Transpersonal Shamanism Reserch
Project
FROM CHEMICAL DEPENDENCY TO BIO-ALCHEMICAL
INTERDEPENDENCY
By Psic. Armando
LOIZAGA PAZZI
Addiction as Failed Individuation
and Counter-initiation
Adolescents begin using drugs out of curiosity, out of a desire to experience
the forbidden taboo behind the establishments warning of “say no to drugs”.
Underlying this experimentation there seems to be a heroic sense of protest
against a paternalistic attitude of society which is perceived to be repressing
their individuality. In this sense, drug experimentation becomes a distorted
quest for individuation. In Jungian terms, we all must find our sense of self
through the constant friction between our ego and the collective. This journey
of self-discovery is what CG Jung termed individuation.
For today’s youth, drug use and the rituals surrounding it satisfy an
archetypal need for initiation and quest for meaning inherent to all human
beings. The desire to go beyond the ordinary and shallow existence by altering
their consciousness could be understood as a search for something deeper within
the self that will transform their outer world and infuse it with meaning.
There is however a hedonistic principle behind this ephemeral quest for mystery
without the proper initiation, sacrifice and the aesthetic demands proper
to any true spiritual transformation.
Desperation and protest are two key elements in understanding the psychosocial
cornerstone of addictions. Paradoxically, there is a positive undertone to
this misdirected approach: those who dive into the world of drug use reject
to conform to the current narcissistic society seeking a “promised land” by
disapproving a reality which is perceived as chaotic and ill.[1] It is through
embarking in this dark and dangerous journey that adolescents find a reactionary
tool against an adult society that seems to insist upon imposing excessively
rational and materialistic values that only reinforce a consumerist attitude
towards life, distancing them ever more from the spiritual values that they
seek. Ironically, it is this excessive consumerism which indirectly reinforces
addictive values.
There is however a deft response by the dominator society[2]
which scapegoats the individuals in such a position by labeling them as rebellious
or even worst, as diseased. A more mature and responsible societal attitude
would necessarily require an honest reappraisal of the observations and constructive
criticism that an increasing portion of the public, as well as numerous intellectuals
and scientists are making: there is an overemphasis on an obsolete morality
which can be easily interpreted as hypocritical, where happiness is correlated
to a life of senseless competitiveness to acquire and accumulate material
wealth at any cost. Along with this shallow view of existence there is also
an abandonment of the individual by society at large that only deepens the
collective narcissistic wound.
From this psychosocial perspective, drugs and counter-initiation through
drug rituals could be understood as a reaction to the collective spiritual
void of our times.[3] It is not merely coincidental
that drug subcultures are invested with ritualistic behaviors and inundated
with spiritual symbolism and images. Eastern deities imprinted on T-shirts
on one end, and Satanic or demonic images on the opposite end of the same
continuum, express the underlying aspiration of today’s youth to reach the
transcendent energy behind such symbols. Within the idea of “flying high”
or “taking a trip” is a distorted and perverse sense of journeying into the
mystical dimension of the Self. However, this misguided search for the transpersonal
without first building the necessary foundation of the ego results in further
psychic wounding (Wilber,86).
This darting and heroic transgression into the spirit world in search
for ambrosia, the magical substance which made the Gods immortal with out
any sacrifice, can only bring wrath to an unconscious individual. Today’s
youth engage in a Promethean[4]quest for the spiritual
fire of Olympus. Inevitably the wrath of the Gods awaits the mortal who pretends
to enter the spirit world without proper initiation and permission. This permission
is only granted to those who have successfully completed an initiation and
have humbly performed the necessary ritual that gently taps on the door to
the netherworld.
There is however, a lack of solid and reliable social institutions, which
could efficiently cater to this collective need for renewal and transformation.
In Luigi Zojas words, “What today’s (drug) users lack is the interior space
which together with external rituals, serves to contain the experience of
renewal” (Zoja,89). This internal space can not be
denied nor it can be left to the individual to foster it with out any guidance.
