Michael James Winkelman

Arizona State University | ASU · School of Human Evolution and Social Change

Our hominin ancestors inevitably encountered and likely ingested psychedelic mushrooms throughout their evolutionary history. This assertion is supported by current understanding of: early hominins’ paleodiet and paleoecology; primate phylogeny of mycophagical and self-medicative behaviors; and the biogeography of psilocybin-containing fungi. These...

Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is a currently incurable but increasingly prevalent fatal and progressive neurodegenerative disease, demanding consideration of therapeutically relevant natural products and their synthetic analogues. This paper reviews evidence for effectiveness of natural and synthetic psychedelics in the treatment of AD causes and sympto...

Differences among constructivist, perennialist, and universalist perspectives on mystical experiences are bridged with neurophenomenology and neuroepistemology perspectives that illustrate constructivist and deconditioning processes and universal innate experiences. These approaches show that phenomenal similarities and differences in the features...

Shamanism is a transcultural concept for understanding roles of ritual and psychedelics in the prehistoric origins of religiosity. The origins of religiosity are revealed by parallels of shamanic and chimpanzee collective ritualizations involving group chorusing and drumming with dramatic bipedal displays. This hominid baseline was expanded with mi...

An ethnological model of magico-religious practitioners and their social predictors is presented to assess Siberian shamans, their sociocultural evolution, and their relationships to worldwide patterns. Features of Foraging Shamans found worldwide distinguish them from other types of ritualists whose distinctive features and associated social condi...

The cross-cultural practice of shamanism reflects an innate capacity for altered states of consciousness (ASC’s) that are elicited by stress, deliberately sought in shamanic rituals, and associated with psychopathology. Shamanic sickness, animal transformation and death-rebirth experiences specifically resemble psychotic experiences. The triggers o...

Review Reviewed Work(s): Anthropology of Religion. A Handbook by Stephen D. Glazier Review by: Beata Krzyżaniak Source: Anthropos, Bd. 94, H. 1./3. (1999), pp. 270-271 Published by: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/40465733 Accessed: 25-07-2023 15:55 +00:00 Instead of presenting an encyclopedic lecture on the...

The relationship of wu (巫) to shamanism is problematic, with virtually all mentions of historical and contemporary Chinese wu ritualists translated into English as shaman. Ethnological research is presented to illustrate cross-cultural patterns of shamans and other ritualists, providing an etic framework for empirical assessments of resemblances of...

Soul belief is a universal of human culture and belief in multiple souls is common, especially in pre-modern traditions. This essay illustrates how a three-folded structure appears in the soul concepts of Mongolian shamanic traditions. The reported accounts of the three souls among various Mongolian ethnic groups are somewhat divergent-especially i...

Dunbar emphasizes distinctions between shamanic and doctrinal religions, noting the importance of shamanism for identifying ancient religious features and adaptations. Dunbar proposes religious evolution began with shamanic practices that engage the endogenous opioid system (EOS, endorphins) to enhance social bonding. Doctrinal religions based on h...

A Scientific Model of Religion An Ethnological Analogy and Biogenetic Model for Interpretation of Ritual in the Past A scientific model of the bases of religious behavior is derived from cross-cultural research that provides an empirically-derived ethnological analogy for making inferences about religious practices in the past. Cross-cultural resea...

The heralded psychedelic renaissance is currently at a new level where psychedelics are being normalized. Medicalization and the ongoing introduction of market forces are imposing a trend in which psychedelic treatments are reduced to focus into strictly pharmacological and psychological effects on the self, rather than interactions with broader so...

O livro apresenta as características empíricas do xamanismo demonstradas pelas pesquisas transculturais que revelam práticas mágico-religiosas similares ao redor do mundo. As similaridades transculturais nas práticas e experiências xamânicas refletem bases inatas. Esse livro apresenta uma abordagem biológica para o entendimento das experiências xam...

This paper provides a method- and theory-focused assessment of religious behavior based on cross-cultural research that provides an empirically derived model as a basis for making inferences about ritual practices in the past through an ethnological analogy. A review of previous research provides an etic typology of religious practitioners and iden...

This article reviews evidence for India's entheomycological traditions-religious practices using fungi to produce spiritual experiences-and proposes needed studies. The proposed fungal identity [Amanita muscaria (L.) Lam.] of the entheogenic Soma and the identity of soma substitutes still lack adequate ethnobotanical studies. Furthermore, the need...

