Michael Winkelman

Magic: A Theoretical Reassessment [and Comments and Replies]

Comparison of aspects of magical belief and practice with elements identified in experimental parapsychology suggests that some magical phenomena may have their basis in what parapsychology in call psi. Similarities are found between magic and parapsychology in (1) conditions that facilitate the manifestation of magical and psi phenomena, (2) the mental processes implicated as effective in producing magical and psi phenomena, (3) the basic principles underlying the phenomena of magic and psi, (4) the characteristics of the phenomena likely affected by magical action and psi, and (5) the characteristics of the origin of magic suggested by Malinowski and the characteristics of the basis of psi. These congruences are used to distinguish which aspects of magic are likely to be psi-related. Previous theories of magic are integrated in a perspective that places psi and other universal psychological processes at the basis of magic and explains the integration of many types of magical, social, cosmological, and religious phenomena as a product of metaphoric predication and analogical modeling.

Complementary Therapy for Addiction: “Drumming Out Drugs”

OBJECTIVES This article examines drumming activities as complementary addiction treatments and discusses their reported effects. METHODS I observed drumming circles for substance abuse (as a participant), interviewed counselors and Internet mailing list participants, initiated a pilot program, and reviewed literature on the effects of drumming. RESULTS Research reviews indicate that drumming enhances recovery through inducing relaxation and enhancing theta-wave production and brain-wave synchronization. Drumming produces pleasurable experiences, enhanced awareness of preconscious dynamics, release of emotional trauma, and reintegration of self. Drumming alleviates self-centeredness, isolation, and alienation, creating a sense of connectedness with self and others. Drumming provides a secular approach to accessing a higher power and applying spiritual perspectives. CONCLUSIONS Drumming circles have applications as complementary addiction therapy, particularly for repeated relapse and when other counseling modalities have failed.

Drug tourism or spiritual healing? Ayahuasca seekers in Amazonia.

Abstract This research addresses the question of whether Westerners who seek traditional spiritual medicine known as ayahuasca can be best characterized as “drug tourists” or as people pursuing spiritual and therapeutic opportunities. Participants in an ayahuasca retreat in Amazonia were interviewed regarding their motivations for participation and the benefits they felt that they received. These findings from the interviews were organized to reveal common motivations and benefits. Contrary to the characterization as “drug tourists,” the principal motivations can be characterized as: seeking spiritual relations and personal spiritual development; emotional healing; and the development of personal self-awareness, including contact with a sacred nature, God, spirits and plant and natural energies produced by the ayahuasca. The motivation and perceived benefits both point to transpersonal concerns, with the principal perceived benefits involving increased self awareness, insights and access to deeper levels of the self that enhanced personal development and the higher self, providing personal direction in life.

Shamanism as Neurotheology and Evolutionary Psychology

Universals of shamanism reflect innate brain processes and representational systems and fundamental aspects of consciousness. Shamanic universals involve psychophysiological dynamics of altered states of consciousness (ASCs) and visionary experiences, metaphoric representations produced through integration of innate representational modules, and rituals that produce psychophysiological healing responses. ASCs reflect natural brain processes involving systemic integrative conditions. Universal shamanic representations (e.g., animism, animal allies, and soul flight) use cross-modal integration of specialized innate modules and reflect fundamental aspects of the psychodynamics of self. These prelinguistic emotional, social, and mental processes use presentational symbolism that reflects fundamental structures of consciousness. Therapeutic aspects of shamanism involve the psychophysiological effects of ASCs, ritual and community evocation of neurotransmitter responses, and the functions of spirit concepts in representing and manipulating individual and group psychodynamics. The shamanic paradigms psychobiological foundations explain the origins and cross-cultural distribution of shamanism, its modern manifestations, and the continued applicability of shamanic practices.

A possibly sigma-1 receptor mediated role of dimethyltryptamine in tissue protection, regeneration, and immunity.

N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is classified as a naturally occurring serotonergic hallucinogen of plant origin. It has also been found in animal tissues and regarded as an endogenous trace amine transmitter. The vast majority of research on DMT has targeted its psychotropic/psychedelic properties with less focus on its effects beyond the nervous system. The recent discovery that DMT is an endogenous ligand of the sigma-1 receptor may shed light on yet undiscovered physiological mechanisms of DMT activity and reveal some of its putative biological functions. A three-step active uptake process of DMT from peripheral sources to neurons underscores a presumed physiological significance of this endogenous hallucinogen. In this paper, we overview the literature on the effects of sigma-1 receptor ligands on cellular bioenergetics, the role of serotonin, and serotoninergic analogues in immunoregulation and the data regarding gene expression of the DMT synthesizing enzyme indolethylamine-N-methyltransferase in carcinogenesis. We conclude that the function of DMT may extend central nervous activity and involve a more universal role in cellular protective mechanisms. Suggestions are offered for future directions of indole alkaloid research in the general medical field. We provide converging evidence that while DMT is a substance which produces powerful psychedelic experiences, it is better understood not as a hallucinogenic drug of abuse, but rather an agent of significant adaptive mechanisms that can also serve as a promising tool in the development of future medical therapies.

