

If money is the only way that you can show support for Indigenous causes, there is no shame in admitting that. Microdose has compiled a list of Indigenous organizations which directly benefit either the NAC or various Indigenous American communities.

Indigenous organizations currently accepting donations

Indigenous Peyote Conservation Initiative
Chacruna’s Indigenous Reciprocity Initiative
Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women
American Indian College Fund
Native American Rights Fund
Warrior Women Project
Native Wellness
Amazon Frontlines

Editor’s Note

This piece is part of a series produced by guest contributors to expand the voices on our site and in the greater conversation. While Microdose supports the education and exploration of these topics, the facts and opinions presented in this work are the author’s alone.​

Sasha Sisko
Sasha Sisko is a non-binary integration coach, student of ethnopharmacology, freelance journalist, author of Graced by Nature, host of the upcoming μltradelic podcast, and Social Media Manager for the non-profit Veterans of War. Ever the zealous advocate for Native American rights, Sasha honors Indigenous perspectives in every one of their articles. Raised on stolen land once inhabited by the Calusa and Seminole people, Sasha now lives in Central Florida. They welcome you to visit their website at Ultradelic.com if you'd like to connect.

The Ancient Tradition of the Peyote Ceremony

In 1918 the NAC was established within the state of Oklahoma as a “Christian religion with the practice of the Peyote Sacrament”

microdose.buzz

 

[mr peabody]

THERAPEUTIC USE OF PEYOTE IN THE NATIVE AMERICAN CHURCH*
​

by Joseph D. Calabrese

Native American communities are unique populations with unique health care needs. Native Americans face health problems that, compared to many other groups within the United States, are uniquely severe. For example, deaths from alcoholism are over six times the national average. Suicide rates are higher, and are characterized by younger people engaging in suicidal behaviors, than the general U.S. population. The suicide rate for Native American youth aged 15 to 24 is 3.3 times higher than the national average and makes up 40% of all suicides in Indian Country. In addition, deaths from tuberculosis are four times the national average, deaths from diabetes mellitus are nearly three times the national average, deaths from unintentional injuries are over twice the national average, and deaths from homicide are 81 % greater than the national average (Indian Health Service 2004). Many of these rates are improvements from prior years.

Native American health care needs are also unique in terms of the unique cultural understandings of illness, the therapeutic situation, and appropriate behavior for both patients and healers. For example, health care within a particular tribal context may traditionally take the form of a communal ritual as opposed to a dyadic conversation or collaboration. The modern clinical expectation of self-disclosure of one's behaviors or feelings to a professional stranger within a brief office visit may be foreign, as may be the absence of a spiritual frame of reference. And the alteration of problematic behaviors such as severe alcohol abuse may require more than a rational discussion of the costs and benefits of the behavior. In many cases, it seems as if the only thing that can alter high-risk behaviors is an intense spiritual experience involving a renewal of personal identity and, perhaps, a renewed relationship with the Divine.

Such an experience is offered in the NAC (Native American Church), and partly for this reason, the NAC has been implicated in health care and recovery since its inception. For example, Mooney (1896), in an article published in the Therapeutic Gazette, wrote of how the Kiowa leader Setkopte, nearly dead from tuberculosis, was treated with Peyote. He recovered immediately and was able to control the illness for at least 13 years using Peyote. Other anecdotes like this in the literature are too numerous to list. They support the argument of Schultes [1938] that Peyote appealed to Native American communities as a medicinal substance. This therapeutic reputation also extended to early 20th-century Euro-Americans, as indicated by the sale of Peyote as a medicine by such pharmaceutical companies as Parke Davis and Company and by Peyote's listing in the United States Dispensatory.

Peyote use is among the most ancient Native American practices of which we are aware. Pre-Columbian use of the cactus extends back several millennia. The oldest evidence of Peyote use that we have, in fact, comes from sites within the area now occupied by the United States. Radiocarbon dating of Peyote buttons from the Shumla Cave excavation in Texas shows a mean age of 5,700 years. Another Peyote specimen from a prehistoric cave burial in Coahuila, Mexico, was dated at between AD 810 and 1,070. Purposeful human use of Peyote is indicated by the fact that the specimens are identified as "buttons" (dried slices off the top of the Peyote cactus), were brought into caves, and in the case of the Coahuila find, were strung together on a cord like a necklace. Two-thousand-year-old ceramic bowls from Colima, Mexico, depicting a human figure holding two Peyote plants, more clearly reveal the cultural significance of Peyote at this period and may even suggest prehistoric domestication of the plant.

Early therapeutic use of Peyote among the Aztecs and surrounding Mexican groups is apparent in the literature. For example, Father Andres Perez de Ribas reported in 1645 that, "although it is medicinal, yet in its use there are many superstitions, which the Holy Tribunal of the Inquisition had at times punished." However, our knowledge of this early medical use is obscured by the ethnocentrism of the Inquisition-minded Spaniards, who assumed the reason for Peyote use to be witchcraft or the conjuring of the Devil. Aztec culture, including its medical knowledge, was systematically destroyed. Rather than recording native understandings with immense historical value, scholars like Juan de Cardenas [1945] instead devoted long passages of writing to useless speculation on which effects of Peyote required a pact with the Devil and which did not.

The practice of Peyote use among tribes in the region now occupied by the United States and Canada, usually associated with an organization called the "Native American Church," diffused directly from the older Mexican forms and retains many Mexican traits, though it has developed its own unique ritual and community structure. The NAC is a spiritual and ethnomedical tradition that is based on the use of the psychedelic Peyote cactus as a sacramental medicine. It developed in the late 19th century in response to the postconquest conditions of Native American communities. These conditions included devastation from war and foreign illnesses, alcoholism, forced acculturation and conversion to Christianity, depression, and alienation. The NAC offered personal healing, cultural revitalization, and recovery from alcoholism. From its origin point in Oklahoma, the NAC spread to tribes throughout the United States and Canada. It is now the most widespread Native American spiritual/medical tradition.

Among NAC members, Peyote is typically referred to using the English word "medicine" and with the pre-NAC term for "medicine" in the relevant tribal language. Most ifnot all serious ethnographers of the NAC have reported on the effectiveness of the NAC in fostering recovery from alcoholism among Native Americans. Aberle reported that based on interviews with 170 Navajos, in the vast majority of cases, the reason for first using Peyote is for the purpose of curing oneself or a family member. Aberle also verified Peyotist abstinence, based on his long-term participant observation among the avajo. He wrote,

"I have made fairly careful observations at rodeos and "squaw dances" in communities where I was reasonably well acquainted. I am prepared to say that on these occasions, when there is a great deal of public drinking and drunkenness, very few Peyotists show any signs of drinking. There are exceptions, but the Peyotists' claim not to use alcohol seems fairly well supported."

Wiedman (1990), describing the practice of Big Moon and Little Moon Peyotism among the Delawares, noted that when the Big Moon variant became more structured as a church and focused less on health care, its following declined. The Little Moon variant, which remained both a spiritual and a health care system, continued to be practiced while the Big Moon variant ceased to be practiced. Clinicians have also reported positive effects of NAC involvement on mainstream clinical treatment. Albaugh and Anderson (1974), for example, noted for their Native American patients a "carry-over period" lasting 7 to 10 days after attending a Peyote meeting that is marked by "increased openness and willingness to communicate." The well-respected psychiatrist Karl Menninger also made an especially strong statement on the effectiveness of the NAC:

"Peyote is not harmful to these people; it is beneficial, comforting, inspiring, and appears to be spiritually nourishing. It is a better antidote to alcohol than anything the missionaries, the white man, the American Medical Association, and the public health services have come up with."

The health concerns connected with Peyote use have to do primarily with emotional or behavioral disturbance, psychotic reactions, and chromosome damage. Dorrance et a1. (1975) investigated the question of chromosome damage among Native Americans who use Peyote ceremonially. They compared a group of Huichol Indians who used Peyote from childhood to old age with another group of Huichol who did not use Peyote. They found that there was no difference in chromosome damage between the Peyotist group and the non-Peyotist group. As regards psychological or behavioral disturbance, Dr. Robert Bergman (1971), a psychiatrist working for the IHS on the Navajo reservation, tracked every report of an adverse reaction to Peyote for a period of four years. Bergman concluded that there was "almost no acute or chronic emotional disturbance arising from Peyote use." He only observed five cases of reported disturbance, all of which subsided soon after. Based on his observations, Bergman made some estimates about the actual incidence of adverse reactions to Peyote:

"The Native American Church of Navajoland estimates its membership at 40,000. This estimate may be high and there may be inactive members, so we will use a population base of 30,000. Our informants report attending meetings with an average frequency of about twice a month. Since this may be exaggerated, we will assume an average attendance of only once every two months. This would result in a total of 180,000 ingestions of Peyote per year by the population we serve. Assuming that all five of our cases represent true reactions to Peyote and that we hear about only half of the cases occurring, the resulting (probably over-estimated) rate would be approximately one bad reaction per 70,000 ingestions."

Regarding psychosis, given what we know about the distribution of schizophrenia spectrum disorders across human populations, we would expect that at least 1% of Bergman's subject population would have had a biological vulnerability to psychotic symptoms. It is also widely believed that hallucinogen use will precipitate an acute psychotic reaction in biologically vulnerable individuals. Given the numbers and the fact that Peyote is believed to be good for all members of the family (especially troubled individuals), it is likely that many persons with psychotic disorders are taking Peyote regularly with no adverse reactions. Given these findings, it appears that Peyote is extremely safe when used in the Native American context.

A very important recent study, completed by researchers at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School, provides strong evidence of positive mental health outcomes associated with NAC participation. This study compared mental health and neuro-psychological test results of three groups of Navajo (one group of NAC members who regularly use Peyote, one group of Navajo with a past alcohol dependence but currently sober at least two months, and one group reporting minimal use of Peyote, alcohol, or other substances). Results of this study, which used the RMHI (Rand Mental Health Inventory) and a battery of standard neuro-psychological tests, indicated that the Peyote group showed no significant differences from the abstinent comparison group on most scales and scored significantly better on two scales of the RMHI. Furthermore, among NAC members, greater lifetime Peyote use was associated with significantly better RMHI scores on five of the nine scales including the composite Mental Health Index.

FIELDWORK WITHIN THE NAVAJO NATION

My understanding of the therapeutic use of Peyote derives from my two years of ethnographic fieldwork within the Navajo Nation. The Navajos or, as they call themselves, the Dine (meaning "the People") are an Athabaskan-speaking tribe who have a matrilineal c1anbased system of descent. The Navajo Nation comprises a large area of semiarid land in the states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. My fieldwork took place between the years of 1990 and 1998. During my first summer, I lived with the rural family of an elderly Road Man (as ritual leaders of the NAC are called), herding their 150 sheep and goats in exchange for meals (mostly mutton) and a cot in the hogan (the circular log cabin that is the traditional Navajo dwelling). Subsequent summers were spent increasing my contacts in other communities and building rapport. The project culminated in a full year combining fieldwork with a clinical placement at a JCAHO (Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations)-accredited facility run by a Navajo Road Man and administered by the Navajo tribe.

I was surprised to find how embedded NAC is in health care. Euro-Americans tend to think of the NAC exclusively in terms of religion. This view likely derives from a historic division of labor in which European and Euro-American cultures have separated the clinical and the spiritual into distinct categories. However, this separation was not made in many other cultural traditions and in these traditions, intervention is spiritual rather than secular. Among the Navajo, I found that the NAC is, for many, at the heart of their recovery from alcoholism, substance abuse, and other psychological and behavioral health conditions. I interviewed many health care workers who were from NAC backgrounds. I also attended community-based Peyote Meetings held to help individuals with an illness or other problem significantly impacting their lives.