Modern society should be able to provide institutional initiation. However,
this calls for masters and structures formed over a long period of time and
in a context of a whole participating culture (Zoja,89). Furthermore, it requires that society as a whole comes
to terms with its own shadow; primarily, a paralyzing fear of change: death
and old age[5]. Until then it will not be able to
reawaken the socio-spiritual institutions that for millennia have eased its
members through the necessary rites of passage and proper initiation into
the inner world. The perennial institution responsible for this most important
survival mechanism of spiritual renewal has been Shamanism.
Shamanic Model of Addiction
“Shamanism is not simply a collection
of elaborate rituals, ordeals and pathological personalities, at its fullest
shamanism is a dynamic connection into the totality of life on the planet”
T.Mckenna 92
Shamanic Cosmology
All tribal cultures live in unity with nature and with the universal
laws. Their sense of the world is an amalgam of God, world and ego. There
is no discrete separation between these concepts. This symbiotic, synchronistic
and synergistic universe is the axis of the shamanic worldview. The notion
of a power that permeates all being is a constant thread throughout all of
natural societies.[6] This energy or awareness of
an interconnected intelligent “Other”, behind the perceived reality, bears
many names. The Eskimo call it inuat,
the African Masai ngai; the Australian
Aborigines call their dreamtime alcheringa,
ungud or jugur. These primordial energies correspond to the better known concepts
of the Chinese ch’i, the ki of the Japanese or the Indian prana or akasha – the magna matter or universal matrix.
Unlike the Western view of reality, the daily life of natural societies
is a non-differentiated dialogue with this vital energy source, making every
mundane act a flowing spiritual experience. All aspects of reality and of
nature are perceived as expressions of this non-material and mysterious essence
behind physical phenomena. The Newtonian notion of a mechanistic and linear
causality is replaced by a synchronistic and symbiotic interconnectedness
of all things within the natural order. It becomes therefore, a survival imperative
for the individual and for the collective to maintain a balanced and harmonious
relationship to this otherworld and with the spiritual forces that inhabit
it. Successful hunting, plentiful harvesting, fertility, physical wellbeing
and healing are all manifestations of this balanced relationship. On the contrary,
disease and misfortune are direct expressions of some kind of interruption
within the energy system. The shaman is the individual invested with the task
of maintaining such a balance and to correct it when it has been interrupted.
Plants as Teachers
Perhaps the most significant partnership within this symbiotic relationship
between man and the natural order is mans reliance on plants for his own survival.
Plants do not only constitute an important source of food but have long been
and continue to be the source of most medicinal remedies and knowledge. Every
tribal community in history has devised some form of access into the “vegetable
mind” within nature in order to learn directly from the plants what their
medicinal properties are and how they should be employed. Western science
cannot incorporate into its Newtonian scientific framework and methodology
the concept of an intelligent dialogue between man and the vegetable world.
However, this is the reported source of botanical gnosis by healers and shamans
through out. They seem to bypass the lengthy trial and error procedure by
accessing the wisdom directly from what they call “master” or “teacher plants”.[7]
Plants that are now considered toxic possessed a privileged status as
sacred plants in many cultures. Tobacco is sometimes called “flesh of the
Gods” in the Amazon basin and is considered to be the medicinal plant par
excellence, present in most healing rituals in all of North and South America.
In some ethnic groups the word tobacco is synonymous to medicine (Mabit,98). It is through the ritualized use of tobacco juice that
the healer or patient enter a modified state of consciousness and communicate
with the spirit of Tobacco or with the gods.
In South America, the coca plant is the cornerstone of the medicinal
practices of the Andean cultures, considered to be a divinatory master plant,
which constitutes the highest offering to the gods and is the active symbol
that sustains the ritualized communication with the divine universe (Mabit,92 ).[8] The coca plant has been revered for its potency to
heal numerous maladies. The abuse of cocaine as a stimulant drug is a direct
result of chemical manipulation of the plant ignoring its sacramentality.
