Anthropology of Consciousness
May 1, 2013
Nathan Porath
AbstractAnthropologists working on altered states of consciousness (ASC) have suggested that we should do away with psychologizing concepts and use people's own terms for these experiences. With material drawn from the Orang Sakai of Sumatra this paper shows that practitioners who utilizeASCdo recognize the alteration of states of awareness as preconditions for numinous interactions. Also...
Anthropology of Consciousness
May 1, 2013
Diana Espirito Santo
Abstract: An examination of oracles in popular forms of Cuban espiritismo invites a rethinking of the role of “randomness” and “context” in the anthropology of divination. Through an analysis of the ways by which spirit mediums develop as persons, and their implications for the mechanics of divination, I argue that among espiritistas the meaning of particular configurations cannot be separated...
Anthropology of Consciousness
September 1, 2012
Charles D. Laughlin, Vincenza A. Tiberia
34 citations
AbstractIt is very curious that C.G. Jung has had so little influence upon the anthropology of consciousness. In this paper, the reasons for this oversight are given. The archetypal psychology of Jung is summarized and shown to be more complex and useful than extreme constructivist accounts would acknowledge. Jung's thinking about consciousness fits very well with a modern neuroscience view of...
Anthropology of Consciousness
September 1, 2012
Daniel E. Moerman
9 citations
AbstractSymbolic healing, that is, responding to meaningful experiences in positive ways, can facilitate human healing. This process partly engages consciousness and partly evades consciousness completely (sometimes it partakes of both simultaneously). This paper, presented as the Society for the Anthropology of Consciousness Distinguished Lecture at the 2011 AAA meeting in Montreal, reviews...
Anthropology of Consciousness
September 1, 2012
James Seale‐Collazo
Abstract: Following the metaphor of “boulders in the stream” of anthropology proposed by Stephan Schwartz (2000) and carried on by subsequent articles in Anthropology of Consciousness, this article proposes an alternate set of “boulders” that may serve the study of consciousness: Weberian charisma (as developed by Charles Lindholm), Turner's liminality, and Johannes Fabian's notion of “moments...
Anthropology of Consciousness
September 1, 2012
Bonnie Glass‐coffin
Abstract: For more than 100 years, anthropologists have collected ethnographic research among communities who assert that the spirits, animal allies, and other entities of the unseen world are “really real,” yet we have historically contextualized this information under the umbrella of cultural relativism rather than taking the veracity of these claims seriously. In the last decade, some...
Anthropology of Consciousness
March 1, 2012
Evgenia Fotiou
44 citations
Abstract Healing is an essential aspect of A mazonian mestizo shamanism. Not only is it one of the most commonly quoted motives for W esterners for participating in ayahuasca ceremonies, but most elements of an ayahuasca ceremony are aimed to heal and protect. This article is purely ethnographic, and its purpose is to provide insight into the ways healing is conceived by both ayahuasqueros and...
Anthropology of Consciousness
March 1, 2012
B. Anderson
29 citations
Abstract There is a growing interest among scientists and the lay public alike in using the S outh A merican psychedelic brew, ayahuasca, to treat psychiatric disorders like depression and anxiety. Such a practice is controversial due to a style of reasoning within conventional psychiatry that sees psychedelic‐induced modified states of consciousness as pathological. This article analyzes the...
Anthropology of Consciousness
March 1, 2012
Richard Doyle
26 citations
Abstract Numerous and diverse reports indicate the efficacy of shamanic plant adjuncts (e.g., iboga, ayahuasca, psilocybin) for the care and treatment of addiction, post‐traumatic stress disorder, cancer, cluster headaches, and depression. This article reports on a first‐person healing of lifelong asthma and atopic dermatitis in the shamanic context of the contemporary P eruvian A mazon and the...
Anthropology of Consciousness
March 1, 2012
Beatriz Caiuby Labate
21 citations
Abstract The B razilian ayahuasca religions, S anto D aime, B arquinha, and U nião do V egetal, have increasingly sought formal recognition by government agencies in B razil and other countries to guarantee their legal use of ayahuasca, which contains DMT , a substance that is listed. This article focuses on new alliances and rifts that have emerged between and among different ayahuasca groups...
Anthropology of Consciousness
March 1, 2012
Frank Echenhofer
8 citations
Abstract Ayahuasca is an A mazonian psychoactive shamanic brew that often elicits spontaneous, intense, and meaningful imagery narratives related to psychological and physical healing, problem solving, knowledge acquisition, community cohesion, creativity, and spiritual development. My EEG and phenomenology ayahuasca research found it caused the greatest changes in EEG beta coherence from 25 to...
Anthropology of Consciousness
March 1, 2012
Bethe Hagens, Steven Lansky
4 citations
Abstract What is the potential significance of community in a prolonged dieta (10‐day restricted diet with regular ritual consumption of ayahuasca and other medicinal plants) in a remote jungle location in the A mazon basin of P eru? Pre‐dieta experiences including how participants join the community, cleansing routines prior to departure to P eru, sharing with the shaman one's personal...
Anthropology of Consciousness
August 24, 2011
Hillary S. Webb
7 citations
What are the ethical obligations of a researcher who wishes to study another culture's ceremonial practices, in particular those of the Native American Church (NAC)? What promise do peyote and the NAC peyote ceremony show for the treatment of alcoholism amongst NAC members? How does one approach the philosophical issues regarding “consciousness” within the context of such a study? In this...
