Daily Archives: October 30, 2021

Reading Time 6 minutesImage of two beautiful mushrooms among other entheogens.

Entheogens are part of human culture, a necessary tool to know ourselves better, to find out where we come from or to understand our mission in life. There are many ways to call this kind of drug: psychotropic, hallucinogenic, psychedelic or psychic, and they all refer to the same thing. Do you want to know a little more about these very special substances? If you keep reading in a matter of minutes you will know everything you need to know

According to the dictionary, the meaning of entheogens is substances that possess hallucinogenic power and provide divine experiences to those who use them. If we analyze the word we can observe that entheos comes from the Greek and means With God inside (God inside to be more exact) and geno which can be translated as origin, principle or birth, although it can be applied as to help or to become. So it can be said that the word entheogen means to help communicate internally with the gods.

Understanding it from our modern and western point of view, we can say that entheogens are substances that have the capacity to alter the mind or consciousness. In ancient times these substances were used for different purposes, such as predicting the future, curing diseases or even in a playful way as is usually done nowadays.

There are entheogenic substances that come from many sources, plants, fungi and even animals. There are many species that contain alkaloids or other molecules with these powers, and the most common are the following ones:

Within mushrooms with psychedelic powers we have to separate 3 types, being the Monguis or Psilocybes the most important ones, since they contain mainly psilocin and psilocybin, 2 substances very appreciated by psychonauts. There are many varieties within this group of mushrooms, spread throughout the world, and some even produce truffles or sclerotia that also contain the active ingredient. Here you can see a list of the main mushrooms with entheogenic effects:

Another well-known type of hallucinogenic mushroom is the Amanita Muscaria, the typical mushroom with a red hat and white dots, that of Super Mario Bros. This mushroom is quite dangerous if it is not used properly. It contains muscarine, ibotenic acid and muscimol, but I dont recommend you to try it because of its deadly potential.

And another fungus less known, but very important as a precursor of entheogenic substances is Ergot, which acts as a parasite in some plants. An example of these is the Ergot of rye, an essential element to produceLSD.

Another important group of natural entheogens are some types of cactus plants, especially because of their importance in the development of some cultures. As with hallucinogenic mushrooms, within cacti there are also different varieties with entheogenic powers, although in this case the most important psychoactive active principle is the same, mescaline. Below you can see a list of the most important entheogenic cacti in the world:

There are many other species of plants that produce powerful psychoactive effects, especially from the Solanaceae family. The curious thing is that some share certain types of alkaloids, but many have their own, which are not found in any other species discovered so far on our planet.

These plants were widely used in some ancient European cultures, such as Celtic, and in many sacred rituals, until the Inquisition forbade their consumption and the church has maintained this ban to this day.

Some psychotropics have the ability to release greater amounts of dopamine or serotonin into the brain. Others act on the reuptake of the receptors of these substances, and some like LSD directly are molecules very similar to that of serotonin, so they are very easy to adhere to.

Normally these drugs eliminate our ego, or rather they clean or reset the filter that we are creating throughout our lives, that which we strengthen with prejudice daily, many times dragged by the morality that the system inculcates in us. Modifying the usual way of thinking, memories or the ego itself can be very beneficial, its like seeing things from a different point of view, surely with a greater reality load than the one we usually perceive in our daily life.

In the illustration below we can see how a normal brain that has been given a placebo acts, compared to one under the effects of LSD. In it we can see how enteogens modify the brain activity, causing a greater interneuronal communication in people who have used these alkaloids.

These substances are not harmless, some can even cause death by overdose, or other causes related to its effects, so you must have much respect and be well informed before consumption. Among the most common side or undesirable effects are the following ones:

Did you know that the great ethnobotanist and philosopher Terence McKenna wrote a theory proposing that the missing link in the evolution of the human race was a doped monkey? It sounds strange, but among the primate ancestors of our race there is a big gap in the size of the brain that experts are not able to explain. McKenna thinks that it could have been due to entheogenic causes, that some of these primates accidentally or intentionally ate some magic mushrooms and the effect could encourage them to repeat and invite others of their species. And of course, not for a few, but many for centuries or millennia, it is possible that by amplifying the mind and consciousness, they could also increase the brain size of our ancestors.

