Drugs Used in Religion-The 'New World'

     In the Americas, natives used several different types of hallucinogenic plants in order to induce spiritual experience. In North and South America, the inhabitants smoked potent tobacco in high doses in the belief that this carried a prayer for them from the human world to the spirit world.

European Adoption of Tobacco

     Tobacco was brought back to Europe by Sir Walter Raleigh. In Mesoamerica, the cacao (chocolate) seed was mixed with chili for its stimulant effect. It was considered to be an aphrodisiac and to possess 'mind-altering' properties. The coca leaf  (from which cocaine is derived) is sacred to the natives of the Andes.

     Mescaline (a psychedelic alkaloid) is a staple for a number of indigenous faiths in North and South America. It is the principle psychoactive agent in: Peyote-used by members of the Native American Church; San Pedro Cactus used in the San Pedro Cactus Rites of Peru.

Peyote Cactus

   
     Throughout history, in the Americas as well as in Europe, psilocybin mushrooms (metabolised to mescaline in the body) have been used to induce visions. The 'Ayahuasca' ('spirit vine' in the Quechua language) vine (Banisteriopsis species), mixed with the shrub of the dimethyltryptamine (DMT)-containing plant from the species Psychotria is used in sacred ceremonies by shamans and their followers.

Psilocybin Mushroom Statues - Mesoamerica

     Well-known artist and shaman, Pablo Amerigo, illustrates the beauty of his visions when under the influence of 'ayahuasca'. Interestingly, in nearly all of his paintings, there is a predominance of the color 'blue'. A color of the divine? (see post: The Colors of Faith).
     In the Pacific, Kava root extract provides a sedative effect (similar to barbiturates) used in spiritual practice and, today, as an everyday drink (much like the original Coca-Cola produced in 1896 containing cocaine from the South American coca leaf and caffeine from the African kola nut).

Pablo Amerigo

     Aboriginal Australians used a shrub bark to make 'pitcheri', that produced effects similar to those of coca. Natives in Papua New Guinea found their visions through the use of mushrooms (psilocybin as well as other types containing different hallucinogenic compounds).
     Rastafarians (see post: The Chosen Ones) use cannabis as a sacred drug. Cannabis is also used by certain Hindu sects (Sadhu) and, although denied by many in the Sikh faith, used by some Sikhs to make a concoction called 'Hola Mohalla', a mixture of seeds, almonds and other substances with cannabis.  

     The Scythians, people of the Caspian Steppe at the time of the Roman Empire, used cannabis for religious rites and battle. Taoists in ancient China used cannabis in their own rituals as well.

Kava in a Bottle - Vanuatu

   

     Different drugs used by different peoples in different parts of the world. But what were they all looking for? And, more importantly, what did they see?

   
     *Drugs used in religion: subject of research for the novel  The Tao of the Thirteenth God - Amazon Kindle.

Drugs Used in Religion-The 'Old World'

     Entheogen: A psychoactive substance used in a religious or spiritual context (ie drugs). Drug use was probably a significant component in the 'prehistoric' cults, among 'mystics' and is still in use in many areas of the world, found in a variety of religious traditions.

Cave Painting - Lascaux, France

     'Shamanism', a 'pagan' belief system centers around the mystical leader (the shaman) who visits the 'other world(s)', often via drug-induced states. One of the earliest signs to suggest drug usage is seen in the figure of a man in a trance-like state in a 25,000 year old cave painting in Lascaux, France.

     In early Hindu literature, a drug called 'soma' was used to create mind-altered experiences. There is evidence that the Pharaonic rite of passage of the Horus (new king) involved a drug-induced 'voyage' to the 'otherworld' under the (narcotic)  influence of a combination of mandrake root and the buds of the blue water lily, the ceremony directed by the high priest. Palm wine was also used as the medium in which was dissolved water lily with incised yellow poppy capsules that dripped their opium nectar into the mix.

The Passion of Christ at Golgotha

     In ancient Greece, the priestess at the 'Oracle of Delphi' provided 'insights and revelations' probably after breathing in naturally-occurring gases that emanated from the ground.In the middle east, the Hebrews were known to use wine combined with opium and there is even thought that this mixture may have been offered to Jesus as he carried his cross to his own execution (Matthew 27:45).

