Psilocybin and shamanism

“CONTENTS introduction: a manifesto for new thought about drugs xiii an agonizing reappraisal • an archaic revival • a new manifesto • the dominator inheritance i. paradise 1 1. shamanism: setting the stage 3 shamanism and ordinary religion • the techniques of ecstasy • a world made of language • higher dimensional reality • a shamanic meme • shamanism and the lost archaic world 2. the magic in food 14 a shaggy primate story • you are what you eat symbiosis • a new view of human evolution • the real missing link • three big steps for the human race • steering clear of lamarck • acquired tastes 3. the search for the original tree of knowledge 31 hallucinogens as the real missing link • seeking the tree of knowledge • weeding out the candidates • the ur plant what are plant hallucinogens? – the transcendent other 4. plants and primates: postcards from the stoned age 43 human uniqueness • human cognition • transformations of monkeys • the prehistoric emergence of human imagination patterns and understanding • catalyzing consciousness • the flesh made word • women and language 5. habit as culture and religion 57 ecstasy • shamanism as social catalyst • monotheism pathological monotheism • archaic sexuality • ibogame among the fang • contrasts in sexual politics 6. the high plains of eden 69 the tassili plateau • the round head civilization • paradise found? • a missing link culture • african genesis • qatal huyuk • the crucial difference • the vegetable mind gaian holism ii. paradise lost 95 7. searching for soma: the golden vedic enigma 97 contacting the mind behind nature • soma-what is it? haoma and zoroaster • haoma and harmaline • the wassons’ amanita theory • objections to fly agaric • wasson: his contradictions and other fungal candidates for soma • peganum harmala as soma • soma as male moon god • soma and cattle • wasson’s doubts • a more plausible argument • the indo-europeans 8. twilight in eden: minoan crete and the eleusinian mystery 121 abandonment of the mystery • the fall of qatal hiiyuk and the age of kingship • minoan mushroom fantasies • the myth of glaukos • honey and opium • the dionysus connection • the mystery at eleusis • a psychedelic mystery? • the ergotized beer theory • graves’s psilocybin theory • a historical watershed 9. alcohol and the alchemy of spirit 138 nostalgia for paradise • alcohol and honey • wine and woman • natural and synthetic drugs • alchemy and alcohol • alc…”