Chapter 10 Flashcards
Ethnomycology
- the study of the historical uses and sociological impacts of fungi
Entheogens
- creates god within, a psychoactive substance used in religious, shamanic, or spiritual context
As hunters and gatherers fungi was used for:
- food, medicines and visionary agents
Entheogenic mushrooms were known as the
- gateways to the innermost secrets of existence
Egyptian crowns, stylized depictions of _______
- Psilocybes
How did Egyptians view psilocybe ingestion?
- believed Pharaohs descendants from shamanic pastoralists and herbalists, were the divine and immortal “Sons of the Sun” because of psilocybe ingestion
What did the Aztecs name psilocybin mushrooms?
- Teonanacatl, meaning “flesh of the gods” or “divine flesh”
______________________ observed Indians eating wild, hallucinogenic mushrooms.
- 16th century Spanish explorers
How did Christian and Islamic societies view hallucinogenic mushrooms and plants?
- prohibited and believed to be the work of the devil
- those who resisted and continued their ceremonies in secret were punished by public flogging to burning alive at the stake
Robert Gordon Wasson and Valentina Pavlovna Guercken
- recognized cultural differences toward fungi
- called their field ethnomycology
- coined the terms mycophobe and mycophile
Wasson and Guercken hypothesis
- hypothesized that hallucinogenic mushrooms had a major role in evolution of human cultures and religions world wide
Wasson and Guercken traveled the world and integrated mycology with:
- history, linguistics, comparative religion, mythology, art and archaeology
In his travels Wasson visited tribes to witness mushroom ceremonies and observed shaman, he was paid to eat mushrooms and tell visions. He ate the ______ mushroom
- Psilocybe
Who was the first westerner to experience the Mazatec mushroom involving the ingestion of psychoactive. He was also best known for his Life magazine article __________.
- Wasson
- Seeking the Magic Mushroom
What did Timothy Leary propose?
- proposed a new approach to psychotherapy- actively immerse therapist in patients emotional turmoil
- experienced magical mushrooms as the vehicle to reach the state of the disturbed
- used pure psilocybin, then LSD and mescaline
How did people react to what Timothy Leary was doing?
- Fired from Harvard in 1963
- Laws enacted to rid country of hallucinogens
What theory did Terence McKenna pose?
- Psilocybin ingestion was primary in the formation of language and culture
- Rapid rise from apes to humans bc of hallucinogenic mushrooms
How did Terence McKenna say that psilocybin affects the brain?
- temporarily increases neuro-chemical activity in the language centers of the brain when consumed in low doses
- results in super heightened senses
Which mushrooms shaped mankind
- Amanita muscaria
Why is Amanita muscaria referred to as “mushrooms that shaped mankind”?
- It is an entheogen in various world religions and shamanic practice
What is a shaman? Where did they originate?
- a person regarded as having access to and influence in, the world of good and evil spirits, especially among some peoples of northern Asia and North America
- such people enter a trance state during a ritual and practice divination and healing
- originated in Siberia
Shamans practice in _____ rituals
- pagan
- good or evil spirits reside in all objects
Some Shamans use of mushrooms
- as a tool to mediate/communicate with the upper and lower worlds
What did Philip Johann von Strahlenberg observe on his travels?
- observed Korjak Tribesman consumption of Amanita muscaria, fly-agaric
- mushroom provisions + boiling water= intoxicants
- others drink urine
- reindeer eat mushrooms and drink urine