Another surprising discovery illustrating the acceptance of the NAC as a health care modality is the IRS (Indian Health Service) coding of the Peyote Meeting as a form of treatment. The Peyote cactus is a Schedule I substance (defined by the United States as a drug that the government has determined to be dangerous and without therapeutic uses). However (amazingly and ironically), the same government that includes Peyote on its Schedule I also, in the context of the U.S. IHS, codes the Peyote Ceremony as a valid therapeutic intervention for substance abuse! As Kunitz and Levy (1994) document, therapeutic use of Peyote has its own IHS "client service code" on Code List 13, which is used for reporting provision of services to the IHS. The entry for NAC treatment reads as follows:

"Native American Treatment: Participation in Native American Church Ceremonies (Peyote Church) led by a Road Man, who has been recommended by a local NAC chapter, and conducted primarily for the purpose of treating persons with alcohol and drug problems. This code should not be used for those Native American Church services conducted for general prayer service, birthdays, or other purposes."

Becoming personally involved in the provision of clinical services at a Navajo facility provided the strongest evidence of the role of the NAC in contemporary health care. This program treated Native American adolescents with severe substance abuse and mental health problems. The CEO was a Peyotist Road Man and retired president of a large chapter of the NAC. The Clinical Director was a licensed Clinical Psychologist and was thus able to supervise my clinical work. This program combined standard Euro-American clinical approaches with traditional teachings and ritual interventions according to the backgrounds of individual clients. Parents signed a consent form for their children to participate in the weekly in-house sweat lodge ceremony, traditional Navajo spiritual practices, NAC, or Christianity (the latter two choices were done only off-site).

Following standard practice at this site, I attending a weekly sweat lodge ceremony with my clients and I included relevant major healing ceremonies in the treatment and aftercare plans I wrote for my clients. The staff did not proselytize. Instead, focus remained on meeting the unique cultural and health care needs of each client. The clinical staff included a Lakota Sun Dancer, several NAC members, several traditionalist spiritual counselors, and Navajos with significant Christian influence. Sweat lodge rituals utilized Peyote songs, Sun Dance songs, or other traditional songs depending on the particular ritual leader. r found that the adolescent clients tended to respond more to the traditional approaches (including NAC and intertribal approaches) than to the modern clinical approaches in which I was trained. They were much more likely to share their feelings in the context of the communal sweat lodge, for example, than in a dyadic individual therapy session (though material brought out in the sweat lodge could be processed later individually). I had more luck with the group therapy sessions l led than with individual therapy, perhaps because traditional Navajo treatment tends to be communal rather than dyadic.

THERAPEUTIC ASPECTS OF THE NAC

I divide therapeutic aspects of the NAC broadly into situational/remedial interventions applied in response to a particular illness or crisis and preventative/developmental interventions applied as a part of socialization and throughout the life course. To some extent, this mirrors the Peyotist categorization of Peyote Meetings into "Doctoring Meetings," in which the focus is on a particular crisis, and "Appreciation Meetings," which are aimed at giving thanks as well as maintaining the ongoing path of wellness. As this terminology suggests, both situational/remedial and preventative/developmental paths utilize the Peyote Meeting, so I will begin with a discussion of the basic structure of this ceremony.

The Peyote Meeting takes place in a circular enclosure, usually a tipi, that opens to the east. Inside the enclosure, a crescent shaped mound of earth is constructed and a line drawn along the top to represent the "Peyote Road." This represents the path of one's life as well as the ethical code of the religion: the path one must walk to be an NAC member. The participants enter the tipi at sundown. The Road Man places an especially fine Peyote cactus, most often called "Mother Peyote" or "Father Peyote," on top of the moon altar. Peyotists are taught to maintain focus on this Peyote, sending their prayers through it. After an opening prayer, which states the purpose of the meeting, Peyote is passed around and drumming and singing of Peyote songs begins. The ritual continues until dawn of the following day, when there is a ceremonial breakfast of corn, meat, fruit, and water and the participants go outside to "greet the sun." Healing experiences reported after these rituals include impressive visions interpreted as divine messages or warnings, important new insights about one's life, feelings of rejuvenation or holiness, and a desire to transform one's behavior.

In my analysis of the symbolism and larger cultural meaning of the Peyote Meeting, I found that the Peyote Meeting has the symbolic structure of a death and rebirth mediated by the Peyote spirit present in the meeting. Another important factor in the symbolism, revealed in the many testimonies of recovery narrated by Peyotists, is reflexivity or self-awareness (embodied in the crescent moon altar as a symbol of one's life course). The Peyote Meeting is a context of self-reflection, though the reflexive experience is also seen as guided by the Peyote Spirit or the Creator. Many Peyotists state that ritual experiences made visible to them the maladaptive behaviors they had been habitually engaging in and the need for change.

This reflexive aspect of the NAC is in line with an important contrast between NAC and traditional Navajo understandings of disease etiology. Traditional Navajo understandings of disease etiology focus on contaminating contact with various natural phenomena (such as the site of a lightning strike or a whirlwind), other violations of traditional taboos (such as contact with an enemy), or the malevolent actions of a witch. The individual is not necessarily to blame for coming into contact with such things. In the NAC, however, the cause of a particular problem is typically sought within oneself rather than in a witch or a contaminating substance. Whereas the traditional Navajo religion situates the patient's actions in relation to the tribal taboos, described with the word bahadzid, the NAC situates the patient's actions in relation to the ethical code called the Peyote Road, which includes brotherly love, care of family, self-reliance, and avoidance of alcohol. The NAC thus encourages personal responsibility rather than blaming one's problems on external forces. There is much blending, however, and an NAC member may also accept traditional Navajo categories of etiology.

The ritual symbolism of the Peyote Meeting depicts the human self in the arc of the crescent moon altar (representing the arc of one's life course) and symbolically embeds this depiction of the self in natural transformative processes of gestation, birth, and the dawning of a new day. The moon is said to represent gestation or birth because it takes nine months (or nine "moons") to gestate a human, and the tipi represents a pregnant female with a blanket facing east. The ceremonial drumbeat is also said to represent the beating of your mother's heart as heard from within the womb. The message is one of a natural transformation and renewal of the self to facilitate the goal of living harmoniously into old age. The ritual participants themselves are embedded in a powerfully symbolic natural transformative process, as the ritual begins at night and culminates in the dawning of a new day.

Situational/Remedial Intervention

The term "emplotment" concisely captures the ritual-based symbolic or rhetorical approach to shaping consciousness studied by anthropologists and often referred to as "symbolic healing". Emplotment is a familiar term both in narrative studies and in medical anthropology. Therapeutic emplotment, as defined here, refers to interpretive activity or application of a preformed cultural narrative placing events into a story that is therapeutic, either in that it supports expectations of a positive outcome, makes illness or treatment comprehensible, discourages unhealthy behaviors, or otherwise supports health. In the previous section, I described the therapeutic narrative structure of the Peyote Meeting: the patient is emplotted in a narrative of self-transformation and rebirth.

Peyote is well equipped to enhance the mind's openness to these cultural messages by altering suggestibility and inducing a spiritually oriented state of self-reflection. This enables therapeutic cognitive and affective restructuring. The ability of mescaline (the main psychedelic substance in Peyote) to enhance suggestibility was confirmed in an infrequently cited experimental study completed by researchers at Stanford University and the Veterans Administration Hospital in Palo Alto, California. Suggestibility, as measured by the Stanford Suggestibility Scale, was enhanced to a level comparable to that produced by the induction of a hypnotic trance. More recent studies of this phenomenon are unavailable because of a decades-long moratorium on such research.

The goal of facilitating hypnotic suggestion is also implied by the rhythmic drum beating that occurs throughout the night as well as the rule that participants should fix their attention on the central altar during the ritual. I thus see the overall structure of the Peyote Meeting in terms of a dialectic between therapeutic emplotment (the therapeutic messages summarized in the central altar and fireplace) and a technique of consciousness modification. Rather than segregating meaning and psychopharmacology into separate clinical interventions (as Euro-American culture does in its separation of clinical psychology and biological psychiatry into separate disciplines), in the Peyote Meeting, meaning and psychopharmacology are aspects of the same intervention. They seem to work in tandem, each supporting the other. This line of theorizing implies that therapeutic effects involve more than simply the psycho-pharmacological action of the psychedelic substance. Meaning and context are crucial, as Zinberg (1984) implied in his formula of drug-set-setting. For this reason, attempts to replicate this therapeutic effect in a sterile lab environment devoid of meaningful emplotment and therapeutic suggestions may be a misguided artifact of the psychiatrist's increasingly reductionist focus on only the molecular level.

Experienced (pre-moratorium) clinicians used psychedelic substances to loosen the patient's psychological set, suspending habitual patterns of consciousness and facilitating positive psychological restructuring (Grof 1976). Use of psychedelic plants in combination with therapeutic emplotment, a common method in healing and initiation rituals, may render the mind more malleable and open to therapeutic messages. Psychedelic substances also appear to enhance self-awareness and insight into one's problems. The notion that psychedelics are "mind expanding" was ridiculed by Lalsarre but is supported by the findings of experimental research. For example, a study by Spitzer et al. (1996), published in the journal Biological Psychiatry, found that the psychedelic substance psilocybin increased indirect semantic priming (offering a stimulus that acts as the prompt for additional responses that are less directly related to the initial stimulus) in normal subjects and "an increased availability of remote associations." Purposeful, self-reflective use of this state of broadened associations may be a path to creative solutions to problems, allowing one to "think outside the box" of one's culturally conditioned habitual associations.

It must be admitted that psycho-pharmacological intervention to facilitate creative shifts in perspective, therapeutic emplotment, or insight is not the standard usage of psychiatric medicines in Euro-American psychiatry. I refer to this pattern of use as a "semiotic/reflexive paradigm" of psychopharmacology in contrast to the rather limited agonist/antagonist (materialist) paradigm of Euro-American psychiatry, which focuses on fixing discrete neurochemical imbalances at the molecular level. In the absence of serious research on both traditions, it is not acceptable to assume that the molecule-focused Euro-American psychiatric paradigm is the only valid approach and that the semiotic/reflexive paradigm, focused on higher-level psychological processes rather than molecules, is ignorant or mistaken. The safest assumption is that this is a psycho-pharmacological paradigm clash and thus an interesting area for future research.

A dialectic between a structure of meaning (for example, a myth) and a technology of consciousness modification is found in many initiation rites and healing ceremonies in which society has an important message that it wants to implant in the mind of the individual. In initiation rites, these messages focus on a change of one's social status and the rights and responsibilities that go with it, for example, "you are now adult" or "you are a warrior". Secret or otherwise vital teaching is often presented after an exhausting ritual ordeal or after ingestion of a psychoactive substance. Healing ceremonies aim for a change in the health status of the person and are typically characterized by transformation symbolism and messages such as "you are healed." This pattern is even to be found in the traditional multi-night Navajo ceremonies, in which the consciousness modification technology seems to be based on simple repetition of positive messages.

In theory, NAC members understand Peyote as a panacea and the Peyote Meeting may be called in response to any crisis or illness. In practice, however, most Navajos do not use the NAC or traditional ceremonies as their only health care option. Instead, they adopt a complementary medicine model and in many cases, use Peyote Meetings to support hospital-based treatment. This statement is supported by a study of Navajo use of traditional healers completed by two IHS doctors. Based on interviews with 300 Navajo patients seen at their rural clinic, the authors found that, though a few conditions such as family difficulties or bad luck were recognized as the exclusive domain of the traditional healer, patients consulted both Navajo healers and medical providers for a wide range of health problems. In addition, some conditions, such as upper respiratory tract infections and allergies, were recognized as the exclusive domain of the medical provider. As was stated above, the IHS recognizes the use of the Peyote Meeting "for the purpose of treating persons with alcohol and drug problems." However, given its ability to enhance insight and motivation for change and to support behavioral self-control and illness management, I would describe the best uses of the Peyote Meeting as with behavioral health conditions generally.

Preventative/Developmental Intervention

Peyote Meetings are also used outside of crises to foster the development of sober, healthy lifestyles and to help maintain these lifestyles throughout life. The classic ethnographers of the NAC encountered a young religion that had more new converts than members from childhood. Today, however, the NAC is no longer a new religion but is rather a multigenerational spiritual and ethnomedical tradition that has developed distinctive child rearing strategies and goals for human development. Aberle could foresee this historical development, as he wrote that, because the NAC had been present among the Navajo long enough so that some young people were raised in the tradition from childhood, "we can expect more and more often that the reason for entry into the cult will be a matter of parental choice for children."