Oracle of Delphi

   
     Some even suggest that Jesus' survival on the cross may have been due to the sip of the sponge ('vinegar') sedation (opium/'gall'?) given to him on the end of a spear/stick, resulting in sedation that mimicked death.

     The Eleusian Mystery Cults (Greek) celebrated Demeter and Persephone and climaxed their ceremonies with the drinking of a sacred potion (barley wine likely tainted with the fungus 'ergot')  resulting in 'dazzling visions of eternity'. The Romans were known to use alcohol (wine) as well as narcotics.

Triptolemus Receiving Sheaves of Wheat and
 Blessings from Demeter and Persephone

     *Drugs used in religion: subject of research for the novel  The Tao of the Thirteenth God - Amazon Kindle.

Ibogaine-Can I Buy Some?

     The answer is no, you cannot buy ibogaine. At least, not in the United States and not very easily anywhere else in North America - at least not for 'recreational' purposes. Ibogaine was promoted as a diet drug in France in the 1800s (called Lambarene) and was looked into by the American CIA as a potential tool for their activities in the 1950s ( much as they had looked at LSD as a substance with potential use for pharmaceutical mind-control or as a 'truth drug').

Chemical Structure of Ibogaine

     The mechanism of action of Iboga is similar to that of other psychedelics such as LSD, psilocybin, mescaline but the drug also has a dissociative effect (feeling of 'detachment') similar to an anesthetic medication called ketamine. This root-derived alkyloid, ibogaine, produces an 'altered state of consciousness' (see post: Altered States of Consciousness), a state of dream-like hallucination sought after throughout the history of religion.

Ibogaine Hydrochloride Salts

 
     Research into the use of this drug has been carried out in many jurisdictions, mostly examining its psycho-active properties.
     Crystalline salts of  'ibogaine hydrochloride' are the most effective form of the drug, this preparation made in a semi-synthetic fashion (the completely synthetically-made product is much more expensive) using a similar alkyloid from another type of plant. From a therapeutic perspective, Ibogaine has been used in psychotherapy (Naranjo-France), in the treatment of chronic pain (the drug has the ability to enhance the effect of narcotics) and experimentally in the treatment of opioid (narcotic) addiction in Canada, Mexico, Great Britain, The Netherlands and several other countries.

The Iboga Plant

     In the U.S.A., ibogaine is classified as a Schedule 1 substance by the Food and Drug Administration and is essentially banned from legal use in the same way as is psilocybin, mescaline and many other 'religious-use' drugs.
     Side effects of the ingestion of ibogaine include dry mouth, nausea, dizziness, loss of balance, irregular heart beat. Some cases of death have been attributed to the use of this drug.

     So, if you want to see the dead, talk with your great grandfather or ask Julius Caesar, face to face, what made him decide to 'Cross the Rubicon', you may have to travel to Central Africa yourself and ask a 'Bwiti' practitioner, one of the 'Seers of the Dead'.

Bwiti Practitioner

   
     *Paranormal experience: subject of research for the novel  The Tao of the Thirteenth God - Amazon Kindle.

A Drug to See the Dead

Central Africa

     There is one very special drug used in a ritual by native groups in Central Africa (Gabon, Cameroon, Zaire). It's origins are dark and mysterious, the  myth of its discovery told in the story of an indigenous secret society, the 'Bwiti' (the 'Seers of the Dead'):
     "The Pygmy Bitamu died after falling from an Atanga tree. Zame cut off the little fingers and little toes of the dead man and planted them in various parts of the forest. They grew into the Eboka (Iboga) bush."

Iboga Shrub

   Iboga or Ibogaine (Tabernanthe iboga) belongs to the Apocynacae (Dogbane) family. Iboga, as a psychoactive substance, is classified as an 'indole alkyloid'.

   
     Attempts have been made to create the substance synthetically but have been shown to be too expensive. Most samples of the drug are made semi-synthetically (from another plant alkyloid) producing crystalline 'ibogaine hydrochloride'. Otherwise, the drug can be made directly from the root bark shavings.

