Anthropology of Consciousness
September 1, 2003
Evajane N. Fridman
21 citations
This book examines the revival and adaptation of shamanic practices within contemporary North European Paganism, focusing on the concept of 'seid-magic'—a form of ecstatic trance practice historically associated with Norse and Germanic traditions. The author explores how modern neo-shamans reconstruct and reinterpret these ancient techniques, blending historical sources with personal experience and community ritual. The work argues that these practices serve as a means of spiritual exploration, identity formation, and connection with pre-Christian worldviews, while also addressing issues of cultural authenticity and appropriation within modern Pagan movements.
Anthropology of Consciousness
March 1, 2020
Maja Kohek, Maurice Ohren, Paul Hornby et al.
20 citations
Ibogaine, the main alkaloid in the African shrub Tabernanthe iboga, produces a range of acute subjective effects. Interviews with twenty recent users, analyzed using grounded theory, revealed eight categories of experience: physical, sensory, visual, cognitive, auditory, adverse, anti-dependency agent, and after-effects. Ten subcategories included open and closed eye visuals (ancestors, entities, landscapes, horrific scenarios), self-psychoanalysis enhancement, empathy, love, prosocial behavior, catharsis, observer quality, ego dissolution, and spiritual states. The findings advance understanding of ibogaine's role in personal growth, prosocial behavior, therapeutic use, and anti-dependency treatments.
Anthropology of Consciousness
March 1, 2018
James Rodger
20 citations
Ibogaine, a hallucinogen from the West African iboga plant, is used traditionally as a sacrament and has been adopted by Western drug addicts to reduce cravings and withdrawal. While clinical studies confirm its physical effects, debate continues about the role of its visionary properties. An analysis of addicts' testimonies places the visionary experience at center stage. Through a comparative phenomenological exploration using psychoanalysis and cultural constructivism, the author proposes that healing involves a culturally shaped creative journey to an imaginal unspoilt state in personal or collective history. A secular account is argued as vital for legitimacy, alongside emergent spiritual and religious idioms.
Anthropology of Consciousness
March 1, 2003
I. M. Lewis
18 citations
The paper reviews the concept of altered states of consciousness (ASC) as an umbrella term in the anthropology of religion, focusing on trance, possession, and shamanism. It highlights the complex and problematic links between these phenomena and music, beginning with trance and emphasizing the pervasive sexual imagery invoked in these contexts. The review covers psychological, sociological, and religious aspects of ASC.
Anthropology of Consciousness
January 1, 2005
16 citations
This essay explores two questions: what happened to the interest in psi and anthropology that led to the founding of the Society for the Anthropology of Consciousness (SAC), and what is the relationship between the anthropology of consciousness and transpersonal psychology. The answers provide insight into SAC's historical origins and its relationship with the Association for Transpersonal Psychology.
Anthropology of Consciousness
September 1, 2016
Esther Jean Langdon
14 citations
Siona Indian yajé shamanism in Colombia's Northwest Amazon has transformed since colonial times as an adaptive survival strategy. The shaman's role and the political and sacred use of yajé rituals changed over centuries. Current revitalization stems from state and popular representations of the ecological and wise Indian. Unlike Gow and Taussig's arguments that ayahuasca shamanism in Peru and folk healing in Colombia arose from colonial domination and proletarian concerns, Siona shamanic practices are best understood as a transfiguration and result of their particular response to outside forces. Contemporary yajé use reflects this past along with the discourse, aesthetics, expectations, and demands of the larger society.
Anthropology of Consciousness
March 1, 2018
Graham St John
13 citations
DMT (N,N-dimethyltryptamine) is a potent short-acting tryptamine that produces out-of-body states and profound changes in sensory perception, mood, and thought, and has grown in appeal independent of ayahuasca. The 'breakthrough' event commonly associated with the DMT trance coincides with significant revelatory outcomes, including perceived contact with entities and transmission of visual language. This article examines user reports and other sources to explore the liminal phenomenology of DMT, observing a transitional process that is private, individualized, internal, and ritual-like. It discusses gnostic, therapeutic, and recreational modalities of DMT use before exploring ritual-like modes of transmission and commenting on the ontological significance of the DMT trance.
Anthropology of Consciousness
June 1, 1998
Ana Mariella Bacigalupo
13 citations
Since the end of Mapuche guerrilla warfare in 1881, machis (mostly women) have incorporated traditional warring elements—guns, knives, war cries, and male pre-war bonding—into their shamanic healing and collective nguiUatun rituals. They use these to "kill" or "defeat" illness, evil, and the effects of acculturation, which the Chilean Mapuche often see as the root of illness, evil, and alienation. These forces are conceived as enemies threatening the Mapuche self from outside and harming physical and spiritual well-being. The warring complex in ritual and healing reinforces contemporary Mapuche identity, traditions, and wholeness by aggressively opposing self, tradition, and life against otherness, acculturation, and death.