The sacramental use of cannabis predates written history and this tradition
continues with diverse tribes in Africa, certain Hindu sects, Moslem fakirs
and Sufis. “Indeed marihuana has been employed for insight and ecstasy by
members of virtually every major religion in history”, write Bennett, Oshburn
and Oshburn. In China hemp is still widely used for medicinal purposes and
in India, based on its eminent place in the holy Vedas, cannabis continues
to be an offering to Shiva in the form of bhang, a beverage made of almond
milk and spices. Naga Babas are sadhus, India’s holy men, who give darshan
or blessings in the form of cannabis smoke (Hartsuiker ).
Transgression of the Natural
Order
These are but a few examples of sacramental relationships with healing
plants that paradoxically present serious health problems to Western societies.
Viewed from the shamanic perspective, the parametrical consequences of these
relationships lays in the attitude towards the plants and the intention with
which they are used. Modern societies approach these plants from a utilitarian
perspective, seeking only the narcotic effects in order to transform their
perception of reality without a deeper spiritual intention of transcendence.[9] With in the shaman worldview, plants will only teach and
heal those who respect and love them. Those who transgress into their realm
are subject to severe consequences.
The ritual constitutes the only gateway through which the individual
may safely enter the wisdom and healing realm of the plant spirit world. An
apprentice relationship to the plant presupposes guidance and a humble, honest
and patient approach by the individual. Without clear intentions and strict
rituals, which include purification norms such as fasting, bathing and prayers,
the relationship to this sacred realm is transgressed upon and the person
is exposed to retaliation by the angry plant spirit. This retaliation takes
the form of a Promethean condemnation to be possessed and enslaved by the
plant spirit. The secondary symptoms of this quasi-possession are dependency,
alcoholism and addiction (Mabit,99).
Transgression into the spirit world results in a spiritual ailment or
disease. This is where the shamanic model of addiction finds its first parallelism
to our current Western understanding of addiction treatment. Regardless of
advanced scientific hypothesis to the development of an addiction, the recovery
process seems to find its sustenance in anchoring some form of spiritual transformation.
The Twelve Steps of AA are probably the most widely accepted and employed
treatment alternative chosen by individuals and professionals alike. The now
famous letter by CG Jung to Bill Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous,
laid down the recipe: Spiritum vs Spiritus. Spiritual ailments require spiritual
healing.
As Shamanism makes no discrete conceptual difference between body, mind
and soul but rather views the individual holistically recognizing its multidimensional
nature, it ultimately seeks to correct the energy imbalance by working primarily
on the energy field of the patient. This is where Shamanism echoes with the
most recent findings in Consciousness research and where Transpersonal Psychology
may provide a theoretical framework to better understand and validate the
transdimensional and holographic work performed by shaman healers in the treatment
of addictions. Grof confirms that, “When we take into consideration the new
cartography (of human consciousness), important cultural phenomena such as
shamanism...become normal and understandable forms of human endeavor, rather
than psychopathological aberrations or fly-by-night fads”.
Shamanism is the most archaic institution known to man. Shamans were
the earliest compailers of knowledge and they will be the future ones as well.
It seems wise to explore what these ancestral healers may contribute to our
current efforts against the “spiritual plague” of the Twentieth Century.
Traditional Healing and Medicinal Plants in the Treatment of Addiction
The Northern Peruvian Amazon is the natural setting for a pilot proyect in
the use of medicinal plants and traditional healing for the treatment of addictions.
Takiwasi, in Quechua “the singing house”, has been developing the first operational
shamanic treatment model for understanding and treating addictions in an outpatient
and residential modality since 1992.[10] The center is comprised by a number of multidiscipinary
professionals working in an interdisciplinary way blending modern medicine
and transpersonal psychotherapy with traditional healing and ethnobotanical
remedies. Epidemiological research on treatment success remain in process
and require further development, however the initial 49.4% recovery rate after
two years from discharge, is considerably promissing (Giovi,96).
