"Religion is a defense against a religious experience"
Carl G. Jung

Spiritual Pilgrim By Anonymous 16th Century

Shamanism is the world's oldest religion. Shamanism is the religion of EXPERIENCE.

I'd like to start by explaining some of the terminology used in this article. Let me point out here that some researchers consider that because the word 'shaman' was used in ancient times exclusively to describe the Amanita muscaria mushroom using 'shaman' of the Norse, Siberian, and Ostiak peoples that it only applies to them. On this page I will use the generic definition of shamanism, which is not a religion, but "a set of techniques with the principle technique being the use of psychedelic/entheogenic plant substances." With this definition we can include the curanderos, the ayahuasceros, the peyoteros, and any of the many 'psychedelic' using peoples of the world. I'd also like to give the definition of entheogen - which from Latin we take (en), meaning 'in' or 'within', (theo) meaning 'god', and (gen) meaning 'to generate', bringing us 'entheogen' "to generate the god within." And psychedelic - from Latin (psyche) meaning 'mind', and (delos) meaning 'to make clear' or 'visible', bringing us 'psychedelic,' "to make the mind clear or visible."

Before Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, or any other, there was shamanism. Shamanism is quite literally the foundation or beginning roots of most, if not all other religions. Some may argue that animism is the worlds oldest religion, but I will argue that humanoid man, in our search of food, came across entheogenic plants and drugs and utilized them, as the evidence shows. I believe that the use of these substances, and especially Psilocybe mushrooms may have been the catalyst for the explosion in human brain size over 1,000,000 years ago. Read Terence McKenna's Food of the Gods, 1992, or download and listen to Terence Mckenna's Food of the Gods on audio now. See also Peter Webster's Psychedelics in Eden, 2004.

 Listen Now:
Terence McKenna's 'Food of the Gods'
Produced by She Who Remembers

MP3 Audio Format
We have over 70 hours of
Mckenna talks available in the Archives
"We wouldn't be here if it weren't for psychedelic drugs. In terms of the role of psilocybin in human evolution on the grasslands of Africa, people not on drugs were behind the curve. The fact is that, in terms of human evolution, people not on psychedelics are not fully human. They've fallen to a lower state, where they're easily programmed, boundary defined, obsessed by sexual possessiveness which is transferred into fetishism and object obsession. We don't want too many citizens asking where the power and the money really goes. Informed by psychedelics, people might stop saluting.
"Take your political party, your job, whatever, and shove it.""
---Terence McKenna

Most orthodox theories believe the huge explosion in brain size was caused either solely by the weather, or some sort of radiation. Few scientists have ever considered the possibility of mutagenic agents, which are primarily entheogens, in our food supply. The weather changes over the African jungles drastically changed the environment, creating grasslands and deserts that no doubt effected the types of foods found in the local environment--and our species' never ending search for new types of food in those changing environments.

The explosion in human brain size led first to the development of kinship and problem solving. Then on to the human consciousness, our language, our sense of being, our spirituality, and all of the things we associate with "higher" consciousness. These developments then led to animism, and, as our knowledge of the entheogens faded into mythology (due once again to further weather and environmental changes) alpha-male-dominance either returned, or came forth, reigning in patriarchal society; eventually bringing us our "modern day" dominance and belief/faith-based theologies (such as Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc.). These religions absorbed many of the ancient shamanic stories and practices into their own dogmatic traditions in order to control human kind, all-the-while using the entheogens (or the prohibition there of) to their own advantage. This is what is known as: 'The Pharmacratic Inquisition'.

