The new Kirati religion founded by the spiritual leader and ‘national luminary’ Mahaguru Phalgunanda Lingden (1885–1949) is a unique blend of an ethnic tradition marked by shamanic practice and elements of Hinduism. Little is known about the ritual practice performed by the Mahaguru himself and his disciples. However, today, the principal successor, Atmananda Lingden, is propagating his version...
Gearin, an Australian medical anthropologist, specializes in the globalization of psychedelics and intercultural ethics in medical tourism. He earned his PhD in Anthropology from the University of Queensland in 2015 and has conducted fieldwork in Australia, Peru, and China. Global Ayahuasca represents a culmination of his ethnographic research, offering a comparative analysis of ayahuasca's...
In Indigenous Amazonian life-worlds, plants used for diverse purposes such as protecting, harming, seducing and curing are sometimes considered to be ‘plant persons’, imbued with special kinds of subjectivity. In examining plant animism in Amazonia, we consider case studies of the knowledge and use of toxic, medicinal and charm plants from two distinctive societies – the Makushi people of...
This chapter adopts a transdisciplinary approach to explore the concept of psychedelic integration, considering its various contexts ranging from clinical trials to Neo-shamanic, traditional, and recreational settings. It aims to provide a comprehensive understanding and description of integration, distinguishing between the needs of maximising potential benefits and addressing adverse...
The act of dying can be seen as somewhat ‘irreal’, as Maurice Blanchot wrote, especially so when it occurs in the context of a magic show. In different ways, the performance of magic plays with the levels of reality of theatre itself, whilst at times conjuring the possibility of an afterlife, and communing with the dead. The essay explores the question of theatre and dying by examining UK...
The "wine of jurema", used in ancient Brazilian shamanic rituals, is rich in N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a naturally occurring tryptamine like serotonin and melatonin. Widely found in plants and animals, DMT is the main component of some botanical tisanes used for centuries as a channel of communication with the otherworld (1, 2). Despite being classified as a "classical psychedelic” (2-4),...
This chapter is focused on sounds associated with ethereal matter (semanget) and its embodied manifestation that vitalizes human, animal, and material physicality.I discuss the therapeutic sounds which are humanly generated to mobilize the materially ethereal to "repair bodies" in the Sakai shamanic healing rituals called dikei.The Orang Sakai lived on the edge of the Malay kingdom of Siak.Most...
Maddinks is a non-speaking, untamed, and fiercely independent woman: a conjurer of spirits, shamanic healer, and conductor of trauma releasement ceremonies. Never known by a proper first name, Maddinks is identified by this derogatory term, a reference to the mental instability she is rumored to have. As we consider indigenous spirituality, ceremonial dance, entrancement, and other forms of...
The history of studies on psychotropic and psychoactive substances in general and on hallucinogens concerning the religious experience and altered states of consciousness is undoubtedly wide and intriguing. Today, it clearly emerges that the scientific perspective has too often been shaped, or even spoiled, by socio-economic trends, political backgrounds, fashions and pop culture of the times....
However, the risks from blurring the boundaries between therapeutic and recreational use will persist even with stronger evidence. One expression of this de-scientization, which will persist, is the ominous tendency to adopt untested traditional rituals, like shamanistic practices, into therapy, which undermines credibility and risks patient safety. Involving non-professionals, such as shamans...