Ecstasy (MDMA), gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB), ketamine, and methamphetamine are 4 examples of club drugs that are increasing in popularity. Although the pharmacological classifications of these drugs vary, MDMA has structural similarities to both amphetamine and the hallucinogen mescaline. Ketamine and GHB are anesthetic agents and methamphetamine is a long-acting psychostimulant. Medical visits...
Historically, states of intoxication--like dreams and madness--are seen in either one of two opposed ways. The intoxicated are either "possessed" or "under the influence" of an external agency, or revealing hidden feelings or truths (in vino veritas). Along the same lines, artists who worked during LSD, mescalin or psilocybin intoxication often refer to feelings of either being "possessed" or...
Many observers see geometric visual hallucinations after taking hallucinogens such as LSD, cannabis, mescaline or psilocybin; on viewing bright flickering lights; on waking up or falling asleep; in “near-death” experiences; and in many other syndromes. Klüver organized the images into four groups called form constants: (I) tunnels and funnels, (II) spirals, (III) lattices, including honeycombs...
Le chaman incarne au mieux les valeurs, exprimées dans le mythe, d’un mode d’être, de penser et d’agir qui vise à préserver un monde fait d’« ordre, d’harmonie, et de beauté » – selon les Indiens Ojibwé des Grands Lacs – qui nous rapproche du premier état de la Création que les Tupi-Guarani appellent la « Terre sans mal ». Comme le rêve, l’usage de psychotropes parfois réservés aux seuls...
In light of recent specific liberalizations in drug laws in some countries, I have investigated the potential of entheogens (i.e., psychoactive plants used as spiritual sacraments) as tools to facilitate existential intelligence. “Plant teachers” from the Americas such as ayahuasca, psilocybin mushrooms, and peyote, and the Indo-Aryan soma of Eurasia, are examples of entheogens that have been...
This article examines drug substitution with regard to hallucinogens (ayahuasca, ibogaine, peyote and LSD) set within the concept of redemption. The model examines both religious and secular approaches to the contemporary use of hallucinogens in drug substitution, both by scientists and in religious settings worldwide. The redemptive model posits that the proper use of one psychoactive...
The serotonin (5-HT) hypothesis of schizophrenia arose from early studies on interactions between the hallucinogenic drug LSD (D-lysergic acid diethylamide) and 5-HT in peripheral systems. More recent studies have shown that the two major classes of psychedelic hallucinogens, the indoleamines (e.g., LSD) and phenethylamines (e.g. , mescaline), produce their central effects through a common...
The largest religion begun, organized, and directed by and for Native Americans, Peyotism includes the use of peyote in its ceremonies. As a sacred plant of divine origin, peyote use was well established in religious rituals in pre-Columbian Mexico. Toward the end of the 19th century Peyotism spread to the Indians of Texas and the Southwest, and it spread rapidly in the United States after the...
Abstract: This article asks what is the relationship between shamanic vision and the production of shamanic art? Based on interviews with Huichol Indian yarn painters in Mexico, the author shows that the artist's concept of the soul is important to understanding shamanic art. For the Huichol, the heart is the centre of shamanic inspiration and the vehicle for communication with the gods. This...
ABSTRACT Language barriers have largely prevented American scholars from learning about European studies concerning drugs and creativity. An art historian reports on several Swiss, English, French and German studies conducted from the 1940s to the 1970s, offering new data in a research area that has been banned since drugs like mescalin, psilocybin, and LSD became illegal. Different views of...