The basic premise of the Takiwasi model of treatment has been outlined
in this paper. Addiction is understood as a consequence of transgressing upon
the natural order and a by-product of a distorted counter-initiation (Mabit,99). The treatment objective in its broadest sense is to restore
the patients’ connection with his or her spirit and realign the inherent healing
energies within each individual. In this sense Takiwasi teaches self-healing
through communion with the natural healing power of medicinal plants, community,
spirit and nature.
The estimated length of stay for residential patients is nine months.
This period of time is symbolic of the natural gestation period necessary
for a rebirth transformation into a new awareness of self and reverence for
a sober life. The treatment track is divided into three distinct phases of
development in recovery: detoxification, psychospiritual regeneration and
community reintegration.
Physical detoxification is achieved during the initial two weeks through
a variety of natural methods: diuretics, sauna and baths with medicinal plants,
fasting and ritualized administration of purging plants.[11] It is well understood that a complete physical recovery
from addiction may take years; however, this initial phase is sufficient in
preparation for the next treatment phase.
The psychospiritual treatment track incorporates occupational ergotherapy,
group and individual psychotherapy and the ritualized ingestion of botanical
psychotropic substances during supervised initiatory diets in isolation in
the jungle. The periodic participation in ayahuasca healing group sessions
is a particularly effective psychotherapeutic tool and functions as the primary
catalyst for the exploration and integration of unconscious material. The
use of ayahuasca as a psychotherapeutic tool will be discussed further in
the following section of this paper.
In the shamanic treatment model, the path of recovery is through the
ritualized containment of the necessary psycho-somatic energy field that enhances
a greater awareness and acceptance by the patient of their own feelings and
impulses. Recovery becomes a journey into and through the self passing through
archetypal and symbolic representations of consciousness. The form and content
serve only as structural elements to be holographicaly worked on by the patient
and shaman alike, dissolving crystallized energy blocks that interrupt the
vital energy flow in a vertical manner to the higher levels of consciousness.
Successful completion of treatment becomes a true heroic journey. Patients
undergo an initiation through a death/rebirth ordeal that renews their awareness
of self as a whole, participating being in the unfolding of life in the universe.
This holistic and spiritual transformation continues to be the only effective
antidote for addictions resonating with the now accepted formula: Spiritum
vs Spiritus.
Ayahuasca Healing Rituals as Psychotherapeutic Intervention
“Ayahuasca is grown from cuttings and
is thus thought to be one continuous vine that stretches back to the beginnings
of time...it is compared to an umbilical cord that links human beings...to
the mythical past”
S.Hugh Jones 79
Ayahuasca is a hallucinogenic sacred drink made from the Banesteriopis
Caapi vine. In Quechua the word ayahuasca means “the vine of the soul” or
“vine of the dead”, other names include, “the spirit liana” or ladder to the
“Milky Way”.The bark from the liana is scrapped and then boiled for up to
six to ten hours during a first cooking and then again for another such period
of time. The active ingredients in the ayahuasca plant are a group of alkaloids,
collectively known as betacarbolines of which harmine is the major component.
The ayahuasca brew is fortified with any number of other plants; the most
frequent added component is the chacruna plant, Psychotria viridis. The leafs
of this plant are rich in dimeltryptamines or DMT and it is the chacruna which
is considered among shamans to “paint the visions” while the ayahuasca is
the teacher behind the visions. In Mabits words, “Ayahuasca is the ‘text’,
the fountain of information, the content, it is the structure that provides
the meaning and coherence, while the chacruna is the lightbulb which illuminates
the text and thus allows it to be read, visualized, and therefore renders
it conscious”.
The synergistic and symbiotic relationship between the ayahuasca vine
and the chacruna plant becomes even more apparent when viewed from a pharmacological
perspective. Harmine, the most important alkaloid contained in the ayahuasca
vine is an indole that is not overtly psychedelic unless taken in amounts
that approach dangerous toxicity. However, even in small quantities, harmine
is an effective short acting monoamine oxidize inhibitor. The MAO activity
is what potentates the oral ingestion of DMT
(Mckenna,Towers, Abbott,1984).[12] The molecular
structure of DMT differs from Serotonin only very slightly, which explains
the extremely potent yet short-term effects of the DMT trance, with no known
side effects.
