Food of the Gods?

This chapter surveys anthropological and ethnobotanical approaches to psychoactive substances in spiritual and religious contexts, emphasizing their roles in altered states of consciousness, divination, and healing. It reviews how indigenous shamanic traditions have been interpreted in contemporary spiritual movements and examines specific drugs—ibogaine, mushrooms, mescaline, tobacco, and ayahuasca—as case studies. The authors discuss influences of counterculture, globalization, and colonialism on contemporary use, highlighting religious organizations like Santo Daime and the Native American Church, as well as emerging therapeutic applications such as microdosing and mental health treatment.

Study at a glance

Abstract

This chapter focuses on drugs in spiritual and religions contexts, considering their role in altered states of consciousness, divination and healing. The first part of the chapter presents the sub-discipline of ethnobotany and its contribution to anthropological ideas about hallucinogenic plant substances and their wider connection of drugs to shamanism and the spirit world. It also discusses contemporary interpretations of indigenous shamanic traditions in spiritual and religious movements. It focuses too on several drugs to exemplify anthropological approaches to their study: ibogaine, mushrooms, mescaline, tobacco and ayahuasca. Finally, it presents contemporary use of these substances, considering influences of counterculture movements, globalisation and colonialism. Examples include churches, such as Santo Daime and the Native American Church, and the new therapeutic use of such substances in ‘microdosing’ and mental health therapy.