From the first instant that human kind learned to write, we have attempted to put down into words that which is the shamanic, or spiritual experience attained from entheogenic plants and drugs and ecstatic states of mind. These writings, edited and culminated into religious texts, later became the major religions as we know and have them today. There is ample evidence to suggest beyond all doubt that all of the major religions had their basis in entheogenic drugs, fertility, and sun and star worship (archaeoastronomy). This includes the highest levels of the Catholic Church. See Astrotheology & Shamanism by Irvin and Rutajit, 2006. See also The Sacred Mushroom and The Cross (1970), The End of a Road (1970), and The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Christian Myth (1992) by John M. Allegro; Soma by Gordon Wasson, 1968; The Mystery of Manna: The Psychedelic Sacrament of the Bible by Daniel Merkur, 2002; The Christ Conspiracy (1999) and Suns of God (2004) by Acharya S; Green Gold the Tree of Life: Marijuana in Magic and Religion by Chris Bennett, et al, 1995; Magic Mushrooms In Religion and Alchemy by Clark Heinrich, 2002; Apples of Apollo: Pagan & Christian Mysteries of the Eucharist by Prof. Carl Ruck, Clark Heinrich and Blaize Staples, 2001; and Shamanism and Tantra in the Himalayas by Claudia Muller-Ebeling, Christian Ratsch and Surendra Bahadur Shahi, 2002.

Over the years, people's spoken stories that were passed down for generations (the myths and legends), and the written experiences of shamanic practices (ancient texts) were misunderstood, rewritten for self gain, or simply lost that which was their original intent, becoming these dominant dogmatic religions. Without the direct experience, people are easily controlled by these dogmas as they seek to fulfill the void left by the lack of having the direct religious experience themselves. This, once again, I believe was due partially to the weather changes effecting access to entheogens in the local environment. But it was also due to ill intentioned people whom intentionally suppressed this knowledge (or the people who possessed it), and the experience itself, for self gain. If this seems a stretch of the imagination, then may I remind the reader that one of the primary goals of the crusades and inquisitions were to kill the so-called 'Pagans', or country people, whom practiced these ancient forms of religion. This suppression didn't stop in the old world. As native peoples in the "New world" were dominated, many millions were killed for their "heretical" (shamanic) religious beliefs. This is continued today under the guise of the "war on drugs".

Ancient Tassili Mushroom shaman hieroglyph, Northern Algeria

To attempt to explain this further, I must enforce the concept that the shamanic experience is something you can't define until you've had it. It escapes anything you could ever possibly imagine. If you tried to understand or explain what you "think" you know about shamanism without having the experience, you could never get right. Shamanism is not a belief, theory, or an opinion--it's an experience. Just like sex is an experience. Trying to explain the shamanic experience to someone who has not yet had it, is something like trying to explain the feeling of sex or an orgasm to a virgin, or describing the feeling of alcohol to someone who has never had a drink in their life. These analogies really don't even come close to define how far out of reach understanding the experience, without having the experience, is. There is no way to understand it by observing another. For the purpose of deeper analogy, we might even say trying to understand shamanism without the experience is as difficult as trying to look yourself in the eyes without any type of mirror. In fact, this 'void zone' is where the secret of shamanism lies.

With the changes in weather and the suppression of these experiences by the dominant factors in society (without the experience) the true knowledge of the "myths" and writings were easily lost.

"I've tried Psychedelics and never had such an experience"

For those who feel they are "experienced" with entheogenic substances and still don't understand shamanism, let me explain that shamanism is not just a "trip", or trying entheogenic plants and drugs like kids do at parties. Shamanism is much more than this. Shamanism is following the ancient practices and techniques for these substances. These ancient substances are sacraments (sacred) and must be taken properly for you to have the shamanic experience.

For those of you who are still in doubt, once again, shamanism is not a "theory", "opinion", "craziness", or "preaching", etc. Shamanism is the philosophy of direct religious experience. Shamanism is YOUR direct religious experience. Either you have it, or you don't. Just because you haven't succeeded or attempted it yet, doesn't mean that the experience doesn't exist for the rest of us, or that you can't have it. When you've had your experience and your third eye opens, and the mystical experience occurs, you know it's happened.