Neurotheology is the idea that spiritual experiences and beliefs have a basis in neurological structures and processes (2010, 2019). Scientific explanation of consciousness must integrate biological and phenomenological approaches to develop neuroepistemological perspectives that integrate scientific information with philosophical assessments of ev...

I have provided here links to my articles on psychedelics. This description briefly explains my thinking on these substances. Neurophenomenological perspectives shape my approaches to how psychedelic action on the brain produces their signature experiences (2010, 2017, 2018). The global effects of psychedelics in producing a bottom-up (verses top-...

My principal papers on Shamanism and links to the articles The concept of shamanism has engaged the academic world for more than two centuries, becoming a core concept on anthropology and comparative religion. And over the last 50 years, shamanism spread with such a force that it has catapulted from a little know phenomena of foraging societies int...

This paper presents an empirical model for interpreting evidence of ritual practices and alterations of consciousness, derived from a cross-cultural study. The four main types of religious practitioners—the healer complex (shaman, shaman/healer and healer), the medium, the priest and the sorcerer/witch—are described in terms of their characteristic...

Anthropological theories about the techniques broadly labeled magic and related practices as sorcery, witchcraft, divination, and ritual curing are in need of reformulation. Theoretical considerations of these phenomena within anthropology have neglected to consider the basic assumptions of magical belief, instead departing from Western cultural as...

O livro e um tradução do livro do Michael James Winkelman, Shamanism: A biopsychosocial paradigm of consciousness and healing. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO (Second Edition). O livro apresenta as características empíricas do xamanismo demonstradas pelas pesquisas transculturais, que revelam práticas mágico-religiosas similares ao redor do mundo. As...

Anthropology, Shamanism and Hallucinogens Introduction Psychedelics and Humans’ Evolved Ecopsychology A Shamanic Ecopsychology Shamanism: The Institutionalization of Hallucinogen Use Shamanism as a Cross-cultural Complex Cross-cultural Features of Shamanism Entheogens in Shamanism Entheogenic Nature: Animism and the Origins of Shamanic Ecopsychol...

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. Effects of 5HT2 psychedelics on serotonin, stress adaptation, visual systems and personality illustrate adaptive mechanisms through which psychedelics could have enhanced hom...

A review of Crowley's book Secret drugs of Buddhism: Psychedelic sacraments and the origins of the Vajrayana.

This is a Table from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/360496565_Does_India_have_entheomycology_traditions_A_review_and_call_to_research

A review of Prance, G., McKenna, D., De Loenen, B., and D, Wade (Eds.) (2018). Ethnopharmacologic search for psychoactive drugs (Vol. 1 & 2): 50 years of research. Santa Fe, NM: Synergetic Press. Vol. 1: 468 pages plus introductory material; Vol. 2: 330 pages plus introductory material; USD125/19.99 hard copy/e-book. ISBN 10: 0907791689/ISBN 13: 97...

Empirical cross-cultural research provides a typology of magico-religious practitioners and identifies their relations to social complexity, their selection-function relationships, and reveals their biosocial bases. Different practitioner types and configurations are associated with specific ecological and political dynamics that indicate a cultura...

A healing ritual has emerged in the West, based on the appropriation of elements from an indigenous Amazonian ritual involving a psychoactive secretion from the skin of a tree frog (Phyllomedusa bicolor) called Kambo. Kambo contains a plethora of bioactive peptides. It is applied via a heat-induced blister, referred to as a vaccination. The adminis...

Historical documents relating to early Mormonism suggest that Joseph Smith (1805–1844) employed entheogen-infused sacraments to fulfill his promise that every Mormon convert would experience visions of God and spiritual ecstasies. Early Mormon scriptures and Smith’s teachings contain descriptions consistent with using entheogenic material. Compiled...

This introduction to the special issue reviews research that supports the hypothesis that psychedelics, particularly psilocybin, were central features in the development of religion. The greater response of the human serotonergic system to psychedelics than is the case for chimpanzees’ serotonergic receptors indicates that these substances were env...

Chapter 7 examines the cross-cultural manifestations of the various specific kinds of supernatural experiences as reflecting intrinsic features of human nature. The phenomenological dynamics of shamanic alterations of consciousness are linked to the physiological effects of ritual practices on the autonomic nervous system. These stimulate the modul...

This chapter offers an understanding of the nature of human supernatural relations in an analysis of the biogenetic origins of ritual behaviour. Human’s supernatural behaviours involve innate psychosocial processes and cognitive structures. These structures involve exaptations of the functions of primates’ ritualised displays that were used to expa...