Transdimensional Healing
in Ayahuasca Rituals
In the native context of its use, ayahuasca is considered to be a highly
potent medicine or purga, meaning, purge and is respected as a remedy for
almost any ailment. The physiological symptom is not necessarily treated with
the ayahuasca. Instead, the ayahuasca reveals the origin of the malady and
creates the transdimensional window of opportunity for its healing or “correction”.
Ayahuasca, then appears not to act upon the physical body directly, but upon
the energy field or template. Richard Gerber, a physician investigating the
implications of the body’s subtle energy fields explains, “The etheric body
is a holographic energy template that guides the growth and development of
the physical body”. The effects of working at an imagery or symbolic level
may correspond to direct interventions at subtle energy levels that ultimately
transmute the energy blueprint that is responsible for the release of the
psycho-somatic symptom.
The purging effects of the ayahuasca are an important part of the healing
experience. For patients, the act of vomiting or throwing-up becomes an experience
of throwing-out. The physical act of expulsion is accompanied by a conceptual
awareness of the elimination of psycho-emotional contents. These may be negative
events, emotions or attitudes. In the internal imagery of the subject, this
exercise may take on the form of expelling any number of objects: snakes,
insects, rocks or black smoke (Luna,91). The healing
takes place when the individual integrates this synesthetic and multidimensional
experience with feeling a sense of relief or liberation. Both cognitively
and emotionally the patient experiences letting go of guilt, for example in
the form of a butterfly, fears in the form of snakes or simply getting rid
of uncertainty or slothfulness by expelling “negative vapors”.
Direct intervention by the shaman takes place in a similar form. Shamans
develop an ability to “see with the heart” or “the inner eye”. This visionary
capacity is universal in shamanic traditions (Eliade,64). The illness or malady is perceived as a three-dimensional
image of a demonic and repulsive creature inside or near the body as a kind
of metaphorical hologram (Talbot,91). The shaman
then may perform a kind of trans-dimensional surgery at the energy body level
thereby removing the malady. Current research in quantum physics, systems
theory, and bioenergetic fields support these findings and the plausibility
of these holographic interventions[13].
The Ayahuasca Experience
from a Transpersonal Perspective
The field of Transpersonal Psychology has also been transforming our
understanding of human consciousness and the psyche. From a transpersonal
perspective, ayahuasca visionary work has significant parallels to other forms
of deep experiential psychotherapy[14]. Particularly
helpful in structuring the ayahuasca healing experience within a clinical
theoretical framework is the cartography described by Stanislav Grof and supported
by years of research in non-ordinary states of consciousness. Ayahuasca experiences
have significant correspondence with his findings in Holotropic Breathwork.
The content of an ayahuasca session is always unpredictable and varies
significantly each time. There is however a basic commonality to the themes
encountered during the trance. The experience is usually rich in symbolic
imagery and archetypal motifs. The following is a categorization of contents
of ayahuasca experiences based on the Grofian perinatal matrices. The word
perinatal refers to the events before, during and immediately after birth.
Exploration of non-ordinary states of consciousness has provided convincing
evidence that we do store memories of perinatal experiences in our psyches,
often at deep cellular levels (Grof, 93). Deep perinatal memories can also
open a gateway to what Jung termed the collective unconscious. The Basic Perinatal
Matrices (PBM’s) correspond to four distinct phases of biological delivery.
Each phase has very distinct emotions, physical sensations and symbolic images
and becomes a sort of psycho-spiritual blueprint that guides the life of the
individual (Grof,93).
During an ayahuasca session patients may encounter feelings of oneness,
submerging into the ocean, sensations of floating in space. They may have
visions of encountering the “Cosmic Serpent” as Mother of the Universe or
voyaging beyond the Milky Way. All these events may correspond to intra-uterine
expressions of the BPM I, characterized by experiences of the “Amniotic Universe”
prior to the onset of delivery.
