ANTH106 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Apsis, Woodstock, Mescaline
21 Aug 2018
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ANTH106
Hallucinogens
The hallucinogens lecture begins with a consideration of the religious and ritual context of the use
of hallucinogens among indigenous peoples of North and South America, with particular reference
to shamanism. Among the specific issues discussed will be: the characteristics of shamanic trance-
states, trance-states and psychotherapy, the social functions of trance-states (e.g. diagnosis of
illness). Then follows a discussion of hallucinogens in the West. During the 1940s and 1950s and
increasing number of Westerners, including prominent intellectuals such as Aldous Huxley, began
experimenting with hallucinogens by using them personally. Later, psychologists and scientists,
such as Dr Timothy Leary, began extensive studies of the hallucinogenic experience. The qualities
of the drug were so powerful, revealing what seemed an alternative reality, that their use quickly
became a feature of the counterculture and alternative society of the 1960s and 1970s. However,
connections between hallucinogens and mental illness were also proposed and the dangers of
hallucinogenic experiences led to a rapid decline in their popularity. These issues are explored in
the film DMT: The Spirit Molecule.
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Psychedelics/ Hallucinogens
• Different political meanings
What has cannabis research mostly focused on?
It’s medical uses OR the harmful health consequences of heavy and uncontrolled use
Research on the potential positive spiritual/ mystical/ pleasurable effects of illicit drugs
is considered illegitimate. Why?
Why no scientific research on spiritual/mystical/pleasurable effects of drugs?
Manderson has reading where he looks at philsoophy in Western thought — Decartesian
thought; fundamental thought that there is a division between mind and body
Dichotomy of mind and body in Western thought; emphasis on the primacy of reason
“Aesthetic horror” of drug use in mainstream society
Pervasive Puritan ethnic, fear of hedonism and of Dionysian pleasure (Manderson, lecture
reading)
Yet, some subcultures accept it
Today’s lecture:
link between hallucinogens and shamanism in the New World
the history of the Western research on and use of hallucinogens
We’ll examine scientific thinking and the basic assumptions on which it is founded —> shape
the type of knowledge we seek and obtain
ANTH106
Hallucinogens as a case study to extend Manderson’s insights about links between social class
and the legal status of drugs
Extend Himmelstein’s insights into the role of moral entrepreneurs in shaping how a drug is seen
and used in society
Natural hallucinogenic drugs in pre-industrial Europe:
• Belladonna (deadly nightshade)
• Datura
• Mandragora (Mandrake)
• Used in Europe mainly for ritualistic purposes e.g. witches’ Sabbath (and, of course, by Professor
Sprout to fight Voldemort’s army)
• Not that many native one’s in Europe
• Yet, in the New World, there are plenty
New World and hallucinogens
The Americans have the highest
concentration of plant hallucinogens of any
region in the world (mostly in tropical and
subtropical zones)
McKenna: “The New World subtropical
and tropical zones are phenomenally rich in
hallucinogenic plants” (p. 425)
The cults and religious orders that use H. for
ritual, religious and healing purposes also
cluster in the tropical New World
Shamanism
In the Americas, the use of H. is centred on shamans who play a dominant role in their societies
with respect to religion, ritual and healing
Definition of shaman: A religious and ritual specialist who gains control/power over
supernatural forces. Often called “master of spirits”. Shaman has ability to enter visionary
trance-states (altered states of consciousness, inc. visions)
Shamanic trance can be induced by:
tobacco
hallucinogenic drugs
fasting
meditation, hypnosis
music, dancing
controlled breathing
Apparently started in Siberia, through Alaska and down through Canada and into America’s
In those societies, shamans used other trance states that are not induced by drugs. This tradition
as it moved south and moved into areas where there were hallucinogenic plants, they became
incorporated into the shaman tradition
ANTH106
Function of shamanic trance
• Community functions:
Shaman as meditator between the supernatural and the community
Communicates with spirits to gain control over supernatural forces for the benefit of
the community
Healing: the shaman uses visionary trances to diagnose illness. Effect of changing the mental
state of the patient — a form of faith healing or psychotherapy (anthropological literature
on shamans as “primitive psychotherapists”
Personal spiritual functions
H. may contribute to the development of religious awareness
Common religious theme in shamanic trances and the subject of some research into
psychedelics
Andrew Weil on H. and Social Controls
Best-selling author and health guru who advocates blending biomedicine and alt. medicine
Applies Zinberg’s theory to the use of hallucinogens by Amazonian Indians and emphasises that
the Indians do not appear to have any problems with H., for following reasons:
They use the drugs in their natural forms; not refined drugs
They consider the human desire to periodically experience altered states of consciousness to be
normal, not deviant
They take H. under supervision of an experienced user, or spiritual guide
How use the H. is highly ritualised. This avoids negative effects by ‘establishing a
framework of order around their use’
H. are not taken for negative reasons (e.g. to rebel against parents) but for positive reasons
Function of shamanic trance
Following Zinberg’s argument about social controls/rituals, Weil argues that the Indians do not
appear to have any problems with H.
A critique of Weil: claims that drug use in the Amazon is not linked to anti-social
behaviour. Excessively romantic view of the absence of social conflict in Amazonian tribal
societies.
Shamans often key figures in inter- and intra-tribal conflict. Uses powers benevolently.
The way we classify drugs and drug use doesn’t reflect who is and not deviant in society but
CREATES who is deviant and not deviant
H. in the West
LSD first synthesised from ergot (fungus on rye) by Dr Albert Hofmann
Worked in Sandoz Laboratories, Switzerland
See Davenport-Hines for fascinating account of the history of this drug through scientific,
military and artistic communities
In 1942, Hofmann accidentally ingested some LSD and experienced vivid hallucinations
Started testing LSD on himself and volunteers
First published on the mental effects of LSD in 1947
Sandoz Laboratories started supplying samples to psychiatrists