This chapter expands on these ideas of cognitive operators as the basis of supernatural thought. This chapter proposes a natural basis for supernatural cognition in the operation of innate modular structures and processes of the human brain. These involve special design features that provide fundamental aspects of our innate mental processes for se...

In this interview, Michael Winkelman and Martin Fortier discuss the extent to which consciousness is grounded in deep evolutionary mechanisms and can be enculturated. First, the main tenets of two neuroanthropological approaches to consciousness and culture are outlined. Next, the upsides and downsides of evolutionary psychology are examined; the f...

The essay proposes that entheogenic mushrooms and shamanic experiences are encoded in the Khajuraho Temples of India. Erotic sculptures of Khajuraho have statues with limbs depicted in strange positions, separated from the body or with orientations that are anatomically impossible. These represent dismemberment experiences typical of shamanic and m...

Sixteen articles by leading researchers document the evidence for the therapeutic applications of a wide range of psychedelics-- LSD, psilocybin, ayahuasca, ketamine, MDMA.

This book takes what is often referred to as the "supernatural" to be normal natural phenomena that are closely linked to the neurobiology of the human species. Refl ecting the neurocultural and biocultural perspective, the chapters cover phenomena such as out-of-body experiences, ghosts, and experiences of spirit entities. The contributors conside...

Researchers, program administrators, and practicing clinicians explain the most recent developments in using psychedelic substances to treat psychological, physiological, and social problems. More than a decade ago, the U.S. government lifted its ban on all testing of psychedelic substances. Winkelman and Sessa now provide updated scientific resear...

Consciousness involves the integrative functioning of awareness, sensations, perceptions, memory, cognitions, sense of self, and worldviews. Anthropology studies cross‐cultural differences in these basic elements of consciousness to illustrate the interaction of biological and cultural factors in the development of human consciousness. These intera...

Shamanism and possession are central concepts in the religious practices of many “premodern” societies, with substantial similarities manifested across cultures and time that reflect their basis in human nature. Shamans and possession both involve ritual alteration of consciousness but differences between them are illustrated by cross‐cultural stud...

The aims of this study were to assess the impact of ceremonial use of ayahuasca—a psychedelic brew containing N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and β-carboline —and attendance at União do Vegetal (UDV) meetings on substance abuse; here we report the findings related to alcohol and tobacco use disorder. A total of 1,947 members of UDV 18+ years old were...

Singh conflates diverse religious statuses into a single category that includes practitioners with roles that differ significantly from empirical characteristics of shamans. The rejection of biological models of trance and conspicuous display models misses the evolutionary roots of shamanism involving the social functions of ritual in producing psy...

Background and aims Psychedelic entity experiences are examined from perspectives of evolutionary psychology and neurophenomenology. Their similarities with other entity experiences illustrate the need for a general biological explanation of entity experiences. Mechanisms are proposed to involve innate modules, operators, and intelligences that und...

Why have addic ons and the social problems of drug abuse become one of the greatest public health concerns confron ng contemporary socie es? One might suppose our addic ons are simply a consequence of our well-documented biological proclivi es to use drugs. Substances are addic ve because they mimic the effects of neurotransmi ers. Humans use drugs...

Neuropharmacological effects of psychedelics have profound cognitive, emotional, and social effects that inspired the development of cultures and religions worldwide. Findings that psychedelics objectively and reliably produce mystical experiences press the question of the neuropharmacological mechanisms by which these highly significant experience...

Les altérations de la conscience manifestent une capacité énigmatique qui mobilise nos plus profondes capacités de connaissance. Leurs manifestations rituelles et spontanées partagent à travers toutes les cultures de mêmes propriétés, manifestant des similitudes dans le vol de l'âme, la possession et les expériences mystiques, qui reflètent les car...

Ayahuasca is an Amazonian psychoactive brew of two main components. Its active agents are β-carboline and tryptamine derivatives. As a sacrament, ayahuasca is still a central element of many healing ceremonies in the Amazon Basin and its ritual consumption has become common among the mestizo populations of South America. Ayahuasca use amongst the i...

Spiritual experiences are often individual and private affairs, perhaps even unique to the person. Such strictly personal experiences would seem to be beyond the purview of scientific inquiry. Religious experiences often reflect the expectations of their respective traditions, and as such, have been seen as requiring no explanations beyond those ex...

The features of shamanism found cross-culturally identify the foundations for a biogenetic paradigm. Similarities of shamanic ritual with chimpanzee displays involving ritualized bipedal charges, communal vocalizations and drumming point to the hominid ritual foundations and community dynamics from which shamanism emerged. Hominid collective ritual...