As I have stated above, ingestion of Peyote can be expected to alter suggestibility and openness to social messages. Chief among these messages, in the context of socialization, are the family values of honoring one's family and avoiding alcohol. Peyote also has an important role as a guardian spirit. As I argued in my 1994 paper, Peyote is seen not only as a sacred medicinal herb but also as an omniscient spiritual entity. If socialization is successful, the omnipresent gaze of the Peyote Spirit will become a constant companion of the young Peyotist, preventing the child from alcohol consumption and other sins even when the parents are absent. The Peyote Spirit is thus itself a sort of parent and it is, in fact, referred to as "Mother Peyote" or "Father Peyote."

Socialization in the NAC, as I have described it, has a safety and survival focus. If socialization is successful, this spiritual guardian will help the child adhere to the ethical code and avoid the risks associated with alcoholism, drug abuse, driving while intoxicated, and other risky behaviors. This process of establishing a relationship with an omniscient spirit may shed light on the efficacy of many other spiritual traditions in establishing behavioral control, including Alcoholics Anonymous. In addition, through participating in the NAC, children are frequently exposed to role modeling by adults of controlled, pro social use of substances within a sacred context. They learn to relate to psychoactive plants as beings that are to be respected and not misused. All this is very rational and may explain the high rates of abstinence from alcohol and drugs of abuse in the NAC.

Some NAC members emphasize the role of the Peyote Spirit as a guardian and protector, and others emphasize that Peyote can punish one for misbehavior. One wonders whether these contrasting views may derive from different parenting styles and thus be transferences onto Peyote of feelings about one's parents. The description that the Spindlers [Spindler and Spindler 1984, p. 9] collected of Peyote as a violent police officer beating the message into the Peyotist implies a rather harsh superego. This may be useful in certain cases. However, the more typical characterization of Peyote among the Peyotists I know is that of a benevolent guardian, teacher, and healer.

The ongoing developmental path I have discussed in this section (beyond the immediate intervention in acute illness or crisis) is also useful in terms of aftercare. Healing, especially in cases of behavioral health disorders such as substance abuse, does not end with the situational intervention of the healing ceremony or the hospital stay. An aftercare program is often crucial to sustained health. Here ongoing membership in the NAC plays a vital role, especially in rural areas of the Navajo Nation in which Twelve-Step meetings are not offered. NAC offers a supportive community of sober people and a philosophy of life that is conducive to recovery.

At the Navajo clinical facility at which I donated a year of my effort, I remember a particular discharge meeting during which a female client wept and told her mother that she had planned an NAC meeting as part of her aftercare and that it would really make her happy if her mother would come in (the mother had previously preferred not to participate in meetings, though she did serve food for the participants). Here is one case in which a family Peyote Ceremony could be the context for a family reconciliation that supports recovery for the adolescent client. There are many such examples I could recount.

CONCLUSIONS

The Peyote Meeting, as analyzed here, has a ritual process that involves a dialectic between therapeutic emplotment and consciousness modification. Ritual symbolism emplots the patient in a drama of sacred reflexivity, divine communication, and transformative redemption aimed at changing the patient's behavior, personal narrative, and view of his or her life. Peyote ingestion has the potential to support this process pharmacologically by altering attentional processes, suggestibility, and self-awareness in a way that makes the mind more malleable and open to change. Ritual experiences awaken the conscience and energize the spiritual life.

Peyotist ritual experiences are self-referential, often revealing aspects of the Peyotist's life that need to be worked on, and these experiences become important memories and guides for the individual. Peyotists report that the ritual helps them make important decisions, solve problems, set goals in such a way that they become spiritually binding commitments, and express important emotions and thoughts in the context of a shared ritual ordeal. Healing in the NAC also involves the mobilization of help networks and interpersonal support from the family and larger community.

Therapeutic intervention in the NAC involves not only situational/remedial interventions, applied in response to particular crises or illnesses, but also preventative/developmental interventions applied as a part of socialization and throughout the life course. An important aspect of the latter path is the development of a relationship with the benevolent and omniscient Peyote Spirit. If socialization is successful, the gaze of the Peyote Spirit will become omnipresent in the life of the child, discouraging violations of the ethical code such as use of alcohol and drugs of abuse.

The therapeutic process at the heart of the Peyote Ceremony clashes with modem Euro-American understandings of psycho-pharmalogical and psycho-therapeutic intervention. Euro-Arnerican theories of psychopharmacology derive from a materialistic agonist/antagonist paradigm while Peyotist psychopharmacology can be described in terms of a semiotic/reflexive paradigm. Euro-American theories of psycho-therapeutic efficacy tend to be dyadic and focused on the quality of the patient/healer relationship (e.g., warmth, empathy, and genuineness). In contrast, therapeutic efficacy in the NAC seems to be built into cultural structures of meaning and practice and is communal rather than dyadic in form. Whatever the differences in structure, the AC is obviously at the heart of recovery for many thousands of Native Americans and this role is acknowledged by the U. S. IRS in spite of the status of Peyote as a "Schedule I drug."

*From the article (including footnotes) here :

file:///C:/Users/user/AppData/Local/Temp/Calabrese_PMNEfHSaT,v2_29_2007.pdf​

 

[mr peabody]

The Cueva del Chileno in Bolivia where the bundle was found.
​

1,000-year-old psychedelic drug kit contains traces of cocaine and ayahuasca

by George Dvorsky | GIZMODO

Archaeologists in the Bolivian Andes have discovered a 1,000-year-old ritual bundle—basically a stash of drug paraphernalia—containing traces five different psychoactive substances, including cocaine and the active ingredients found in ayahuasca.

New research published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences describes a rare ritual bundle found buried at the Cueva del Chileno archaeological site, a cave in southwestern Bolivia. The ancient stash—found at an altitude of 13,000 feet—likely belonged to a shaman who had access to a remarkable assortment of plant-based psychotropic drugs, according to a University of California-Berkeley team led by archaeological Melanie Miller.

Ayahuasca—a trip-inducing, plant-based mixture comprised primarily of dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and harmine—is typically associated with modern (or post-Hispanic) indigenous peoples living in the Amazon basin. Archaeologists have previously found evidence of psychedelic drug use in pre-Columbian societies, such as coca (used for cocaine) and vilca (of which bufotenin is the active ingredient), but the researchers say these substances have never been found together in a single collection—until now.

“This is the first evidence of ancient South Americans potentially combining different medicinal plants to produce a powerful substance like ayahuasca,” said Miller in a press release from the University of California, Berkeley. “Our findings support the idea that people have been using these powerful plants for at least 1,000 years, combining them to go on a psychedelic journey, and that ayahuasca use may have roots in antiquity.”

That this ancient ritual bundle was once used to store drug-related paraphernalia is of little doubt. Indeed, its contents wouldn’t look terribly out of place in a modern drug-infused setting. Among the various artifacts pulled from the leather bag were two finely carved wooden tablets on which plant-based substances were ground down into snuff. The bag also contained an ornately decorated wooden snuffing tube for snorting the hallucinogenic compounds. Other items in the bag included spatulas made from llama bone, a colorful headband, dried plant stems held together by strings, and a remarkable pouch stitched together from the snouts of three Andean foxes. In a press release, Miller described the fox-snout pouch as “the most amazing artifact I’ve had the privilege to work with.”

The Cueva del Chileno ritual bundle.

These items, which date to the pre-Incan Tiwanaku civilization (550 AD to 950 AD), were in very good shape owing to the arid conditions of in the Andes. Radiocarbon dating placed the artifacts to between 905 to 1170 AD.

A chemical analysis of the trace compounds found within the fox-snout pouch and on the plant stems revealed no less than five psychoactive compounds: cocaine, benzoylecgonine (a metabolite of cocaine), harmine, bufotenine, and dimethyltryptamine (DMT). A sixth possible compound, one related to psilocin, was also detected, though the chemical signal was less conclusive. It’s now the largest number of psychoactive compounds found in a single bundle, according to the new study.

As noted, DMT and harmine are the active, mind-altering ingredients of ayahuasca. "The co-occurrence of harmine, abundant in yage, and dimethyltryptamine, found in vilca and chacruna, suggests that multiple plants may have been used to make ayahuasca, which can induce vivid psychedelic trips,” noted the press release.

The fox-snout pouch.

Interestingly, the plants required to produce these compounds aren’t able to grow in this location due to the high altitude. The researchers speculated that shaman who owned this bundle either personally gathered the materials or collected them through extensive trading networks.

“A lot of these plants, if consumed in the wrong dosage, could be very poisonous,” said Miller. “So, whoever owned this bundle would need to have had great knowledge and skills about how to use these plants, and how and where to procure them.”

Unfortunately, no human remains were found at the site, so we know very little about the owner of this drug kit. More archaeological evidence will be required to add color to this aspect of the story.

"As to the function or purpose of these hallucinogenic substances among the Tiwanaku people, it may have been connected to a complex religious tradition with deep roots in earlier Andean and Amazonian cultures,” wrote the authors in the new paper. "Shamans acted as intermediaries between realms, entering into altered mental/physical states to connect living people with venerated ancestors thought to exist in other realms,” and presumably, “the consumption of psychoactive substances facilitated the communication between ritual specialists [i.e. shamans], ancestors, and deities.”

A final note about that intriguing fox-snout pouch: “There are civilizations who believe that, by consuming certain psychotropic plants, you can embody a specific animal to help you reach supernatural realms, and perhaps a fox may be among those animals,” Miller said.

Or, perhaps there’s a connection between the fox snouts the snorting of the psychedelic snuff. Whatever the meanings behind these various symbolic objects, the findings provide some fascinating clues to how and when psychedelics were used in human pre-history.

1,000-Year-Old Psychedelic Drug Kit Contains Traces of Cocaine and Ayahuasca

Archaeologists in the Bolivian Andes have discovered a 1,000-year-old ritual bundle—basically a stash of drug paraphernalia—containing traces five different psychoactive substances, including cocaine and the active ingredients found in ayahuasca.

gizmodo.com

 

[mr peabody]

How psychedelics empowered The Wari, an ancient Andean Empire*

The Wari Empire ruled the South American highlands for centuries with help from psychedelic parties, new evidence suggests.

by George Dvorsky | GIZMODO | 11 Jan 2022

Archaeological evidence from Peru suggests elite members of the Wari Empire mixed a psychedelic drug with a beer-like beverage in order to cultivate and preserve political control.

During feasts, Wari elites added vilca, a powerful psychedelic, to chicha, a beer-like beverage made from fruit. Together, the concoction made for a potent party drug, which the researchers say helped those in power bond with their guests and consolidate relationships. And because vilca could only be produced by the elites, these psychedelic feasts served to boost their social and political importance. Such are the findings of a new study published today in Antiquity.

The vibrant pre-Columbian Wari state ruled over the Peruvian Andes from around 600 CE to 1000 CE, prior to the emergence of the Inca Empire. Evidence of the vilca-chicha mixture was found at the Quilcapampa site in Peru—a short-lived Wari outpost built during the 9th century CE. Archaeologists with the Royal Ontario Museum assisted with the fieldwork, while Matthew Biwer, an archaeologist at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, contributed to the analysis.

"Quilcapampa, located on a road in south-central Peru, is significant in that it’s one of the few investigated Wari sites in the Arequipa province of Peru, which is currently understudied in terms of Wari,” as Biwer, the first author of the new study, explained in an email. In particular, "the site has provided critical evidence of how Wari operated in the region” as well as insights into the “Wari-local relationships that developed over the unusually short occupation of the site,” he added.

One of only a few vilca seeds found at the site.

Vilca, as a drug, dates back thousands of years, but it wasn’t clear if Wari individuals partook. Members of the contemporary Tiwanaku state most certainly did, ingesting it as snuff. The chemical Bufotenine is what gives the drug its potent psychotropic qualities. But as the new research suggests, the Wari people did use vilca to get high, but instead of consuming it as snuff, they added it to chicha—in this case, chicha produced from the fruits of Schinus molle, an evergreen tree native to Peru.

“This is, to my knowledge, the first finding of vilca at a Wari site where we can get a glimpse of its use,” said Biwer. “Vilca seeds or residue has been found in burial tombs before, but we could only assume how it was used. These findings point to a more nuanced understanding of Wari feasting and politics, and how vilca was implicated in these practices.”