Anthropology of Consciousness
August 24, 2011
Rafael G. Locke
6 citations
The anthropology of consciousness is a field of enormous and demanding scope. In this article, there is no attempt to address all of the current trends in thinking and research; rather, the aim was to draw a line through the field that extends from the 19th century and European philosophies to some contemporary expressions of those philosophies in social science research. In particular, taking...
Anthropology of Consciousness
August 24, 2011
László Koppány Csáji
4 citations
Until recently, very little has been written examining the beliefs and practices of the Hunzakuts shamans of North Pakistan. This paper attempts to provide insight into the shamanic traditions of the Burushaski speakers of Hunza, focusing on those specialists within this community who serve as intermediaries between the human and spirit worlds—bitan, dashmán, jaadugár, síre gús, and aqhón—with...
Anthropology of Consciousness
August 24, 2011
Richard Price
This article was presented as the Society for the Anthropology of Consciousness Distinguished Lecture, 19 November 2010, New Orleans. It highlights four decades of changes in the anthropology of consciousness, US society, and the author's views of “religion.” It also interrogates the shifting ethics of writing about friends (or about anyone else) and the special responsibilities of...
Anthropology of Consciousness
March 1, 2011
Mark A. Schroll, Susan Greenwood
8 citations
This article is an extended commentary inspired by Alan Drengson's paper “Shifting Paradigms: From Technocrat to Planetary Person” (Drengson 2011). In this article Susan Greenwood and I echo Drengson's criticism that Euro-American science is incomplete, having committed what Thomas Roberts calls “The Singlestate Fallacy: the erroneous assumption that all worthwhile abilities reside in our...
Anthropology of Consciousness
March 1, 2011
Ryan Hurd
4 citations
A process-based approach to archaeology combines traditional third-person data collection methods with first- and second-person inquiries. Drawing from the traditions of cognitive archaeology, transpersonal psychology, and ecopsychology, this mixed-methods approach can be thought of as a movement toward a more holistic or “integral” archaeology. By way of example, a prehistoric rock art site on...
Anthropology of Consciousness
September 1, 2010
Marc G Blainey
ABSTRACTIn order for the valuable research published in the Anthropology of Consciousness (AoC) journal to have the impact it ought to have upon the anthropological mainstream, contributors must demonstrate that they appreciate the historical tradition of anthropology as an intellectual forebear. Although “ethnometaphysics” has been cited sporadically by anthropologists over the past...
Anthropology of Consciousness
August 23, 2010
Janine Tatjana Schmid, Henrik Jungaberle, Rolf Verres
25 citations
ABSTRACT Ayahuasca is a psychoactive beverage that is mostly used in ritualized settings (Santo Daime rituals, neo‐shamanic rituals, and even do‐it‐yourself‐rituals). It is a common practice in the investigated socio‐cultural field to call these settings “healing rituals.” For this study, 15 people who underwent ayahuasca (self‐)therapy for a particular disease like chronic pain, cancer,...
Anthropology of Consciousness
March 1, 2010
Mark A. Schroll
37 citations
ABSTRACT Calling for an expanded framework of EuroAmerican science's methodology whose perspective acknowledges both quantitative/etic and qualitative/emic orientations is the broad focus of this article. More specifically this article argues that our understanding of shamanic and/or other related states of consciousness has been greatly enhanced through ethnographic methods, yet in their...
Anthropology of Consciousness
March 1, 2010
Bonnie Glass‐coffin
34 citations
ABSTRACT This paper discusses archaeological, historical, and contemporary ethnographic evidence for the use of the San Pedro cactus in northern Peru as a vehicle for traveling between worlds and for imparting the “vista” (magical sight) necessary for shamanic healers to divine the cause of their patients' ailments. Using iconographic, ethnohistorical, and ethnographic evidence for the...
Anthropology of Consciousness
March 1, 2010
Beatriz Caiuby Labate
4 citations
ABSTRACT English translation by Glenn H. Shepard Jr. Revision by Matthew Meyer This article reports on the recent “International Congress of Traditional Medicine, Interculturality, and Mental Health” held by the Takiwasi Center in Tarapoto in the Peruvian Amazon. The event united 218 researchers and indigenous and religious representatives from 22 countries to present results of scientific...
Anthropology of Consciousness
March 1, 2010
Francois Blanc
ABSTRACTThis article examines the neurobiological basis of the healing power attributed to shamanic practices in the Andes and Brazil in light of the pharmacology of neurotransmitters and the new technological explorations of brain functioning. The psychotropic plants used in shamanic psychiatric cures interfere selectively with the intrinsic neuromediators of the brain. Mainly they may alter:...
Anthropology of Consciousness
September 1, 2009
Charles D. Laughlin, C. Jason Throop
45 citations
ABSTRACTMost of us would agree that the world of our experience is different than the extramental reality of which we are a part. Indeed, the evidence pertaining to cultural cosmologies around the globe suggests that virtually all peoples recognize this distinction—hence the focus upon the “hidden” forces behind everyday events. That said, the struggle to comprehend the relationship between our...