OPEN Foundation

Religious studies

Entheogens in a religious context: The case of the Santo Daime religious tradition

Abstract

This essay first draws upon the work of William James and others to propose a nonphysicalistic understanding of the relationship between the brain and consciousness in order to articulate a philosophical perspective that can understand entheogenic visionary/mystical experiences as something other than hallucinations. It then focuses on the Santo Daime tradition, a religious movement that began in Brazil in the early part of the twentieth century, to provide an example of the personal and social ramifications of taking an entheogen (ayahuasca) within a disciplined religious context. The essay claims that the Santo Daime is one example of a contemporary mystery school; gives a brief history of the development of this religion; discusses the key theological assumptions of this movement; investigates the important role played by visionary/mystical experiences within this religion; underscores the centrality of healing and spiritual transformation for members of this tradition; and ends with an examination of the crucial significance of spiritual discipline within this entheogenically based religion.

Barnard, G. W. (2014). Entheogens in a religious context: The case of the Santo Daime religious tradition. Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science, 49(3), 666-684. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/zygo.12109
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Here and now: Discovering the sacred with entheogens

Abstract

Renewed research with entheogens (psychedelic substances) has been able to facilitate the occurrence of mystical forms of consciousness in healthy volunteers with a high degree of reliability. This article explores the potential significance of this development for religious scholars, especially those interested in the study of mysticism. The definition of “mystical consciousness” employed in this research is presented and differentiated from visionary/archetypal and other types of alternative mental states. The ways in which entheogens may be employed with skill and maximum safety are discussed. Implications for clarifying confusion in the study of mysticism are considered, along with suggestions for future religious research on this frontier of knowledge.

Richards, W.  A. (2014). Here and now: Discovering the sacred with entheogens. Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science, 49(3), 652-665. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/zygo.12108
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Entheogens, Mysticism, and Neuroscience

Abstract

Entheogens or psychedelic drugs such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and psilocybin are associated with mystical states of experience. Drug laws currently limit research, but important new work is under way at major biomedical research facilities showing that entheogens reliably occasion mystical experiences and thereby allow research into brain states during these experiences. Are drug-occasioned mystical experiences neurologically the same as more traditional mystical states? Are there phenomenological and theological differences? As this research goes forward and the public becomes more widely aware of its achievements, religious scholars and experts in science and religion will be called upon to interpret the philosophical and theological presuppositions that underpin this research and the significance of the findings that flow from it.

Cole-Turner, R. (2014). Entheogens, Mysticism, and Neuroscience. Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science, 49(3), 642-651. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/zygo.12110
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Does the Nervous System Have an Intrinsic Archaic Language? Entoptic Images and Phosphenes

Abstract

Psychoactive plants have been consumed by many cultures, cults and groups during religious rituals and ceremonies for centuries and they have been influential on the eruption of the many images, secret and religious symbols, esoteric geometrical shapes, archetypes, religious figures, philosophy of religions since the dawn of Homo sapiens. Some of the psychoactive plants used for religious purposes were; narcotic analgesics (opium), THC (cannabis), psilocybin (magic mushrooms), mescaline (peyote), ibogaine (Tabernanthe iboga), DMT (Ayahuasca and phalaris species), peganum harmala, bufotenin, muscimol (Amanita muscaria), Thujone (Absinthe, Arthemisia absinthium), ephedra, mandragora, star lotus, salvia divinorum etc. An important property of these natural chemicals is to induce the human psyche to perceive some optical forms and shapes, which are existent in the subconscious and collective unconsciousness, and which emerge during some certain trance states and ASCs. Some of these simple geometric forms are called entoptic images and phosphenes. Entopic images and phosphenes have been found in various cultural art work and the drawings of cave walls, which were formed during the shamanic religious rituals since the Neolithic times. Also entoptic images exist in many folkloric, traditional and cultures geometrical shapes. Long before the creation of languages, visual perception and information was the only source for the mankind to perceive outer world, as it is the only one in the primate world. This article reviews the possibility of an ancient forgotten visual sign and symbol language, which is genetically existent in the human brain and that, emerges out during ASCs, trance states and the consciousness altered by the psychoactive plants. The basics of this geometrical sign and symbol language may have generated the formation of some archetypal symbols and concepts, which are yet to be discovered. Near to this, emerging of many attributes of the sub-or-un-consciousness, during those “psychedelic plant journeys” had had a prodigious impact on the formation and creation of many religious “figures, characters, creatures, archetype images” that today exist, not only in the mythology, but also in many religions, as well, such as angels, spirits, Jinns, demons, Satan, mythological creatures, supra-natural creatures, gods, and goddesses. Mystical and religious experiences during the rituals using psychoactive plants may have also helped the archaic ancestral information, coded in the limbic system, to come out onto the consciousness, which may also have helped the evolution of the hominoids and Homo sapiens.

