Psychedelic
(Written for Aura Magazine)
A look into the doorway of psychedelic spirituality.
Today, the use of mind-altering drugs is stigmatized beyond belief, particularly in Western society. Imagining a world where societies use psychoactive substances incorporating them into their religious and social beliefs without tainting their reputation or being judged almost seems laughable. But what if I told you that that’s how it used to be, and in some cultures around the world, that’s exactly how it still is.
Despite what 15-year-old you might’ve thought, you and your mates weren’t the first ones to discover drugs. They weren’t even discovered by your parents during their long-haired, flower-power, hippie phase in the 70s. In fact, the use of hallucinogens can be traced all the way back to 500 B.C. with small ‘mushroom stone’ sculptures being found in Mexico suggesting that hallucinogenic ‘magic’ mushrooms were used in sacred cults. Fossilised opium plants have been found in Italy dating back to 6000 B.C. whilst the natural psychedelic mescaline bean seeds were found in Peru dating around 9000 B.C. It’s even suggested by some scholars that ancient historical figures such as Pythagoras used drugs as it enhanced their genius abilities, whilst Viking beserkers were considered ‘shaman warriors’ and used herbal substances to induce fury and courage and instil fear into their enemies.
In ancient Egypt, blue lotus was a favourite amongst the Egyptians. Comparative to a weaker version of ecstasy, the flower was used for over 3,000 years by Egyptian priests to arouse feelings of tranquillity and euphoria. The main method of consumption is brewing the flowers in tea which increases its potency and results in the consumer experiencing a dreamy trance-like state which is beneficial for meditation and magical rituals. Even today, some indigenous people still use blue lotus as it’s said to induce a blissful sleep.
The Egyptians weren’t the only ancient civilisation to reap the benefits of the natural psychoactive elements found around them. Found in the mountains of the Andes and amongst the strongest drugs in the world, the coca leaf was considered sacred by Mayans and was chewed and brewed by them for its powerful stimulating effects. Used whilst partaking in activities involving manual labour for its ability to enhance endurance as well as being used ritualistically, just 100 grams of the coca leaf contains the daily recommended intake of several vitamins, calcium, iron and phosphorus for a fully-grown man. Despite its seemingly magic powers, it’s to be used sparingly as a slight overdose can have lethal effects so no having a bowlful of it as one of your five a day.
For those of you who have had the chance to visit Amsterdam, it’s very likely that if you didn’t feel wild enough to try what we know today as ‘magic mushrooms’ that you at least came across them in the heart of mushroom tourism. It was in the 1950s when two Americans got their hands on and tested out the Mazatec custom of psilocybin mushrooms and then shared their ‘profound’ experience that the worlds turbulent affair with mushrooms began. One of the most popular recreational psychedelics and used by Ancient people in the Saharan Desert as well as by cultures throughout Central and South American today, mushrooms can be seen on Algerian murals dating back to 7000 B.C. When foraging for the mushrooms, it’s required that the ones picked are found in well-hidden places where a human would never have seen them before that moment and they are then consumed in sacred rituals, not for spiritual awakening, but to bring about mental and physical healing. To the Mazatec’s of Mexico, these fungi are considered ‘tiny gods’ as they believe that God has been discovered within the mushroom and it’s healing power is its gift. The hallucinations that come with consuming the mushrooms however, are embraced by its ancient users and the higher state of consciousness it induces are said to bring profound insights which are sometimes described as ‘mystical experiences’. Even today, some drug history students believe that these hallucinations may have been the beginning of humanity’s cultural and spiritual evolution with one hallucinogenics scholar, Terence Mckenna, stating “I am convinced that if there were no shamanic pipeline, there would be no higher life, as we know it, on this planet.”
Another psychedelic drug which is still used by certain tribes today is one which comes from an aesthetically and nutritionally rather unremarkable shrub, but the hallucinogenic properties within it is what results in it being worshipped. Known as iboga and grown in Gabon in Central Africa, the Babongo tribe discovered the powerful properties within the iboga shrubs bark thousands of years ago and formed a religion around it called Bwiti. Loosely translated to mean ‘otherworldly tree medicine’, the Bwiti worship the iboga and use it for spiritual growth, believing that it opens your passage to the afterlife and allows you to travel through time, reliving the memories of your ancestors.
So, whilst modern day scientists have been stumbling around attempting to find the meaning of life and gain a higher intelligence through equations and diagrams, across the world and throughout history, tribes and cultural groups have studied, experimented with and consumed organic substances for healing, spiritual and societal practices and in turn have found enlightenment and comfort. Just as these substances were here thousands of years before us, they will most likely still be here thousands of years after us and will carry on being an integral part in numerous civilisations, occasionally allowing a lucky few to see through the fog and into the divine.