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The use of hallucinogenic plants dates back thousands of years. Over the years, many different cultures and civilizations have used them for different purposes. The common belief that similarities exist between cultures that rely upon the use of herbal hallucinogens is greatly exaggerated. The cultural variables between these cultures are often so significant that the only major similarity between them is the fact that they use hallucinogens.
The common generalization by society that every culture that uses hallucinogens must be similar can be proven false by comparing the Australian Aborigines and the Navaho Peyote Cult. Before the two cultures and their use of hallucinogenic plants can be examined and compared, a brief explanation of hallucinogenic plants must be given. As with most things, the use of hallucinogenic plants is effected by cultural variables. These variables strongly reflect the different needs for, and usage of, these plants among societies. One of the most complete lists of these variables is presented in Marlene Dobkin de Rios Hallucinogens, cross-cultural perspectives. Rios states, As various writers have pointed out, the hallucinogenic experience comprises an interacting set of variables such as the attitude, expectations, motivation, mood, and personality of the user and the physical setting (8).
Due to the fact that these plants are mind-altering drugs, all of the variables listed by Rios have a significant effect upon the user of these drugs. These variables are not only cultural, but they are also personal. If a person is entering into the experience with a bad state of mind (i. e. attitude or mood) their hallucinations will most likely reflect this attitude. If their expectations are too high, their disappointment may result in a change of mood.
In contrast, if a person is not prepared for what they are going to experience then the drug may surpass their expectations. When the drug surpasses the users expectations, he or she may become frightened. Physical setting is one of the most important cultural variables due to the fact that each culture has a distinct physical setting in which they live directly effecting the hallucinogenic experience. Different physical settings (i. e. populated cities, rural country, heat, cold, etc) have a direct effect on the mental state of a person which effects their hallucinogenic experience.
Although it is important to have this brief understanding of the cultural variables of this type plant usage, it is not the only aspect of hallucinogenic plants that one must understand. A general understanding of the ethical and moral systems of the cultures that use hallucinogenic plants is also important. In most of the societies that use herbal hallucinogens there is an idea that the plant itself possesses a type of power. This power is often referred to as mana. As Rios explains, The manna itself, although neutral, can be directed by the drug user (either shaman or layman) to specific moral and ethical ends. At times, it is difficult to use a simplistic notion of good and evil as encapsulated in the Judeo-Christian tradition (14).
When discussing the morality of the plant use, the categorization that Rios uses of good and evil really does not apply to non-western societies. The use of hallucinogenic plants does not pose moral dilemmas for most non-western societies, unlike in western societies. The moral dilemmas in non-western societies are based upon the proper use of the hallucinogens. The mana, or power, produced by the plants can be used for many things such as healing, foreseeing the future, bewitching someone, and attracting a lover. The moral question posed for these non-western cultures is based upon deciding which (if any) of these uses is ethical. It is important to have an understanding of the ethical ideas surrounding the hallucinogenic plants.
Furthermore, it is also important it is also important to have a brief understanding of how the plants work in order to be able to successfully compare the two cultures use of their plants. There are many different types of hallucinogenic plants that provide many different types of effects. Most of these plants can be found in Mexico and South America, with the exception of Asia, that has a scarce few. As sited by Neville Drury, the author of Shamanism, the hallucinations brought on by the plants are generally thought to come from the alkaloids, resins, glucosides, and essential oils found in the leaves, bark, stem, flowers, sap, roots, or seeds of the plants (61). This is a general list of what is in the hallucinogenic plants that cause their effects.
A more in-depth explanation of how Peyote and Dubois ia Hopwood ii, are used by the two cultures being examined, will be discussed later in the text. The hunter-gatherer Aborigines of Australia will be the first culture examined. Their culture has existed for at least 40, 000 years but has changed greatly over time. At the time of the first European contact by the Dutch around 1788 there were about 500 tribes of the semi-nomadic Aboriginal people in Australia.
Each tribe consisted of about 100 to 500 people. Only a few thousand Aborigines still exist today and they can be found primarily in Arnhem Land, in central Australia, and the central Australian dessert. The Aborigines have a shamanistic culture in which they believe that illness, death, and accidents are caused by magic or animistic actions. They refer to their shamans, or medicine men, as Karadji, or clever man. Magic is a prominent belief among aborigines and is often used for what western societies would consider evil. This belief of magic provides a distinct difference from the Peyote Cult, which will become apparent later in the text.
As Drury explained about the Aborigines, The shaman operates in a world where both imitative and contagious magic are practiced (31). Imitative magic imitates the expected result of the ritual. Drury uses the example of a voodoo doll where the image of a person is subjected to hostile acts (pins, burning etc) (31). Contagious magic, on the other hand, is done with something that is linked to someone. For example, a ritual can be performed over a personal possession of a person.
This contagious magic can also be used to cause harm. The Aboriginal magicians can also sing a person to death or point a bone. This is done when a shaman points a bone (most often a kangaroo bone) at the intended victim. In contrast, the healing satanistic practices of the Australian Aborigines rely on out-of-body experiences that can be achieved in two ways. First, they can use bull-roarers that are swung around in the air producing a unique sound. This sound is said to be the voice of their god, Baiame.
As they listen they stare into a fire in the middle of a sacred circle where visions appear to them. Second, they can also rely on the use of hallucinogenic plants. Their use of these plants will be discussed in great detail later when compared to the use of Peyote by the Navaho Peyote Cult. The Navaho Peyote Cult evolved from the Navaho Indians, the largest tribe in the United Sates, and began to come together in the 1930 s.
This cult spread rapidly until 1951 when more than one out of seven Navaho families had joined. The word cult is used only for the lack of a better word. It is not technically a cult, but rather a peyote religion or church. The phrase, Peyote Cult, has been used for so long that it has been coined as the groups name. Navaho peyote ism got its origin from the Ute Peyote Cult of Toward, who joined with Oklahoma Indians and created priests. The group spread quickly throughout Navaho's until the use of peyote began to be looked down upon in the early 1950 s.
Similar to the Australian Aborigines the Peyote Cult is also only a small fraction of what it once was. However, unlike the Aborigines the Peyote Cult does not use magic as any part of their religion. Instead, it is based on the use of hallucinogenic plants in ritual. It combines Christianity with ritual that is distinctively Indian and incorporates the use of hallucinogens as a form of power, or mana, and a connection to god. This idea of mana also provides a distinct difference between the two cultures. It is something that is very important to the Navaho Peyote Cult but is not discussed among the Australian Aborigines.
The use of peyote in rituals will be discussed in greater detail later. The Peyote Cult has received persecution not only from the western culture but also from the Navaho Indians themselves. As David F. Able, the author of The peyote Religion Among The Navaho, explains, By 1951 peyotism had no appeal whatsoever to more than 80 per cent of the Navaho tribe and that number has consecutively increased each decade since (205). Furthermore, most of those who are not cult members are very opposed to its usage. Neutrality to the issue is very rare.
The main complaints that opponents to peyotisim have are that it causes illness, death, insanity, or they stigmatize it as being a habit-forming drug. Another significant complaint, given predominantly by Navaho's who dont practice peyotism, is that it is not of the Navaho religion. Many Navaho's claim that it is not native to the Navaho's and that it has caused a disruption in the relationships of the community. The final and most significant complaint about peyotism is its effect on the behavior of its participants weather it be sexual...
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