For those people interested in writings on shamanism and the psychedelic experience here is a book I came across whilst perusing around the internet. It’s called “Breaking Open the Head” (by Daniel Pinchbeck). I’ve not read this book, but it does look interesting.
The homepage for Breaking Open the Head by Daniel Pinchbeck is at — Breaking Open the Head
It can be obtained from Amazon.com using the following link:
There are sample chapters located at: www.breakingopenthehead.com/re…
Here’s the info from that page:
The purpose of taking [yagé] is to return to the uterus … where the individual “sees” the tribal divinities, the creation of the universe and humanity, the first human couple, the creation of the animals, and the establishment of the social order.
- Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff, Flesh of the GodsWe have drunk the Soma; we have become immortal; we have gone to the light; we have found the gods. What can hatred and the malice of a mortal do to us now, O immortal one?
- Rig Veda (c.1000 BC)Included here are sections from my book. The first four sections are about visiting the Amazon to take ayahuasca, the sacred Amazonian jungle brew. I consider ayahuasca (also known as yagé) to be an extraordinarily profound and healing “medicine.”
The fifth section, “Phantasticum, $2000,” is a long evocation of an ayahuasca trip and some further speculations, that did not make it into the finished book.