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This chapter looks at the relationship between shamanism and psychedelic culture, focusing on the experience of investment banker R. Gordon Wasson and his Russian-born wife, Valentina, with mushrooms. Valentina and Gordon eventually embarked on their lifelong quest to explore the role of mushrooms in the histories and folklore of different cultures. When Valentina died of cancer in 1958, Gordon continued this quest alone. Eventually, his explorations evolved into research on possible links between hallucinogenic mushrooms and early religion. What came out of this research was a small community of scholarship that brought together people who believed that plant hallucinogens gave rise to human spirituality in archaic times; essentially, Wasson and his colleagues added a new hallucinogenic dimension to shamanism studies. That “psychedelic scholarship,” which was closely linked to the counterculture of the 1960s, not only informed the debates about shamanism among academics but also aroused and fed public interest in shamanism.

This chapter summarizes studies examining the link between drugs of abuse and the behavioral neurobiology of aggressive behavior in animal models. It considers studies examining how drug abuse affects the aggressive response patterns of animals, as well as the development, activity, and function of neural systems implicated in aggression control. It shows that the effects of many commonly abused drugs, illegal and prescribed, on aggression are dependent upon the sex and species of the animal, the dosing and treatment regimen, and the behavioral testing paradigm. Although very few drugs, or drug classes, have been shown to consistently influence aggressive behavior regardless of the aforementioned factors (i.e., species, age, sex, dosing, testing paradigm), there are notable exceptions, including some anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS), nicotine, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), and mescaline. The administration of various types of AAS has consistently increased aggression in various animal species of varying ages regardless of experimental paradigm, whereas nicotine, MDMA, and mescaline have been shown to consistently decrease aggressive responding.

This chapter examines the states of consciousness induced by hallucinogens or psychedelic drugs in the framework of a general model of altered states of consciousness (ASCs). According to the general model of ASCs, the content of a state of consciousness is a function of the internal set and external setting, regardless of the catalyst or trigger, which might be a drug, hypnotic induction, shock, rhythmic sounds, music, and so forth. Altered states of consciousness, whether induced by drugs or other means, differ energetically on the dimensions of (a) arousal versus sedation, (b) pleasure versus pain, and (c) expansion versus contraction. It is argued that the classical hallucinogenic or psychedelic drugs are consciousness-expanding and therefore opposite in effect to drugs such as the opiates, alcohol, cocaine, and amphetamines, all of which can lead to addicted, fixated, contracted states of consciousness. Drugs, such as the stimulants and depressants in moderate dosages, which affect primarily the dimensions of arousal and pleasure—pain, without significant expansion of consciousness, are referred to as psychoactive (or “mood regulating”). The implications for applications in psychotherapy are also discussed.

This chapter focuses on hallucinogens. The psychedelics or hallucinogens are probably the most complex and controversial, and in many ways are the most fascinating group of psychoactive compounds in our pharmacopoeia. Humans have used these agents — which are found in plants, fungi, and other animals — for millennia. Their nomenclature, chemistry and pharmacology, and effects are discussed.

This chapter examines the musical facets of the special state of mind induced by ayahuasca, a powerful Amazonian psychoactive brew especially famous for the vivid hallucinations that it induces. The chapter is divided into three parts. The first presents background information concerning ayahuasca and its scientific study, and discusses the use of music in ayahuasca rituals. The second part reviews and analyses the phenomenology of auditory and musical effects encountered in the special state of mind induced by ayahuasca inebriation, the effect of music on the ayahuasca experience and its visions, and musical performance. The third part deals with general issues such as the psychological import of music and its relationship to consciousness and its alteration.

Both the albums and the concert experience have a strong visual dimension; in progressive rock certain conventions are repeated often enough both in album cover art and in concerts that it is not inappropriate to speak of a visual style that governs the genre. This chapter explores album cover art and the concert experience to reflect the two principal manners in which audiences encountered progressive rock. In both realms this chapter shows how the hippies' fondness for hallucinogens fostered the development of a surrealistic visual style. The chapter also addresses the way in which progressive rock's music and visuals are coordinated to convey a unified artistic vision and, in live performances, to create a ritualistic, almost liturgical experience.