The excavations at Quilcapampa provided evidence of both substances, as over a million pea-sized molle dregs, or fruits, were found at the site, and also some seeds of the vilca tree, which is used to produce the potent psychedelic drug. As Biwer explained, it was the archaeological context that allowed his team to conclude that the two substances were mixed together.

Carbonized molle drupes (fruits) used for making chicha.

“Vilca is not common at the site—we only have a few seeds recovered,” he said. “This is important because we know its use was not widespread—it was limited to certain contexts.”

Indeed, vilca was only recovered in a couple of areas at the site, one of which was a central garbage pile located near a pit of molle chicha dregs. "The close association of the vilca to the molle chicha dregs, the complete absence of snuff paraphernalia at the site, and evidence pointing to a big party, all point to the use of the vilca-chicha mixture in a feast held at Quilcapampa," said Biwer.

These communal feasts, hosted by the elites, cemented social relationships while showcasing state hospitality. In a sense, it was beer and drugs that allowed the Wari empire to maintain political control, as Biwer argued in his email to Gizmodo:
​

The ability to provide a feast for guests has powerful social, economic, and political connotations. Hosting a feast involves giving away food and other resources to guests. This can provide a lot of social and political clout for a host, whose guests witness the economic abilities of the host to provide the feast (remember, there is no grocery store to go buy food). Who is invited, what is served, who eats what and how much, and many other aspects of feasts create a politically charged atmosphere. It is also political in that the guests of a feast may become indebted to a host who gave them food and drink—not everyone has the means to repay. They would thus be socially obligated to repay the host in some way, which translates to real power for the host. Using feasts and surplus you can create relationships through which some people become indebted to others—there is real power in such situations.​

That the elites had exclusive control over the vilca drug seems likely. The tree does not grow in the valley where Quilcapampa is located, the nearest source being more than 250 miles (400 kilometers) away. Clearly, not everyone had the means to procure these hallucinogenic seeds, but not only that, it was in the best interest of Wari leaders to control its access and use, according to the study.

The new research shows that Wari had access to vilca, which wasn’t clear before, and that they added it to chicha, as opposed to using it as snuff. This is significant, said Biwer, "because snuff creates a mind-altering experience for an individual, whereas the addition of vilca to chicha can provide this experience to many more people.” And by doing so, “Wari began to use feasting and the ability to provide a mind-altering experience…to create social relationships and power with locals and other groups they encountered,” he added.

Prehistoric South Americans had access to a remarkable assortment of drugs. Research from 2019 revealed a 1,000-year-old ritual bundle consisting of five different psychoactive substances, including ayahuasca and cocaine. The bundle, found in a Bolivian cave at an altitude of 13,000 feet, was likely the property of a shaman, who would have possessed considerable knowledge about certain plants and where to procure them.

*From the article here :

How Beer and Drugs Empowered an Ancient Andean Empire

The Wari Empire ruled the South American highlands for centuries with help from hallucinogenic parties, new evidence suggests.

gizmodo.com

 

[mr peabody]

​

Psychedelics and Substance Use Disorder: 4000 BCE to present day*

The therapeutic uses of psychedelics were discovered over 6,000 years ago, but recent scientific exploration brings them to the mainstream.

by Alaina M. Jaster, BS | Psychedelic Science Review | 16 Dec 2021

Psychedelics continue to gain attention for their potential therapeutic effects, but the history behind these compounds is often forgotten. Here, the historical use of psychedelics to treat substance use disorders (SUDs) is discussed, with some highlights on what we know about the possible mechanisms behind these effects.​

4,000 BCE – Peyote and the Native American Church​

The peyote cactus (Lophophora williamsii) is native to Mexico and southwestern Texas and contains the psychoactive ingredient mescaline, which is considered a classic psychedelic. Mescaline produces hallucinations and alterations in sensory perception through mainly the serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT2AR).

Indigenous cultures native to Mexico and the southwestern United States have used the peyote cactus in rituals to treat a variety of physical and psychological ailments, including alcoholism, for over 6,000 years. The Native American Church was formed in the 1800s, and still to this day performs sacred rituals using peyote with government authorization and reimbursement through Native Health Services. These ceremonies typically consist of a group of people taking small amounts of peyote overnight and include participation in prayer, music, songs, and chants. The ritual and social aspects of the ceremony are extremely important to the Native American Church’s treatment.

In combination with the spiritual aspects of the ritual, there is a sustained physiological response or “after-glow” associated with the ingestion of peyote. This sustained response is thought to be due to an interaction between serotonin and dopamine in the brain’s reward pathway.​

1,000 CE – Ayahuasca and the Shamanic Ritual​

Ayahuasca is an herbal brew, most commonly consisting of a mix of the native Amazonian Banisteriopsis caapi vine and leaves of the Psychotria viridis shrub.6 Ayahuasca brews typically contain N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a classic psychedelic that also acts mainly through the 5-HT2AR, and monoamine oxidase inhibitors that prevent DMT from being metabolized as quickly.

Ayahuasca has been widely used in an array of shamanic rituals, social gatherings, and healing ceremonies for centuries by the indigenous peoples of the Amazon Basin in South America. Ceremonial consumption of ayahuasca brews is led by Shamans and takes place overnight, usually accompanied by guided meditation, song, and some purging, which is believed to release built-up emotions and negative energy. It has been used to heal several ailments, including anxiety, depression, and substance use disorder. In the 21st century, ayahuasca treatment centers exist all over the world to treat different neuropsychiatric disorders, including substance use disorders. Informal evidence suggests that the healing rituals can help those with a history of relapse and treatment failure, specifically those with alcohol use disorder. The therapeutic effects are thought to be from the active compound, DMT, and the hypothesis is that it increases dopamine levels and decreases withdrawal symptoms.​

1900s – Ibogaine in West Africa​

Iboga (sometimes spelled eboga or eboka) refers to a small variety of African plant species in the Apocynaceae family, principally Tabernanthe iboga and T. manii. The active compound in this plant species is ibogaine, whose pharmacological mechanisms still remain largely unknown but are thought to be partially through glutamatergic NMDA receptor activation. Iboga has been used for centuries as a medicine and sacrament in tribes of West Africa. Iboga is also used as an agent for alertness in hunter/gatherer tribes such as pygmy tribes in the Congo Basin of Central Africa.

Ibogaine gained mainstream attention at the turn of the 20th century, through its use in spiritual rituals of the Bwiti religion to promote radical spiritual growth, stabilize community structures, and resolve pathological problems such as SUD. In the 1960s, informal treatment groups began to use ibogaine to treat substance use disorders. Subjective reports suggest decreased craving and withdrawal symptoms in those with opioid use disorder following ibogaine treatment lasting up to two months. The pharmacological mechanisms behind these reported effects still remain largely unknown and are being currently investigated.​

1940- 1970 – LSD and Clinical Studies​

Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) was synthesized in 1938 and serendipitously ingested in 1943 by Albert Hofmann, a Swiss chemist working for Sandoz pharmaceutical company. He noted that it produced a “not unpleasant intoxication characterized by an extremely stimulated imagination” which faded away about two hours later. Following these reports, LSD then gained the interest of several research groups, including the United States government, to study its effects on human behavior and psychosis, as well as treating those with substance use disorders. LSD also became very popular recreationally and was associated with the counterculture movement of the 1960s before being classified as a Schedule I compound under the Controlled Substances Act in 1971. This classification led to the halting of all psychedelic research in the United States.

The use of LSD to treat alcoholism is noted as the most widely investigated clinical application of psychedelics, although many older findings are dismissed due to poor design, lack of follow-up, low participant numbers, and reliance on self-reporting. A meta-analysis of six randomized control trials with 536 patients found LSD to decrease alcohol misuse and increase abstinence after one dose, with these effects persisting for 6-12 months. LSD is known to activate the 5-HT2AR in rodents and humans, and its effects on perception are thought to be mediated by this receptor. It is currently unknown whether the potential therapeutic effects of LSD are mediated by this same receptor, or if there is influence from other receptors like dopamine receptors, which are known to be activated by LSD and are implicated in the rewarding effects of drugs of abuse.5​

21st Century – Use of Psychedelics for SUDs​

The turn of the 21st century brought hope for psychedelic research. Several clinical and preclinical studies focusing on psychedelic compounds including LSD16, 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), psilocybin, and synthetic analogs of mescaline have been completed or are currently ongoing.

Several clinical studies in the last ten years have focused on psilocybin (psilocin being the active metabolite), which is found in more than 100 species of magic mushrooms including Psilocybe cyanescens in Europe and the west coast of the United States. A study by Bogenschutz et al. found that psilocybin treatment in combination with motivational therapy decreased heavy drinking days in people with alcohol use disorder. Psilocybin is also being investigated as a treatment for cocaine and methamphetamine addiction, as well as an aid for smoking cessation. Most recently, Johns Hopkins Medicine received the first federal grant for psychedelic-assisted treatment research in the last 50 years to assess psilocybin therapy for smoking cessation.

Preclinical studies are also underway in hopes of elucidating the mechanisms behind the potential therapeutic effects seen in clinical trials. These studies are mainly focused on rodent models of alcohol use disorder, which found that psychedelics like LSD and 2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodo-amphetamine (DOI) both decreased preference and consumption of ethanol in a commonly used model of alcohol choice in mice. There is also some investigation into models of opioid use disorder in both rodent and non-human primates, but more research is necessary to determine the effects of psychedelics in these models.​

Conclusion​

While psychedelic research is at an all-time high since the Controlled Substances Act of 1971, it is important to remember the history surrounding these compounds. Indigenous people around the world have used these interesting substances for thousands of years, including in some of the applications in which they are being researched today. The rich history of psychedelics and their powerful ability to alter cognition and heal is important to take into account moving forward in modern applications of these substances.


Alaina M. Jaster, BS

Alaina is a PhD student in pharmacology at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her research focuses on behavioral changes and circuitry of psychedelics involved in preclinical models of addiction and depression.

*From the article (including footnotes) here :

Psychedelics and Substance Use Disorder: 4000 BCE to Present Day

The therapeutic uses of psychedelics were discovered over 6,000 years ago, but recent scientific exploration brings them to the mainstream.

psychedelicreview.com

 

[mr peabody]

Psychedelic Beer: Elixir of the Ancient Peruvian Andes​

by Kiki Dyon | Psychedelic Spotlight | 25 Jan 2022

New archeological research suggests that a political punch of beer infused with psychedelics may have helped rulers of the pre-Incan empire maintain power for 400 years.

Between 600 AD and 1000 AD, the Wari Empire spanned across the verdant highlands of modern-day Peru. For over 400 years, they prospered, forging political allegiances and existing as the preeminent empire of the Andes. The secret to their success? Psychedelic beer.

Recent research in the Antiquity journal suggests that beer laced with a psychedelic extracted from plant seeds may have “reinforced the power of the Wari state, and represents an intermediate step between exclusionary and corporate political strategies.”

The research states that Wari people likely consumed the mixture at intimate feasts to foster social relationships and reinforce status within the empire. “Feasts for millennia were used to cement political control in the Andes,” Justin Jennings, author of the study and associate professor of anthropology at the University of Toronto, said.

He believes the beer was linked to Wari statecraft, adding flavor to “something that was akin to a long, boozy, and likely quite delightful dinner party.” The psychedelic beer allowed Wari leaders to maintain their status by facilitating a memorable, unique, and — intense — hallucinatory feast.

This Andean example adds to mounting research documenting the ties between psychedelics and social power. The main thesis is that psychedelics and alcohol emphasize collective experiences, enhancing the overlapping euphoria of communal gatherings and leaving participants with a powerful positive impression of their hosts.

Jennings is one of a team of international archeologists from Peru, Canada, and the US who came to this conclusion after excavating a site in Quilcapampa. At the Southern Peruvian dig site, they discovered 16 vilca seeds. The authors said the seeds, which typically would have been turned into a powder and mixed in the molle beer, may have been lost while brewing the unique drink.

According to National Geographic, Vilca seeds are rarely used today but were once used to facilitate an out-of-body experience similar to ayahuasca.