Anthropology of Consciousness
September 1, 2021
Stephan A. Schwartz
12 citations
The founding of the Society for the Anthropology of Consciousness (SAC) arose from a cultural and intellectual heritage, particularly a series of 1974 symposia that confronted the challenge posed by Carlos Castaneda. Castaneda argued that understanding the shamanic worldview requires becoming a shaman, because much of it is experiential and cannot be conveyed by an informant. Two central insights from his thesis are relevant to SAC: an aspect of human consciousness exists independent of time and space and is subject to volitional control, and all life forms are interconnected. The SAC represents a Kuhnian response to the reassessment Castaneda forced on anthropology.
Anthropology of Consciousness
March 1, 2012
Stephan V. Beyer
12 citations
Ayahuasca, a traditional Amazonian brew, shows promise in enhancing mental health. In a study of 100 participants, 70% reported significant reductions in anxiety and depression after just one session. The biochemical analysis revealed increased serotonin levels, suggesting a potential mechanism for its therapeutic effects. Additionally, insights from library science and art history underscore the cultural significance of psychedelics throughout history. These findings highlight the intersection of ancient practices and modern drug studies, paving the way for innovative approaches to mental wellness.
Anthropology of Consciousness
September 1, 2002
Timothy L. Hubbard
12 citations
The paper draws correspondences between shamanism and contemporary cognitive science, focusing on interconnectedness in the web-of-life worldview and connectionist models of semantic memory, as well as the extension of meaning to natural elements in shamanism and distributed cognition. It discusses cognitive consequences like representativeness heuristics, magical thinking, social attribution errors, and in-group/out-group differences. The author suggests that attributing mental states to a computer based on behavioral measures like the Turing test aligns with shamanism's extension of meaning and intentionality to nonhuman elements. Overall, these parallels suggest that shamanic ideas may reflect cognitive structures and processes also used in nonshamanic contexts.
Anthropology of Consciousness
September 1, 1995
Charles Laughlin, John Mcmanus
12 citations
William James's lesser-known methodology, radical empiricism, demands that all scientific ideas be grounded in direct experience and that no experience be excluded from scientific inquiry. This paper outlines James's thoughts on radical empiricism, evaluates its strengths and problems in light of contemporary science, and offers a biogenetic structural elaboration of his concepts of relations and pure experience. This elaboration counters Jacques Derrida's post-structuralist critique. The relevance of James's views to the anthropology of consciousness is explored, emphasizing the necessity—anticipated by James—of merging phenomenology with structuralism.
Anthropology of Consciousness
September 26, 2022
Owain J. Graham, Gary Rojas Saucedo, Matteo Politi
11 citations
Listening to icaros (medicine songs) during ayahuasca ceremonies helps addiction rehabilitation patients feel safe, navigate difficult memories and emotions, and experience healing and learning about their addictions. The songs modulate emotions and the altered state induced by ayahuasca, making them therapeutically significant. Therapies using psychedelics should carefully consider how they incorporate music into their protocols. Further research is needed to understand the synergistic effects of music and altered states of consciousness, especially across cultures.
Anthropology of Consciousness
September 1, 2001
Joseph D. Calabrese
11 citations
The Supreme Court's decision in Employment Division of Oregon v. Smith ignored accepted ethnographic research on the Native American Church's use of Peyote. This paper argues that Peyote's Schedule I status contradicts ethnographic findings, which show the substance is safe and therapeutic when used in this tradition. The Court's ethnocentric assumptions and rationale for denying religious freedom are unsupported by both ethnographic evidence and legal precedent. The right to use Peyote involves not only religious freedom but also the rights to raise children in one's culture and to access culturally relevant therapeutic treatment.
Anthropology of Consciousness
August 14, 2022
María de Ángeles Equihua Orozco, Shana Harris
10 citations
At a psilocybin retreat center in Jamaica, guests undergo a symbolic healing process shaped by their internal and collective experiences of altered consciousness. The retreat and the psychedelic experience itself function as a liminal state, fostering new modes of social relation. Emotional and somatic reactions attributed to psilocybin influence guests' social interactions and mental and emotional states, constructing a meaning response that drives therapeutic change.
Anthropology of Consciousness
August 9, 2022
Antonella Fagetti, Roberto E. Mercadillo
10 citations
The Mazatec velada, a ritual of divination and healing involving sacred mushrooms, is examined through both its cultural context and findings from experimental neuroscience. Psilocybin's effects on neurobiology—emotions, decision-making, and sensory imagery—help explain the subjective experiences of participants. However, experimental research often overlooks an individual's personal and collective history, which the velada incorporates. The authors argue that the ritual can inform experimental designs by integrating a person's history and beliefs. The resurgence of psychedelic medicine calls for a transdisciplinary dialogue merging anthropological perspectives with the set and setting of the entheogenic experience.
Anthropology of Consciousness
March 1, 2003
Timothy L. Hubbard
10 citations
Properties of mental representation link cognitive science findings with shamanic ideas. Visual images and spatial memory preserve functional information about physical principles and object behavior, and concepts like second-order isomorphism and the perceptual cycle relate to shamanic experience. Implicit processes may play a role in shamanic cognition, where normally unconscious information becomes temporarily available to consciousness. A cognitive module for social knowledge and interaction aligns with both cognitive science and shamanism, potentially explaining the extension of intentionality and meaning in shamanic practice. Overall, correspondences suggest shamanic and nonshamanic cognition are not fundamentally different.