     This is how practitioners of the 'Bwiti' rituals fabricate their iboga - the root bark of the iboga plant is crushed and drank in large quantities resulting in vivid hallucinations (eyes open or eyes closed), elevated mood, emotional clarity and dream-like visualisations of the past and the anticipated future.

Chemical Structure of Ibogaine

     When the bark itself is simply chewed the result is a stimulating effect but an effect less pronounced than ingestion of the pulverized mixture in suspension/solution.

     Iboga has not remained 'undiscovered' by western medical practitioners nor by western drug abusers. But the medical use of this indole alkyloid, still difficult to artificially synthesize, is limited. In most jurisdictions, iboga is illegal or, at the very least, a controlled substance.

     In Central Africa, home of iboga, the main purpose of the 'Bwiti' ceremony today is the same as it has been for centuries - to journey into supernatural realms, to encounter supernatural beings and to contact the spirits of the dead.

Iboga Root Bark Shavings

     The dead, mostly relatives or tribal wise men give the 'traveller' solace, advice, sometimes warnings - warnings about the future, warnings about the past, warnings about impending death - usually with signs, sounds, symbols or simply the experience of the 'traveller' just 'being there'.

     Ibogaine is used by the natives of Gabon not only `to see the dead`` but for initiation ceremonies.

   
     To view a short You-Tube video of a Bwiti ceremony, click on the following link:

     Bwiti Ceremony

     *Paranormal experience: subject of research for the novel  The Tao of the Thirteenth God - Amazon Kindle.

Last Dance With the Fairies

        Supernatural beings, therianthropes (see post: What Did They See?), alien abduction, kidnapping by fairies...Are these beings and events real or they just due to very vivid imaginations? If they are not real, why is it that the 'theme' of other-worldly beings and kidnappings (whether in the modern world, by aliens or, as in the past, by fairies) keeps on recurring in different epochs and in different cultures?

Alien Abduction

        In 1918, Carl Jung, Swiss physician and father of modern psychotherapy, wrote a paper entitled 'On the Unconscious'. In this work, Jung suggested that all human beings 'stood between two worlds': the world of external perception and the world of perception of the unconscious. For Jung, the bringing together of these two worlds was through symbols, these symbols created by the unconscious; symbol creation being the most important function of the unconscious; symbols often seen in our dreams.

          The concept of 'two worlds' was not unique to Jung. A similar idea had been followed for centuries by Sufi mystics, a splinter group of Islam which gave great importance to the imagination. Researcher, Jeffrey Raff suggests that Sufi mysticism is a type of alchemy or transmutational process that unites a theory of imagination with the goal of creating subtle bodies and of seeing into the heart of the universe.

Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961)

     The Sufi 'alchemists' believed that the matter on which they operated was not purely physical in nature but belonged more to the 'World of Paradise'. Two 'worlds' once again, each one as real as the other. For Jung, the second world was the world of dreams. For the Sufi mystics, the second world was arrived at through dancing, imagination and trance.

        But how real is/are these 'second worlds'? Whether through the use of drugs, trance, injury or even neurological disease (see post: Epilepsy and the Divine), people have experienced ecstasy, seen visions, been kidnapped by fairies and met with aliens. Some have had these experiences without any of these mind-altering conditions (see post: Altered States of Consciousness). Surveys have suggested that about 2 percent of the general population of modern adults seem to be born with the ability to fall spontaneously into deep states of hallucination. Are the people who make up this '2 percent' simply those whose brain chemistry is slightly different from the norm?

Sufi Mystics

     Does this special brain chemistry enable these people to see visions and encounter spirits? Is this brain state achievable in the remaining 98 percent of us through the use of drugs or by entering a trance state? And are any of these visions, encounters, strange beings real? Are these entities 'symbols' of our dream world (Jung)? Do these creatures belong to the 'World of Paradise' (Sufi)?

        But these visions, these experiences are so common and seen in so many cultures over so many time periods.

Fairies Dancing Around 'Fly Muscaric' Mushroom
(see post: The 'High' Priest)

     In Ireland, the fairies were called the 'Sidhe' in Wales, the 'Tylwyth Teg , the 'lutin' in France. Melusine was the name of a half-woman-half-serpent fairy (a therianthrope), known to steal young children in Northern France. The names may have changed but the entities remain the same.

