The Pennsylvania State University Schreyer Honors College
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THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY SCHREYER HONORS COLLEGE DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY AND RELIGIOUS STUDIES PROGRAM AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL LOOK AT HOW THE ENVIRONMENT AND THE USE OF SELECT PSYCHOTROPIC PLANTS INFLUENCE INDIGENOUS RELIGIOUS BELIEFS IN THE NEW WORLD RACHEL HANSON Spring 2010 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a baccalaureate degree in Anthropology with interdisciplinary honors in Anthropology and Religious Studies Reviewed and approved* by the following: Catherine Wanner Associate Professor of History, Anthropology, and Religious Studies Thesis Supervisor Timothy Ryan Assistant Professor of Biological Anthropology, Geosciences, and Information Sciences and Technology Honors Adviser On-Cho Ng Professor of History, Religious Studies, and Asian Studies Honors Adviser * Signatures are on file in the Schreyer Honors College. ABSTRACT Psychotropic plants are those which alter the mood, behavior, or perception of the user. These types of intoxicating plants are used worldwide and serve many different purposes. Religious rituals are one of the most common venues for psychoactive drug ingestion, and are also among the most interesting. Religious hypnotic and hallucinogenic experiences induced by plants are critical to understanding the spirituality and ideology of the cultures they are found in, especially in the New World (primarily consisting of the Americas and Australia), where the use of psychotropic drugs is most developed. This is why I have decided to examine three popular New World psychotropic plants which hold central places in the native religions of those who use them. The three psychotropic plants I have chosen to explore are kava (Piper methysticum), a shrub native to Oceania, Virola (Virola theiodora), a South American tree, and the peyote cactus (Lophophora williamsii) native to the Chihuahuan desert of northern Mexico. Each of these plants has been used by a particular group of indigenous peoples of the New World seeking an extraordinary experience for centuries. To better understand the role and function of these plants, I will first briefly examine the chemistry of each and how the plants relate to the particular environments in which they are found. I will then delve into the religious use of these plants in specific communities as described in various ethnohistorical records, focusing on shamanistic traditions, and then conclude with an analysis of the interactions between the environment, subsistence strategies, worldview, use of psychoactive drugs, religion, and culture in general. i TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1 The Evolution and Classification of Psychoactive Plants………………………....1 Chapter 2 Experimental Motivations ………………………………………………………...5 Chapter 3 Types of Drug-Induced Experience ………………………………………………8 Chapter 4 Kava (Piper methysticum)………………………………………………………...11 Chapter 5 Virola (Virola theiodora)…………………………………………………………19 Chapter 6 Peyote (Lophophora williamsii)…………………………………………………..28 Chapter 7 Discussion………………………………………………………………………...38 ii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1-1. Major Biological Taxa……………………………………………………………..2 Figure 1-2. The Evolution of Plants…………………………………………………………....3 Figure 4-1. Map of Oceania……………………………………………………………………12 Figure 4-2. Leaves of the Kava Plant………………………………………………………….13 Figure 5-1. The Amazon Basin and Orinoco River……………………………………………20 Figure 5-2. Snuffing Paraphernalia…………………………………………………………....23 Figure 5-3. Amazonian Cosmos Organization….......................................................................25 Figure 5-4. Yanomami Men Using Virola Snuff………………………………………………26 Figure 6-1. Map of Peyote Distribution and Home of the Huichol……………………………29 Figure 6-2. The Peyote Cactus…………………………………………………………...........30 Figure 6-3. Types of Hallucinations…………………………………………………………...33 Figure 6-4. Traditional Huichol Yarn Painting Depicting the Deer-Maize-Peyote Trinity……35 Figure 6-5. Huichol Shaman in Traditional Dress……………………………………………..36 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Though she did not have an active role in helping me write this thesis, I would like to thank my dear friend Becky for her influence, insight, and companionship, without which I would have never known of the mysteries of psychedelics and the incredible worlds they can unlock. I would also like to dedicate this thesis, and any other subsequent works in this field of research, to my friends Josh, Lisa, and Mike. They knew of fantastic experiences and incredible heights and were gone too soon because of it. “But the man who comes back through the Door in the Wall will never be quite the same as the man who went out. He will be wiser but less cocksure, happier but less self-satisfied, humbler