However, since the psychoactive effects are weakened when ingested, Jennings believes the seeds were usually smoked or ground into snuff. By adding the powder to beer, the Wari were able to maintain more of the psychedelic effect.

“You were able to have a trip, an out-of-body experience to a degree, but it was a longer, smoother, and less violent experience,” he tells National Geographic. “You were able to have that sense of going somewhere, of tripping out, but with friends.”

Earlier findings show that pre-Wari, vilca was only provided to an exclusive elite, like priests, and not available to all, per CNN. By making the vilca experience more inclusive, the Wari leaders set an example of hospitality and offered a singular experience that wasn’t available elsewhere and couldn’t be replicated by anyone who wanted to challenge Wari control.

The discovery of vilca seeds at Quilcapampa fills a hole in our understanding of how different civilizations used substances. However, a question remains: Why did rulers of the Incan Empire not replicate the Wari formula? Though molle was still sipped in the Andes post-Wari, it was replaced by the production of maize beer. “The Inca built off of other Wari innovations but chose a different path in regards to feasting, beer, and drugs,” writes Jennings, adding an inquisitive: “Why?”

Read the full study “Hallucinogens, alcohol and shifting leadership strategies in the ancient Peruvian Andes” here.

*From the article here :

Psychedelic Beer: The Leadership Elixir of the Ancient Peruvian Andes

New archeological research suggests psychedelic beer may have helped rulers of the pre-Incan empire maintain power for 400 years.

psychedelicspotlight.com

 

[mr peabody]

The main gates at Chavin de Huantar

San Pedro and the Gates of Heaven

Native to the Andean mountain range of South America, Huachuma (Echinopsis pachanoi) is also known as San Pedro (Saint Peter) because it is said to be the key that opens the gates of heaven. With its potential to catalyze deep healing at many levels, both for individuals and societies, it is a teacher plant that has much to offer those looking for a profound entheogenic experience.

The tall, columnar cactus, which was imported as an ornamental plant to the southwestern United States decades ago, contains the same psychoactive psychedelic ingredient (mescaline) as peyote (Lophophora williamsii), to which it is related. Various tribes in Northern Mexico, as well as the Native American Church in the United States, use Huachuma to produce a visionary state that invites profound introspection. The cactus has been off the radar of many people, even within the plant medicine world, but the fact that peyote cactus is endangered and hard to come by means that Huachuma, which is readily available online, is gaining popularity. San Pedro is poised to play a key role in the conscious evolution of humanity.

"I encourage people to use huachuma over peyote for one crucial reason: Peyote is highly endangered, only grows inside its native range, and is extremely slow growing," says Scott Lite, an ethnobotanist, based in Cusco, Peru, who has been studying and working intensely with Huachuma for the last 12 years. "Huachuma, however, is common in its native range, grows in abundance, and it grows fast," he says.

Lite is founder of the Ethnobotanical Conservation Organization (EthnoCO.com), which offers workshops, classes, and trips into indigenous areas of the Peruvian Andes and Amazon, and shares information about medicinal and other useful plants through its Facebook page. He also hosts Huachuma ceremonies and says that mescaline is different than other hallucinogenic substances in some subtle but important ways.

"Huachuma contains mescaline, which is a phenethylamine and is chemically related to MDMA, while LSD, DMT and psilocybin are in the tryptamine family," he says, "so mescaline is unique among the major hallucinogens in that it is a phenethylamine."

Make no mistake, San Pedro can produce visions just like ayahuasca can. At lower doses it has the feel-good happiness of MDMA, with a shroom-like quality of feeling like a child while at the same time being slightly less scary, less jarring, and more loving than either aya or mushrooms.

Because it is a bit gentler than many of the other plant teachers, Huachuma has earned the nickname The Grandfather around the medicine community. Mescaline itself is nontoxic. And, while there are few studies done on Huachuma itself, a Harvard Medical School study that investigated the long-term effects of regular peyote use among members of the Native American Church found no evidence of psychological or cognitive deficits at all.

Because of its unique pharmacology and gentle action, as well as its abundance and ease of preparation, Huachuma is a standout for those who want to explore plant medicine for self-healing.

"While DMT and psilocybin are powerful hallucinogens, they are not as powerful empathogens [drugs that make you feel empathy] as mescaline," says Lite. "Mescaline, whether San Pedro or peyote, could be great for people with PTSD, deep guilt, or other personal issues that require a gentler and more loving compound than DMT, LSD, or psilocybin."

Because of the lack of studies on Huachuma, however, we are going to have to dig deep into the past to uncover this sacred cactus's true potential to help heal humanity and the world.

Robots help find new underground galleries in Peru's Chavín de Huantar.

Unraveling the mystery: Huachuma and the creation of Andean civilization

Sitting in the shadows of Central Perus Cordillera Blanca, the worlds highest tropical mountain range, lie the ruins of Chavin de Huantar, the religious focus of the Chavin. The first developed Peruvian civilization, Chavin laid the groundwork for all Peruvian civilizations to come. The Chavin not only produced the first distinctive artistic style in the Andes region, but also a spiritual belief system that would become the foundation for complex cultures to come, including the Inca.

Huachuma played a central role in the Chavin culture, which lasted from roughly 1500 to 200 BC. In fact, the hallucinogenic may have been what actually inspired the complex civilization to develop in the first place. At the heart of the society's religious and political organization was an elaborate Huachuma ritual, which was performed at the main temple of Chavin de Huantar. Priests would give the people San Pedro and send them through underground labyrinths. The priests would blow conch horns while the person walked through the labyrinth in the dark.

Not unlike the ancient Greek (1200 BC to 323 BC) Eleusinian Mysteries initiation rites, which some scholars say involved psychedelic substances, the ritual was designed to open up common inhabitant to a sacred world view that served to hold together society.

Participants under the influence of San Pedro spent hours wandering the dark maze, until they rounded a corner and saw the sun shining through a hole in the roof and onto a 15-foot high monolith, the Lanzon, carved to resemble a fanged god covered in snakes.

Simultaneously pointing up and down in the classic as above, so below gesture that is also a common motif in Ancient Greece, the Lanzon represented the merging of heaven and earth. Seeing it was the culmination of the psychedelic Huachuma initiation rite; it served to instill in people a fearlessness of death as they realized they were immortal souls in mortal bodies.

While the shamanic priests who performed these rituals were extremely powerful, according to Lite, their power was based in religious awe, not military might. In fact, there is little evidence for Chavin military organization. Shamanic priests, not kings, were involved in the governing of the society, which developed art and trade to high levels of sophistication. The priests expanded the civilization, to the Peruvian coast and north and south along the Andes, by converting people to their religion and sharing Chavins many cultural advancements, including the central ritual of ingesting Huachuma cactus.

While Chavin eventually faded away, its culture was the foundation for later Andean civilizations. Archaeologists have found evidence of San Pedro use at many key ancient cities in the area. From ancient Bolivias Tiwanakus (200 to 1000 AD) , which depicts Huachuma alongside ceremonial objects used to consume it, to textiles from the expansive Wari Civilization (600 to 1000 AD), which once spanned most of the modern Peruvian Pacific coast, San Pedro prominently figures in a spiritual context throughout the ancient Andean world up to the Inca, the last and largest of these complex civilizations.

When the Spanish conquered the Andean region, the time-honored and deeply foundational tradition of Huachuma suffered a fate similar to the Eleusinian Mysteries, which 1,000 years earlier had come to an end under Christianity: Huachuma use was driven underground. Its traditional use is now mostly concentrated in a mountainous and sparsely populated area of Southern Ecuador and Northern Peru, where indigenous groups like the Saraguro have kept the huachuma ceremony alive.

Mescaline medicine: Can San Pedro help heal the world?

As mental and public health issues such as addiction, abuse, and depression begin to reach epic proportions in the developed world and the shadow of war now looms across the planet, a new Psychedelic Renaissance has bloomed. The healing role of these sacred New World psychedelic plants is re-emerging. And its about time.

Ayahuasca from the Amazon rainforest, an area that was much more resistant to Spanish conquest and able to keep its shamanic traditions more intact, is leading the movement and has been found to be a potent therapeutic tool in everything from alleviating PTSD to lifting depression. But huachuma also may be able to play an important part in humanity's healing, which we so desperately need right now.

According to a recently released study from the University of Adelaide in Australia, psychedelics are highly therapeutic for mental health issues because they facilitate an experience of ego dissolution and oneness with creation.

Undoubtedly, this was the experience at the core of the ancient initiation rites at Chavin as well as the Eleusinian Mysteries. While ayahuasca and other psychedelic plants like psilocybin also induce a state of oneness, Huachumas relative gentleness, special empathy-inducing properties, and history of use in complex urban environments uniquely poise the cactus to play a major role in conscious evolution.

"The ceremonies I run take place in the Cusco region of southern Peru at a special cave that the young Inca elite boys were initiated to be men at, Scott Lite reveals. We start with a passage called the plant medicine sutra from a book called Zig-Zag Zen, which combines psychedelic use with Buddhist perspectives. We thank Pachamama [Mother Earth], the sun, the moon, the stars, huachuma itself and the Apus [mountain spirits], and then drink the medicine."

"One by one, I sing, whistle, blow smoke, and clean the energy of each participant with my mapacho smoke and rattle. Then, alone, each participant walks through the last narrow part of the cave, in the river, through the darkness and into the light," he continues.

"I try not to get in the way of the medicine too much, letting it do its own work."

Lite has consumed huachuma himself some 300 times and has led more than 200 ceremonies as part of the ecological and ethnobotanical offerings that he provides through EthnoCo. His experiences have led him to believe that this sacred plant medicine can help transform individuals and the world.

"Huachuma taught me to love myself, but above all, it taught me I am a warrior of light, one of the gardeners of Eden, and that it is my Sacred Duty to protect our mother, Mother Earth, Pachamama," he says. "It showed me how humanity could turn this Earth into a hell-scape, devoid of life, burned like a desert by mankinds arrogance. It also showed me how we can turn the Pacha [Earth] into a new Garden of Eden with mankind as her stewards, dutifully protecting that which grows, crawls, swims, walks, or flies."

Beyond the isolated misery of the ego lies the oneness with all things that is the core of not just the psychedelic experience, but of all the world's spiritual paths. As a plant teacher that is still relatively unknown yet grows abundantly and is also relatively very simple to prepare, it is time for huachuma to come forth into the light itself.

Because, true to its name, the San Pedro cactus just might hold the key to unlocking the gates of heaven, right here on Earth.

http://reset.me/story/huachuma-heali...-modern-times/

 

[mr peabody]

​

Psychedelics and Substance Use Disorder: 4000 BCE to present day*

The therapeutic uses of psychedelics were discovered over 6,000 years ago, but recent scientific exploration brings them to the mainstream.

by Alaina M. Jaster, BS | Psychedelic Science Review | 16 Dec 2021

Psychedelics continue to gain attention for their potential therapeutic effects, but the history behind these compounds is often forgotten. Here, the historical use of psychedelics to treat substance use disorders (SUDs) is discussed, with some highlights on what we know about the possible mechanisms behind these effects.​

4,000 BCE – Peyote and the Native American Church​

The peyote cactus (Lophophora williamsii) is native to Mexico and southwestern Texas and contains the psychoactive ingredient mescaline, which is considered a classic psychedelic. Mescaline produces hallucinations and alterations in sensory perception through mainly the serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT2AR).

Indigenous cultures native to Mexico and the southwestern United States have used the peyote cactus in rituals to treat a variety of physical and psychological ailments, including alcoholism, for over 6,000 years. The Native American Church was formed in the 1800s, and still to this day performs sacred rituals using peyote with government authorization and reimbursement through Native Health Services. These ceremonies typically consist of a group of people taking small amounts of peyote overnight and include participation in prayer, music, songs, and chants. The ritual and social aspects of the ceremony are extremely important to the Native American Church’s treatment.

