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Shamanic trances: Drugs*
Margaret Jones
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Shamans all over the world use psychoactive substances to help them enter trance. Though the most famousor perhaps I should say infamousexamples are probably Central and South American hallucino- gens like peyote, more shamans may actually use weaker more common drugs to help them enter trance. Tobacco and alcohol Tobacco use is widespread among shamans to help induce trance. Among many shamanic cultures in the Americas, where tobacco grows naturally, it is a key part of traditional trance ceremonies. Here, its use as a catalyst for trance has likely been perfected by thousands of years of practice. American shamans from some cultures have even discovered unusual ways to smoke or ingest it that actually cause hallucination. Today, the use of pipes and cigarettes before trance appears to be catching on among Asian shamans. Many shamans are also known to consume alcohol before entering trance. Like tobacco, its use during trance ceremonies is ancient tradition for some shamanic cultures and a more recent addition to others. It is often di cult to say how much these drugs, which usually do not produce hallucinations by them- selves, actually contribute to a shaman entering trance, particularly since they are often used in combination with other trance methods like rhythmic music and dancing. Also, unlike the hallucinogens, shamans from many cultures are known to use tobacco and alcohol recreationally as well as for trance. Hallucinogens Shamans, their clients, and communities do not use hallucinogenic drugs casually or for recreation, though non-shaman participants are known to use many of these drugs with the shaman during trance ceremonies. Unlike tobacco and alcohol, these drugs are never bought in stores or given as gifts or payment by clients. Rather, they are typically prepared only for ceremonial use from plants that grow naturally in the areas where shamans live. In North and South America, shamans use about a hundred dierent species of native plant to help induce trance. Some common North American examples are peyote, deadly jimson weed (datura), and rapidly inhaled strong tobacco. In South America, the area with the most ritual use of hallucinogenic plants, some of the more common methods are ingesting strong tobacco snu or the leaves of the Banisteriopsis vine. Although the practice is not as common in Europe and Asia, shamans in these regions are also known to use hallucinogenic substances to induce trance. One famous and widespread example used in Siberia, Central Asia, and Northern India is Amanita muscaria, also known as the y agaric mushroom. This beautiful white- spotted red mushroom is so potent that it is said that a shaman may induce trance by ingesting the urine of another person oramong Siberian shamansreindeer who has recently eaten one. Although this method may be quite horrifying to the squeamish, there is good reason to dilute y agaric before using it. Like any drug, all of the hallucinogens described above have their negative side eects; All are liable to produce nausea and vomiting along with the desired visions, and y agaric and jimson weed can be deadly.
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Visions of the spirit world It is important to keep in mind that the shamans and community members who use these drugs do not see the visions that these drugs produce as an escape or a pass-time, but rather as revealing a true reality that is ordinarily invisible and impenetrable to humans: the spirit world. Shamans believe that the actions of the spirits that dwell there in uence every part of a person's life; illness and health; success in harvests, hunting, or other types of work: all types of good and bad fortune. Thus, for shamanic communities, it is vital that shamans have access to the spirit world in order to in uence spirits on behalf of their clients. To shamans, these drugs are not merely tools to an end, but often powerful and respected spirits them- selves. Some believe that ingesting one of these plants actually allows them to take on some of its spirit's useful skills and characteristics during their journeys through the spirit world, which are often lled with obstacles and danger. The shamans who use these drugs are trained experts who use them with care, respect, and for the bene t of their clients and community. Therefor, I sincerely hope that none of my readers get the impression that any non-shaman who wishes to experience trance or alternate realities such as the spirit world should take them, or that shamans are drug addicted " ends" who promote recreational drug use.
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