The use of cannabis as a source of food, fiber, medicine, and intoxicant dispersed it into the Old World and further to the New World, arriving first in New Spain. This chapter describes the emergence of cannabis in Mexico but also the political, economic, and cultural structures that would guide the plant's journey through Mexican history. It examines how the Spanish conquest and colonization of Mexico brought together European, indigenous, and African culture in most spheres of life. In particular, the chapter describes how the Spanish, indigenous, and African medical traditions mixed aspects of the “rational” and the “supernatural” in their approaches to medicine to facilitate the formation of syncretic cultural forms. These aspects were central components of the early history of drugs and medicine, including hallucinogens (for divination in indigenous medical practice) and alcohol and tobacco, almost immediately bringing these substances into intense regulation by Spanish authorities. Through this environment, cannabis would eventually emerge as a divinatory substance linked to visions, supernatural encounters, and sometimes madness.

In introducing the history of peyote in Mexico, this chapter begins with an incident in 1833, when the Mexican doctor Ignacio Sendejas attempted to cure cholera with a concoction made from peyote. The incident reminds us that in the aftermath of Mexican independence and the retreat of the Spanish Inquisition, long-standing prohibitions against peyote were abandoned by a state that was deeply concerned with making a modern nation. We are then introduced to the core concerns of the book, which center on an attempt to understand the ways that peyote is intertwined in the histories of race, science, religion, and the law in both Mexico and the United States. This chapter also considers peyote as a thing unto itself, with specific effects on the human body. In taking an approach that is informed by affect theory, the study proposes a novel approach to thinking through the history of indigeneity and race in North America.

Hallucinations possess two main components: (i) a sensory content; (ii) a sense that the sensory content is real. Influential models of schizophrenic hallucination claim that both the sensory content and the sense of reality can be explained in terms of metacognitive dysfunction. This chapter assesses whether such a claim holds for schizophrenic and drug-induced hallucinations; it further attempts to determine the actual role of metacognition in hallucination and how this role is liable to vary across cultures. It is first argued that the notion of sense of reality is heterogeneous and should therefore be divided into distinct kinds. Next, some monitoring-based models of hallucination are presented, and it is shown that they fail to explain important aspects of hallucinations. It is subsequently suggested that the main mechanisms of serotoninergic hallucinogens are not metacognitive, whereas those of anticholinergic hallucinogens importantly tap into subpersonal metacognitive processes. Finally, after specific consideration of the use of ayahuasca across different Amazonian indigenous groups, it is proposed that the metacognitive properties of hallucinogenic experiences can be variously exploited or ignored depending on cultural expectations.

Visions (Breath) and dreams (Blood) are another reflection of the Twinned Cosmos. Individuals can access knowledge beyond the material through these forms of non-ordinary consciousness. Aid is often sought through the use of hallucinogenic plants as smoked (Breath) or drunk (Blood) in solution. Once outlawed by the government and “collected” by anthropologists, “bundles” (“medicine bags”) are “persons” (artifacts) that protect dreamers and visionaries, who seek knowledge for the community, not for the self. Only the spiritually most balanced can access both dreams and visions. Although Western scholars have largely ignored dreams in favor of visions, both are of equal standing for Indians. Worse, Western scholarship has conflated the two, although they are traditionally distinct. Multiple examples of dreams and visions, including prophecies of the coming Europeans, are canvassed and explained, with errors in Western sources corrected.