In combination with the spiritual aspects of the ritual, there is a sustained physiological response or “after-glow” associated with the ingestion of peyote. This sustained response is thought to be due to an interaction between serotonin and dopamine in the brain’s reward pathway.​

1,000 CE – Ayahuasca and the Shamanic Ritual​

Ayahuasca is an herbal brew, most commonly consisting of a mix of the native Amazonian Banisteriopsis caapi vine and leaves of the Psychotria viridis shrub.6 Ayahuasca brews typically contain N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a classic psychedelic that also acts mainly through the 5-HT2AR, and monoamine oxidase inhibitors that prevent DMT from being metabolized as quickly.

Ayahuasca has been widely used in an array of shamanic rituals, social gatherings, and healing ceremonies for centuries by the indigenous peoples of the Amazon Basin in South America. Ceremonial consumption of ayahuasca brews is led by Shamans and takes place overnight, usually accompanied by guided meditation, song, and some purging, which is believed to release built-up emotions and negative energy. It has been used to heal several ailments, including anxiety, depression, and substance use disorder. In the 21st century, ayahuasca treatment centers exist all over the world to treat different neuropsychiatric disorders, including substance use disorders. Informal evidence suggests that the healing rituals can help those with a history of relapse and treatment failure, specifically those with alcohol use disorder. The therapeutic effects are thought to be from the active compound, DMT, and the hypothesis is that it increases dopamine levels and decreases withdrawal symptoms.​

1900s – Ibogaine in West Africa​

Iboga (sometimes spelled eboga or eboka) refers to a small variety of African plant species in the Apocynaceae family, principally Tabernanthe iboga and T. manii. The active compound in this plant species is ibogaine, whose pharmacological mechanisms still remain largely unknown but are thought to be partially through glutamatergic NMDA receptor activation. Iboga has been used for centuries as a medicine and sacrament in tribes of West Africa. Iboga is also used as an agent for alertness in hunter/gatherer tribes such as pygmy tribes in the Congo Basin of Central Africa.

Ibogaine gained mainstream attention at the turn of the 20th century, through its use in spiritual rituals of the Bwiti religion to promote radical spiritual growth, stabilize community structures, and resolve pathological problems such as SUD. In the 1960s, informal treatment groups began to use ibogaine to treat substance use disorders. Subjective reports suggest decreased craving and withdrawal symptoms in those with opioid use disorder following ibogaine treatment lasting up to two months. The pharmacological mechanisms behind these reported effects still remain largely unknown and are being currently investigated.​

1940- 1970 – LSD and Clinical Studies​

Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) was synthesized in 1938 and serendipitously ingested in 1943 by Albert Hofmann, a Swiss chemist working for Sandoz pharmaceutical company. He noted that it produced a “not unpleasant intoxication characterized by an extremely stimulated imagination” which faded away about two hours later. Following these reports, LSD then gained the interest of several research groups, including the United States government, to study its effects on human behavior and psychosis, as well as treating those with substance use disorders. LSD also became very popular recreationally and was associated with the counterculture movement of the 1960s before being classified as a Schedule I compound under the Controlled Substances Act in 1971. This classification led to the halting of all psychedelic research in the United States.

The use of LSD to treat alcoholism is noted as the most widely investigated clinical application of psychedelics, although many older findings are dismissed due to poor design, lack of follow-up, low participant numbers, and reliance on self-reporting. A meta-analysis of six randomized control trials with 536 patients found LSD to decrease alcohol misuse and increase abstinence after one dose, with these effects persisting for 6-12 months. LSD is known to activate the 5-HT2AR in rodents and humans, and its effects on perception are thought to be mediated by this receptor. It is currently unknown whether the potential therapeutic effects of LSD are mediated by this same receptor, or if there is influence from other receptors like dopamine receptors, which are known to be activated by LSD and are implicated in the rewarding effects of drugs of abuse.5​

21st Century – Use of Psychedelics for SUDs​

The turn of the 21st century brought hope for psychedelic research. Several clinical and preclinical studies focusing on psychedelic compounds including LSD16, 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), psilocybin, and synthetic analogs of mescaline have been completed or are currently ongoing.

Several clinical studies in the last ten years have focused on psilocybin (psilocin being the active metabolite), which is found in more than 100 species of magic mushrooms including Psilocybe cyanescens in Europe and the west coast of the United States. A study by Bogenschutz et al. found that psilocybin treatment in combination with motivational therapy decreased heavy drinking days in people with alcohol use disorder. Psilocybin is also being investigated as a treatment for cocaine and methamphetamine addiction, as well as an aid for smoking cessation. Most recently, Johns Hopkins Medicine received the first federal grant for psychedelic-assisted treatment research in the last 50 years to assess psilocybin therapy for smoking cessation.

Preclinical studies are also underway in hopes of elucidating the mechanisms behind the potential therapeutic effects seen in clinical trials. These studies are mainly focused on rodent models of alcohol use disorder, which found that psychedelics like LSD and 2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodo-amphetamine (DOI) both decreased preference and consumption of ethanol in a commonly used model of alcohol choice in mice. There is also some investigation into models of opioid use disorder in both rodent and non-human primates, but more research is necessary to determine the effects of psychedelics in these models.​

Conclusion​

While psychedelic research is at an all-time high since the Controlled Substances Act of 1971, it is important to remember the history surrounding these compounds. Indigenous people around the world have used these interesting substances for thousands of years, including in some of the applications in which they are being researched today. The rich history of psychedelics and their powerful ability to alter cognition and heal is important to take into account moving forward in modern applications of these substances.


Alaina M. Jaster, BS

Alaina is a PhD student in pharmacology at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her research focuses on behavioral changes and circuitry of psychedelics involved in preclinical models of addiction and depression.

*From the article (including footnotes) here :

Psychedelics and Substance Use Disorder: 4000 BCE to Present Day

The therapeutic uses of psychedelics were discovered over 6,000 years ago, but recent scientific exploration brings them to the mainstream.

psychedelicreview.com

 

[mr peabody]

The sacred Sámi shaman drum returned by Danish authorities.


Three centuries on, a shaman’s precious rune drum returns home

by Charlotte Higgins | The Guardian | 13 Mar 2022

An instrument confiscated by the Danes has been given back to the Sámi people after a lengthy campaign

On 7 December 1691, a precious rune drum, created to help a noaidi, or shaman, to enter a trance and walk among spirits, was confiscated by the authorities. The owner, Anders Poulsson – or Poala-Ánde in the name’s Sámi form – was tried for witchcraft the following year.

Poulsson told the court, according to official records, that his mother had taught him how to use the rune drum, because “he wanted to help people in distress, and with his art he wanted to do good, and his mother said that she would teach him such an art.”

Before a verdict was reached, he was murdered, with an axe, by a man who had “taken leave of his senses.”

Poulsson’s drum entered the Danish royal collection, and later became the property of the National Museum of Denmark – until now. The drum has officially been handed back to the Sámi people, after what Jelena Porsanger, director of the Sámi Museum in Karasjok, northern Norway, called “a 40-year struggle.”

An indigenous people of northern Europe, the Sámi inhabit Sapmi, a territory straddling northern Norway, Finland, Sweden and Russia’s Kola peninsula. “It’s a precious object for us that is a symbol of our history, values and culture – and at the same time a symbol of colonisation and unequal power relations,” said Porsanger.

The drum had been on loan to the museum since 1979, but earlier attempts formally to regain ownership had been rebuffed. Last year, Norway’s Sámi president appealed to Queen Margrethe of Denmark over the issue, hoping she would act as “the conscience of the Danish people.”

A Sámi indigenous family group outside their home in the north of Norway around 1880.

“For us these objects are not about collections, or representing a historical period,” said Porsanger. “They are not material objects. We think of them as humans, as persons.”

It is the first Sámi drum to be repatriated from abroad and the only one in the collection in Karasjok. Now undergoing conservation, the drum will go on display as the centrepiece of a new exhibition on 12 April.

The formal handover of the object is an event of huge significance, according to Sámi film-maker Silja Somby, who is making a film about rune drums to be shown during the Venice Biennale in August. They are, she said, “like bibles for us. Each has its own special meanings and symbolisms.”

The largest single collection of more than 30 is held at the Nordiska Museet, Stockholm; there are examples too in Berlin, Leipzig, Hamburg and Rome, as well as in the British Museum and Cambridge University’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (MAA).

The Sámi population numbers about 60,000 to 70,000, of whom about 25,000 speak any one of nine surviving (and related) Sámi languages.

Rune drums were once a central aspect of their nature-based religious life. When a noaidi struck a reindeer-skin and birchwood rune drum with a reindeer-antler hammer, a brass ring would move across its surface. Depending on how the ring moved in relation to the symbols on the drum (painted in a red dye made from alder resin), the noaidi would divine future events. The drumming would also help the noaidi enter a trance and travel in different realities, for example among the spirits of the dead.

At the time Poulsson’s drum was confiscated, the Sámi were being aggressively Christianised, "he was brought to trial in February 1692 “on the grounds that he has owned and used an instrument they call a rune drum with which he has practised that wicked and ungodly art of witchcraft.” Since Norway was at the time of the Denmark-Norway union, effectively ruled from Copenhagen, it was to Copenhagen that the drum was sent.

Poulsson’s evidence survives – he even demonstrated the use of the drum to the court. He also explained the drum’s symbology, though according to recent scholars the framing of his account in broadly Christian terms may have been an attempt to tell the court what it wanted to hear.

For example, naming one human figure depicted on the drum as Diermis, he said that: “When God is prayed to, Diermis is helpful in that when there are floods and a lot of rain, he will call back the weather, and this Diermis has no power unless God gives it to him.”

On the figure of a reindeer whom he referred to as Gvodde, he said: “when God is prayed to, [Gvodde] gives good fortune in the hunt for wild reindeer. If the rune drum is beaten, and the ring will not dance for this reindeer, the one who asks for good hunting will not get any reindeer, no matter how hard he tries.”

According to Porsanger, the present Karasjok Sámi Museum is unsuitable for the housing of a large number of objects as vulnerable as the drum – it is too small, with inadequate storage facilities and atmospheric control. “We are looking at plans for a new museum,” she said. “Hopefully we will realise the dream.”

The museum, she said, has made no further requests for repatriation of drums, but, she added: “We have the stories, the language and the terminology, which we would love to share with other museums if they would listen.” In May, she confirmed, she is planning to visit UK institutions that hold Sámi material, including the British Museum and the MAA, as well as the Horniman Museum in London and the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford. The last owns Sámi-related items collected by Sir Arthur Evans, most famous as the excavator of Knossos, who visited northern Finland in 1873.

Somby is uncompromising in her desire for repatriation of Sámi items, however. “There is momentum building now,” she said, mentioning the drums in Sweden and Germany. “First we take Berlin – then we take London.”

Three centuries on, a shaman’s precious rune drum returns home

Instrument confiscated by the Danes is given back to the Sámi people after a lengthy campaign

www.theguardian.com

 

[mr peabody]

Maria Sabina

The real history behind psychedelics and their use as ancestral medicine*

by Danielle Maya Banks | BLAVITY | 31 Aug 2020

A privileged faction of America has been afforded the opportunity to evolve with the nation’s 21st century embrace of recreational drugs. Suddenly, small business owners can make a legal living selling “artisan cannabis,” and psychedelics are exalted as the kaleidoscope-colored portal to a higher level of consciousness.

The twisted irony: these drugs — ayahuasca, magic mushrooms and DMT, sprung from the fertile lands of the very Black and Indigenous communities that were criminalized for them. These budding greens, woodsy pieces of bark, and pungent fungi are harvested from the grassy hillsides of Oaxaca, Mexico. The Western world would come to know the power of these plants through the slanted view of the white travelers who appropriated the work of ancestral medicinal healers like Maria Sabina.

Today, co-founders of The Sabina Project, named in her honor, are intent on setting the record straight.

Sabina was a shaman who found that plants housed an inter-dimensional universe wherein god and man could speak –divine conversation was her offering to villagers in search of healing. As so much of the Indigenous American story goes, Sabina’s ritualistic relationship with psychedelic plants was swiftly commodified, and then erased, after Western scientists carried word of these magical plants back to the U.S. and Europe in 1955, Timeline reports. Unsurprisingly, knowledge of Sabina’s medicine work spread like wildfire in the western world, attracting a swarm of foreign travelers to her village, like infectious moths to a kindling flame.