The next category of ayahuasca experiences find parallels to BPM II themes
of “ Cosmic engulfment and no-exit” corresponds to the moment when contractions
begin but before the cervix opens. The subject may perceive to be devoured
by a snake or jaguar, or to be trapped by a giant spider. Visions of Hell,
torture or dismemberment accompany a fear of death and feelings of helplessness.
Particularly idiosyncratic to ayahuasca sessions is the possible sensation
of spiritual depredation by sorceress or unfriendly spirits. These power struggles
could represent the difficulty encountered during the initial struggles of
birth and correspond to the third perinatal matrix, PBM III. Battle experiences
of this kind seem to fortify the individual by connecting him or her with
a sense of inner power and their faith on supernatural helpers. In Jungian
terms this confrontation with the shadow or the notion of slaying the dragons
is a necessary prerequisite for a successful crossing of the threshold to
individuation and mark the gateway onto the deep underworld of the unconscious
(Campell,73).
The fourth and final category of experiences of this comparison corresponds
to the PBM IV or the “Death and Rebirth” experience. Patients may experience
being born from the jaguar or serpent mother. They may have recollections
and sensations of their own birth. Colorful lights and feelings of renewal,
overwhelming peace and tranquility following a great struggle during the session
may well correspond to the liberating experience of biological birth. This
type of breakthrough tends to initiate the individual onto a different level
of visionary work. The imagery becomes progressively clearer and a sense of
self-efficacy and mastery accompanies the successful crossing into the world
of the spirit or the Self. In terms of Campbell’s Heroes Journey, the individual
is now ready to encounter the Goddess and may finally find atonement with
the Father. Feelings of forgiveness, compassion, humility and reverence for
life engulf the individual along with visionary encounters with deities and
spiritual helpers. The messages and insights in this phase of innerwork are
related to the resolution of important problems or events in the person’s
life.
This comparison and tentative categorization of experiences is suggestive
of parallels between ayahuasca healing sessions and other forms of transpersonal
psychotherapy.
As with other types of deep experiential self-exploration, the experiences
described above do not present themselves in neither a discrete or linear
fashion. There seems to be an inner organizing principle within the self that
determines the type of experience necessary for healing at that particular
moment. A kind of scanning of the energy or emotional body takes place and
amplifies the imbalance, representing it in metaphorical and symbolic terms.
Integration of the teaching may take place during the session or may occur
well after the experience is fully metabolized.
Significant work on the perinatal level of the psyche can influence a
broad spectrum of psychiatric problems and is typically necessary to restructure
self-destructive tendencies. Patients who experience psychological death and
rebirth and/or cosmic unity tend to develop a negative attitude towards the
state of mind induced by alcohol and drugs. This form of experiential work
has proven to be extremely helpful in the treatment of Addictions (Groff,
88).
Synergistic Effects of Ayahuasca
in Cognitive Processing
Another interesting property of ayahuasca as a psychotherapeutic tool
is that it appears to act synergistically upon cognitive processes allowing
for better adaptation skills. Ayahuasca permits the formation of meta-cognitions,
the underlying cognitive structures that sustain and contain the though parameters
of everyday informational processing (Fericla,97).
One of the most observable cognitive phenomena of the ayahuasca trance
is the awareness of a clear and distinct inner dialogue, comparable to becoming
an observer within the psyche. This kind of self-perception in the form of
an autobiographical movie, similar to a lucid dream state, allows for immediate
informational and value processing from an objective point of view by the
subject. A self-reflective space is created within the psyche that allows
for a lucid inner dialogue to take place. Sometimes the reflections are perceived
to flow from within the self, accompanied by a sense of obviousness or re-cognition.
This feeling of precognition permits the individual to recognize inner resources
available, fortifying a sense of self-efficacy. Other times the conscious
awareness seems to come from outside the self. This may take many forms, most
predominantly the external source is identified as the ayahuasca plant spirit;
other plant spirits like the coca plant may communicate with the subject,
family members, spiritual deities or power animals seem to be consistent sources
of helpful information for the patients recovery journey.
