Entheogens and the Public Mystery: The Rhetoric of R. Gordon Wasson

R. Gordon Wasson, who documented the use of psilocybin mushrooms among indigenous people in Mexico, employed a two-part strategy in his writings on psychedelics. He first worked to open scientific research beyond institutional boundaries, creating deinstitutionalized knowledge networks. Recognizing that such openness makes knowledge communities vulnerable to exploitation, he then drew on ancient mystery cults, especially the Greek Eleusinian Mysteries, to establish protective silences within these open networks. This interplay of openness and mystery offers a model for thinking about information flows that can enrich current intellectual property debates.

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Abstract

This article explores the work of R. Gordon Wasson, who discovered the use of psilocybin mushrooms among indigenous people in Mexico. I argue that Wasson's writings on these and other psychedelic substances involve two primary moves. First, Wasson seeks to open up processes of scientific research beyond institutional and disciplinary boundaries, thereby constructing deinstitutionalized knowledge networks. At the same time, he recognizes that such openness leaves knowledge-making communities vulnerable to exploitation. Wasson's second move, then, is to draw on the tradition of the ancient mystery cults—particularly the Greek mysteries at Eleusis—in order to install protective silences within the open networks. This twofold structure of openness and mystery provides an alternative for thinking about and entering into information flows that can complicate and enrich current debates on intellectual property.