Hallucinogenic Drugs and Plants in Psychotherapy and Shamanism

Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy and indigenous shamanic healing both use psychoactive substances for healing and gaining knowledge, but they rest on fundamentally different worldviews. Four paradigms are reviewed: standard psychedelic psychotherapy, where the drug amplifies internal self-analysis; shamanic rituals, where the healer takes the medicine to 'see' causes of illness; syncretic folk religious ceremonies focused on community bonding; and hybrid shamanic therapeutic rituals combining elements of both. The shamanic worldview diverges radically from the Western one in two ways: the perception of multiple realities accessible in expanded states of consciousness, and the belief that spirits encountered in dreams and visions are as real as the physical organism.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Western psychotherapy and indigenous shamanic healing systems have both used psychoactive drugs or plants for healing and obtaining knowledge (called "diagnosis" or "divination" respectively). While there are superficial similarities between psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy and shamanic healing with hallucinogenic plants, there are profound differences in the underlying worldview and conceptions of reality. Four paradigms are reviewed: (1) psychedelic psychotherapy within the standard Western paradigm--here the drug is used to amplify and intensify the processes of internal self-analysis and self-understanding; (2) shamanic rituals of healing and divination, which involve primarily the shaman or healer taking the medicine in order to be able to "see" the causes of illness and know what kind of remedy to apply; (3) syncretic folk religious ceremonies, in which the focus seems to be a kind of community bonding and celebratory worship; and (4) the "hybrid shamanic therapeutic rituals," which incorporate some features of the first two traditions. There are two points in which the worldview of the shamanic and hybrid shamanic ceremonies differs radically from the accepted Western worldview: (1) the belief and assumption (really, perception) that there are multiple realities ("worlds") that can be explored in expanded states of consciousness; and (2) the belief that "spirits," the beings one encounters in dreams and visions, are just as real as the physical organism.