From a clinical point of view the source of this awareness appears to
be irrelevant. Most important is the amplification of the space within consciousness
that allows for this inner dialogue to take place generating insightful conclusions
that shed light to the individuals behavior, attitudes and values allowing
for better adaptability in ordinary consciousness. It is important to note
that this self-evaluation is always partial to the individual, there appears
to be no value judgments that could generate feelings of guilt or shame. There
is however, an emotional response of true remorse and relief through understanding,
acceptance and forgiveness as a result of this cognitive restructuring.
Conclusion
Ayahuasca has been revered as a powerful medicine for thousands of years in
its endemic Amazonian context. As any other powerful medicine it requires
mastery in its application. A sharp knife is an effective knife because it
cuts well. The same knife can function as a life-saving instrument or it can
inflict a deadly wound. The proper use of the knife depends on the individual
who uses it. Ayahuascas effectiveness as a medicinal and psychotherapeutic
instrument demands a proper structure through its ritualized use, as well
as, trained psychotherapists working together with knowledgeable and initiated
healers.
There seems to be an important psychotherapeutic resource in the ritualized
use of ayahuasca. It would be important however to study this potent plant
admixture within the context of its traditional use. The ritual itself, the
healers and shamans interventions are variables that must remain constant
for an effective understanding of the healing properties of ayahuasca.
From a modern psycho-anthropological perspective, addiction can be understood
as a failed attempt of initiation in which the archetypal need of spiritual
awakening and transformation becomes distorted and ultimately harmful to the
individual. Treatment for addictions with in this conceptual framework would
necessarily include a redirection of this archetypal energy. The most important
elements for this transformation are the provision of a safe psychic container
and a powerful catalyst that enable this archetypal transformational process
to take place within the individual. Shamanic rituals constitute the contention
space that historically have provided the necessary structure and methods
for the safe crossing of psychic and spiritual boundaries into the process
of transformation and renewal. The ritualized and sacramental use of master
or teaching plants has been the vehicle of choice by most natural societies
for the crossing of the threshold into the realm of the unconscious and has
functioned as successful initiatory aids. The integration and implementation
of these elements within a coherent shamanic treatment model is providing
empirical evidence that the revival of archaic techniques of initiation and
healing are an important recourse for modern societies in the prevention and
treatment of addictions.
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NARBY, Jeremy – La Serpiente Cosmica: el ADN y los origenes del saber.
Takiwasi y Racimos de Ungurahui, Lima Peru, 1997
SCHULTES, Richard Evans – Vine of the Soul: medicine men and their plant
rituals in the Colombian Amazonia. Sinergetic Press, 1992
SCHULTES, Richard Evans; HOFFMAN, Albert – Plants of the Gods. Healing
Arts Press, Rochester Vermont, 1992
TALBOT, Michael – The Holographic Universe. Harper Perenial, 1991
WILBER, Ken – Psicologia Integral. Kairos Barcelona, 1986
WOLF, Fred Alan – The Eagles Quest: a physicist’s search for truth in
the heart of the shamanic world. Summit Books New York, 1991
ZOJA, Luigi – Drugs, Addiction and Initiation: The Modern Search for
Ritual. Sigo Press Boston, 1989
[1] Ethnology, cultural anthropology and history have taught us that
a certain amount of drug use has always existed and generally becomes accentuated
when a society feels itself in a state of crisis. UNESCO Courier, year XXV
Jan. 1. 1982
[2] Dominator and Partnership are terms coined by Riane Eisler, to describe
from an anthropological perspective the two opposing societal models present
throughout human history. The dominator model is male dominated, paternalistic,
hierarchical and materialistic. Eisler suggests that our disenfranchisement
from nature, the loss of a sense of community and the loss of our contact
with inner spiritual forces is the legacy of the dominator model. EISLER,
Riane- 1987. The Chalice and the Blade: Our History, Our Future. San Francisco:
Harper and Row.
