OPEN Foundation

Religious studies

Ceremonial “plant medicine” use and its relationship to recreational drug use: an exploratory study

March 30, 2018 / Ayahuasca, Indigenous use, Mushrooms / Psilocybin, Mystical experiences, Other substances, Papers, Publications, Religious studies, Sociology / By / , ,

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

The ceremonial use of psychoactive/hallucinogenic plant based drugs, such as ayahuasca, psilocybin and others, is a growing trend in the United States (US) and globally. To date, there has been little research documenting how many people are using psychoactive substances in this context, who the users are, what benefits/risks exist in the use of these drugs and the relationship between ceremonial drug use and recreational drug use.In this paper we describe a cohort of plant medicine facilitators in the US and explore how they differentiate plant medicine use from recreational drug use.

METHODS:

Using modified ethnography, individual interviews were conducted in 2016 with 15 participants who are currently facilitating plant medicine ceremonies in the US. Descriptive content analysis was performed to discover themes and to inform a larger mixed-method study.

RESULTS:

Ceremonial drug use was seen by participants as a natural healing and treatment modality used in the context of community and ritual. Three main themes were identified relating to participants’ differentiation between ceremonial plant medicine use and recreational drug use: 1) participants see a clear delineation between plant medicine use and recreational drug use; 2) plant medicine is seen as a potential treatment for addiction, but concerns exist regarding potential interference with recovery; and 3) plant medicine use may influence recreational use.

CONCLUSIONS:

More research is needed on who is using plant medicine, motivators for use, perceived and real risks and benefits of plant medicine use and harm reduction techniques regarding safe ingestion.

Dorsen, C., Palamar, J., & Shedlin, M. G. (2019). Ceremonial ‘Plant Medicine’use and its relationship to recreational drug use: an exploratory study. Addiction research & theory, 27(2), 68-75., 10.1080/16066359.2018.1455187
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Ceremonial "plant medicine" use and its relationship to recreational drug use: an exploratory study

March 30, 2018 / Ayahuasca, Indigenous use, Mushrooms / Psilocybin, Mystical experiences, Other substances, Papers, Publications, Religious studies, Sociology / By / , ,

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

The ceremonial use of psychoactive/hallucinogenic plant based drugs, such as ayahuasca, psilocybin and others, is a growing trend in the United States (US) and globally. To date, there has been little research documenting how many people are using psychoactive substances in this context, who the users are, what benefits/risks exist in the use of these drugs and the relationship between ceremonial drug use and recreational drug use.In this paper we describe a cohort of plant medicine facilitators in the US and explore how they differentiate plant medicine use from recreational drug use.

METHODS:

Using modified ethnography, individual interviews were conducted in 2016 with 15 participants who are currently facilitating plant medicine ceremonies in the US. Descriptive content analysis was performed to discover themes and to inform a larger mixed-method study.

RESULTS:

Ceremonial drug use was seen by participants as a natural healing and treatment modality used in the context of community and ritual. Three main themes were identified relating to participants’ differentiation between ceremonial plant medicine use and recreational drug use: 1) participants see a clear delineation between plant medicine use and recreational drug use; 2) plant medicine is seen as a potential treatment for addiction, but concerns exist regarding potential interference with recovery; and 3) plant medicine use may influence recreational use.

CONCLUSIONS:

More research is needed on who is using plant medicine, motivators for use, perceived and real risks and benefits of plant medicine use and harm reduction techniques regarding safe ingestion.