By Alex Grey
"We 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)

What is interesting to know is that the pineal gland has been suggested to be the "Seat of the Soul." It is the only non-dualistic organ in the human brain, and was recently discovered by Dr. Rick Strassman to be the "third eye." The third eye is no longer a mystical concept. Centered directly above the back of the throat, the pineal gland contains a cornea, retina, etc., and is now suggested to produce the world's most powerful psychedelic drug, DMT "The Spirit Molecule" (Listen NOW! To Dr. Rick Strassman on Audio Part 1, Part 2) endogenously in the human/animal brain. In addition, the brain's protective layer absorbs DMT and other entheogens like psilocybin and psilocin as readily as food. It would seem that the human/animal brain requires entheogenic substances just as the body requires food.

In light of this new research, and giving speculation to the possibility of mutagenic agents in our food supply being the catalyst for development, this all seems interestingly more plausible. This also brings to light new and interesting theories of evolution. As an organism develops its first out cropping, the pineal gland, it seems to need and seek out more and more tryptamines (entheogens) for further development. This whole idea has also spawned the idea that entheogens may also help in the adaptation of changes in the environment, earning them an entirely new name in anthropology known as "adaptogens." This idea is further reinforced by new work in the animal kingdom by Giorgio Samorini in his book Animals and Psychedelics, 2002, in which he points out that the intentional intoxication in animals is not a new phenomenon, as many species of animals, birds, and insects use psychedelics as part of their normal behavior. As tryptamines are supplied, it makes for interesting speculation that the organism vicissitudes out-croppings around the pineal gland, such as greater layers of brain and new limbs of the body in order to acquire more tryptamines. To speculate further, it's also interesting to know that psilocybin and psilocin in mushrooms are similar to DMT (DMT congeners).

Yanomama natives of the Amazon insufflate Epena
Epena is a DMT containing plant/ash mixture.

From an anthropological point of view, in older societies what many call "undeveloped", or tribal cultures, there was shamanism. The entheogens in these societies were and still are anthropomorphized into human-like god beings. One excellent example of this is Jesus Christ, who Manchester philologist John M. Allegro said in his book The Sacred Mushroom and The Cross, 1970, is only an anthropomorphism of the Amanita muscaria mushroom (for a summary see: The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross - Sunday Mirror Series: by John Marco Allegro, 1970). Anthropomorphizing was done in order to preserve the ancient knowledge of these sacraments by creating memorable stories to be past down for generations, and in my opinion, are the primary source of many of the ancient myths and legends. To push this idea further, in many of these ancient societies you were not even an adult until you had your first full-blown shamanic experience. For comparison, this would mean that by many older civilizations' standards, all people in our society who have not had this experience are not an adult! You didn't become an adult when you turned 18; you became an adult when you grew up spiritually! With this in mind, it's no wonder that our society is out of control. We've lost our "tribal" or "family" values in a real sense. The "Just Say No" anti drug campaign is not the solution, but part of the problem. (For further research in this area see: The Invasion of Compulsory Sex-Morality by Wilhelm Reich, 1975; and Saharasia by James DeMeo, 2006)

Left Photo: Fresco of Plaincourault 13th Cen. C.E. showing Adam & Eve with serpent-entwined Amanita muscaria mushroom (caduceus).
Center Photo: Canturbury (Anglo-Catalan) Psalter 1147 C.E. showing the Lord of 'magical plants.'
Right Photo: Cathedral mushroom-doorway: Rome

Many people in "modern" or western society, who have never had this type of experience (which includes many people who have only tried low doses of these substances) attempt to explain away the experience of those of us who've had it. They make the claim that the shamanic experience or any meditative experience is nothing more than "hallucination." Only people who have never had the experience make these claims. This is because without having the experience, as stated, it's completely out of grasp for the un-initiated. You quite literally can't conceive of the idea until you've had the experience.

Western society has lost its connection with nature, the Great Spirit, or God if you prefer, and our tribal/cultural/environmental bonding. Without these, our society is and will continue to spin out of control until we re-gain our connection with the planet. I believe shamanism is the way. Our other option is to continue our destructive path of over consumption, world domination, and pollution and eventually render the planet uninhabitable, running ourselves over the deep end into the abyss.

