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Example research essay topic: Visual And Auditory Australian Aborigines - 1,614 words

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... misconduct, priests profiting from gifts in return for the drug, or simply the economic decline of the tribes which is said to be due to their peyote usage. In any event, peyotism is strongly look down upon by a majority of Navaho's, yet the members of the Peyote Cult still continue to practice. The fact that the Peyote Cult is only a small division of a larger culture also provides a distinct difference between them and the Aborigines. There is no division among the Aborigines over plant usage because their entire culture accepts the use of hallucinogenic plants, which is unlike the Navaho's. The hallucinogenic plant used most by the Australian Aborigines is Dubois ia Hopwood ii, also known as pituri, which characteristically grows in dry, hot, arid regions such as the one that the Aborigines reside in.

Its root can be mashed up and mixed into water as a drink or it can be eaten whole. It is the trojan alkaloids found in the root of this flowering plant that induces its effects. These alkaloids effect the central nervous system, which includes the regulation of internal organs, heartbeat, circulation, and breathing. Small doses of pituri are said to induce hallucinations and illusions as well as detachment from time and space. The plant was also known by the early Aborigines to repress hunger or thirst, which not only made life tolerable, but also enabled them to travel for long periods of time in search of the basic elements of life.

The hallucinogenic plant used by the Navaho Peyote Cult is obviously peyote and it differs in many ways from pituri. The first, and possibly the most obvious way that it differs is its physical state. Peyote is a is a small, low-growing, hairy cactus, whose flesh and roots are eaten by the members of the cult. Its skin looks like a pincushion, and when dried it looks more looks like a button. It grows predominately in Texas and Mexico. Unlike pituri and its one alkaloid, peyote contains eight alkaloids, the most important of which being mescaline.

Peyote is a much more psychological drug than pituri and has been described many times as a sequence of reactions and feelings. Able describes this in detail when he says, To begin with, there is wakefulness, mild analgesia, and a sensation of fullness in the stomach or loss of appetite. Some observers state that there is also a euphoric quality in the early phases of the peyote experience If the dosage continues, there may be active nausea, a feeling of tightness in the chest, and some muscular tetany, often particularly evident in the jaw muscles, and heightened sensitivity to nuances of sound, color, form, and texture. For some subjects, continued dosage or later phases include visions with eyes closed, ranging from fairly elaborate stomata to quite detailed pictures, and even in fewer cases there may be full-fledged visions with eyes open, including what are evidently major distortions of visual and auditory stimuli. (5 - 6) Furthermore, there are strong emotional effects that accompany experience. Often mild to acute anxiety, followed by depression are effects of the drug. It is also said by some participants of peyote ceremonies that all night ceremonies are followed by a state of euphoria in the early morning.

Some say this may stem from a sense of shared experience and completion of a difficult ceremony while others claim it is an effect of the drug. Through this comparison of the two plants and their effects, the distinct differences of their physical properties become clear. However, the comparison of the way that the two plants are used in the two societies and their respective rituals, will clearly display specific differences between the two societies themselves. The Australian Aborigines use of pituri is basically social and recreational. Although there are a multitude of uses, Marlene Dobkin De Rios provides a very clear, comprehensive list in her book The Wilderness of Mind, 1) Given to strangers as a token of friendship 2) Used as a pick-me-up and social comforter, fostering feelings of friendship 3) Used in small water holes to trap large birds like emu or parrot, or kangaroos 4) Chewed as a part of social interaction behavior 5) Used by old men who acted as seers to obtain power and riches 6) Used as payment for circumcision and sub incision rites (14 - 15) Pituri, though not used as much today as it was before the early 1950 s, is used most often in social situations.

As Rios stated, it is used in exchange between friends and is often taken in a social setting. It was also very prominent in trade at one time. In fact, the only form of written communication know to the aborigines was linked to the trading of pituri. It was also used at one time for survival by mixing small amounts of it in watering holes to act as a tranquilizer for large animals who came to drink there; thus making the animals easier to capture. Although, no particular ritual activities are directly connected to the use of pituri, the substance was said to be added to certain magic potions. " The closest the plant use came to ritualistic use was its use in circumcisions.

Circumcisions are a large part of aboriginal ritual. Although pituri does not eliminate the pain, it does effect the memory often enabling the patient to forget surgical trauma. Besides this one example, there is no other evidence of the plant being used in any other rituals. Peyote, on the other hand, is used predominantly in ritual. This aspect of the Navaho Peyote Cult displays a distinct difference from the Aborigines. Although peyote is used today by people not of Navaho decent for recreational use, for the most part, the Peyote cult uses it only as a part of their ritual.

The ritual of the Peyote Cult is an all night experience, which, for the believer, involves communicating with god. The peyote, along with prayer, song, and drumming are all thought of as ways of communicating with god. By consuming the peyote, one is said to feel a personal significance, which enables them to communicate one on one with god through visual and auditory hallucinations. The idea of the mana, or the power that they get from the peyote, provides them with a feeling of closeness to god.

Another significant part of the ritual is the bonding with fellow participants. There is a joint eating of the peyote, drinking of water at midnight and early morning, and a breakfast that closes the meeting. The purpose of these meetings and of the peyote use is to cure, to avert evil, to promote future good, and to thank god for past blessings. It is believed to be the joint efforts and prayers that enable the groups to accomplish their purpose, through peyote ism.

There are obviously many distinct differences between the Australian Aborigines and the Navaho Peyote Cult. The cultures themselves differ dramatically in everything from ethics to division among their cultures. Magic is an important aspect to the Aboriginal culture often used for harm. Ethically they feel it is acceptable while the Navaho's believe in karma and try to promote good and wellbeing.

The idea of mana is another aspect that separates the two culturally. The peyote cult bases their use of peyote on the idea that mana comes from the plant and enables them to be closer to god. This is an idea used by many cultures that use hallucinogenic plants, but it is something that provides no bearing on the Australian Aborigines herbal usage. Finally one of the most significant differences between the two cultures is the complete acceptance of the plant use among the Aborigines verses the division that the usage had created between Navaho tribes. Not only do the two cultures differ in a cultural respect, but they also differ drastically in their usage of herbal hallucinogens.

This being the aspect that is supposed to group them together. Beginning with the physical properties of the hallucinogenic plants that they use, pituri is a small flowering plant where as peyote is a cactus. Although they both cause hallucinations to some degree, pituri provides mainly physical sensations while peyote provides strong emotional effects as well. The two cultures uses of their plants differ dramatically as well. The Aborigines use pituri as a predominately recreational drug while the Navaho use peyote mainly for ritual purposes.

Even with the use of pituri in the circumcision ritual, its ritualistic use is far different from that of the Peyote Cult. Pituri is used as an anesthetic in Aboriginal rituals, whereas peyote is used as a connection to god and a form of power. The peyote ritual is used to cure, to avert evil, for good fortune, and to thank god. The Aborigines only ritual is simply a coming of age ritual. In comparing the Australian Aborigines and the Navaho Peyote Cult, two cultures that still rely on the use of hallucinogenic plants today, it becomes apparent that they are not inherently similar. This is despite a common belief, that cultures who use herbal hallucinogens are inherently similar.

By comparing the type of plants they use, the uses they have for them, the rituals that they involve them in, and even the basic beliefs of the cultures, it is obvious that they should not be grouped together. The cultural variables between these cultures, not only the ones discussed in the text, but all of those who use hallucinogenic plants, are so significant that in reality the only major similarity between them is the fact that they use hallucinogenic plants. Bibliography:


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Research essay sample on Visual And Auditory Australian Aborigines

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