Dorsen, C., Palamar, J., & Shedlin, M. G. (2019). Ceremonial ‘Plant Medicine’use and its relationship to recreational drug use: an exploratory study. Addiction research & theory, 27(2), 68-75., 10.1080/16066359.2018.1455187
Link to full text

The Mechanisms of Psychedelic Visionary Experiences: Hypotheses from Evolutionary Psychology

September 28, 2017 / Mystical experiences, Neuroscience, Other substances, Papers, Psychology, Publications, Religious studies / By /

Abstract

Neuropharmacological effects of psychedelics have profound cognitive, emotional, and social effects that inspired the development of cultures and religions worldwide. Findings that psychedelics objectively and reliably produce mystical experiences press the question of the neuropharmacological mechanisms by which these highly significant experiences are produced by exogenous neurotransmitter analogs. Humans have a long evolutionary relationship with psychedelics, a consequence of psychedelics’ selective effects for human cognitive abilities, exemplified in the information rich visionary experiences. Objective evidence that psychedelics produce classic mystical experiences, coupled with the finding that hallucinatory experiences can be induced by many non-drug mechanisms, illustrates the need for a common model of visionary effects. Several models implicate disturbances of normal regulatory processes in the brain as the underlying mechanisms responsible for the similarities of visionary experiences produced by psychedelic and other methods for altering consciousness. Similarities in psychedelic-induced visionary experiences and those produced by practices such as meditation and hypnosis and pathological conditions such as epilepsy indicate the need for a general model explaining visionary experiences. Common mechanisms underlying diverse alterations of consciousness involve the disruption of normal functions of the prefrontal cortex and default mode network (DMN). This interruption of ordinary control mechanisms allows for the release of thalamic and other lower brain discharges that stimulate a visual information representation system and release the effects of innate cognitive functions and operators. Converging forms of evidence support the hypothesis that the source of psychedelic experiences involves the emergence of these innate cognitive processes of lower brain systems, with visionary experiences resulting from the activation of innate processes based in the mirror neuron system (MNS).
Winkelman, M. J. (2017). The Mechanisms of Psychedelic Visionary Experiences: Hypotheses from Evolutionary Psychology. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 11, 539. 10.3389/fnins.2017.00539
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Mystical mobilities and entheogenic Latin America

September 14, 2017 / Anthropology, Ayahuasca, Cacti / Mescaline, Indigenous use, Mushrooms / Psilocybin, Mystical experiences, Papers, Publications, Religious studies, Spirituality / By /

Abstract

In this paper, I seek to explore the concept of mystical mobility as a way of addressing travelling and thus using mobility resources that go beyond the transport agenda. I propose to address innovative paths and research questions by discussing alternative cultural geographies in order to seriously reconsider the concept of mobility in a broad sense. The work aims to introduce the notion of ‘mystical mobility’ and its relationship with entheogens (i.e. psychoactive substances) as a new component of mobility studies, also considering how physical and mystical trips are (or are not) combined.
Giucci, G. (2017). Mystical mobilities and entheogenic Latin America. The Journal of Transport History, 0022526617731482.
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From rau to sacred plants: Transfigurations of shamanic agency among the Siona Indians of Colombia

July 18, 2017 / Anthropology, Mystical experiences, Papers, Religious studies / By /

Abstract

Translations of the native notion of shamanic agency of the Siona Indians of Colombia is explored throughout different historical and social contexts. The polysemic concept rau is central to the shaman’s capacity for establishing relations of exchange and negotiation with humans and non-humans. As the embodiment of his power, it fits within a semantic field that conveys the waxing and waning of life cycles. Sharing a series of qualities with the Melanesian concept of mana, rau should be understood as a social phenomenon whose use and meaning has transfigured through time and space. However, unlike the globalization of new mana, the important notion of Siona shamanic agency has been substituted by representations of the ritual substance of yajé as key symbol for power and knowledge as Siona rituals have been revitalized in their dialogue with the ethnic identity movement and the neo-shamanic network that associates sacred plants with primordial knowledge and agency.
Langdon, E. J. (2017). From rau to sacred plants: Transfigurations of shamanic agency among the Siona Indians of Colombia. Social Compass, 64(3), 343-359. 10.1177/0037768617713654
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The State of the Arts of the Study of Indigenous Religious Traditions in South America

May 16, 2017 / Anthropology, Ayahuasca, Ethnobotany, Indigenous use, Mystical experiences, Papers, Religious studies / By /

Abstract

This article reviews the principal tendencies in the contemporary studies of indigenous South American religious traditions. It divides the field into studies of socioreligious formations (particularistic and universalistic formations, more specifically) and studies of cosmologies or worldviews (so-called perspectivism). It then discusses two recent, pioneering biographies of South American shamans which, more than any other in the field, offer original approaches to understanding shamanic historical consciousness, cosmopolitics, the constant struggles of shamanic spirits to sustain the cosmos against sorcery spirits that threaten to undermine the cosmic order.

