Entheogenic drugs and the archaeological record
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Entheogenic drugs have been used by various groups for thousands of years. There are numerous historical reports as well as modern, contemporary reports of indigenous groups using entheogens.
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New World
The Maya, Olmecs, and Aztecs have well-documented entheogenic complexes. North American cultures also have a tradition of entheogens.
Olmec Entheogens
The Olmec (12,000 BCE to 400 BCE) lived in Central America and are largely viewed by many as the mother culture of Aztecs and Maya. The Olmecs left no written works on their belief structures, so many interpretations on Olmec beliefs are largely based on interpretations of murals and artifacts. Archaeologists are led to believe that the Olmecs used entheogens for three reasons:
- Burials of Bufo Toads with priests
- The use of entheogens in later Olmec-inspired cultures
- Sculptures of shamans and other figures have strong Therianthropic imagery.
Maya
The Maya (250 BCE to 900 CE) flourished in Central America and were prevalent even until the arrival of the Spanish. The Maya religious tradition is extremely complex and very well-developed. Unlike the Olmec, the Maya have religious texts that have survived to this day. The Maya religion displays characteristic Mesoamerican mythology, with a strong emphasis on an individual being a communicator between the physical world and the spiritual world. Mushroom stone effigies, dated to 700 CE, give evidence that mushrooms were at least revered in a religious way. The most direct evidence of Maya entheogen use comes from modern descendents of the Maya who use entheogenic drugs today.
Aztec
The Aztec entheogenic complex is extremely well-documented. Through historical evidence, there is proof that the Aztecs used several forms of psychoactive drugs. These drugs include Ololiuqui (the seed of Rivea corymbosa), Teonanácatl (translated as “mushroom of the gods," a psilocybe mushroom) and sinicuichi (a flower added to drinks). The Xochipilli statue, according to R.G. Wasson, gives the identity of several entheogenic plants. Other evidence for entheogenic use of the Aztecs comes from the Florentine Codex, a series of 12 books vividly describing the use of entheogenic drugs within Aztec culture and society.
Native Americans of the southwest United States
There are several contemporary indigenous groups who use entheogens, most notably Native Americans of the southwest United States. Various tribes from California have been known to use strong alcoholic drinks as well as peyote to achieve visions and religious experiences.
Old World
Paleolithic
During the Paleolithic, there is ample evidence of drug use as seen by preserved botanical remains and coprolites. Some scholars suggest that the Shanidar Cave (a Paleolithic site in Iraq) Flower Burial shows evidence of a shamanic death ritual, but these claims are still being debated. The most direct evidence we have from the Paleolithic in terms of art comes from Tassili, Algeria. From this region, there are several therianthropic images portraying the painter and the animals around him as one (an often cited effect of many hallucinatory drugs, Ego death). One image, in particular, shows a man who has formed into one common form with a mushroom.
There are several Paleolithic sites that display therianthropic imagery. However, there is some debate as to whether or not sites like Lascaux or Chauvet were entheogenically inspired.
World Religions
There have been several reports stating that the Bible and the Vedas have several references to entheogenic drugs.
Manna and Mushrooms
Some researchers speculate that Manna, the food that the Israeli tribes harvest, was actually an entheogenic drug. The Bible as quoted in Exodus 16:14 reads:
And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground. And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat.
Some point to the similarities of psilocybe and the biblical description of manna as evidence.
Soma
In regard to the Vedas, the religious texts of the Hindu religion, there has been speculation on the nature of what Soma, the food of the gods, actually was. In the Vedas it states:
Splendid by Law! declaring Law, truth speaking, truthful in thy works, Enouncing faith, King Soma!... O [Soma] Pavāmana, place me in that deathless, undecaying world wherein the light of heaven is set, and everlasting lustre shines.... Make me immortal in that realm where happiness and transports, where joy and felicities combine...
Amateur mycologist Robert Gordon Wasson suggested that soma is fly agaric, a mushroom commonly used by Siberian shamans, however, linguistic and ritual evidence has established that haoma was most likely a variant of Ephedra.
See also
References
- Bierhorst, John. The Mythology of Mexico and Central America, William Morrow (1990). ISBN 0-688-11280-3.
- Demarest, Arthur. Ancient Maya: The Rise and Fall of the Rainforest Civilization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
- Dibble, Charles E., et al. (trans). "Florentine Codex: Book 11 - Earthly Things." The School of American Research. Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1963.
- Furst, P. T. (with contributions from Wasson and others) 1972 Flesh of the Gods: The Ritual Use of Hallucinogens
- Hofmann, Albert. "Teonanácatl and Ololiuqui, two ancient magic drugs of Mexico." UNODC Bulletin on Narcotics. Issue 1, pp. 3–14, 1971.
- McKenna, Terence. Food of the Gods. (New York, Harper Collins) p. 84.
- Wasson, R. G., S. Kramrisch, J. Ott and C. A. P. Ruck. (1986). Pesephone's Quest: Entheogens and the Origins of Religion. ISBN 0-300-05266-9
- Roberts, T. B. (editor) (2001). Psychoactive Sacramentals: Essays on Entheogens and Religion. San Francosco: Council on Spiritual Practices.
- Roberts, T. B., and Hruby, P. J. (1995–2002). Religion and Psychoactive Sacraments An Entheogen Chrestomathy. Online archive. [1]
- Roberts, T. B. "Chemical Input—Religious Output: Entheogens." Chapter 10 in Where God and Science Meet: Vol. 3: The Psychology of Religious Experience Robert McNamara (editor)(2006). Westport, CT: Praeger/Greenwood.
