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Home , Miracle, Shamanism

------i Walsh, R. and early human technology. Revision a :34-40, 1989.

Shamanism and Early Human Technology: The Technology of

Roger Walsh

Roger Wdrh is a proferror oi hamans were humankind's earliest mystics, according to numerous students of com- Dc. prychialry and philowphy. parative , including Mircaea Eliade (1964) and (1981). Of course. wrtrnml of Psychiatry and Human Brhavior. Uni\.nril! both shaman and mysric can be defined in various ways. and scholars have debated of California sl lrvinc. His both terms for years. Here I will asrume a definition of myslics as people who access personal and rcuarrh inlcrolr transcendental through direct . includc ihc nalurc of psycho. logical vcll.bcing. the compari- SShamanurn I would define as a family of traditions whose practitioners focus on voluntarily son and inlegration of difirr. entering altered states of in which they experience themselves or their spirits en1 schmlr of psychology. rncdilauon. Asian ps).cholopicr traveling to other realms at will and interacting with other entities in order to serve their com- osophicr. and ihc pry- munity (Walsh 1989). are "cosmic travelers" who experience themselves having con- al cauus and coslr of trolled out-of-body experiences in which they. or their spirits, traverse the cosmos~t-willin conlemporary global . : . . His books indude 8e.wnd order to learn, acquire power, help, and heal. Ego: Troronsprrronol Dimm. This focus on cosmic travels, which are also known as llights or journeys, is what distin- ~ionrin P~chologvand, on guishes shamans from other magico-religious healers. For example, may lead the global crises. Sro,vin# Alive: and men may heal, but they rarely enter altered nates; mediums may enter altered Thr Psychologv o/ Huanan Sumivol. Copyrighl C Roqcr states but do not journey; Tibetan Buddhists may sometimes journey, but this is no) 3 central Walrh. focus of their practice; those suffering mental illness may enter altered states, but they do so as helpless victims rather than as choiceful creators of these states. To travel the cosmos, the shaman must be able to enter specific states of consciousness, and much of shamanism centers on ways of inducing these states. Of course. shamans are not the only ones who have developed means for altering consciousness. Fully 90 percent of the world's cultures have one or more institutionalized altered states of consciousness, and in tra- ditional these are almost without exception sacred states. This is, to say the least. "3 striking finding &d suggests that we are. indeed, dealing with a matter of major imponance" (Bourguignon 1973. 11). Clearly, humankind has devoted enormous and ingenuity to altering consciousness. Indeed. it may be that the "desire to alter consciousness periodically is an innate normal drive analogous to hunger or the sexual drive" (Weil 1972. 17). So shamans are hardly alone in seeking alternate states of consciousness. Mystics of numer- ous other traditions also seek them and claim thal it is in these states that their deepest realiza- tions are born. In fact, mystical traditions the world over have developed families of tech- niques for altering consciousness in systematic ways. These techniques constitute the so-called technology of the sacred, or technology of transcendence, and mystical traditions serve as road maps for using this technology to attain transcendent states. From this perspective, we might say that mystical traditions and arc created and sustained by people who reach tran- scendent states of consciousness and then provide instructions whereby others can also reach them. thereby recreating the founder's insights. Idedly. mystical traditions serve to preserve and transmit these insights and instructions; the first -such tradition was shamanism. At its best, the shamanic tradition transmits a body of and techniques that allows novices to recreate the altered states, experiences. and abilities of their predecessors. Each generation. thereby, can perpetuate and refresh a living and continuously recreated tradi- tion and even add to its accumulated treasure of wisdom and technique. It is this direct per- sonal experience of the sacred that defines the mystic and that properly allows shamanism to be called humankind's first mystical tradition. However, transmission can fail. When this occurs, a tradition no longer focuses on or even appreciates direct experience of the iranscendent. Then what is left is an institution largely de- void of direct experience of the sacred, without firsthand understanding of transcendental ex- periences and the altered states by which they are reached. Altered-state-inducing techniques give way to symbolic rituals, experience is replaced by , and "live doctrinc fossils into dogmatism" (Steindl-Rast 1989). VOL. I2 NO. I Examples are not hard to find in ally of thc This esamplc is valuable because it dcmoll- world's religions, and. In , shamanism strates the extent ro which skeptics can deny itself provides an example. atld dismiss even powerful altered states \vith enormous healing potentials. In our own Today this occurs only rarely. Capacity time, hypnosis is widely accepted, but similar for this kind or disw~iation,and for the ai- skeptical attitudes persist toward many mysti- sionary journcy which goes with it, Ems to have diminished in recent centuries and today c3l stares and the lechniques that induce the journey is most commonly accom- them. For example, many people, including plished by symbolic action in full waking con- psychiarrists and researchers, still dismiss sciousness. (Blacker 1986. 