        In the past, it was the fairies, the jinn or angels which took you away. Today, this is done by aliens. Today, the aliens have spaceships but perhaps they did in the past, as well.  There is so much consistency in these stories over so long a period of time that it is difficult to argue how these recurring experiences can be anything but real. But 'real' in what sense?

Melusine

     In the sense of Carl Jung's symbols of the unconscious? 'Real' in the sense of the Sufi mystics where these entities are from the real 'World of Paradise'?

     There is one line of thought that our minds are not just the conscious representations of our organic brains, not simply generators of consciousness but are actually 'receivers' and that the 'otherworld' experiences we find ourselves in and the supernatural beings we meet are indeed objectively real and exist independently outside of our brains, outside of our minds.

Spaceships in the Sky (Basel, 1566)

     Aliens, fairies, jinn, dead souls...Are these 'real' things in other 'real' worlds? Things that only a very few of us can see or can be seen only under very special circumstances?

        Some believe all this to be real. Some just simply want to believe that this is indeed all real.

Cave of the Jinn, Oman

   

     To quote John Lennon: 'I believe in everything until it is disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it's in your mind. Who's to say that dreams and nightmares aren't as real as the here and now?'

     No matter what the answers to these questions might be, it would be wise to proceed with caution. In the past, the fairies danced in their circles (ring portals? some type of alien 'transporter'?) before they disappeared and anyone caught or pulled into the circle, anyone who wanted to join in, would disappear in their last dance with the fairies.

Saved from the Fairy Circle
(Nineteenth Century Woodcut)

   
     *Ghosts, fairies, unexplained phenomena: subjects of research for the novel: The Tao of the Thirteenth God - Amazon Kindle.

Talk with the Dead

     'Clairvoyants', a term adapted from the French meaning clear-seers or clear vision claim that they are capable of many things. Some researchers have investigated the phenomenon of 'clairvoyance' using sensory deprivation to ascertain whether this 'extrasensory perception, this clairvoyance can be triggered but no definitive proof of its existence has ever been shown.

Sensory Deprivation

     Some claim that they can see into your future, others into your past. Some can know what you are thinking and still others can 'intuitively know what organ system in your body is not functioning correctly. But one of the most popular 'gigs' for a clairvoyant is to talk or communicate with the dead. Advice not to listen to these people stretches at least as far back as the time of the Old Testament when Hebrew and later Christian writers warned against the deception of fraudulent seers. Paradoxically, looking into the future with visions and prophesy was acceptable, truthful and reliable (provided the predictions were in line with the writer of those scriptures).

     Throughout the Old Testament, people who consulted clairvoyants died (Saul in 1 Chronicles 10:13-14), were 'defiled' (Leviticus 19:321) or were stoned to death (Leviticus 20:17). In the New Testament, people were discouraged to seek out advice from the dead ('Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? Isaiah 8:19) and 'psychic' experiences were considered communication with 'deceiving spirits', devils and demons (see post: Devils and Demons). 'Even Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light. (2 Corinthians 11:14-15); 'You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons too (1 Corinthians 10: 20-21).

     In 2001, a well known clairvoyant and former ballroom dancing instructor named John Edward claimed that he was able to 'connect with energies of people who have 'crossed over' was put under the microscope and found that his (quite entertaining TV show) was propped up with leading questions, pre-show information gathered from the audience by Edward's aids and likely strategically placed (and hidden) microphones that provided more information to the 'clairvoyant'. All this, coupled with the fact that the show, never aired live, had all the adverse and 'disagreeable' (in the sense that Edwards was 'dead' wrong with most of his guesses) features edited out suggested that the performance was one of deception rather than truth.

John Edward

     All the same, there are thousands of web sites, videos (see the video at the end of this post) and instructional booklets on how to talk to the dead some with warnings such as: If you are prone to seizures or have epilepsy, I implore you to NOT watch this video! It consists of flashing lights and a trance inducing voice over. 