If we go back only a century, we can see how some entheogens have changed aspects of the culture. Music, literature or painting have been greatly influenced by these substances during this time. In this case it has been more the LSD, the cannabis and the MDMA the 3 drugs that have had the deepest impact on the Beat, Hippie, Punk, Hip Hop, Skate, Rasta generations, etc.

Francis Crick was a British neuroscientist and molecular biologist who discovered the structure of the DNA molecule in 1953. Crick confessed years later that during his discovery he was experimenting with LSD and, not only that, that it was a very common practice among Cambridge academics.

Steve Jobs has revolutionized the way we live and communicate over the last few years. We dont know to what extent LSD influenced his work, but a few years ago he published that it had been one of the 2 or 3 most important things in his life.

Carl Sagan was a great astrophysicist, cosmologist and astronomer that, besides working in great theories on the universe, also published with the pseudonym of Mr X, an essay in which it spoke on the benefits of the cannabis, that was included in the book Marihuana reconsidered from 1971.

These are just a few examples of how some entheogens have helped to evolve some scientific aspects, but there are many more. Nowadays, microdoses of LSD or psilocybin are being widely used by many workers in Silicon Valley, where a significant part of the most interesting current inventions come from.

The relationship between people and entheogens is indivisible, otherwise we would not have an endocannabinoid system, nor would the pineal gland produce DMT, among other things. But it is also true that their use cannot be taken lightly, they must be handled with the proper respect they require, and they are not for everyone. On that basis, the best thing is to be thoroughly informed as I said before, and thats the purpose of this article, which I hope you liked and you share it on your social networks.

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What are entheogens and which are the best ones

The history of consciousness-expanding substances may bring to mind the counterculture of the 1960s and 70s. However, their Indigenous use extends far beyond this historical flash in the pan. Entheogen is a neologism that highlights the ancient spiritual role of these pharmacologically-diverse substances. The human use of entheogens for spiritual and religious purposes dates back to prehistoric times. This was a period devoid of dogma and religious institutions that attempt to monopolize the sacred. For thousands of years, entheogens have played a pivotal role in shamanic societies. They have granted direct access to visceral awe and divine reverence, everywhere from the humid jungles of the Amazon to the frigid Arctic Circle.

Entheogen is a term coined in 1979 by R. Gordon Wasson, Jonathan Ott, Carl Ruck, and other of their colleagues to describe psychoactive drugs, usually of plant origin, that produce transcendent experiences and facilitate spiritual development. Etymologically, the word entheogen is derived from two Greek words: entheos (god, theos, within), and the root word gen (the action of becoming). Thus, entheogen means literally becoming the divine within.

As Carl Ruck and colleagues describe in their original 1979 article introducing the term,

In a strict sense, only those vision-producing drugs that can be shown to have figured in shamanic or religious rites would be designated entheogens.

However, over the past century, entheogenic substances have found worldwide use well beyond ritualistic and shamanic settings. Moreover, organic chemistry labs have produced various synthetic substances with entheogenic effects. With this in mind, Ruck expands the definition of entheogen, noting:

but in a looser sense, the term could also be applied to other drugs, both natural and artificial, that induce alterations of consciousness similar to those documented for ritual ingestion of traditional entheogens.

The word entheogen is not synonymous with other terms in the psychoactive lexicon, including psychedelic and hallucinogen. Psychedelic, which literally means mind-manifesting, is perhaps the most accepted term among psychonauts and researchers alike. However, the term carries the weight of contemporary Western counterculture. Thus, it arguably resonates more with the recreational, rather than the sacred and venerated, use of these substances. In addition, entheogen rehabilitated the term hallucinogen, a word that, if at all, only narrowly describes the mental experience produced by the substance in question. It is also fraught with pathological associations to psychosis and similar hallucinatory states of mind.

According to many ethnobotanists and historians, entheogens have played a crucial role in the development of various world religions and spiritual traditions. Even today, many religious practitioners legally consume entheogens to produce states of ecstatic and shamanic possession, two states that are intimately intertwined. Indeed, shamanism has been described by Mircea Eliade as the archaic techniques of ecstasy. The use of entheogens is just one technique in the shamanic toolkit to achieve transcendent states, often used alongside other time-honored methods such as drumming, ecstatic dance, prayer, meditation, yoga, and chanting.