23). and the states it induces, even though over a thousand research repons at- Thus. the survival of mystical traditions test to its psychological, biochemical. and may depend on succeeding generations' being psychological effects (Murphy and Donovan able to againreach those transcendent states 1999; Shapiro 1980; Walsh and Shapiro 1954). and experiences from which the tradition was first born. Shamanism seems to have been re- Despite persistent , however, ac- markably successful in this. It appears to have ceptance and understanding are growing. Much research has been done, and recently survived, perhaps for tens of thousands of years, as a living tradition of mystics who suc- Charles Tan, one of the field's leading re- cessfully preserved and transmitred what was searchers, put forward a theory describing the perhaps the world's first technology, a tcch- stages by which altered states are induced. This nology for inducing altered states of con- theory will be helpful in understanding the in- sciousness. duction of shamanic states. Tan describes threc stages of induction. In INDUCING ALTERED STATES: the first, the usual state is destabilized by one CONTEMPORARY UNDERSTANDIKC or more destabig forces. These are forces [ha disrupt the usual brain-mind function. This technology can now be panly under- They could be anything from sensory input stood in psychological terms. For the first such as intense music or drumming to physio- time in , we have some psychological logical disruptions such as hunger or sleep dep- understanding of altered states of conscious- rivation to chemical disrupters such as psyche- ness, the means for inducing them, and their delics. role in religious traditions. When these destabilizing forces are suffi- This prexnt understanding stands in dra- ciently intense. the usual state of consciousness matic contrast to previous centuries of misun- is disturbed and transition to another stare be- derstanding and dismissal. It has taken hun- gins. The nature of thk new stale u4l depend dreds of years for cenain states to be recog- largely on the nature of the "patterning nized and appreciated. Even hypnosis-now a forces" that mould it. These forces are such well-known-and widely researched state-was things as the specific beliefs. , or environ- once dismissed as a sham. During the nine- mental setting that tend to direct the new1 un teenth century, a British physician named patterned mind toward specific states. \'henI' - James Edaile discovered that hypnosis could this movement tou,ard a new pattern or itare be used with surgery patients to reduce pain has occurred, then, during the third and final and increaw survival. At a time when there stage, consciousness restabilizes into a new was no available and even the moa state ran 1983). brutal operaions were performed without The ability to access altered staa appears to pain relief, this was obviously a momentous be a learnable skill. Entering a specific state for discovery. However, the medical journals re- the im time may be hard but, with practice. fused to publish Esdaile's claims. He there- can become easier and easier. For example, the fore put on a demonstration for the British person who smokes marijuana for the first CoUege of Physicians and Surgeons. Charles time may experience little or no effect. Further Tan (1986, 80) describes il this way: attempts, however, may meet with increasingly Alter hypnotizing a man with a gangrenous dramaic success. The mult is a phenomenon leg, he amputated it in front of thcm while the known as reversz tokrance in which the drug's man lay [here calmly yniling. The conclusion effects become not less but more ~owerfulkith of his skeptical collwgufi? uaile war fool- use, Phamlacolo~s bnd this phe. ing thcm. He had hired a hardened rogue for a gold piccclo lie and pretend nomenon curious and surprising. but it be- wa letline-. no oain. Thcv must have had vcn. comes easily understandable once we realire hard rogua in thosc days. tha the ability to enter specific altered stales is

SUMMER 89 35 a learned skill (Tart 1983). The development of when stronger stimuli are withdrawn. For en- this skill is a common aim of mystical tndi- ample. the fact th3t the house Lights have been lions. For shamanism. "all this long and tiring left on may only become recognizable when ceremony has as its object transforming the night falls. Likeuise, the subtle experiences en- apprentice 's initial and momentaq countered by the shaman during the journey ecstatic experience . . . into a permanent condi- may also be more easily observable at night. tion" (Eliade 1961, SO). Physiological techniques, mostly of an as- The fact that lhis ability can be developed cetic kind. are also commonly used before- and refined has several implications. The fim hand. Shamans may go for a day or more is that practitioners may eventually be able to without food, sleep, sex, or even water. They enter desired states rapidly and easily. This may also expose themselves to temperature means that they may eventually no longer need extremes such as the icy cold of winter streams prolonged preparation or external aids such as or the searing heat of the sweat lodge. During drums or . Another effect of practice is a seance, shamans may subject themselves to that some of the qualities and abilities of the intense rhythmic stimulation such as dancing alternate state may become available in the and drumming and may also ingest one or usual stale. For example. the Buddhist medita- more drugs. Any or all of these techniques tor who maten the states of extreme calm and may disrupt normal physiological functioning concentration known as the jhanar will eventu- sufficiently to destabilize the ordinary state of ally becomemore calm and concentrated in the consciousness.

