General Discussions

[LP]

In my very limited reading on this topic, I gather that in pre modern cultures, psychedelics were used quite commonly, but always in a ritualistic context, under supervision, and were taken principally in order to experience the divine. They were, as I understand it, a kind of equalizer, to convey the correct (in my view) notion that we are strongly connected with the things around us, and we need to respect that. I'm quite sure they also understood this was a good way of taking care of those individuals who feel a strong urge to liberate themselves from everyday constraints and societal norms, and to do it in a managed, sensible way. Such experiences are not only induced by drugs - sweat lodges and vision quests, even extended fasting can induce an altered state of consciousness.

I'm not suggesting that such cultures are perfect, but I think frankly the West could learn a lot from our ancestors.

I've heard the term psychedelic is a bit wrong, it's really the domain of LSD and Psilocybin. The cultural substances were more psychotropic than hallucinogen, substances like Peyote or Datura. I'm not sure the fine details.

There was a nice podcast about this a few weeks back;
http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/sk...ith-a-view

The potential for treatment of depression with some of these native medicines is being seriously investigated.