The influx of visitors overtook Sabina’s village and ultimately led to her exile — locals, faulting her with the foreign invasion, labeled her a blaspheme, and burned down her home.

But the incineration of Sabina’s home was only the first step in erasing her giant impact on the legacy of psychedelics.

Sabina Project co-founders Undrea Wright and Charlotte James came across her underplayed legacy while watching a documentary about fungi.

“There is a lot of focus on folks like Terrence McKenna and Albert Hoffman, as if they 'discovered' psychedelics, when in reality, these medicines are directly linked to Black and Indigenous people of color’s lineages. We want to call attention to this and refocus the narrative,” Wright told Blavity.

The Sabina Project is a Black-led organization offering education, training and harm-reduction practices to patrons venturing into the psychedelic realm. Wright and James say they aim to build a “bridge” between Western science and ancestral ritual.

After the mainstream boom of psychedelics in the U.S., researchers found many users’ experiences marked by panic and anxiety — largely accounting for the stigma attached to the practice, and ultimately resulting in its prohibition. On the contrary, The Sabina Project explains, their harm-reduction practices create space for patrons to find healing for their traumas, not triggers.

“For us harm-reduction in this space looks like a return to ceremony, but also means working from a trauma informed perspective,” the founders told Blavity. “You can be both physically, mentally, and spiritually vulnerable during a psychedelic journey and it is important to know that you are in a safe place with trusted facilitators.”

Indeed, James and Wright explain that it is the organization’s centering of ceremony, and subsequent rejection of the Western approach, that offers patrons peace of mind along their journey.

“A lot of it is about listening, giving people a safe place to share their experiences without fear of judgement or interpretation,” the duo shared. “Our circles are a very nurturing environment that give space for healing. For us, harm-reduction looks like a return to ceremony, but also means working from a trauma informed perspective. You can be both physically, mentally, and spiritually vulnerable during a psychedelic journey. It is important to know that you are in a safe place with trusted facilitators.”

The previously stated approach is supported by researchers at Johns Hopkins. They found that psilocybin sessions — the active compound in magic mushrooms — increased positive results for cancer patients coping with anxiety, specifically when guiding professionals encouraged patients to “trust” in the process, Timeline reports.
Likewise, part of The Sabina Project’s determined return to ancestral practice includes a renewed reverence for the sacred medicines, as Sabina intentionally employed them.

“The thing we have to be most cognizant of as use grows, is sustainability and being in the right relationship with the land, with the medicine, and with the Indigenous groups that have protected this medicine for millennia,” founders explain. “That’s why we feel it is so important to build a relationship of reverence with the medicine, and focus so heavily on returning to ancestral practices. We consider sourcing these medicines unsustainably to be one of the greatest concerns.”

But these psychedelic plants are not the only ancestral plants that Westerners have bastardized.

The recent popularization of white sage, traditionally used by Indigenous peoples in the cleansing and clarifying of their spaces, has led to a mass harvesting of the plant — leaving hollow, whistling winds in places where the plant once grew wild and abundant, and the hands of Indigenous peoples of Southern California and Northern Mexico largely empty, as they traipse across these rugged landscapes in search of the plant they hold sacred, Vice reports.

Indeed, Western appropriation of white sage as it accessorizes yoga studios and commercialized “witch starter kits,” is subsequently linked to the defilement of Indigenous sacrament, in which the herb is used in a ritualistic way distinctly absent from western marketing.

This comes in addition to the reality that the plant, in some places, is rendered out of reach for some of the Indigenous peoples who have traditionally wild harvested it.

Whereas Western manufacturers rip white sage from the earth, leaving its rooted traditions desecrated and dangling, The Sabina Project allows the ancestral significance of these herbs to be a guiding flame along the long journey towards healing.

“We believe the medicines call you,” James and Wright told Blavity. “And a desire to transform our lives, and the lives of the communities we call home."

In their submission to the medicine’s powers of transformation, The Sabina Project makes another nod to Maria Sabina’s legacy. Although she ultimately fulfilled the western foreigner’s requests, the medicine woman was initially cautious of the travelers’ lacking need for healing, and their eagerness to take the herbs out of voyeuristic curiosity instead.

Naturally, The Sabina Projects allows the psychedelic plants to lead the way.

“Transformation is about surrender and letting go of all of your story. Be prepared to be reborn,” the founders explained.

Researchers have long examined the role of psychedelics in human development, some arguing that they even catalyzed human consciousness. But, as Netflix’s Unwell documentary shows, the western appetite for expanded consciousness threatens the ancient traditions that many Americans seek out in search of reawakened spirituality, and recasts them through the blinding glare of the white gaze.

Founders James and Wright encourage all people to examine their relationship to the traditions they practice.

“By moving further away from ancestral practice with all medicines, we increase the possibility of causing more harm than healing,” they contend. “We encourage people to uncover their pre-colonial shamanic traditions as a means of learning respect for ritual, and building a spiritual practice, before moving on to learn practice traditions from other lineages.”

At The Sabina Project, the vision of the future is bright. And, standing at its center: ancestral medicines beam with the undying light of the pre-colonial sun.

“Our ancestors, across all continents, used Sacred Earth Medicine to enhance the human experience, connect with spirit guides and learn how to live in harmony with the earth,” the founders remind. “There is evidence of their use for consciousness expansion within all religious and spiritual belief systems. This also means our ancestors provided a blueprint for how to use these medicines in a way that does not cause harm. We are simply carrying on in the tradition of our ancestors in order to usher in our shared future.”
​

This Org Is Educating People On The Real History Behind Psychedelics And Their Use As Ancestral Medicine - Blavity

A privileged faction of America has been afforded the opportunity to evolve with the nation’s 21st century embrace of recreational drugs. Suddenly, small business owners can make a legal living selling “artisan cannabis,” and psychedelics are exalted as the kaleidoscope-colored portal to a...

blavity.com

 

[mr peabody]

Anthropology, Ayahuasca, and Plant Teachers
Joe Moore and Kyle Buller interview Jeremy Narby, Ph.D.

In this episode, Joe Moore and Kyle Buller interview famed anthropologist and author (most notably of The Cosmic Serpent), Jeremy Narby. He is also the Amazonian projects director for Nouvelle Planète, a nonprofit organization that promotes the economic and cultural empowerment of Indigenous peoples through demarcation of land. Narby talks about how Humphry Osmond and political anthropology led him to psychedelics, and how he realized people in the states had started speaking highly of the ecological knowledge of Indigenous people of the Amazon without ever talking about the hallucinogenic way they attained that knowledge (and how he felt it was his place to start talking about it). He also discusses anthropology and subjectivity; Richard Evans Schultes; the problem with trying to substantiate hallucinations; the West's focus on “the active ingredient” and how ayahuasca is much more than drinkable DMT; the overuse and microdosing of ayahuasca; the entourage effect and how it's excluded by the "DMT explains everything" hypothesis; why vine-only ayahuasca needs to be researched more; and the differences in how people react to LSD vs. ayahuasca or psilocybin (do the natural drugs have a trickster spirit in them that doesn't like some people?).​

 

[mr peabody]

European Arrival and The Great Dying in The Americas*

Alexander Kocha, Chris Brierley, Mark Maslina, Simon Lewis

Here we investigate the large-scale depopulation of the Americas after European arrival, and quantitatively review the evidence for (i) the pre-Columbian population size, and (ii) the post-1492 population loss. From 119 published regional population estimates we calculate a pre-1492 CE population of 60.5 million. European epidemics removed 90% of the indigenous population over the next century. The Great Dying of the indigenous Peoples of the Americas resulted in a human-driven global impact on the Earth System in the two centuries prior to the Industrial Revolution.

We therefore test the hypothesis that human actions impacted first, the existence of a sufficiently large indigenous population in the Americas 1492, and second, the population decline estimates following the arrival and spread of European diseases. These records are then cross-combined and sampled to obtain revised estimates of the 1492 population, and mortality from European-contact diseases.

The population of The Americas in 1492

The first population groups to arrive in North America between 20,000 and 15,000 years ago were of east Asian- and north Eurasian ancestry. The adoption of a sedentary, agricultural way of life in the Americas began 10,000–8000 BP. Large, complex civilizations emerged in North, Central and South America, further increasing population density, with abundant evidence for a large population living in the Americas prior to European arrival. However, as the epidemics spread, often ahead of the European explorers, pre-European population estimates were never formally documented in colonial censuses. Hence, Native American populations were only documented in the decades after European contact. Our estimate of the number of people living in the Americas in 1492 CE is 60.5 million.

The Great Dying

Accounts from eyewitnesses and documentary evidence from census data report a widespread collapse of the indigenous population over the decades after European contact. Such a large population decline meant that the indigenous population would not have been able to manage their existing agricultural systems over such large areas. While other factors such as warfare, the enslavement of indigenous people, and hunger following social disintegration, resulting from the loss of such a large fraction of societies, meant even larger population losses, we focus on the epidemics as the main driver behind the majority of the deaths in the Great Dying.

Unprecedented mortality after European arrival

Existing evidence suggests that the indigenous population collapse was primarily caused by the introduction of pathogens unknown to the American continent together with warfare and slavery. Part of a wider Columbian Exchange of once-separate continental fauna and flora, these epidemics were introduced by European settlers and African slaves and were passed on to an indigenous population that had not been previously exposed to these pathogens and therefore did not initially possess suitable antibodies. Such diseases included smallpox, measles, influenza, the bubonic plague, and later malaria, diphtheria, typhus and cholera. Most of these diseases originated from domesticated farm animals from Europe to which Native Americans had no prior exposure. The relative absence of American diseases arriving in Europe can therefore be explained by the low number of domesticated animals in the pre-contact Americas. Thus, influenza, smallpox, bubonic plague and other diseases ravaged the Americas, and not vice versa. Such diseases typically individually killed ~30% or more of the initial population. Hence a series of epidemics in rapid succession could have led to the loss of whole societies.

Overall, hemisphere wide post-epidemics population estimates range between 4.5 million and 14.4 million for 1600–1700 CE. These studies are less clear on their assumptions than their reports of pre-contact population estimates. Furthermore, the rate of loss is strongly influenced by the chosen dates used to calculate it. Loss rates ranging from 40% to 95%, with Denevan’s more recent update producing a robust initial population estimate of 54 million (similar to our 60.5 million) that results in a 90% decline to 5.6 million in 1600 CE.

For indigenous people that survived, immunity to most of the European diseases would be acquired during childhood of future generations. Two main hypothesis, not mutually exclusive, have been proposed to explain why the depopulation continued until centuries after initial contact. The first is that the low genetic diversity between the indigenous hosts has facilitated the spread of potent pathogens. The ancestors of the modern Native Americans migrated most likely from East Asia into North America. Due to their small initial group size, the newly established population of the Americas had a lower level of genetic diversity compared to the original Asian population (“founder effect”) which would have lowered resistance against diseases from certain pathogens. However, despite this there is no evidence for a causal relationship between genetic differences and the increased severity of the impacts of diseases.

Conclusion

We estimate that 55 million indigenous people died from European-contact diseases following the European conquest of the Americas beginning in 1492.

*From the study here :

Earth system impacts of the European arrival and Great Dying in the Americas after 1492

Human impacts prior to the Industrial Revolution are not well constrained. We investigate whether the decline in global atmospheric CO2 concentration …

www.sciencedirect.com

 

[mr peabody]

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Kykeon

by Joshua J. Mark

Kykeon (from the Greek “to mix, stir”) was a beverage of water and barley (sometimes flavored with mint or thyme) popular among the working, 'lower' class of ancient Greece. In Homer's Illiad it is described as a mixture of water, barley, herbs and ground goat cheese (Book XI) and the drink is also mentioned in the Odyssey Book X when the sorceress Circe uses it, mixed with honey, to make her potion.

Kykeon is most famous, however, for its use in the Rites of Demeter at the city of Eleusis where it was used by initiates to experience the mystery of death and rebirth in the ritual which came to be known as The Eleusinian Mysteries. This mixture, however, differed significantly from the common drink in that it had psychoactive properties, most likely caused by the fungus Ergot on the barley gathered around Eleusis, which allowed initiates in the Mysteries to reach a fuller understanding of their purpose in life and to shed their fear of death; as testimonials from ancient writers who participated in the Mysteries attest.