' ' usual state. Likewise. the shaman's vi- PSYCHEDELICS AND MYSTICAL sion may become more accessible and sensitive STATES in an ordinary state. The net result is that an altered state of consciousness becomes an, al- At the present time. it is hard to have an in- tered trait of consciousness. and, to paraphrare telligent discussion about psyched.elics, so Huston Smith's eloquent phrase, "flashes of il- great is the misunderstanding, mi;informa- '.i lumination become abiding light." tion, and emotion that surrounds them. As a culture, we are remarkably ambivalent about SHAMANIC TECHNIQUES drugs. Each year in the United States, we con- Shamanic techniques for inducing altered sume billions of dollars wonh of tranquil- states include psychological, social, and phys- izers, watch three hundred thousand people iological approaches. The psychological tech- die from nicotine consumption, and lose al- niques include exercises undertaken both prior most another one hundred thousand to alco- to and during the . Common preparatory hol. Yet, we provide billions of dollars' wonh techniques include periods of solitude. con- of subsidies to growers while we im- templation and , and creation of the ap prison marijuana growers, and we make no propriate mind and environmental setting. distinction between socially destructive and Set andsetting are weU recognized by con- sacred drug use. temporary psychedelic users as extremely im- It is clear that psychedelics have played a portant in determining the quality of the psy- crucial role in religions and cultures through- chedelic experience. Skillful users therefore go ou! history. Some of the most ancient of hu- to geat lengths to amnge the appropriate ex- man writings. the Indian Vedas, which are at pectation and environment in order to elicit the least twenty-five hundred years old, refer to appropriate state and experience (Grof 1980. the food of the , . which may have 1988). Shamans do likewise. The elements of been, the psychedelic .4manira their set and seuing may include donning the muscoria. shamanic and clothing and gathering the Psychedelics may also have played a crucial family or . The group provides support role in shaping Western and cul- and encouragement and, by its presence and ture. A reasonable, though not conclusive, ar- dependency. reinforces belief in the shamans' gument has been made that war a mem- power and importance. ber of one of the Greek myslery schools, that Ting is also regarded as important. Jour- these schools used psychedelics in their sacred neying is usually done at night so that the rites, and that these experiences may have in- spirits and geography of the other worlds can spired pans of Plato's philosophy (Dodds be better mn. In psychological terms, we 1972: Wasson 1978). As Plato's philosophy might understand this ar an example of per- became the foundation for Western philoso- ceptual releare. Perceptual release is the proc- phy ("Plato is philosophy and philosophy ess by which subtle objects become recognized Plato." said Emerson), it is obvious that 36 Rev IS ION VOL. 12 No. I Western philosophy and culture may have than experience them personally. For tl~ose been, quite unknowingly, significantly in- able to keeb it down, the effects are much like fluenced by psychedelic experience~. those or its major active component, mesca- Of course, there is enormous controversy line. over the nature and genuineness of psychedel- Yage, or ayahausca as it is also known, is ically induced mystical states (Stace 11Wl an equally vile-tasting and nausea-producing 198;; Grof 1960). It is clear that. at the very psychedelic madc from an Amazonian "vi- least. they have played an imponant role in sionary vine" called Banasteriopsis (Dobkin many religions and cultures and have been de Rios 1972). Yage is chcmically comples. central to some shamanic traditions. Even but thc most imponant psychoactive ingredi- here, however, their central itnponance has may be