Entheogenic plants and fungi have been venerated as sacred sacraments and tools of divination and healing among Indigenous peoples for millennia. The traditional and religious use of entheogens has thrived in many cultures: ayahuasca and yopo in the Amazon basin, mescaline-containing cacti in South and North America, psilocybin mushrooms and Salvia divinorum in southern Mexico, and iboga in western Africa. In this section, we will overview some of the most common plant-based and fungal entheogens.

Ayahuasca, also known as yage, is a Quechua word meaning vine of the souls. It is an entheogenic tea that Indigenous groups in the Amazon basin have used sacramentally for millennia. Most commonly, it is made from the DMT-containing shrub Psychotria viridis (known as chacruna), and the Banisteriopsis caapi vine. B. caapi acts as an MAOI, rendering the DMT in P. viridis orally active. The ritualistic use of ayahuasca is foundational to several religious organizations, including the Brazil-based Unio do Vegetal (UDV) church andThe Santo Daime Church.

The Indigenous people of Amazonian Peru have traditionally used ayahuasca for healing, spiritual transformation, and to attain peak mystical experiences. Historically, ayahuasqueros have claimed they received instructions on how to make ayahuasca directly from the plants or plant spirits themselves. Ayahuasca began to receive more exposure from the West following the publication of True Hallucinations by the McKenna brothers, who documented their experiences in the Amazon.

Yopo is a powerful entheogenic snuff that has been used in healing ceremonies and rituals by a multitude of South American tribes for over 4,000 years. The name refers to the Anadenanthera peregrina tree, a perennial native to South America and the Caribbean. Its seeds, which are ground to make the snuff, contain the psychedelic tryptamines DMT, 5-MeO-DMT, and bufotenin. Traditionally, it is consumed by having another person blow the snuff into ones nasal cavities with a bamboo tube or similar pipe-like object. Some South American tribes have used yopo alongside the MAOI Banisteriopsis caapi, producing effects similar to those of ayahuasca.

Peyote is a small psychoactive cactus native to Mexico and the southwestern United States. The word peyote comes from the Aztec Nahuatl word peyotl. Peyote contains the psychedelic phenethylamine mescaline, which produces similar effects as LSD and psilocybin. In terms of human use, it is one of the oldest psychedelics. Archaeological evidence has shown that Native American tribes in Mesoamerica have used it for over 5,500 years. Its medicinal and spiritual use originated with the Tonkawa and Mescalero tribes. In addition, the Huichol, Chichimeca, Tarahumara, and Cora tribes have also used it sacramentally.

By the 19th century, the ceremonial use of peyote by the Indigenous peoples of Mexico spread north to native tribes in the United States. This diffusion of peyote practices north of Mexico coincided with the establishment of the North American Church, also known as Peyotism. As of the 1979 passage of the American Indian Religious Freedom act, ceremonial use of peyote by Native Americans is legal in the United States.

San Pedro is a mescaline-containing columnar cactus native to the Andes mountains in Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina. It is also known by the Quechua word huachuma, which translates roughly to removing the head, a probable nod to its ego-annihilating potential. Traditionally, San Pedro has been consumed by itself or with other plants in an entheogenic brew known as cimora. In these forms, shamanic healers use it as a spiritual tool to facilitate the divination of their patients afflictions and to communicate with their ancestors.

The effects of San Pedro are characterized by out-of-body journeys, ego dissolution, and powerful empathogenic effects, all of which catalyze significant personal transformation and healing. San Pedro has been used for thousands of years by several pre-Colombian cultures, including the Cupisnique, Chavin, Lambayeque, and Moche.

Psilocybin mushrooms refers to roughly 200 gilled mushrooms that contain the serotonergic tryptamine psilocybin, and/or its derivative psilocin. The tryptamine itself is found predominantly in the genus Psilocybe, but also in other genera such as Panaeolus, Inocybe, Gymnopilus, and others. Shamanic and religious ceremonies have used psilocybin mushrooms for thousands of years. Prehistoric art across the world has depicted the mushroom, with some murals from the Sahara Desert dating as early as 9000 BCE. Shamanic cultures within pre-Colombian Mexico used psilocybin mushrooms widely. These cultures included the Olmec, Zapotec, Mixtec, Maya, and Aztec.

The Aztecs referred to psilocybin mushrooms as teonanacatl, or flesh of the gods. Once the Spanish conquistadors conquered the Aztecs in the 16th century, they declared psilocybin mushroom use heresy. This forced the practice underground for several hundred years. After the ethnomycologist R. Gordon Wasson published an article in Life Magazine titled Seeking the Magic Mushroom in 1958, the West began to popularize magic mushrooms. This article detailed his psilocybin experience in Oaxaca, Mexico with the Mazatec mushroom shaman, Maria Sabina.