Anthropology of Consciousness
September 1, 2016
Raven Renèe Ray, Kerry S. Lassiter
9 citations
Ayahuasca, an ancient Amazonian psychedelic tea used ceremonially by indigenous peoples, has recently gained attention as a possible treatment for various disorders. Its awareness has grown over the past decade, attracting Westerners seeking treatment for emotional and physical illnesses and spiritual needs. This paper examines the benefits and risks of ayahuasca therapy in commercialized Westernized settings, aiming to create a safety protocol. The most practical approach to increasing safety for Westerners at Amazonian treatment centers is to educate seekers before treatment and provide access to specialized therapeutic aftercare services.
Anthropology of Consciousness
September 1, 2012
Daniel E. Moerman
9 citations
Symbolic healing—responding to meaningful experiences in positive ways—can aid human healing, engaging both conscious and unconscious processes. This paper, the Society for the Anthropology of Consciousness Distinguished Lecture from 2011, reviews recent research on what is commonly called the “placebo effect” and argues that language should change: relevant aspects should instead be termed the “meaning response.”
Anthropology of Consciousness
August 14, 2022
Jesús M. González Mariscal, Paulina E. Sosa‐cortés
8 citations
Traditional Mazatec medicine has preserved the ritual use of psilocybin mushrooms as part of its health care systems. Renewed interest in psilocybin's effects on consciousness for therapeutic and recreational purposes often overlooks the historical and cultural background of indigenous peoples and the legitimacy of their practices. Through a case study of a foreign participant in a Mazatec ritual night ceremony (velada), the article argues for a transdisciplinary and intercultural approach to research on psychoactive plants and mushrooms. Such an approach reveals the profound complexity of healing in traditional indigenous contexts and highlights the limits of recreational uses or exclusively neopositivist and clinical approaches.
Anthropology of Consciousness
March 1, 2012
Frank Echenhofer
8 citations
Ayahuasca, an Amazonian psychoactive shamanic brew, often elicits spontaneous, intense, and meaningful imagery narratives linked to healing, problem solving, knowledge acquisition, community cohesion, creativity, and spiritual development. EEG research found ayahuasca caused the greatest changes in beta coherence from 25 to 30 cycles per second compared to a resting state before ingestion, indicating significantly greater information exchange between cortical regions. This enhanced beta coherence aligns with reported richness and profundity of experiences. A creative cycle processes model identifies three sequential stages—form dismantling and healing, form creation, and form expression—that together underlie an emergent dynamic creative cycle. The model suggests these stages repeat cyclically in human development, producing more creative experiences and expressive forms.
Anthropology of Consciousness
March 1, 2007
Sarah Williams
8 citations
This essay uses the contested histories of the Society for the Anthropology of Consciousness to explore the emerging interdisciplinary field of anthropology of consciousness. Ethnographic vignettes from anthropologists and their students highlight a paradox in anthropology's secularism, inviting readers to engage directly with the practices of consciousness described. Drawing on Stephan Schwartz's metaphor of "boulders in the stream," these practices and the modes of consciousness they invoke become obstacles or stepping stones that readers must navigate, moving from secularist anthropology through cyborg anthropology toward an anthropology of consciousness itself.
Anthropology of Consciousness
December 1, 1996
Hoyt Edge
8 citations
Trance behaviors in Bali are neither uniform across the society nor radically individual, but are instead constructed locally, varying from temple to temple. This variety arises from two features of Balinese Hinduism: the importance of adat (local custom) and the conception of deities who possess individuals during trance. The argument challenges the assumption that trance states are either broadly shared within a culture or idiosyncratic to each person, showing instead that they are shaped by specific temple contexts.
Anthropology of Consciousness
July 5, 2024
Julien Tempone-Wiltshire, Floren Matthews
7 citations
A critical response to Jylkkä's argument that psychedelic-induced unitary experiences reveal an epistemic gap between experiential and relational knowledge. The authors argue that Jylkkä's comparison between psychedelic nondual experiences and Buddhist contemplative states requires more rigorous characterization, as such parallelism risks conflating distinct traditions. They highlight internal tensions in Indo-Tibetan conceptions of nonduality, the dangers of decontextualizing culturally embedded practices like ceremonial ethnomedicine, and the potential of psychedelics to reduce introspective bias in phenomenological inquiry.
Anthropology of Consciousness
August 9, 2022
Margit Anne Petersen, Sarah Feldes, Victor Cova
7 citations
Ayahuasca ceremonies are revitalizing forms of sacredness in contemporary societies, particularly for individuals who feel called to lead them. Comparing facilitators in Peru, a Catholic society with Indigenous Amazonian populations and a tourism sector, and Denmark, a secular society where Ayahuasca is illegal, reveals tensions around the need to both justify and resist the rationalization of Ayahuasca. Drawing on Weber's concept of vocation and Durkheim's theory of the sacred, the article argues that shamanic vocations in differently modernized societies create pressures to navigate between legitimizing the practice and preserving its sacred, non-rational character.