harmaline (Stafford 1983). Sha- often been overlooked by anthropologists. mans, of course. attribute the effects not to possibly because of lack of personal esperi- chemicals but to the spirit that dwells within ence with the'drugs and the states they induce. the plant. Such was certainly the case with Har- Yage appears to elicit strong visual esperi- ner. Only after he had ingested the psychc- ences. Users describe long sequences of delic yage did he begin to appreciate its im- dreamlike visions that appear in a spiritu311y pact on the natives' view of . significant progression. Yage is famous for provoking spxific images, particularly jungle For wvcral hours allcr drinking ihc brcw. I found rnyxlf, although awakc, in a world Lit- scenes of tigers, , and naked women enllybeyond my wildesl dreams. . . . T~~~~.(Stafford 1983). Several Westerners have de- poned into a trance whcrc the supcrnalural scribed their amazement. on ingesting yage. seemed natural. I rcalircd [hat anthropolo. at the power of the imagery and its consisten- gists including mswlf. had profoundly under- cy with native (H~~~~~1973: ~~~~~j~ eslirnatcd ihc imponancc 01 the drug in al. lccling nalive idmlogy. (Hamcr 1973. 1&7) 1975; Stafford 1993). On the other hand. I have had the. opponunity of interviewing The range of drugs employed by shamans three Western psychologists who took it in an across the world is quite remarkable, and up urban setting well away from a jungle and re- to one hundred different plant poned no jungle imagery whatsoever. have been identified (Furst 1987). Archeologi- Yage is pmicularly interesting wirh regard cal records suggest shamanic drug use may ex- to shamanism becauw of claims for its heal- tend back over three thousand years. ing and telepathic effects. In South America. It is the Siberian and Latin American sha- it is known as "the great medicine," which, mans who have most ofien employed ps?che- through its intercession with the spirils. can delin as booster rockets lo launch their cos- either reveal remedies or produce healing. In mic travels. In , the preferred sub- dramatic contrast to Western notions of med- stance has been the mushroom known as A. icine, yage is believed to be curative whether muscorio, or agaric. which is perhaps one of the patient or the healer swallows it (Stafford the drugs referred to in diverse European 1983). i . Of its use by shamans there can be no Yage is also famous because of repeated doubt. If,. in addition, further research sup- claims for the clairvoyant powers it impans. pons the idea that A. muscaria was the basis Native reports abound of yage+mpowered for various Asian and European legendary journeys, flying, and extrasensory . drugs, then its religious. cultural. and histori- The anthropologist Kensinger reported that cal impacr has been profound. "on the day following one Ahayuava ). Among the many drugs used in Latin sii of nine men informed me of seeing the America. two of the most powerful and pop- death of my chai, my mother's father. This ular psychedelics are and yage. Peyote occurred a few days before I was informed by is an unspectacular-looking. vile-tasting cac- radio of his death" (Stafford 1983. 353). tus. Many users feel nauseous after taking it. Needless to say. the interprctalion and signifi- and Indians describe it as "a hard road." The wnce of such repons is hotly debated. great American philosopher-psychologist While these are the tradilional drugs. [he , who had some profoundly sad fact is that to a large extent they are now meaningful experiences with nitrous oxide being replaced by tobacco and alcohol. Un- that significantly affected his philosophical fortunately. "traditional peoples do not auto- views. was sick for twenty-four hours after matically form good relations with psychoac- eating a single piece. He concluded that he tive plants. Today. alcoholism is replacing the would take the peyote visions on rather ceremonial use of sacred drugs" (Weil 1981).

