Serious Blogging

Although my blog is, as of this moment, still pretty weak, I'm working on it. I haven't quite figured out what type of widget I might add or exactly how to add them, but that will come down the road. For now I'm trying to survey the blog-o-sphere to get a feel for different styles of layouts.

In a previous post I mentioned that my vision for the Mediated Culture final project includes both shamanic tourism and the scientific research being conducted on entheogens. Fortunately, the amount of data emerging from this field of study seems to be increasing, so I've been able to find some great sources that call for research on hallucinogenic compounds, as well as justifying its inclusion within the framework of a variety of disciplines. Sites like Brainwaving have article topics ranging from String Theory and Psychedelic Consciousness to the use of cocaine by Sherlock Holmes.

Psychedelic Research does the dirty work for those of us interested in this very particular niche of science by compiling great amounts of the current material that's being published on psychotropics and related topics. Psychedelic Medicine News is along the same line.

Of course, blogs like Neurotypical? and Neurosoup deal with the effects that these entheogenic compounds have on brain chemistry.

I see a lot of potential here for a "meta-discussion" on different mediums. While the tourism aspect represents a clear clashing of cultures, the compounds that constitute indigenous concoctions like Ayahuasca might themselves be forms of subconscious/quantum communication devices.

I'm excited to both continue my research and make this page a lot more presentable.

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Shamanic Assimilation Trailer

 

For the final video, I also hope to incorporate current Western philosophies and research on dimethyltryptamine (DMT), the psychoactive chemical compound in Ayahuasca.

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Shamanic Tourism, Entheogens, and Consciousness: Perhaps Humanity's Most Important Emerging Fields of Study

 The source I’ve spent most of my time delving into is a dissertation written by Evgenia Fotiou entitled From Medicine Men to Day Trippers: Shamanic Tourism in Iquitos, Peru. I’m choosing to summarize that piece here because it’s the most recent research I’ve found on the subject, and nearly everything Fotiou covers pertains directly to our project. Plus, she’s inundated her dissertation with exceptional sources that I would like to research further.

           

Fotiou uses the first 100 pages or so to detail her methodology for field work, the hallucinogenic beverage Ayahuasca (the main draw for western tourists seeking “authentic” shamanic experiences), and the history of shamanism and its complex, fluid relationship with Western culture. Seeing as how I’ll be discussing the Ayahuasca experience in greater detail for my second recapitulation, here I’ll try to relay a condensed explanation of Fotiou’s research on shamanism's effect on the Western imagination.

             

Some of the earlier writings on shamanism, like those of Mircea Eliade, sought to distill the widespread (but culturally disparate) shamanic phenomena down to a generalized, universal model. Since then, this way of thinking has been subdued. It’s become clear to anthropologists, ethno-botanists, and psychologists that shamanism is very much culture-specific. For example, Siberian shamans’ ritualistic practices differ greatly from those of the Amazonian Indians. And it is from this viewpoint that Fotiou conducts her research.

           

Western reaction to shamanism has shifted dramatically as more literature is published on the subject. Unsurprisingly, the first accounts of shamanic practices were ethnocentric, exaggerated, and misinformed. European settlers had no desire to study shamanism within the environmental context, so the propaganda produced made these practices seem fraudulent and pathological.

            

 Counter that with the “New Age” or “Neoshamanic” movements of the present, and it becomes clear that our society has tended to stereotype these indigenous people (and their practices) into two basic groups: the noble and ignoble savage. Judeo-Christian thought placed a demonic interpretation upon the rituals, while the “New Agers” like to paint an idyllic picture of simplicity, spirituality, and closeness to nature.

             

Somewhere in between these two extremes lies a more scientific, medical point of view. This community sees shamanism’s potential in aiding the fields of medicine and psychology.

            

 The last part of what I’ve read so far expounds upon the history and present state of shamanic tourism, specifically in the accommodating town of Iquitos, Peru. This enterprise really took off during the countercultural movements of the ‘50’s and ‘60’s, and remains popular today. In fact, because of the Western “invasion,” the native shamanic practices have mutated completely from their archaic origins. Peruvian shamans have adapted foreign techniques into their rituals to appease tourists with preconceived notions of an “authentic” experience. Things like yogic “chakras” and “energy centers” have become part of the native speech; these concepts are relatively new (and borrowed from Eastern philosophy) to the ancient practice. In fact, many shamans have been (unfortunately) converted to Christianity, and without the presence of Western tourists will actually conduct their ceremonies in front of a crucifix or a portrait of Jesus. Once the Westerners show up, however, all Christian relics are hidden away.

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