Wright, R. M. (2017). The State of the Arts of the Study of Indigenous Religious Traditions in South America. International Journal of Latin American Religions, 1-15. 10.1007/s41603-017-0002-9
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Peyote as Commodity: An Examination of Market Actors and Access Mechanisms

March 1, 2017 / Cacti / Mescaline, Other disciplines, Other subjects, Papers, Publications, Religious studies / By /

Abstract

Access to the peyote cactus, a religious sacrament of the Native American Church (NAC), has been regulated by the federal government and the state of Texas since the 1960s. Over the last forty years, the number of licensed distributors has declined, a trend accompanied by rising prices and a diminishing market supply of the psychoactive cactus. Distributors are recognized as the primary NAC peyote source; consequently, their disappearance would be devastating for the 250,000-plus adherents of this distinctive indigenous tradition. Based on interviews with current and former peyote distributors, peyote pickers, landowners, and NAC members, a map of the various commodity chains that make up the peyote supply network is constructed. This research applies Access Mapping and Access Analysis of the supply network to identify the primary factors driving the decline of the regulated peyote trade. Focusing on the distributors’ and NAC members’ rights-based, structural, and relational access mechanisms, avenues for increasing access are identified, including amendment of distributor licensing fees.

Feeney, K. (2017). Peyote as Commodity: An Examination of Market Actors and Access Mechanisms. Human Organization, 76(1), 59-72. 10.17730/0018-7259.76.1.59
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Psychedelics and the science of self-experience

March 1, 2017 / Consciousness, Neuroscience, Other substances, Papers, Personality, Psychiatry, Psychology, Psychopharmacology, Publications, Religious studies, Spirituality / By / ,

Abstract

Altered self-experiences arise in certain psychiatric conditions, and may be induced by psychoactive drugs and spiritual/religious practices. Recently, a neuroscience of self-experience has begun to crystallise, drawing upon findings from functional neuroimaging and altered states of consciousness occasioned by psychedelic drugs. This advance may be of great importance for psychiatry.

Nour, M. M., & Carhart-Harris, R. L. (2017). Psychedelics and the science of self-experience. 10.1192/bjp.bp.116.194738
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Science, spirituality, and ayahuasca: The problem of consciousness and spiritual ontologies in the academy

February 12, 2017 / Ayahuasca, History, Papers, Publications, Religious studies, Spirituality / By /

Abstract

Ayahuasca is a psychoactive brew from Amazonas, popularized in the last decades in part through transnational religious networks, but also due to interest in exploring spirituality through altered states of consciousness among academic schools and scientific researchers. In this article, the author analyzes the relation between science and religion proposing that the “demarcation problem” between the two arises from the relations among consciousness, intentionality, and spirituality. The analysis starts at the beginning of modern science, continues through the nineteenth century, and then examines the appearance of new schools in psychology and anthropology in the countercultural milieu of the 1960s. The author analyzes the case of ayahuasca against this historical background, first, in the general context of ayahuasca studies in the academic field. Second, he briefly describes three cases from Spain. Finally, he discusses the permeability of science to “spiritual ontologies” from an interdisciplinary perspective, using insights from social and cognitive sciences.

Apud, I. (2017). Science, spirituality, and ayahuasca: The problem of consciousness and spiritual ontologies in the academy. Zygon®, 52(1), 100-123. 10.1111/zygo.12315
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30 April - Q&A with Rick Strassman

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