Sayin, H. U. (2014). Does the Nervous System Have an Intrinsic Archaic Language? Entoptic Images and Phosphenes. Neuroquantology, 12(3), 427-445. https://dx.doi.org/10.14704/nq.2014.12.3.756
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The Consumption of Psychoactive Plants in Ancient Global and Anatolian Cultures During Religious Rituals: The Roots of the Eruption of Mythological Figures and Common Symbols in Religions and Myths

Abstract

Psychoactive plants which contain hallucinogenic molecules that induce a form of altered states of consciousness (H-ASC) have been widely used during the religious rituals of many cultures throughout the centuries, while the consumption of these plants for spiritual and religious purposes is as old as human history. Some of those cultures were shaman and pagan subcultures; African native religions; Bwiti Cult; South American native religions; Amazon Cultures; Central American Cultures; Mexican subcultures; Aztec, Maya and Inca; Wiccan and witch subcultures; Satanists; American Indians; Greek and Hellenistic cultures; Sufis; Hassan Sabbah’s Hashissins; Hindu, Indian and Tibetan cultures; some of the Nordic subcultures etc. Some of the psychoactive ingredients of the plants that were used during these religious rituals were; narcotic analgesics (opium), THC (cannabis), psilocybin (magic mushrooms), mescaline (peyote), ibogaine (Tabernanthe iboga), DMT (Ayahuasca and phalaris species), Peganum harmala, bufotenin, muscimol (Amanita muscaria), thujone (absinthe, Arthemisia absinthium), ephedra, mandragora, star lotus, Salvia divinorum etc. The main purposes of the practice of these plants were: spiritual healing; to contact with spirits; to contact with the souls of ancestors; to reach enlightenment (Nirvana or Satori); to become a master shaman, pagan or witch; to reach so-called-other realities, etc. Such “psychedelic-philosophical plant rituals” changed participating persons’ psychology, philosophy and personality to a great degree. In these two successive articles, the consumption of psychedelic plants during religious rituals is reviewed and it is hypothesized that the images, Figures, illusions and hallucinations experienced during these “plant trips” had a great impact on the formation and creation of many Figures, characters, creatures, archetype images that exist not only in the mythology, but also in many religions, as well, such as angels, demons, Satan, mythological creatures, gods, goddesses etc. In the Middle East and Anatolia, within many hermetic and pagan religions, Greek and Hellenic cultures psychoactive plant use was a serious part of the religious rituals, such as Dionysian rituals or Witch’s’ Sabbaths. Although the impact of the “psychedelic experience and imagination” was enormous to the configuration of many religious and mythological characters, and archetypes, this fact has been underestimated and even unnoticed by many historians and anthropologists, because of the quasi-ethical trends of “anti-drug-brain-washed Western Societies”.
Sayin, H. U. (2014). The Consumption of Psychoactive Plants in Ancient Global and Anatolian Cultures During Religious Rituals: The Roots of the Eruption of Mythological Figures and Common Symbols in Religions and Myths. NeuroQuantology, 12(2), 276-296. https://dx.doi.org/10.14704/nq.2014.12.2.753
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Indigenous healing practice: ayahuasca. Opening a discussion

Abstract

This essay frames an invitation to pastoral counselors and pastoral theologians to examine connections and perhaps interactions between themselves and traditional shamanic healers who use ayahuasca in their healing ceremonies. Indigenous people in South America have used ayahuasca for centuries, and the ritual has become common among the mestizo populations in urban areas of the Amazon, particularly as a curing ritual for drug addiction (Dobkin de Rios, 1970; Moir, 1998). Like peyote in the United States (Calabrese, 1997) ayahuasca use amongst the indigenous people of the Amazon is a form of cultural psychiatry. A review of the literature reveals very little commentary or discussion of shamanic practice in Pastoral Counseling (Pastoral Theology). The scant literature identifies an antithetical relationship at best. The current authors wonder about the possibility of to including shamanic practices in the context of pastoral counseling? This essay seeks to provide some basic information about the ritual use of ayahuasca and to offer a rationale for pastoral counselors to engage in a dialogue about its utility.

Prue, R., & Voss, R. W. (2014). Indigenous healing practice: ayahuasca. Opening a discussion. Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling, 68(1), 1-13. 10.1177/154230501406800106
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IJTS Special Topic Section: Ketamine ● Regarding the Transpersonal Nature of Ketamine Therapy: An Approach to the Work

Abstract

Recent evidence has shown that ketamine treatment can facilitate psychological insight and symptom resolution in various psychiatric disorders. To aid this process, psychotherapeutic support should be considered a fundamental aspect of treatment. The psychedelic experience produced by ketamine can be a deeply meaningful source of enduring change and personal growth. The author has repeatedly observed a rapid realignment of self-perception away from shame, fear, and dread toward authentic self-acceptance and gratitude, offering patients opportunity for insight and the consideration of new potentialities. The experience produced by ketamine is similar in quality to transpersonal experiences described by Jung and induced by various religious practices and near-death experiences. As such, therapists working with these patients may wish to understand and incorporate the concepts of the Psychic Life Cycle, Restitution of the ego-Self Axis, and the Encounter with the Self described within Jungian and Transpersonal Psychology. The author discusses broad themes and practical therapeutic considerations regarding the transpersonal themes identified while overseeing this treatment process. Case studies are provided for illustration.