I don't believe in bad trips. But I believe it is possible that you disrespected a sacrament and didn't use these substances properly, and you paid for it. Not only that, but you are not understanding what a "bad trip" is.

"If we could sniff or swallow something that would, for five or six hours each day, abolish our solitude as individuals, atone us with our fellows in a glowing exaltation of affection and make life in all its aspects seem not only worth living, but divinely beautiful and significant, and if this heavenly, world-transfiguring drug were of such a kind that we could wake up next morning with a clear head and an undamaged constitution-then, it seems to me, all our problems (and not merely the one small problem of discovering a novel pleasure) would be wholly solved and earth would become paradise."
ALDOUS HUXLEY 1894 - 1963

White man's way, the wrong way.

In our society, people normally take these substances for "partying, lights, and colors." It is because of this misguided use of these substances that people have "bad trips" or other problems as well.

Bad Trips are not really bad. When you are having a "bad" experience with these substances, it is because you are failing to or refusing to see what the sacrament is attempting to show you or teach you. When you resist and fight an entheogen, it's like fighting against God. What happens, is that your fear and ego attempt to take over, to control the experience, because your ego feels threatened by the experience. The entheogens will force you to look into the deepest recesses of your sub-consciousness. In this, your ego knows that it is about to suffer a major blow and will do everything in its power to keep you from seeing the so-called "light." At this point you need to lay back and relax. Some travelers have reported that singing children's song "Row row row your boat gently down the stream, merrily merrily merrily life is but a dream," will turn the experience arround because your soul and ego both know that life really is "but a dream."

I'd like to point out here that improper preparation or "purification" for a trip can also cause bad trips. Many shamanic societies state that the abstinence from sex and meat for several days before the trip is of utmost importance. The Huichol indians specifically state that this aids in helping to avoid bad trips. Further, the Huichol state that anyone involved in incest is almost certain to have a terrifying trip, as this is the most serious violation of ethical code (Hallucinogens and Culture, by Peter Furst, 1976, p.49 footnote).  In the use of Ayahuasca, the South American brew, it contains (MAOI) Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors, and it can be very dangerous to eat meat, dairy, coffee, etc., for at least 12 hours before and after the experience. Failing to do so can cause headaches, diarrhea, severe illness, or even death.

I can't remember how many times people told me "I had a bad trip, I'm never doing that again." For these people may I suggest you begin some serious work on yourself. You're not letting go, and it's not the entheogens giving you the bad trip--it's your own conscience (entheogens don't produce thoughts/demons, they bring forth existing subconscious thoughts). If you fall off the horse you need to get back up and learn how to ride. Societal and religious conditioning/brain washing can be strong and it may take you many trips to work out your issues and demons. But don't give up! It's a frightening process for everyone.

"I've taken 3 grams and nothing"
If you took 3 grams of Stropharia cubensis or other psilocybe mushrooms and nothing happened, this is because you're still not doing it right. Here is the technique. Take 5 to 7 grams in SILENT DARKNESS (the famous "set and setting"). No stereo, no TV, no distractions, no parties, no people - period! It doesn't matter if you think that that is a large dose, or you'll "go crazy". You won't. These mushrooms have a very high LD 50 rate (lethal Dose 50%), roughly 1600 to 1 (equivalent to your body weight), making them one of the safest substances known to man. Only Cannabis has a higher (safer) LD 50 rating (Cannabis = 1500lb in 15 minutes to cause a toxic response). This means that you'd have to take 1600 times the dose to kill you than to have a full-blown experience (God, Gaia, enlightenment, Self realization, mystical experience, or what ever you want to call it.). You'll probably need to follow this technique your first few times until you're successful.

As Terence McKenna said: "If you've never done 5 grams in silent darkness, you've never been past the front door of the house of psychedelics. You're still out on the front porch."

If you want to consume more than 7 grams, fine, if you can handle it. But do not do less than 5 grams. Go into nature or a dark room or closet. Have your experience in a quiet, dark place; then let go and relax. Row Row Row your boat gently down the stream...

By Alex Grey