Sacred Plants and Their Miraculous or Healing Properties
Qeios January 17, 2024 Ana María Rosso 1 citation
Psychoactive plants have been used across cultures for medicine, religion, ritual, and recreation, inducing altered states of consciousness (ASCs) that include bodily sensations, visions, dreams, and cognitive impacts. These ASCs differ on dimensions of arousal versus sedation, pleasure versus pain, and expansion versus contraction. The article examines the distinction between psychotropic, analgesic, stimulant, and visionary substances, and explores shamanism and ecstasy techniques. It then focuses on mandrake and peyote as representative species, comparing their biological effects, long histories of medicinal use, and symbolic beliefs. Peyote was notably sought after by Western intellectuals around 1960 and is used by both drug abusers and traditional cultures.