[3] Christine Grof, in her book, The Thirst for Wholeness: Attachment,
Addiction and the Spiritual Path builds a wonderful piece of work around this
notion and states that “...this fervent thirst for wholeness...is the underlying
impulse behind addictions.”
[4] Prometheus was the Greek hero who stole the fire of Olympus by tricking
the Gods. In punishment, Zeus condemned him to eternal imprisonment chained
to a rock and to suffer the devouring of his liver by an eagle every night
only to have it regenerate during the following day. This is much like the
fait of addiction: imprisonment and suffering is the price for attempting
to play with the spiritual forces of the Universe. The liberation of Prometheus
was possible through the willful decent of Chiron into Hades, the underworld.
It is only through this act of surrender and willingness to symbolically die
to an addictive lifestyle and be reborn to a new life in sobriety that addicts
can successfully recover.
[5] Cross-culturally, access to a higher state of being is possible only
through symbolic and ritual death and regeneration. ELIADE, Mircea. The Sacred
and the Profane. New York: Harcourt Brace Janovich 1968.
[6] In his book, Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy, Mircea Eliade,
has revealed the consistency and internal coherence that shamanism maintains
throughout its practices and techniques regardless of time and place. This
cross-cultural body of knowledge suggests that behind the idiosyncrasy of
rituals specific to each culture, there is an operational dimension within
the spirit world that follows concrete and specific norms.
[7] Jeremy Narby, anthropologist and author of The Cosmic Serpent: DNA
and the origin of knowledge, is one of many converted scientists who dared
experiment first hand what Amazon shamans were reporting as the source of
the botanical knowledge behind their mastery over the local environment and
resources. They insisted that this knowledge came to them under the trance
induced by ayahuasca, a psychotropic vine of the jungle. He later developed
a brilliant hypothesis where DNA may be the conduit for this dialogue between
man and plants.
Fred Alan Wolf, physicist, is another convinced scientist who also incursioned
into the Amazon jungle to drink the ayahuasca brew in search of insights into
his field of study. His book: The Eagles Quest, is also a most fascinating
journey into quantum physics and shamanism.
[8] For many of the indigenous cultures in the Andes the coca plant is
referred to as “Mama Coca”. Anthony Henman has written a book with this name
describing in detail the intimate relationship between these cultures and
the sacred coca plant.
[9] PNUFID, United Nations Program for the International Fiscalization
of Drugs, the UN organization advocated to the control of drug abuse, published
a paper Autochthonous Populations and Drug Abuse, where they state: “It is
evident that drugs have played an important part in the activities and culture
of humanity for centuries. However, it is only since the apparition of techniques
that have allowed for the refinement and concentration of the active ingredients
in plants that drugs have been separated from their cultural context and have
become a true plague”.
[10] Takiwasi – Center for the Treatment of Addictions and Reaserch of
Medicinal Plants and Traditional Healing. Prolongacion Alerta # 466, Tarapoto
Peru. Tel (51-94) 525479 email- takiwasi@sm.itdg.org.pe
[11] The ritual application of purging remedies for detoxification in
the treatment of addictions is a natural and effective procedure, which is
also employed in the Tam Krabok monastery in Thailand. This Buddhist monastery
treats heroin and opium addicts with traditional medicine and strict behavioral
methods reawakening spiritual vows in their participants.
[12] This is a clear example of the sophisticated gnosis of shaman pharmacology
obtained through direct communication with the “vegetable mind” or plant spirits
existing for thousands of years prior to the discovery of MAO inhibition by
Western science in the 1950’s.
[13] David Bohms theory of an implicate order in quantum physics, Rupert
Sheldrakes research on morphogenetic fields of resonance and Karl Primbrams
findings supporting the notion of a holographic model of the brain, are all
theories converging into a new paradigm of reality that corroborate these
ancient healing techniques.
[14] Walter Adritzky, PhD. provides a preliminary comparison of the ayahuasca
healing experience and transpersonal psychology in his article: Sociopsychotherapeutic
Functions of Ayahuasca Healing in Amazonia – Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
Vol. 21(I) Jan-Mar 1989.