Salvia divinorum is a psychoactive plant in the mint family, endemic to the Sierra Mazateca region of Oaxaca, Mexico. Traditionally, users consume Salvia by chewing the fresh leaves or by drinking an infusion. Salvinorin A is the main psychoactive compound found in the leaves. It produces entheogenic effects by binding to -opioid receptors in the brain.This atypical pharmacological action distinguishes it from the classical psychedelics, which bind mainly to the serotonin 5-HT2A receptor.

Mazatec shamans have used S. divinorum sacramentally for healing, divination, and religious communion, often when psilocybin mushrooms werent available. The Mazatec see the plant as an incarnation of the Virgin Mary, referring to it as ska Maria Pastora, meaning the herb of Mary, the Shepherdess.

Tabernanthe iboga, or commonly just iboga, is a rainforest shrub indigenous to central west Africa. Its roots and bark contain the tryptamine ibogaine, a pharmacologically-complex alkaloid that binds to multiple neurotransmitter systems. At mid-to-high doses, ibogaine produces powerful visionary, introspective, and dissociative effects. Similar to ayahuasca, iboga has a long history of ceremonial use, particularly in the coming-of-age rituals among the practitioners of the Bwiti religion in Gabon, Africa.

The tools of science are increasingly quantifying and expanding upon the time-tested Indigenous knowledge of entheogenic substances. As a result, the healing potential of these substances is becoming politically undeniable, thereby opening up new vistas for mental health treatment in the West.

Entheogen therapy refers to the use of entheogenic substances in conjunction with therapeutic practices to heal emotional and psychological issues and catalyze significant personal and spiritual growth. The most promising molecular candidates for entheogen therapy, while certainly not the only ones, are serotonergic psychedelics such as psilocybin, LSD, and MDMA.

Psilocybin, which achieved breakthrough therapy status by the FDA in 2018, has proven highly effective in treating anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Just a single dose of psilocybin can provide immediate and lasting relief from the existential fear of dying. This remarkable finding comes from the 2016 study by Roland Griffiths and colleagues. Research on the therapeutic potential of LSD dates back to the 1950s, when extremely promising results were found in the treatment of alcoholism, anxiety, and depression. MDMAs empathogenic effects lend itself well to the therapeutic environment, allowing patients to explore traumatic memories within a safe and connected environment without becoming emotional overwhelmed. MDMA-assisted psychotherapy has been found to successfully address treatment-resistant PTSD in phase II clinical trials, and phase III trials are currently underway.

When treated with ritual, reverence, and respect, entheogenic medicines are powerful plant teachers that catalyze powerful energetic experiences between the ego and transpersonal self. Such energetic experiences facilitate introspection, healing, religious expression, and unity with the source of being.

In traditional ceremonial contexts, entheogenic medicine is taken by shamans to access the spirit world and divine the cause of their patients ailments. As Terence Mckenna describes in his book Food of the Gods,

The plants used by the shaman are not intended to stimulate the immune system or the bodys other natural defenses against disease. Rather, the shamanic plants allow the healer to journey into an invisible realm in which the causality of the ordinary world is replaced with the rationale of natural magic. In this realm, language, ideas, and meaning have greater power than cause and effect.

Shamanic diagnosing and treating, outside of the materialist models of disease, are therefore crucially dependent on the regular access to the altered states of consciousness enabled by entheogenic medicine.

In the 21st century, entheogenic medicine has emerged as an increasingly popular and more effective alternative to conventional pharmaceuticals. Iboga is becoming well-known as an anti-addictive aid to alleviating drug withdrawals and breaking out of addictive behavior patterns. It has been found to reliably reduce the rate of relapse and the intensity of drug cravings. However, like all other entheogens, iboga doesnt come without risks. It can be dangerous or even fatal in individuals with preexisting cardiac conditions, or when combined with certain other drugs, particularly stimulants.

