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COMMON
HALLUCINOGENS USED BY
SHAMANS AROUND THE WORLD
Caution:
these substances should be avoided due to their dangerously toxic nature.
| Geographic Region Where Used | Plants Used | Hallucinogenic Drugs in Plants |
Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Siberia |
Amanita
muscaria ("fly-agaric"--eaten raw) |
muscarine muscimol |
hallucinations
reportedly make surrounding objects appear very large or very small |
| Southwestern North America |
Datura
metaloides (made into a tea) |
atropine hyoscyamine scopolamine |
causes nausea
and dream-like mental state |
|
Peyote (cactus bud is eaten raw) |
mescaline | used as a
sacrament in the Native American Church |
|
| Central America |
mushrooms (eaten raw) |
some contain psilocybin |
causes
dream-like mental state |
| South America (Amazon Basin) |
Banisteriopsis
sp. (common names: yag, yaj, caapi, ayahuasca, "vine of death") combined with other plants in a tea or blown into the nostrils with a tube |
harmine harmaline d-tetrahydroharmine |
powerful
hallucinogen--similar in effects to L.S.D., mescaline, and psilocybin |
| Western Europe | Mandrake,
Henbane, and Belladonna (combined into a salve that was rubbed onto the forehead, armpits, and genital area) |
atropine hyoscyamine scopolamine |
reportedly
caused sleep and visions of "flying"; it was common until the late Middle Ages when the Catholic Church labeled it witchcraft and put a stop to its use |
(Primary source: Harner, Michael J. 1973. Hallucinogens and Shamanism.)
This page was last updated on Saturday, August 06, 2005.
Copyright 2000-2005 by Dennis O'Neil. All rights reserved.