In the time of the Roman Empire Kykeon was still a popular drink made from water, wine, honey and barley with various herbs added to individual taste. This common drink, however, was regarded in much the same way a person in the modern day would consider soft drinks. The kykeon which was brewed for the Eleusinian Mysteries was held in much higher esteem because the ritual itself was so important to the people.

Kykeon & The Mysteries

Prior to the coming of Rome, the only road in ancient Greece which was not a goat path was the Sacred Way which led from Athens to the city of Eleusis, site of the Rites of Demeter. This ritual, which was observed every year, commemorated the goddess Demeter's search for her missing daughter Persephone and initiated communicants into an esoteric knowledge of the meaning of life and death. Kykeon was so important to this ritual that the two families who owned the land the barley grew on at Eleusis became quite wealthy and were held in high regard. Because initiates into the Mysteries were sworn to secrecy, no one knows what went on once they entered the underground temple of the Telesterion at Eleusis but it is known that, prior to their descent, they ritually bathed and purified themselves and then drank a cup of kykeon which had been freshly prepared from the local barley. In going down into the earth after this preparation, the communicants were re-enacting the journey of Persephone into the underworld and, like her story in the myth, they sought re-birth.

Symposiast & Hetaira

The Myth Behind The Mysteries

According to the myth of Demeter and Persephone, the earth-goddess and her daughter were tending flowers in a field when the god Hades, looking up from his realm in the underworld, saw the girl and wanted her. When Demeter was distracted, Hades opened up the earth and took Persephone down into the darkness. Demeter, frantic to find her missing daughter, asked the king of the gods, Zeus, for help but he claimed he had no knowledge of Persephone's whereabouts. The mother then began to search for her daughter across the land (a journey similar in many respects to the Egyptian tale of the goddess Isis and her quest to find her missing husband Osiris) until she came to rest by a well at Eleusis. In order to remain unnoticed, Demeter had disguised herself as an old woman and the daughters of the queen of the city, visiting the well, invited her back to the palace to be interviewed for the position of nurse-maid for their much younger brother. Demeter accepted this position and cared for the young prince but, having recently lost a child herself, she wanted to make sure nothing would ever happen to him and so placed him nightly in celestial flames to make him immortal. The queen found her doing this one night and, understandably horrified at seeing her son thrust into flames, lashed out at Demeter. The goddess then revealed herself in all her rage and glory but decided not to punish the people for their queen's affrontery if they would build a temple in Demeter's honor in the city. The people readily agreed and, after giving them the gifts and knowledge of argiculture, she continued on her way.

Persephone, meanwhile, lingered in the underworld with Hades. Demeter was so distraught that she neglected her duties as goddess of nature and trees failed to produce fruit and crops failed and the land withered. First the animals began to die and then the people died after them. The gods were no longer receiving their accustomed sacrifices and offerings and so Zeus sent his messenger Hermes down to Hades ordering him to release Persephone. Hades had fallen in love with the girl, however, and so tricked her into eating a pomegranate. She ate only a few seeds but the unbreakable law was that, if one ate of the land of the dead, one remained in the land of the dead. Since she had only eaten a little, however, she was freed to return to her mother for six months but, for the other six, she had to return to Hades. When Persephone was with her mother, the earth was bright and warm and gave forth food but, when she went back to the underworld and Demeter became depressed, the earth was cold and and dark and nothing would grow. The story thus explained the seasons but also emphasized the concept of a life after death and the cyclic nature of all living things. The Greeks understood their gods were at work all around them because they could see the daily proof of the god's existence through the budding of the trees in spring or the falling leaves in autumn.

Seated Demeter Figurine

Kykeon & Enlightenment

The Rites of Demeter were more than just a `fall festival' however; the re-enactment of Demeter's search for her missing daughter and the mysterious rite which took place in the underground temple at Eleusis radically changed the lives of those who participated in it. Once communicants had taken their cup of kykeon and were led into the underground temple, it is thought that perhaps an officiant recited the tale of Demeter and Persephone, or acted it out, or perhaps the communicants themselves took part in acting out the story. As the secret of the Mysteries was well kept by those who participated, no one who did not participate ever knew what went on there. It is known, however, that virtually every ancient writer, thinker, ruler, or builder whose name we know today, from the beginnings of the Rites in c.1500 BCE until they were shut down and outlawed by the Christian emperor Theodosius in 392 CE, was an initiate into the Eleusinian Mysteries.

Significance to Initiates

Plato, among the many others, mentions the mysteries specifically in his dialogue of the Phaedo claiming that only those who have been initiated may dwell with the gods. It has been suggested, since the Phaedo deals with the immortality of the soul, that Plato meant only the initiated will enjoy a rewarding afterlife. In the context of the dialogue, however, it seems more likely that he meant that only the initiates had an understanding of the most important matters in life while they lived. Other ancient writers, such as Plutarch, would support this interpretation of the line. He wrote that, after being initiated, he lost the fear of death and recognized himself as an immortal soul. The psychoactive ingredient of the ergot in the kykeon, combined with the ritual in the underground Telesterion, produced a life-changing event in the communicants. The Rites of Demeter had an incredible importance for those who participated in them and kykeon was the key which opened the mind of the people to the secrets of their gods.

Joshua J. Mark
A freelance writer and former part-time Professor of Philosophy at Marist College, New York, Joshua J. Mark has lived in Greece and Germany and traveled through Egypt. He has taught history, writing, literature, and philosophy at the college level.​

Kykeon

Kykeon (from the Greek “to mix, stir”) was a beverage of water and barley (sometimes flavored with mint or thyme) popular among the working, 'lower' class of ancient Greece. In Homer's Illiad...

www.worldhistory.org

 

[mr peabody]

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Prehistoric people created art by firelight

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by Shelley Hughes | University of York | Neuroscience News | 24 Apr 2022

An examination of artistic designs on stones believed to be over 15,000 years old reveals our early ancestors probably created intricate artwork by firelight.
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Our early ancestors probably created intricate artwork by firelight, an examination of 50 engraved stones unearthed in France has revealed.

The stones were incised with artistic designs around 15,000 years ago and have patterns of heat damage which suggests they were carved close to the flickering light of a fire, the new study has found.

The study, by researchers at the Universities of York and Durham, looked at the collection of engraved stones, known as plaquettes, which are now held in the British Museum. They are likely to have been made using stone tools by Magdalenian people, an early hunter-gatherer culture dating from between 23,000 and 14,000 years ago.

The researchers identified patterns of pink heat damage around the edges of some of the stones, providing evidence that they had been placed in close proximity to a fire.

Following their discovery, the researchers have experimented with replicating the stones themselves and used 3D models and virtual reality software to recreate the plaquettes as prehistoric artists would have seen them: under fireside light conditions and with the fresh white lines engravers would have made as they first cut into the rock thousands of years ago.

Lead author of the study, Dr Andy Needham from the Department of Archaeology at the University of York and Co-Director of the York Experimental Archaeology Research Centre said: “It has previously been assumed that the heat damage visible on some plaquettes was likely to have been caused by accident, but experiments with replica plaquettes showed the damage was more consistent with being purposefully positioned close to a fire.

“In the modern day, we might think of art as being created on a blank canvas in daylight or with a fixed light source; but we now know that people 15,000 years ago were creating art around a fire at night, with flickering shapes and shadows.”

Working under these conditions would have had a dramatic effect on the way prehistoric people experienced the creation of art, the researchers say.

It may have activated an evolutionary capacity designed to protect us from predators called “Pareidolia”, where perception imposes a meaningful interpretation such as the form of an animal, a face or a pattern where there is none.

Dr Needham added: “Creating art by firelight would have been a very visceral experience, activating different parts of the human brain. We know that flickering shadows and light enhance our evolutionary capacity to see forms and faces in inanimate objects and this might help explain why it’s common to see plaquette designs that have used or integrated natural features in the rock to draw animals or artistic forms.”

The Magdalenian era saw a flourishing of early art, from cave art and the decoration of tools and weapons to the engraving of stones and bones.

Co-author of the study, PhD student Izzy Wisher from the Department of Archaeology at the University of Durham, said: “During the Magdalenian period conditions were very cold and the landscape was more exposed. While people were well-adapted to the cold, wearing warm clothing made from animal hides and fur, fire was still really important for keeping warm. Our findings reinforce the theory that the warm glow of the fire would have made it the hub of the community for social gatherings, telling stories and making art.

“At a time when huge amounts of time and effort would have gone into finding food, water and shelter, it’s fascinating to think that people still found the time and capacity to create art. It shows how these activities have formed part of what makes us human for thousands of years and demonstrates the cognitive complexity of prehistoric people.”

Original Research: Open access.
“Art by firelight? Using experimental and digital techniques to explore Magdalenian engraved plaquette use at Montastruc (France)” by Needham et al. PLOS ONE

Prehistoric People Created Art by Firelight - Neuroscience News

An examination of artistic designs on stones believed to be over 15,000 years old reveals our early ancestors probably created intricate artwork by firelight.

neurosciencenews.com

 

[mr peabody]

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Children sacrificed by Incas found with cocaine, ayahuasca in their bodies​

by Ed Browne | Newsweek | 7 Apr 2022

Researchers have found evidence that hallucinogenic plants were used on children as part of sacrificial rituals in Peru hundreds of years ago.

Ritual ceremonies played an important role in the Inca empire, and one of the most prominent ceremonies was the Capacocha ritual, in which humans and material goods were sacrificed in the belief that this could help avert natural disasters such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or droughts, or to coincide with political events.

In 1995, researchers came across sacrificed individuals on the Ampato volcano in southern Peru whilst on an expedition. They discovered the burials of two children, estimated to have been aged between 6 and 7 years old, as well as objects made of silver and gold. It is thought the children were killed more than 500 years ago.

This month, a team of scientists from Poland, Peru and the U.S. announced in a research paper they had conducted toxicology tests on two of the children, after they were subject to an examination in 2019. The researchers studied the hair of one of them, referred to as Ampato 2, and the fingernails of the other, referred to as Ampato 3.

The researchers were able to identify cocaine in both the samples they studied—something that has been investigated before in other studies of Capacocha rituals.

The individuals from Ampato were the first to be tested for the presence of other drugs. The tests came back positive for harmine and harmaline, and the only possible source for these two chemicals in the Andean region is Banisteriopsis caapi, a South American jungle vine that is used in the preparation of ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic drink.

In their research paper, the scientists state that the consumption of ayahuasca could have been linked to a desire to communicate with the spiritual world. In addition, Banisteriopsis caapi may have been used alone for antidepressant effects.

"The interesting result was the composition of the ayahuasca decoction," Dagmara Socha, a researcher at the University of Warsaw Center for Andean Studies and co-author of the paper, told Newsweek. "The present-day ayahuasca is a mix of lianas of Banisteriopsis caapi and other plants, primarily Psychotria viridis, a source of DMT."

"Harmine is necessary to orally activate DMT, which is hallucinogenic, and combinations of these two are one of the most potent hallucinogenic drugs. However, in our study, we discovered only harmine in hair. The harmine alone also causes lesser hallucinogenic states and is an antidepressant."

"This could mean that DMT incorporation into human hair is weak and this is why we did not find it. Another explanation is that Incas used only lianas without Psychotria viridis, because they were interested in the antidepressant properties of Banisteriopsis caapi. Spanish chroniclers mentioned that it was important for children to go happy to gods. So maybe the Incas used it to calm down the victims during the pilgrimage from Cuzco to the summit."

The Inca empire existed in Peru between the 1400s and 1533, eventually growing to become the largest empire ever seen in the Americas according to World History Encyclopedia.

Ayahuasca has been used for centuries in sacred traditions throughout the Americas and is still used by some communities today, according to Healthline. It affects the central nervous system leading to hallucinations and out-of-body experiences. People react to ayahuasca differently and experience both positive and negative effects. Negative effects can include severe anxiety.

Children sacrificed by Incas found with cocaine, ayahuasca in their bodies

Researchers believe children were given hallucinogenic plants to calm them before they were used for a human sacrifice.

www.newsweek.com