Altered states of consciousness (ASC) represent a universal human capacity for accessing and transforming the subconscious mind, employed across cultures and millennia through diverse contemplative, somatic, pharmacological, ritual, and technological modalities. This comprehensive review synthesizes evidence from over 25 distinct disciplines spanning five clusters: (A) contemplative and...
“Eric, you no longer have an Americano soul,” my Avá-Guaraní sister told me as my 2006-2007 fieldwork was ending. In 2005, her mother became my ritual sponsor in the naming/ensouling ritual, mitã karaí, identifying me as “Yvyrajú”, indicating the tree for which I was named/ensouled. That ritual enmeshed me in relations of familial reciprocity, positioning me in their cosmology, and identified...
-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) biosynthetic pathway in hallucinogenic plant species traditionally used in shamanic rituals for spiritual healing. Leveraging the similarities in their chemical structures, we reconstructed in one plant assay the full biosynthetic pathways of five renowned natural psychedelics; psilocin and psilocybin found in mushrooms, DMT from plants, and bufotenin and 5-methoxy-DMT...
Abstract Background This study presents the qualitative findings of interdisciplinary research exploring ayahuasca-induced experiences in two distinct groups in Uruguay: a neo-shamanic group rooted in the Peruvian vegetalismo tradition and a Santo Daime Church. Aims Using interpretative phenomenological analysis, the study examines similarities and differences in subjective experiences during a...
Anadenanthera colubrina var. cebil (Griseb.) is an ecologically adaptable species native to South America, thriving across a variety of ecosystems, including the dry forests and savannas of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Bolivia, as well as the Andean highlands of Peru and Chile. Beyond its ecological significance, A. colubrina var. cebil is noted for its traditional use in ethnomedicine and...
The article attempts to document the oral history and professional path of several modern darkhan masters who worked in Ulan-Ude and Buryatia at the end of the XX – beginning of the XXI centuries. On the basis of the method of partic-ipant observation and in-depth interview, the author himself as a bearer of the tra-dition, reconstructs the genealogy of mastery of one of the professional...
Many terms have been invented to describe different types of hallucinogenic drugs, sometimes based on an analogy with the symptoms of schizophrenia, such as “psychotomimetic” and “phrenotropic.” “Psychedelics” refers to drugs that act as agonists at serotonin 5-HT2A receptors in the brain; they include psilocybin, 5-methoxydimethyltryptamine, and N,N-dimethyltryptamine (tryptamine derivatives),...
Integral Shamanism is a proposal for a rational mysticism that might meet the needs of an increasing number of people who describe themselves as spiritual but not religious or who experience the isolation and anxiety of a world in which there is nothing greater than the self or who feel the depression of disconnection from a world without awe, wonder, and transcendent mystical experiences....
From Tradition to Triunity proposes an evolutionary framework for transpersonal healing grounded in Pier Luigi Lattuada’s Biotransenergetica (BTE) and its core Triunity model (0–1–2–3). Drawing on ancient spiritual traditions—including shamanism, yogic and alchemical paths, Christian mysticism, Sufism, and Buddhism—the article traces a shared archetypal intuition: healing as a process of return...
This theoretical paper proposes a novel conceptual framework integrating shamanic sound traditions with contemporary acoustic science through the development of the PHAA System (Personal Harmonic Auto Alignment). The study presents a position paper that synthesizes existing research from neuroscience, acoustic engineering, and ethnomusicology to articulate the theoretical foundations of...