Anthropology of Consciousness
August 22, 2022
Neşe Devenot, Trey Conner, Richard Doyle
45 citations
Psychedelic medicines such as psilocybin, ayahuasca, and iboga have gained mainstream attention for treating addiction, PTSD, cancer, cluster headaches, anxiety, and depression, attracting venture capital and leading to well-capitalized biotech companies with multimillion-dollar IPOs. The authors, who have been healed by these medicines and support recent decriminalization, argue that this corporate-driven "corporadelia" pursues standardization while sidelining the Indigenous and counterculture wisdom that made these substances available. They critique prominent researchers for overstating clinical trial findings in public representations and argue that new psychedelic thought leaders delegitimize non-hierarchical knowledge production. The authors contend that psychedelics' latent potential lies in transforming hegemonic infrastructures and ideologies that perpetuate inequality, not just individual habits.
Anthropology of Consciousness
March 1, 2012
Richard Doyle
26 citations
A first-person account describes the healing of lifelong asthma and atopic dermatitis within the shamanic context of the contemporary Peruvian Amazon and online communities. The article suggests that concepts from plant signaling and behavior research, often called 'plant intelligence,' offer a useful framework for understanding the healing potentials of visionary plant entheogens like ayahuasca. Biosemiotics provides a coherent map for contextualizing reported experiences of plant communication with these plants. The archetype of 'plant teachers' (Doctores in the upper Amazon) is explored as a way to organize this data within an epistemology of the hallucination/perception continuum. 'Ecodelic' is offered as a new term alongside 'entheogen.'
Discourse
December 1, 2005
Richard Doyle
7 citations
A first-person account describes the author's second ayahuasca ceremony in the Upper Amazon, where the brew—made from B. Caapi vine and P. Viridis leaves—is prepared and administered by a vegetalista. The author notes that the experience involves visions, ego death, and the guiding role of Icaros (songs that mimic local birds and insects). The author addresses the ayahuasca with questions about integrating the experience into life back in North America, treating the interaction as a rhetorical experiment with non-human intelligence. The narrative emphasizes the contrast between the legal status of ayahuasca in the U.S. and its use as medicine in the Amazon.
PsycEXTRA Dataset
January 1, 2010
Richard Doyle
1 citation
Ayahuasca, a psychedelic brew, shows promise in improving psychological well-being. In a sample of 300 participants, 70% reported significant reductions in anxiety and depression after just one session. The alkaloids in ayahuasca interact with brain chemistry, potentially leading to transformative experiences. Biochemical analysis highlights the importance of these compounds, while advanced sensing techniques reveal their impact on mood regulation. Such findings suggest that psychedelics like ayahuasca could play a vital role in modern psychology and therapeutic practices.