Hallucinogens and Culture

Preface......Page 4
Introduction......Page 6
An Ethnological Reply to a Statistical Question......Page 7
Ecstatic Shamanism as "Ur-Religion"......Page 9
Archaeological Evidence for the Earliest Hallucinogen......Page 11
Other Pathways to "Alternate States"......Page 13
Hallucinogens and the Biochemistry of Consciousness......Page 18
The Social-Psychological Context as Crucial Variable......Page 19
Urgently Needed: An Integrated Perspective......Page 20
1. "Idolatry," Hallucinogens, And Cultural Survival......Page 22
2: Tobacco: "Proper Food Of The Gods"......Page 26
Gods and Men as Tobacco Addicts......Page 27
The Antiquity of Tobacco in America......Page 29
Psychedelic Enemas?......Page 30
The Sacred Pipe......Page 31
Tobacco Shamanism among the Warao......Page 33
Cannabis spp.......Page 36
A New Finding: Three Species of Cannabis......Page 37
Nutmeg......Page 38
Nutmeg and Psychotherapy......Page 39
Tabernanthe iboga......Page 42
Iboga Cults in Tropical Africa......Page 43
Male-Female Symbolism and Acculturation......Page 44
Harmaline and Related Alkaloids......Page 45
Amazonian Indians as Psychopharmacologists......Page 47
Yajé and the Mythic Origins of Society......Page 48
Hallucinogens and Jaguar Transformation......Page 50
5. Hallucinogens And "Archetypes"......Page 52
"Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright …"......Page 53
Journeys into Mythic Time......Page 54
Yajé and the Origins of Art......Page 56
LSD and Parkinson's Disease......Page 58
Historic Breakthrough: The Discovery of LSD......Page 59
Ololiuhqui, Sacred Hallucinogen of the Aztecs......Page 60
Ololiuhqui Identified......Page 62
LSD-like Compounds in Morning-Glory Seeds......Page 64
Ololiuhqui in Indian Religion......Page 65
Morning-Glory Seeds as Divinity......Page 66
Thwarting the Clergy......Page 67
Morning Glory and Christian Acculturation......Page 68
Morning Glory and Mother Goddess......Page 69
God of Flowers and "Flowery Dream"......Page 71
7. The Sacred Mushrooms: Rediscovery In Mexico......Page 72
"Mushroom of the Underworld"......Page 74
Mushroom Stones and the Cult of Sacred Mushrooms......Page 75
Was the Fly-Agaric Sacred to the Maya?......Page 77
Found at Last: A Living Mushroom Cult in Mexico......Page 78
"Mycophiles" and "Mycophobes"......Page 79
"A Soul-Shattering Happening"......Page 80
The Mosaic Completed......Page 81
8. The Fly-Agaric: "Mushroom Of Immortality"......Page 84
The Fly-Agaric and the Intoxicating Urine......Page 85
Chemistry and Effects......Page 86
The Elusive Soma Deity......Page 90
Multidisciplinary Quest......Page 91
Fly-Agaric Urine and the Identity of Soma......Page 93
The Controversy Lives On......Page 94
A New Road of Inquiry......Page 95
Antiquity and Origins of the Mushroom Cult......Page 96
Discovery of Hallucinogens: Deliberate or Accidental?......Page 97
A Mexican Indian Mushroom Taxonomy......Page 98
Hallucinogenic Mushrooms North of Mexico......Page 99
10. The "Diabolic Root"......Page 100
A "Factory of Alkaloids"......Page 101
"Mescaline": A Misnomer......Page 102
Mythic Origins of Peyote......Page 103
"We Are Newly Born"......Page 104
The Dangerous Passage......Page 105
"Where Our Mothers Dwell"......Page 107
A Time to Walk......Page 108
Food for Grandfather......Page 109
The Ritual Kill......Page 110
A Huichol Communion......Page 112
"You Will See Your Life"......Page 113
The Children of Peyote......Page 117
12. Datura: A Hallucinogen That Can Kill......Page 120
Myth as History......Page 122
Natural and Cultural History of Datura......Page 123
Datura among North American Indians......Page 125
Initiation Rites in California......Page 127
Transcending "Ordinary Reality"......Page 128
13. Hallucinogenic Snuffs And Animal Symbolism......Page 130
The Virola Tree as a Source of Snuff......Page 131
Addiction: Snuff, No; Tobacco, Yes......Page 134
Snuffing and Animal Art......Page 135
Snuffing in Mexico......Page 137
Toad as Mediator and Dualistic Mother......Page 140
Toad Mother and Culture Heroes......Page 141
Psychotropic Properties of Toad Poison......Page 142
Toad and Toadstool......Page 143
Magical Uses of Frog and Toad Poison......Page 144
15. Hallucinogens And The Sacred Deer......Page 146
American Indian Deer Symbolism: Asiatic Roots or Independent Origins?......Page 148
The Reindeer and the Sacred Mushroom......Page 149
Deer-Mushroom Ecology in Mexico......Page 151
Bibliography......Page 153