Although ECT was developed as a treatment for schizophrenia, its ease of use, its safety, and the lack of effective treatments for many psychiatric conditions encouraged experimentation with this therapy to treat other disorders. These explorations define a cluster of conditions— acute and chronic psychosis, psychiatric disorders in pregnancy and the postpartum period, and intractable seizure disorders—in which ECT has a clinical role. Strongly held beliefs (delusions), abnormal sensory experiences (hallucinations, illusions) that are not based upon reality, and beliefs that others are paying special attention or plotting harm to the subject (paranoid thoughts) impair social functioning and disrupt family life. Thought disorders are the central peculiarity of schizophrenia but are also frequently found in patients with depression, mania, toxic states, and brain disorders. Regardless of the cause or the associated signs and symptoms, treatment can reduce the psychosis. This benefit is often given small notice, however, because ECT is widely regarded as an antidepressant, not an antipsychotic, treatment. The relief of psychosis afforded by ECT varies with the underlying condition. Disorders in thought in patients with depression or mania are readily relieved. Indeed, the more severe form of psychotic depression is relieved more rapidly than nonpsychotic depression. When ECT is used to treat patients with malignant catatonia and delirium, the psychosis is relieved at the same time as the toxic state. When psychosis dominates the clinical condition without other features, schizophrenia is the usual diagnosis. For acute schizophrenia dominated by the positive symptoms of paranoia, catatonia, or excitement, ECT is quite helpful. It is not helpful for the chronic varieties dominated by passivity and withdrawal, the negative signs of the illness. The clinical approach to the diagnosis of a psychotic condition is to exclude other causes for psychosis first and reserve the label “schizophrenia” for the residue of “not otherwise diagnosed” psychotic conditions. While we are able to ameliorate the psychoses in mood disorders and toxic states, palliation and symptom reduction are the best that we can offer other psychotic patients. Electroconvulsive therapy and insulin coma therapy were the main treatments for psychosis at the time when Thorazine and other new antipsychotic drugs were introduced in the 1950s.

Questions

A 64-year-old lady, on physical examination exhibits symptoms suggestive of a movement disorder with associated speech deficits. This clinical presentation is classified as ‘hypokinetic dysarthria’ by her neurologist. It is associated with

Parkinson’s disease

Huntington’s disease

Spasmodic dysphonia

Multiple sclerosis

Myasthenia gravis

Peyote is one of the best-known plant sources for a psychedelic experience. This small cactus is also associated in the popular mind with North American Indians and Hippies. Although its ritual use is thought to be over 7,000 years old (Furst 1989, cited in Schaefer 1996: 141), its use by Indians of the Native American Church (NAC) is less than 100 years old. The peyote button is the essential ingredient in the ritual ceremony associated with NAC meetings and is referred to as “the medicine” by those who regard the button as a god-being and ingest it as a sacrament (Slotkin 1956: 29; Smith and Snake 1996: 80, 91, 105–6). Even more recently, non-Indians have formed churches (the Neo American Church) to follow the Peyote Way or Road (Trout 1999: 47). Secular uses of peyote are as medicine, especially for topical application to the skin on open wounds (Schultes 1940), for divination to discover something lost or when possible attacks of the enemy will occur; or for mind-altering experiences of a nonreligious nature, that is, for recreation. These nonritual (profane) uses have a long history, but peyote’s more significant sacred use in the United States, as measured by numbers of participants, has been in force for little more than 100 years. Various plants are called peyote in Mexico (Schultes 1938: 157), and their usage in the public and official literature of Texas and the United States has not been precise over the years (Morgan 1976: 12, La Barre 1975: 14–17). The major confusion over the common name among field anthropologists and government officials has been with the mescal bean, or Texas mountain laurel [Sophora secundiflora (Ort.) DC]. This hardy, small tree produces a hard, highly toxic, red seed, which has had a long history of ritual use by Amerinds (La Barre 1975: 15). The distribution of the mescal bean is on the southern edge of the Edwards Plateau, on the caliche cuestas in the Rio Grande Plains, and in the mountains of the Trans-Pecos. The native Americans of this region strung the beans into necklaces or bracelets, and a shaman might have passed down to another shaman some of these items as important paraphernalia.

This Introduction provides a brief overview of the subject of drugs and mystical experience as well as the scope, aims, and objectives of the book. It discusses why people might want to take drugs in the first place as well as the views of those who understand the altered states induced to be mystical experiences, which may also be psychologically beneficial. The key terms “transcendence” and “occulture” are explained, and the use of “psychedelic” rather than “entheogen” or “hallucinogen” is defended.

The essay draws on fictional and nonfiction accounts of Beat drug use, distinguishing between mind-expanding drugs, such as marijuana, or hallucinogens, such as LSD, and more addictive substances, such as opiates and amphetamines. The essay contextualizes Beat drug use in western literary traditions, while also encouraging course instructors to consider the gender, race, and class differences in drug use and the persistent racial and class stereotyping fuelling anti-drug rhetoric