SUM~IER89 37 One question remains, however: Can drugs and professors were given psilosibin on Good indeed induce genuine rnystical experiences? Friday in Hmmd University's Marsh Chapel. In the West, there is currently a strong Researchers were unable to distinguish the re- tendency to dismiss the validity and religious pons of their drug-induced "mystical experi- significance of any drug experience. Conse- ences" from those of mystics throughout the quently. the fact that shamans may use drugs centuries (Smith 1'3%). Perhaps the people causes some people to dismiss the experiences best equipped to say whether drug and con- completely. Even some firm supporters of templatively induced rnystical experiences can shamanism, such as Eliade, have regarded be the meare those who have had both. drug use as a degenerative form of the tradi- Such people are obviously few and far be- tion. tween, but a survey of spiritual teachers Five major arguments are advanced to sug- (Walsh 1982) located at least one such person gest that drug experiences can never be truly who concluded that they could be. The theo- rnystical. The first is that some drug experi- logical claim that m).jtical rapture is 3 gift ences are, clearly. anything but mystical and from that can never be brought under beneficial. The second is the claim that the ex- human control is an argument that will only periences actually induced by drugs are. when seem cogent to those believing in theistic relig- closely examined, different from those of ions and specific theological positions. It genuine mystics. The third point is a theologi- would, of course, not be regarded as 3 valid cal one that argues that mystical rapture is a argument by. for example, nontheistic tradi- gift of God that can never be brought under tions, such as , nor. presumatily, by human control. The founh is that drug-in- theists who believe in the power of good duced experiences are too quick and easy and works more than grace. col~ldhardly be erpected to be identical to The complaint that drug experiences are those hard won by years of contemplative dis- too quick and easy to be genuine isreadily un- cipline. Finally, it has been argued that the af- derstandable. After all, it hardly seems fair terelfects of drug-induced experiences are dif- that a contemplative should labor for decades ferent, less beneficial, and less long lasting for a sip of what the drug user may effonless- than the mystical experiences ol contempla- ly swim in for hours. However. unfair or not. lives. Several responses to these concerns if the sates are experientially identical, then have been proposed as follows. the fact that they are due to different causes There is no doubt whatsoever that some, in may be irrelevant. Technically, this has been fact many, drug experienccs are anything but called "the principal of causal indifference" mystical. As the religious scholar Huston (Stace (1%0] 1987). which means that if rhe Smith pointed out: two experiences are identical then it matters not one whit how they are caused. Therc are, of courw, numerable cxpcricnces that have no religious icaturcr; [hey can be The final argument against the equivalence xnsualas rcadily as spirirual, trivial as rcadily of drug and natural mystical states is that they as rransforming, capricious as rcadily as sac- may result in different long-term effects. nrncntal. If thcrc is onc point about which Once again. Huston Smith has put the case every studcnr agrees. it is that thcrc is no such eloquently. He noted that "drugs appear to thing as the drug cxpcriencc pcr w. . . . This or coursc provcr rhat not all drug cxpcricnccr induce religious experiences: it is less evident arc religious: ir does no! prove [ha! no drug that they can produce religious lives" (Smitli cxpcricnca arc rcligiour. (Srnirh 1964. 520 1'3%. 529). and 523) Ir seems clear that drug and natural mysti- The next question concerns whether drug cal experiences can be similar or identical but and natural mystical states are experientially may differ in their aftereffects. But still the the same. Research suggesrs that "descrip- debate continues over whether psychedelically tively, drug experiences cannot be distin- induced mystical experiences are genuine. guished from their natural religious counter- Stan Grof concluded that "31 present. after pans" (Smith I 523): In philosophical thiny yean of discussion. the question terms, drug and natural mystical experiences whether LSD and other psychedelics can in- ;Ire phenomenologically (experienridly or de- duce genuine spiritual experiences is still scriptively) identical. open" (Grof 1980. 