Shamanic practices employed psychedelics and manipulated extrapharmacological effects through stimulation of serotonin and dopamine systems and augmenting processes of the reptilian and paleomammalian brains. Cross-cultural research illustrates shamanism is an empirical phenomenon of foraging societies, with its ancient basis in collective hominid displays, ritual alterations of consciousness, and endogenous healing responses. The integration of these innate modules are also core features of shamanism. Psychedelics stimulate ancient brain structures and innate modular thought modules, especially self-awareness, other awareness, “mind reading,” spatial and visual intelligences. Evolutionary psychology perspectives on ritual, shamanism and psychedelics provides bases for inferences regarding psychedelics’ likely roles in hominin evolution as exogenous neurotransmitter sources through their effects in selection for innate dispositions for psychedelic set and setting. Effects of 5HT2 psychedelics on serotonin, stress adaptation, visual systems and personality illustrate adaptive mechanisms through which psychedelics could have enhanced hominin evolution as an environmental factor influencing selection for features of our evolved psychology. This review illustrates the relevance of shamanism and its evolution under effects of psilocybin as a framework for identifying evolved aspects of psychedelic set and setting. This integration of ancient brain functions into the frontal cortex explains many of the key features of AC. This integrative mode of consciousness is typified in theta wave patterns that synchronize the frontal cortex with discharges from lower brain structures. This perspective provides a foundation for an approach that characterizes AC in terms of an integrative mode of consciousness that reflects systemic features of brain functioning. In contrast, a biological approach to consciousness helps to situate altered consciousness within human nature. This universal manifestation is not well explained in the classic paradigms of altered states of consciousness that emphasize their individual nature.
This introduction reviews evidence for the universal manifestation of altered consciousness. Individual and group experiences of altered consciousness may vary in many ways, but it is commonal-ities and recurrent patterns, rather than unique differences, that are crucial to understanding AC. Cross-cultural perspectives show both similarities in the experiences of altered consciousness (AC) that implicate biological factors as the basis for similarities across cultures, time, and space, as well as cultural differences in the manifestations of these potentials that implicate social factors. Ritual alterations of consciousness are a virtual universal of human cultures, reflecting a basic human drive generally considered of central importance to religion and spiritual practices.
0 kommentar(er)
