Drug Abuse

Hallucinogens and Culture

Peter T. Furst
State University of New York at Albany and Research Associate, Botanical Museum of Harvard University

CONTENTS

 

Preface

 

Introduction

An Ethnological Reply to a Statistical Question

Ecstatic Shamanism as "Ur-Religion"

Archaeological Evidence for the Earliest Hallucinogen

Peyote: Sacred "Medicine" or "Dangerous Narcotic"?

Other Pathways to "Alternate States"

Hallucinogens and the Biochemistry of Consciousness

The Social-Psychological Context as Crucial Variable

Urgently Needed: An Integrated Perspective

 

Chapter One.    "Idolatry," Hallucinogens, and  Cultural Survival   

Chapter Two.    Tobacco: "Proper Food of the Gods"

Gods and Men as Tobacco Addicts

The Antiquity of Tobacco in America

Psychedelic Enemas?

The Sacred Pipe

Tobacco Shamanism among the Warao

 

Chapter Three.    Cannabis (spp.) and Nutmeg Derivatives

Cannabis spp.

A New Finding: Three Species of Cannabis

Nutmeg

Nutmeg in European Medicine

Nutmeg and Psychotherapy

 

Chapter Four.    Ibogaine and the Vine of Souls: From  Tropical Forest Ritual to Psychotherapy  

Tabernanthe iboga

Iboga Cults in Tropical Africa

Male-Female Symbolism and Acculturation

Harmaline and Related Alkaloids

Amazonian Indians as Psychopharmacologists

Yaji' and the Mythic Origins of Society

Hallucinogens and Jaguar Transformation

 

Chapter Five.    Hallucinogens and "Archetypes"

The Transcultural Phenomenon

"Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright . . 

Journeys into Mythic Time  

Ya.j    and the Origins of Art 

 

Chapter Six.    LSD and the Sacred Morning Glories of  Indian Mexico   

LSD and Parkinson's Disease  

Historic Breakthrough: The Discovery of LSD

Ololiuhqui, Sacred Hallucinogen of the Aztecs

Ololiuhqui Identified

LSD-like Compounds in Morning-Glory Seeds

Ololiuhqui in Indian Religion 

Morning-Glory Seeds as Divinity 

Thwarting the Clergy

Morning Glory and Christian Acculturation

Morning Glory and Mother Goddess

God of Flowers and "Flowery Dream"

 

Chapter Seven.    The Sacred Mushrooms: Rediscovery in Mexico   

"Mushroom of the Underworld" 

Mushroom Stones and the Cult of Sacred Mushrooms   

Was the Fly-Agaric Sacred to the Maya?  

Found at Last: A Living Mushroom Cult in Mexico 

"Mycophiles" and "Mycophobes"  

"A Soul-Shattering Happening" 

The Mosaic Completed 

 

Chapter Eight.    The Fly-Agaric: "Mushroom of Immortality"  

The Fly-Agaric and Intoxicating Urine  

Chemistry and Effects

 

Chapter Nine.    R. Gordon Wasson and the Identification of the Divine Soma

The Elusive Soma Deity

Multidisciplinary Quest 

Fly-Agaric Urine and the Identity of Soma 

P The Controversy Lives On

A New Road of Inquiry

Antiquity and Origins of the Mushroom Cult

Discovery of Hallucinogens: Deliberate or Accidental?

A Mexican Indian Mushroom Taxonomy 

Hallucinogenic Mushrooms North of Mexico   
 

 

Chapter Ten.    The "Diabolic Root"   

A "Factory of Alkaloids" 

"Mescaline": A Misnomer   

The Sacred Quest for Peyote  

Mythic Origins of Peyote   

"We Are Newly Born" 

The Dangerous Passage  

"Where Our Mothers Dwell"   
 

 

Chapter Eleven.    "To Find Our Life": Peyote Hunt of  the Huichols of Mexico   

A Time to Walk   

Food for Grandfather   

The Ritual Kill  

A Huichol Communion   

"You Will See Your Life"  

Uniqueness of the Shaman's Visions  

The Children of Peyote  
 

 

Chapter Twelve.    Datura: A Hallucinogen that Can Kill 

Myth as History   

Natural and Cultural History of Datura   

Effects of Datura Intoxication   

Datura among North American Indians

Initiation Rites in California

Transcending "Ordinary Reality"  
 

 

Chapter Thirteen.    Hallucinogenic Snuffs and Animal Symbolism

The Vi rota Tree as a Source of Snuff  

Rapid Intoxication  

Addiction: Snuff, No; Tobacco, Yes   

Snuffing and Animal Art 

Snuffing in Mexico  

 

Chapter Fourteen. The Toad as Earth Mother: A Problem

in Symbolism and Psychopharmacology  

Toad as Mediator and Dualistic Mother 

Toad Mother and Culture Heroes   

Psychotropic Properties of Toad Poison  

Analogies in Asian Mythology  

Toad and Toadstool   

Magical Uses of Frog and Toad Poison  

 

Chapter Fifteen. Hallucinogens and the Sacred Deer  

American Indian Deer Symbolism: Asiatic Roots or Independent Origins?   

The Reindeer and the Sacred Mushroom   

Deer-Mushroom Ecology in Mexico  

 

Literature Cited   

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