by Tiamath
"But first the notion that a man has a body distinct from his soul is to be expunged; this I shall do, by printing in the infernal method of corrosives, which in Hell are salutary and medicinal, melting apparent surfaces away, and displaying the infinite which was hid. If the doors of perception are cleansed, every thing would appear to man, as it is infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro' narrow chinks of his cavern" William Blake.
The idea that some (or even most) shamans rely on psychedelic drugs for their journeys is false. In fact, the areas of the world where shamans use psychedelics to induce their journeys are not nearly as numerous as one might think. The Upper Amazon is one area where shamans rely on psychedelics like ayahuasca to get them into nonordinary reality. In other parts of the Amazon and the Orinoco basin, they use psychedelic snuff quite extensively. (Let the Orinoco flow, eh?) In Siberia, the amanita muscaria mushroom has traditionally been considered to be a tool of the shaman, though the use of drums to induce trance is far more prevalent. The mushroom is used by the people who are unable to make the journeys with the vehicle of the drum alone. The drum is well described by the literature of shamanism by shamans the world over, except for certain places such as Australia or Southeast Asia, sticks, metal bangles, gongs, bronze or copper bowls may be employed to facilitate shamanic work.
Much research has shown that drums or other percussion instruments are capable of producing results similar to the psychedelics as far as the visionary experience is concerned, but in a much more integrated way, safely, without the side effects of the drugs. One of the possible reasons as to why the drums are used in the Upper Amazon region for shamanic purposes may be the high level of humidity there. It would be difficult to keep the drumskins taut for long uninterrupted periods. Also, the sheer convenience of having many powerful psychedelic-containing plants growing nearby, would well be a factor. But this scenario does seem to be the one exception to the general rule.
The notion that the drugs may (and do) stimulate the creative process is not a new one. (And, let us face it, in some ways, all artists can be considered to have shamanic attributes, whether or not they are consciously aware of the fact.) From the poets of the French Romantic era to the high-profile occultists such as Aleister Crowley, to the rock musicians and painters of the nineteen-sixties, much creativity had been fuelled by the use of hallucinogenic substances, often leading to the ultimate destruction of the user.
Anais Nin, one of the great authors, thinkers and creative souls of the century, writes in her "Diaries (1947-1955)": "After my experience with LSD, I began to examine whether it was an unfamiliar world, inaccessible except to the chemical alterations of reality. I found the origins of the images, [that Ms.Nin had encountered during her exercise. T.], either in my work or in the literary works by other writers. I could find correlations all through my writing, find the sources of the images in past dreams, in reading, in memories of travel, in actual experience. Therefore, I felt, the chemical did not reveal an unknown world. What it did was to shut out the quotidian as an interference and leave you alone with your dreams and fantasies and memories. In the way, it made it easier to gain access to the subconscious life. But, obviously, by way of writing, reveries, waking dreams and night dreams, I had visited all those landscapes. The drug added a synthesis of colour, sound, image, a simultaneous fusion of all the senses which I had constantly aspired to in my writing and often achieved in previous times. I reached the fascinating revelation that this world opened by LSD was accessible to the artist BY WAY OF ART. All the chemical did was to remove resistance, to make one permeable to the image, and to make the body receptive by shutting out the familiar landscape which prevented the dream from invading us.
What has happened that people lose contact with such images, visions, sensations, and have to resort to drugs which ultimately harm them? I am grateful for my natural access. But when I discuss this with [Aldous] Huxley, he is rather irritable: ‘You are fortunate enough to have a natural access to your subconscious life, but other people need drugs and should have them.' This does not satisfy me because if I feel I have a natural access, others could have it too. How did I reach this?"
Indeed, how did she achieve this state? One may suggest that by being a highly experienced and evolved soul, Anais Nin had reached a point in her personal evolution where chemical crutches were utterly unnecessary, and would not have had any impact upon her creative gifts. This may sound undemocratic, but all of us are reaching enlightenment at our own pace, and while it might seem unfair, it all balances out in the end. (That is, if you subscribe to the notion of the Simultaneous Time Phenomenon of quantum mechanics, and the idea the time is not linear, but circular.)
But the real question here is, whether or not the use of psychedelics is harmful on the physical level, what does it do to the minds incapable of dealing with the greatly enhanced flow of data they cannot process? The human nervous system is developing quite rapidly, partly due to the new, previously undiscovered strands of DNA being aligned and activated. (There were originally twelve strands of DNA, not just the two that we have learned about in biology classes. According to some sources, the other ten strands were "chopped up and scrambled" sometime ago, and the modern scientists have taken to terming them "junk DNA", being unable to explain the presence of these bits of genetic material. There is plenty of evidence now that this situation of in the process of being corrected. (I refer you the article "The Millennium: what are the choices" by Natasha in the current issue of "The Cone", and the book "Bringers Of The Dawn" by Barbara Marciniak.) Carlos Castaneda also alludes to this phenomenon in one of his books, recommending the use of quartz crystals in order to facilitate the DNA alignment process.
It would seem to me that, while some people are naturally capable of processing the data, some, simply by the virtue of being at a different point in their spiritual evolution, are not there yet. These last individuals are at risk. Perhaps, their Higher Selves are trying to protect them from the onslaught of information their minds cannot encompass, and filters the data carefully. If that natural barrier or filter is removed by artificial means, such as the use of chemical aids, it can have dire effects upon the minds and bodies of the users. In my own healing practice, I have seen the results of what can happen. Even if one disregards the consequences to the user's liver and kidneys and other bodily systems, the resulting psychological damage cannot be ignored.
So, my advice would be to listen to what your Higher self is trying to tell you, and approach this whole business with care. Perhaps, under the guidance of a well-grounded and highly knowledgable shaman/ priest/psychologist, in carefully monitored conditions, it may be safe and rewarding to widen to "chinks in one's cavern", to enter trance states to explore one's inner world and creative potential, otherwise, I would not recommended it. (Unless you have already reached that enlightened condition and do not need drugs or anyone else's help.)
What is your opinion?
Bibliography:
"Shaman's Path: healing, personal growth and empowerment"
compiled and edited by Gary Doore, Shambhala Publications, Inc. 1988
Tiamath