Ayahuasca ceremonies have been highly successful in treating addiction and various mental issues. But its medicinal effects may extend beyond this efficacy as well. A 2016 paper by Frecska and colleagues investigated the medicinal effects of ayahuasca. They noted the therapeutic brew is best understood from the perspective of a bio-psycho-social-spiritual model. In addition, the researchers conclude that ayahuasca may act against chronic low-grade inflammation and oxidative stress. specifically through its sigma-1 receptor agonist action. This receptor system is implicated in a host of diseases, including Alzheimers disease, Parkinsons disease, cancer, cardiomyopathy, and more.

Its just a matter of time until mainstream culture more widely accepts and legalizes entheogenic medicine and therapy. Ultimately, this will allow the healing of modern-day ailments en masse with the sacred tools that Indigenous groups around the world have employed for thousands of years.

Dylan Beard is a freelance science writer and editor based in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. After finishing his physics degree and dabbling in neuroscience research at UC Santa Barbara in 2017, he returned to his first love: writing. As a long-term fan of the human brain, he loves exploring the latest research on psychedelics, nootropics, psychology, consciousness, meditation, and more. When not writing, you can probably find him on hiking trails around Oregon and Washington or listening to podcasts. Feel free to follow him on Insta @dylancb88.

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Guide to Entheogens: Plants, Therapy, Medicine

Bill Radke reviews the week's news with Seattle Times mental health reporter Esmy Jimenez, Publicola police accountability reporter Paul Keifer, and Crosscut editor at large and host of the Mossback's Northwest, Knute Berger.

Seattles city elections are set to tally this Tuesday. At the center of this years elections is what seems to be a lot of doom and gloom -- struggling business downtown, a rampant homelessness problem, and the fragile state of pandemic recovery in the region. Maybe its a little old fashioned, but whatever happened to optimism as a selling point for politicians? Is sunny optimism in politics a privileged piece of the past, or is it something we still want?

In other political news, the Biden administration has named Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman to an election-security post in the Department of Homeland Security. Like many Secretary of States before her Wyman is a Republican, and has been a key supporter of voting by mail -- a political position thats become more fraught for conservatives in the fallout of the 2020 election. Who will take her place here in Washington?

You might remember that back in May of this year Seattle Inspector General Lisa Judge sent a letter to Interim Police Chief Adrian Diaz asking SPD to eliminate traffic stops for minor civil and non-violent violations. In the letter, Judge wrote that Stopping a person is a significant infringement on civil liberty and should be reserved for instances when a person is engaged in criminal conduct that harms others. This week Diaz sent a memo to the city council and Mayor Durkan agreeing to phase out the stops. How will this decision change police work in Seattle?

Speaking of the Seattle Police Department, earlier this month the Seattle city council passed a resolution that asks Seattle cops to make enforcement of entheogens, aka psychedelic drugs, their lowest priority. The Seattle Police Department already doesn't detain or arrest people solely for possession, but you can still get in trouble for growing your own entheogens, or possession if youre already in trouble for something else. A resolution isn't legally binding, so it's up to the police department to decide if they want to phase out enforcement. But that doesnt mean psychedelic companies are waiting to get started - according to Geekwire, CaaMTech, a Seattle-area startup developing new psychedelic agents, recently raised $22 million in funding. What could the roll out of legal entheogens look like?

In Covid vaccine news, the Eatonville school district has refused to fire non-compliant workers, a position that could result in a drop in funding. And Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has announced that Seattle officers who were let go over vaccine status are welcome in Florida, and is looking to sign legislation that would provide $5,000 bonuses to officers who elect to move. How big a deal is this pushback? Will we see school employees and police officers flocking to Eatonville or Florida?

On Wednesday a federal jury determined that the for-profit firm that operates the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma violated Washington's minimum wage laws by paying detainees only $1 per day for their labor. The jury ruled that the firm in charge of the center, GEO Group Inc, will need to begin paying all workers the state's $13.69 hourly minimum wage immediately. What will this mean for current and former detainees?

Finally, Monday November first is Dia de los Muertos, a holiday for celebrating and honoring the dead. Traditionally, celebrations involve making an ofrenda an offering that features a photo of the person being remembered, candles, food, cempaschiles (marigolds), papel picado and calaveras (sugar skulls). But with the pandemic, things might look a little different. For example, the LA Times has created a digital Dia de los Muertos alter, for anyone to contribute to. What does mourning, and remembrance, look like now? Can the digital world be a good mourning space, or a good space for celebrating life?

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An upcoming election, pay requirement, and holiday, this week - KUOW News and Information