264). The most dramatic experiment affirming One reason the debate continues unabated this was the "Hamard Good Friday study." is that there has been no theory of mystical also known 3s "the of hlarsh states rhat could resolve it. What is needed is Chapel." In this study. ten students 3 theory accounting for the induction of simi- !0L. I2 No. I Iar or identical states by such different means will suppon it, and an ethic that can guide its as LSD and meditation. follo\ved by different expression. One is reminded of Louis Ps- aftereffects. It may now be possible to create teur's statement that "chance favors the pre- such a theory in light of current understand- pared mind." The contemplative's mind is ings of the induction of altered states of con- prepared, but there is no guarantee that the sciousness. drug user's is. Charles Tan's (1983) model of conscious- These ideas suggest that some drugs can in- ness is helpful here. Tan suggests that any deed induce genuine mystical experiences in one state of consciousness is the result of the some people on some occasions. However. function and interaction of psychological and they are niore likely to do so, and niore likely neural processes such as perception, auen- to produce enduring benefits, in prepared lion, emotions, identity, and so fonh. If the minds. Shamans were people whose minds functioning ,of any one process is changed were prcpared, sometimes for years, and thus sufficiently, it may shift the entire system or psychedelics may nzell have opened them to a stale of consciousness. It therefore seems pos- variety of genuine mystical experiences. sible that a specific altered state may be reached in more than one way by altering dif- RHYTHM AND THE ALTERED STATE ferent processes. For example. states of calni Rhflhmic stimulation, whether by music, may be reached by either reducing muscle ten- singing, or dancing, has long been known to sion, visualizing restful scenery, or focusing induce altered states. and shamans have, used attention on the breath. In each use. the all of these techniques. Nor are they the only brain-mind process used is different, but the ones, for as Evelyn Underhill, author of the resulting stale is similar. classic text on , noted: A similar phenomenon may also occur with mystical states. Different techniques might Dancing. music end othcr cxag~erationsof affect different brain-mind processes yet still natural rhythm hauc becn prerxd into ihe same service by thc Greek initiates of Diony- result in the same mystical state of conscious- sus, by thegnoslics, by numerous othcr mystic ness. A contemplative might finally taste the culls. That thcse ~rrreedinedo ellcct a rc- bliss of mystical unity after years of cultivat- markable changc in ihc human conrciousncrs ing qualities such as concentration, love, and is provcd by cxpcricnce: though how and why ~hcydo it is yc~liltlc understood. (Undcrhill compassion. Yet it is ahpossible that a psy- 1955. 58) chedelic might affect chemical and neurond proccsm so powerfully as to temporarily in- Drums and rattles are the most widely used duce a similar state. shamanic instruments. When a drum is played So it mms that Tan's theory of conscious- at a tempo of some 200 to 220 beats per min- ness may be extended to provide an explana- ute, most Western novices usually repon that tion for the finding that "chemical mysticism" they can journey successfully even on their and natural mysticism may be experientidly first atempt. Indeed, the remarkable ease of identical. But what of the fact that the long- induction of these states is obviously one rea- k term impact of the two may be quite differ- son for shamanism's recent popularity. This ent? These differences may also be compatible ease contrasts dramatically with the months of :..: with the theory. .- practice usually required by most meditative Both psychological and social factors may and yogic disciplines before significant altered be involved. The psychedelic user may have a states appear. (The drum is sometimes used dramatic experience, perhaps the most dra- even in these more rcccnt traditions. for exam- matic of his or her entire life. However, a ple, in Korean .) single experience, no mauer how powerful. Drumming probably iacilitates shamanic may be insufficient to permanently overcome states and journeying in several ways. First, it mental and neural habits conditioned to - acts as a concentralion device that conlinu- dane modes of function for decades. The con- ously reminds the shaman of her purpose and templative, on the other hand. may spend dec- reduces the mind's incessant tendency to ades deliberately working to retrain habits wander. It also drosms out other distracting along more spiritual lines. Thus, when the stimuli and enables the shaman to focus auen- breakthrough finally occurs, it visits a mind tion inward. Heightened concentration seems already prepared for it. In addition, the con- to be a key element in effective spiritual disci- templative probably has in place a belief sys- plines (Coleman 1988; Walsh 1988), and sha- tem that can make sense of the experience, a mans have found one of the quickest and easi- discipline that can reflect it. 3 social group that est ways to develop it. Finally, drumming is

SUMMER 89 39 assumed 10 harmonize neural activitv with [he Blacker. C. 1986. Thrcorolpo bow: A rrvd.voJshon,on- bric prorrlres in Jopon. Borlon: Allcn and Unwin. vibrational Of Ihesound. Two Bourguignon. E.. cd. 1973. Religion, olrered laler oJ studies that appear to SuPpon this idea have cowiou,nm ..d ,~i01rhon~r. Columbur. Ohio: been widely quoted (Neher 1%1, 1%2). In Ohio Stale University Press. " both, c~ectroencep~a~ogms(brain waves) of Dobkin de Riar. M. 1572. Vki0nar.v vine. San Francis. co: Chandler Publishers Co. subjects listening to drumming seemed to ~dd~.E. 119~1l 1972. creekr !he irrariono~.