in acknowledging his ignorance yet better equipped to understand the relationship of words to things, of systematic reasoning to the unfathomable Mystery which it tries, forever vainly, to comprehend.” -Aldous Huxley - The Doors of Perception iv Chapter 1 The Evolution and Classification of Psychoactive Plants An Introduction to Evolution Since the dawn of life, the process of evolution and natural selection has shaped the genetics, morphology, and physical appearance of every living organism on the planet. By looking at the traits of a plant or animal today we can understand something about the environment and stresses of its ancestors. The genes of the individuals with adaptations that helped them survive the trials and tribulations of the past are represented in the genotypes (genetic makeup) of today’s offspring. In the same way, traits which are essential to survival or reproduction are often lost. For example, humans have lost much of the dense body hair that covers other primates, and many cave-dwelling species have lost their eyes and skin pigments due to the lack of sunlight. The gaining and losing of traits is something that has affected plants as well. Plants have evolved many types of chemical weapons to deter herbivores from eating them. Some of these include tannins, flavonoids, and alkaloids. These types of chemical defenses are called secondary substances because they are not directly used for plant metabolism and growth, and they often have deleterious effects on the animals that ingest them (Siegel 1989, 28). In terms of mind-altering plants, alkaloids defenses are the most common. According to the book The Botany and Chemistry of Hallucinogens by Richard Evans Schultes and Albert Hofmann, the discoverer of LSD, “most narcotics are of alkaloidal nature” and “at least 7,000 species of plants are known at the present time to contain alkaloids” (Schultes 21). Examples of alkaloids found in plants include nicotine, strychnine, and caffeine. Each of the three psychotropic plants that I will discuss contains at least one type of alkaloid, although their alkaloidal components are not always the active principle which contributes to psychoactive experiences. Still, it is to these specific evolutionary adaptations against predation that we owe most of the plant drugs that we know of today. Biological Taxonomic Classification Biological taxonomic classification is any method used by scholars to organize and understand the relationships between living things. In biology today, a Linnaean scheme of binomial nomenclature is used to identify and name organisms based morphological characteristics. In the current system, each organism is identified by a two word scientific name which notates its genus and species. In addition to a genus and species name, each organism is classified into groups under at least six other headings. These taxa (groups) include domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, and family, and are arranged from the most broad and inclusive classification (domain) to the most specific (species). (See Figure 1-1) The kingdom level of classification includes the well known divisions of Animalia, Plantae, and Fungi. Within the kingdom of Plantae, there are eleven phylum groups. One of these, called Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, includes all flowering plants. Each of the three plants I will discuss fall into this category. Figure 1-1. Major Biological Taxa The flowering plants evolved from gymnosperms (a phylum of seed bearing plants) about 150 million years ago and have since become the most diverse and numerous types of plants on the planet (Earle). (See Figure 1-2) Over one-third of families within the Angiospermae phylum contain alkaloids (Siegel 1989, 31). Since most hallucinogenic drugs are a product of alkaloids, it makes sense that this largest plant phylum contains the majority of well known plant drugs. The taxonomic breakdown of each selected psychoactive drug can be found on the first page of each chapter. This reference provides clues about not only the morphological characteristics of each plant, but how each is related to the others. 2 Figure 1-2. The Evolution of Plants Classification by Effect As discussed above, morphology and physical similarity are two things scientists use to classify plants. Another way is by psychological effect. This type of classification does not include every plant species as Linnaean classification does, but only contains plant drugs which have some sort of effect on the human brain (psychoactive drugs). Because this type of classification is for all drugs, synthetic and semi-synthetic drugs are also included. In 1959, Albert Hofmann, a prominent psychoactive drug researcher, divided psychotropic drugs into the following five categories: 1) analgesics (pain relievers) and euphorics 3 2) sedatives and tranquilizers 3) stimulants 4) hypnotics 5) hallucinogens