Three Easy Steps to talk with the Dead

     There are books that provide pointers. 'Talking to the dead is easy to master and will work for anyone using these 3 easy steps:

1. sit or lie down in a quiet place, close your eyes and clear your mind

2. fix a mental image of the person you want to communicate with in your mind

3. after a few seconds, ask that person a question and wait for a reply

Nostradamus

     Today, there are board games to talk with the dead and you can even 'talk with the dead' on line! (www.talktothedeadonline.com).

     Others recommend techniques similar to 'scrying' (see post: Scrying), apparently used by the famous Nostradamus, 16th century apothecary and seer. This involves gazing into a large mirror, reflecting pool of water or crystal ball to se into the future or gaze into the past.

     A common feature of all these techniques (a video with flashing lights, relaxing, meditative state in a quiet room, gazing into a reflection) is a hypnotic effect, perhaps and effect that could even be illusory or provocative of  hallucinations.

The Crystal Ball

     Another method that has been advocated to communicate with the spirits of lost loved ones is the ouija board (also called the spirit/fire keyboard or talking board). This device was first produced commercially by Elijah Bond in 1890 and was considered a harmless parlor game until a 'spiritualist'  Pearl Curran ran popularised it as a'divining' tool in the early 20th century. On the flat board are the 26 letters of the Latin (western) alphabet (so I suppose that the divination use is limited to the western world). Imprinted on the surface as well are the terms 'yes' , 'no' , 'hello' and 'good-bye' and the numbers 1 through 9, making a total of 13 characters aside from the alphabet (13! There is that number again! - see post: Fun With Numbers).

     So. What if there really was away to communicate 'at distance'. With aliens, for instance. Or with someone in another world? Or perhaps with the dead?

     How would it be done? What code, what words what symbols would be used?

Ouija Board

     Click on the link below for a 'tutorial' on communicating with those in the 'great beyond'.

How to Talk with the Dead

   
     *Paranormal experience: subject of research for the novel  The Tao of the Thirteenth God - Amazon Kindle.

The Tao

     'Tao', a word taken from the Chinese character means doctrine, path or way. It implies enlightenment, spiritual perfection. The 'Tao' is a natural force that makes the universe the way it is.

 Lao Tzu

     The religion of 'Taoism', attributed to Lao tzu, began as a philosophy and with time, evolved into a religion with multiple deities.

     Today, the term 'tao', is still used in reference to religion, has been used in discussion of science (The Tao of Physics-Fritjof Capra) and sometimes has taken on a colloquial meaning of simply 'the way' things are done.
     Within the Mayan belief system, the Long Count calendar was composed of 13 baktuns or 'heavens', the years adding up to a total of 5,125 in one grand cycle. December 20-22, 2012 brings the 13th cycle to a close (see post: The Mayan Calendar and the Long Count).
   
     The number 13 seems to have special significance in many cultures (see post: Fun with Numbers).
   
     In Christianity, Jesus was followed by 12 disciples, making 13 men; a witch's coven is composed of 13 members; King Arthur had 12 Knights of the Round Table, a total of 13 men; a lunar year is 13 months long; the Celtic year was ruled by 13 sacred trees; there are 12 constellations of the zodiac 'surrounding' the earth (that makes 13) and, in the Mayan culture, the 5,125 year cycle consists of 13 baktuns, each of 144,000 days.

     For the Maya, each heaven/cycle was presided over by a particular deity: the first cycle by the God of Fire and Time; the second, by the God of Earth; the third cycle, by the Goddess of Water, Ix Chel (see post: Rainbows, Gods and Goddesses); the fourth, by the God of Sun and Warriors; the fifth, by the Goddess of Love and Childbirth; the sixth, by the God of Death; the seventh, by the God of Maize; the eighth, by the God of Rain and War; the ninth, by the Lord of the Light; the tenth, by the Lord of Darkness; the eleventh, by the Goddess of Birth; the twelfth, by the God before Dawn.

The Death of King Arthur

 
     The last god in this Mayan pantheon, the one who rules the 13th Heaven (the baktun that we are currently in) is the Dual Creator God, the invisible god.

Mayan Zodiac

     Fritjof Capra: "Science does not need mysticism and mysticism does not need science but man needs both".

     *The Tao - subject of research for the novel The Tao of the Thirteenth God - Amazon Kindle