Becker, J. (2014). Regarding the Transpersonal Nature of Ketamine Therapy: An Approach to the Work. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 33(2).
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Ayahuasca, Entheogenic Education & Public Policy

Abstract

Ayahuasca is an entheogenic decoction prepared from two Amazonian plants containing controlled substances, including dimethyltryptamine. Traditionally drunk ritually (and revered as a healing “plant teacher”) by Amazonian indigenous and mestizo peoples, in the 20th century ayahuasca became a sacrament for several new Brazilian religions. One of these, the Santo Daime, has expanded into Canada, where in 2001 a Montreal-based chapter applied for a federal legal exemption to allow drinking of the brew in its rituals. This dissertation undertakes a critical policy analysis of Health Canada’s decision on the Santo Daime request, using government documents obtained through an Access to Information request as data. My goals are to illustrate how modern stereotypes about “drugs” and “drug abuse” in dominant public and political discourses may hinder well-informed policy decision making about ayahuasca, and to consider how entheogenic practices such as ayahuasca drinking are traditional indigenous ways of knowing that should be valued, rather than reflexively demonized and criminalized. My research method is a critical discourse analysis approach to policy analysis, an eclectic means of demonstrating how language contributes to conceptual frames and political responses to public policy issues. I combine insights from recent research on language, discourse and public policy to show how ayahuasca has become an unexpected policy conundrum for liberal democratic states attempting to balance competing interests of criminal justice, public health, and human rights such as religious freedom. I trace ayahuasca’s trajectory as a contemporary policy concern by sketching histories of psychoactive substance use, today’s international drug control regime, and the discursive foundations of its underlying drug war paradigm. Regarding Health Canada’s 2006 decision “in principle” to recommend exemption for the Daime brew, I critique how the government defined ayahuasca as a policy problem, what policy stakeholders it considered in its decision making, and what knowledge about ayahuasca it used. To conclude, I explore modern schooling’s systemic antipathy to wonder and awe, and propose that policy reforms allowing circumspect use of entheogens such as ayahuasca as cognitive tools may help stimulate re-enchantment and appreciation of the need to address human and planetary ecological predicaments of the 21st century.

Tupper, K. W. (2011). Ayahuasca, entheogenic education & public policy (Doctoral dissertation, University of British Columbia). 10.14288/1.0064622
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Consumption of Ayahuasca by Children and Pregnant Women: Medical Controversies and Religious Perspectives

Abstract

In 2010, the Brazilian Government agency responsible for drug-related issues formulated official Resolutions that categorized the consumption of ayahuasca by pregnant women and children in the Santo Daime and Uniatildeo do Vegetal ayahuasca-based religions as an “exercise of parental rights.” Although ayahuasca groups do enjoy a relative degree of social legitimacy and formal legal recognition in Brazil, the participation of pregnant women and children nevertheless continues to provoke heated discussion. This article raises the main issues involved in the public debate over this subject. In the first part, a diverse group of biomedical and health specialists was consulted, and their opinions were briefly analyzed. In the second, a full interview with a follower of one branch of Santo Daime, mother of four children who took ayahuasca during all her pregnancies, and whose children all drink ayahuasca, is presented. Her interview reveals important cultural parameters of ayahuasca consumption. The article explores common themes and contradictions found between the biomedical, anthropological, and ayahuasca-users’ discourses. It raises central issues regarding the limits of freedom of religion and the state’s right to interfere in family matters. The following analysis also has implications regarding the role of science in influencing policy decisions on drug use.

Labate, B. C. (2011). Consumption of Ayahuasca by Children and Pregnant Women: Medical Controversies and Religious Perspectives. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 43(1), 27-35. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02791072.2011.566498
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Start Your Own Religion: New York State’s Acid Churches

Abstract

This paper describes a radical and short-lived spiritual movement that emerged in New York State in the 1960s. With Dr. Timothy Leary as the figurehead, two of these psychedelic religions rose to brief cultural prominence in period of 1963–1968 when Leary and his communal group made their home in the small village of Millbrook, New York. Due to negative media attention and a subsequent law enforcement crackdown brought upon at least partially by the increasingly provocative stance of the leaders of these psychedelic groups, they were forced to flee the state by early 1968. This paper establishes the historical significance of New York State’s Acid Churches within the culture of the 1960s and draws the link to today’s Neopagan and New Age movements and the rebirth of the use of psychedelic substances within the modern scientific, psychological, and therapeutic communities.

Lander, D. R. (2011).  Start Your Own Religion: New York State’s Acid Churches. Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions, 14(3), 64–80. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/nr.2011.14.3.64
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2 April - New Insights on Addiction & Psychedelic Healing Followed by a Live Q&A!

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