show-~~- auditon,~ ~ ~ ~~~ , drivin~~~~nrernonces....r...... ~ Auditorv Bcrkclcy: Univcrrily of California Prcrr. occun when a sound pro: Eliade. hl: 1%. Shokonbm: Azhok !prhniqucr oje- sfmy. Princelon: Princeton Univcrrily Pmr. vokes corresponding firing frequencies in the FU~S,.~ P.~ 1987~~ ~ . South~ American~ ....- ~~ shamanism.~ .~~~~ VOI.- 11.~~. brain. These studies are cenainly suggestive. The cnc.~lopdiaoJnligion. 219-21. have been widely as of [he Golcman. D. 1988. The mediloriw mind. Lor Angcln: J. P. Tarchcr. neural effects of drumming. Unfonunately, G,o~, 19s~.LSD prychorhrropy. Pomona. Calif.: s. . ~ . . the studies are flawed, and it is impossible to Hunler Houu. -. 1988. The odwnrure oJwV dlrcorrry. N.Y.: draw firm conclusions from them (Achterberg Slalc Univcnily or Nrw York. 1985). Whatever the neural mechanisms may Harncr. M.. cd. 1973. Hollurino~rnrand shomonlrm. be, however, anyone who ha been entranced New York: Oxfovd Univcrdly Prcrr. Murphy. M.. and S. Donovan. 1989. Thc phyrirol ond by music or dancing is well aware of rhyrhm's psyrhologirol rjjKlr oJ medidnorion. San Ralacl. powerful potential for affecting states of Calif.: Eralcn Inslilulc. mind. Naranjo. C. 1915. The heding journr.~.Nrw York: Bal. With greater training and expenise, sha- lanlinc Bmkr. Nchcr. A. )%I. Auditory driving obwrrcd'%ith walp mans may become less dependent on their ex- clcclrodcr in normal rubjccrs. Elmrrmnccphologro. ternal aids. They may then be able to enter and phy ond Clinlrol Neurophyriologv IJ(3): JJ9-51. -. I%?.. A physiological cxplanalion of unusual remain in altered states without the aid of brhavior in cercrnonicr involving drums. Hurnon drumming or other techniques (Arrien 1987). Biolou 34(2): I5 l -&I. This is, of course, as would be expected if the Shapiro. D. 1980. bfedilorion: ANrred yore oJ con- wiovrncn ond srV-qulmion slmlrg)'. New York: ability to reach altered states is panly a learned Aldinr. skill. Shapiro. D. H.. and R. Walsh. ids. 1984. 13ffdirarion: Clmric ond ronrempomry ppcrriver. NCV York: OVERVIEW OF SHAhlANIC Aldine. TECHNIQUES Smith. H. 1961. Do drugs have religious imprl? The Journal of Phi1osoph.v 61 517-30. Whatever the precise neural and chemical S~acc.W. 119601 1987. hfysysrirum ond philosophy. Lo3 Angclcr: J. P. Tanhcr. mechanisms involved, ir is clear !ha! shamans Slaflord. P. 1983. Pr)rhcdclics rnc.uloprdio. Rev. cd. have discovered a wide variety of psychologi- Lor Angclcr: J. P. Tavchcr. cal, physiological, and chemical aids to mod- Slcindl-Rasl. D. 1989. The rn)stiral core of organized religion. Revirion 1?41):11-14. consciousness. The techniques are simple ify Tan. C. (19751 1983. Slorrs o/rom~-iousnerr. El Ccr- and were probably first discovered accidental- rilo. Calif.: Psychological Procelwr. ly-perhaps when members of the tribe faced -. 1986. Wokint up: Owmomind rhc obrrarlrs ro humon portnriol. Borlon: New Scicncr Library/ hunger, fatigue, and dehydration in their Sharnbhala. struggle for existence or accidentally ate psy- Undcrhill. E. 1955. M.mlicrm. New York: Ncw Amcri- chedelic plants. Because of lheir pleasurable can Library Wakh. R. 1982. Prychcdcli and pychological well- and "aluable effects. the lechniques were re- being. Journol of Hvmanklic Ps.vcholo~223-32. membered and repeated. Shamanism was -. 1988. Two classical Asian ps)Thologics and born when the techniques were collected and lheir implicalionr lor Wewcrn psycholhcrapislr. Ammicon Jovrnol of Pl)rholhrmp.v 42:541-60. set within a tradition and cosmology. Thus -. In prru. The spirit oJ shamunum: A ps)rhc- was established humankind's first road map 16giral view. Lor Angctcs: J. P. Tarchcr. to transcendent states. the lirst technology of -. In press. What is a shaman? Dclinilion, origin. and diuribu~ion.Journol oJ Tronsp