Alternative and traditional medicine approaches for substance abuse programs: a shamanic perspective

Analysis of the relationship of altered states of consciousness (ASC) to culture and human psychobiology provides guidance for new approaches for addressing substance abuse and dependence. While Western cultures have a long history of repressing ASC, cross-cultural research illustrates the ubiquitous human drive to alter consciousness and the near universality of institutionalized healing practices based on ASC. These may reflect adaptive mechanisms that do not operate in contemporary societies as they did in the human past. Effectiveness of ASC procedures in treating substance dependence is found in ethnomedical treatments of addiction, the addiction literature, Alcoholics Anonymous, and the physiological effects of shamanistic practices. A review of shamanic therapeutic mechanisms illustrates their applicability to addressing the psychodynamics of drug addiction. The utility of natural ASC practices to reduce substance dependence problems is illustrated by clinical research on the treatment of drug dependence through the use of meditative practice and models of their psychobiological dynamics. Shamanistic practices induce the relaxation response, enhance theta-wave production, and stimulate endogenous opioid and serotonergic mechanisms and their mood elevating effects. Directions of a shamanic based ASC therapy for drug dependence are suggested.

Religion and Intergroup Conflict Findings From the Global Group Relations Project

How might religion shape intergroup conflict? We tested whether religious infusion—the extent to which religious rituals and discourse permeate the everyday activities of groups and their members—moderated the effects of two factors known to increase intergroup conflict: competition for limited resources and incompatibility of values held by potentially conflicting groups. We used data from the Global Group Relations Project to investigate 194 groups (e.g., ethnic, religious, national) at 97 sites around the world. When religion was infused in group life, groups were especially prejudiced against those groups that held incompatible values, and they were likely to discriminate against such groups. Moreover, whereas disadvantaged groups with low levels of religious infusion typically avoided directing aggression against their resource-rich and powerful counterparts, disadvantaged groups with high levels of religious infusion directed significant aggression against them—despite the significant tangible costs to the disadvantaged groups potentially posed by enacting such aggression. This research suggests mechanisms through which religion may increase intergroup conflict and introduces an innovative method for performing nuanced, cross-societal research.

Shamanism and Altered States of Consciousness: An Introduction

In this article, the issue of shamanism and altered states of consciousness (ASC) is reviewed from a cross-cultural and multidisciplinary perspective. It is suggested that in spite of considerable differences in the uses of these terms, there are conceptual and empirical grounds for distinction among different types of trance practitioners. The authors argue that shamanism is a cultural adaptation of hunting and gathering societies to the biological potential for ASC, and that the specific nature of that manifestation changes as societies become more complex. The role of ASC in understanding shamanic phenomena, the roots of religious experience, and the modern manifestations of the potential for trance are examined. Western cultural avoidance of ASC has inhibited understanding of these phenomena, and has prevented an integration of shamanistic and trance perspectives into the understanding human of psychology, consciousness, and knowledge of the world.

Magico-Religious Practitioner Types and Socioeconomic Conditions

A typology of magico-religious practitioners is determined in a cross- cultural sample. Shamans were found in hunting and gathering soci eties ; Shaman/Healers and Priests in agricultural societies; and Healers, Mediums, and Malevolent Practitioners in societies with political integration. Analysis of selection procedures and activities suggests three bases for magico-religious practitioners: a universal basis related to trance states; sociopolitical power in societies with political integra tion ; and conflict between trance-based local power and stratified political power.

Psychoactive properties of Kung Bushmen medicine plants

This article addresses some of the recent controversy over the role of psychoactive substances in the !Kung Bushmen healing ceremonies and trance induction. Although some contemporary works on the !Kung and their healing ceremonies give no evidence of the use of psychoactive plants, an examination of the available biochemical and pharmacological literature on the properties of these plants indicates that most contain psychoactive or toxic substances that are likely to have trance-inducing properties. Almost half of the !Kung medicine plants contain psychoactive substances or have toxic properties, and a similarly large group of these plants has psychoactive or toxic properties in related species. Although recent reports have shown little concern with the use of psychoactive substances, the earlier literature illustrated a major concern with their use in !Kung Bushmen trance and healing. This contrast with more recent research suggests a decline in the use of psychoactive plants in the recent past. This decline is examined with respect to changes in the !Kung Bushmen society and how attitudes in the United States regarding drug use may have influenced investigators and their research reports.