An essential new anthology that reveals the cultural, medicinal, and spiritual traditions behind marijuana, mushrooms, ayahuasca, and other psychedelics, informed by both Western and Indigenous science What if your psychedelic journey could be even more meaningful? What if, instead of seeing a trip as an escape from the world, we saw it as an entryway into numerous time-tested Indigenous traditions, each full of vast histories with valuable insights--lessons we can incorporate into our own journeys? Marijuana ’s colonial history in Mexico Psilocybin mushrooms’ actual traditional use--which contradicts common, mistaken assumptions Ayahuasca and peyote’ s roles in Native rituals, and their subsequent cultural appropriation coca and tobacco snuff The anthology is a critical reminder, at a time when psychedelics continue to become more popular and accepted within Western society, that these practices are not just part of a counterculture--in many places, they are central to the culture. And with the rise of psychedelic tourism, some of those cultures and cosmologies are now being put at risk. Gaining a greater understanding of why people have used and continue to use these psychedelics--informed by those with the deepest histories of experience--is only growing more important. There''s never been a better time to not only gain a greater understanding of yourself, but also a deeper, more rooted understanding of psychedelics....

Autorentext

Biatriz Caiuby Labate, PhD, Henrique Fernandez Antunes, Nidia A. Olvera Hernández, PhD, and Clancy Canvar, PsyD

Klappentext

An essential new collection that explores the cultural, medicinal, and spiritual traditions of marijuana, psilocybin, ayahuasca, and other psychedelics—informed by both Western and Indigenous knowledge

Psychedelic Plant Medicines of the Americas is a collection of 23 psychedelic-specific articles, written by historians, anthropologists, psychologists, and those from other fields in the humanities. Edited by Biatriz Caiuby Labate, PhD—the executive director of the Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines—this book includes contemporary Indigenous voices and weaves together deep understandings of Indigenous and Western encounters. It offers the broadest, most up-to-date perspectives of any book on the field of psychedelics, including explorations of:

• Marijuana’s colonial history in Mexico
• Psilocybin mushrooms’ traditional and contemporary uses
• Ayahuasca’s and peyote’s roles in Indigenous and religious contexts
• Many more psychoactive plant medicines, including coca and tobacco

The anthology is a critical reminder, at a time when psychedelics continue to become more popular and mainstreamed at a global level, that these plant medicines are more than a facet of Western counterculture—they’re central to the Indigenous cultures and lifeways that sustain them. Gaining a greater understanding of why people have used and continue to use psychedelic plant medicines—informed by those with rich expertise and knowledge histories—is imperative. The editors and contributors offer a vital, comprehensive, and deeply rooted examination of plant medicine ontologies.