Substances known as psychedelics, hallucinogens and entheogens have been employed in ethnomedical traditions for thousands of years, but after promising uses in the 1950's and 1960's they were largely prohibited in medical treatment and human research starting in the 1970's as part of the fallout from the war on drugs. Nonetheless, there are a numb...

The publisher of this article does not allow for authors to publicly share their material on sites such as researchgate. You may find this article at www.michaelwinkelman.com The worldwide development of raves and similar collective rituals characterized by all night communal rituals involving dance, drumming, music, and often the use of psychedel...

Entheogens include a variety of substances referred to as hallucinogens, psychedelics, and sacred plants. The term “entheogen” was introduced by Carl Ruck and associates (Ruck, Bigwood, Staples, Ott and Wasson 1979) as an alternative to pejorative terms such as ‘hallucinogen’ and ‘psychedelic,’ and to more accurately convey the inherent theological...

Edited by two preeminent scholars, this book provides coverage of the policy issues related to the increasingly diverse treatments, practices, and applications of psychedelics. Hallucinogenic substances like LSD, mescaline, peyote, MDMA, and ayahuasca have a reputation as harmful substances that are enjoyed only by recreational users committing cri...

Therapeutic applications of the psychedelics or hallucinogens found cross-culturally involve treatment of a variety of physical, psychological, and social maladies. Modern medicine has similarly found that a range of conditions may be successfully treated with these agents. The ability to treat a wide variety of conditions derives from variation in...

This paper assesses causes of institutionalised human sacrifice through analyses of cross-cultural data sets, extending previous cross-cultural research that found significant ecological predictors of human sacrifice in population pressure and environmental circumscription measures. Societies with human sacrifice have intensive agriculture, fixed r...

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 potent...

This chapter presents a neurophenomenological model of psychedelic-induced transpersonal experiences, therapeutic processes that they induce, and their implications for transpersonal theory. The pharmacological effects of psychedelics also enable them to address a range of psychological and emotional maladies. In addition to indigenous and shamanic...

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 sys...

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 sys...

This article reviews the origins of the concept of the shaman and the principal sources of controversy regarding the existence and nature of shamanism. Confusion regarding the nature of shamanism is clarified with a review of research providing empirical support for a cross-cultural concept of shamans that distinguishes them from related shamanisti...

The biological foundation for a shamanic epistemology is indicated by the cross-cultural distribution of a shamanic cosmology derived from knowledge obtained during altered consciousness. These special forms of consciousness involve integrative brain conditions that access ancient ways of knowing, expressive systems which have evolutionary roots in...

This article reviews the origins of the concept of the shaman and the principal sources of controversy regarding the existence and nature of shamanism. Confusion regarding the nature of shamanism is clarified with a review of research providing empirical support for a cross-cultural concept of shamans that distinguishes them from related shamanisti...

Shamanism and psychedelics are central to understanding the evolutionary roots of ecopsychology and its basic principles. The ancient ritual roots of shamanism constituted the context within which psychedelic experiences contributed selective influences to the evolution of human neuropsychology. Both shamanic psychology and ecopsychology involve a...

Würzburg, den 18.09.2012 Korrekturfahnen Ihres Beitrages aus der Publikation Ekstasen: Kontexte – Formen – Wirkungen Sehr geehrter Herr Winkelmann, hiermit übersende ich Ihnen die Korrekturfahnen Ihres Beitrages aus der o.g. Publikation. Bitte bringen Sie evtl. notwendige Korrekturen unter Verwendung der gängigen Korrekturzeichen (DIN 16 511) gut l...

Preface: Extending Our Knowledge of Consciousness ix Charles T. Tart Chapter 1 Altering Consciousness: Setting Up the Stage 1 Etzel Cardeña Chapter 2 A Paradigm for Understanding Altered Consciousness: The Integrative Mode of Consciousness 23 Michael Winkelman Part I: Historical Perspectives Chapter 3 Consciousness Alteration Practices in the West...

Preface ix Kenneth S. Pope Introduction xiii Etzel Cardeña Part I: Biological Perspectives Chapter 1 Sleep, Dreams, and Other Biological Cycles as Altered States of Consciousness 3 Andrzej Kokoszka and Benjamin Wallace Chapter 2 Neurochemistry and Altered Consciousness 21 David E. Presti Chapter 3 Dopamine, Altered Consciousness, and Distant Space...

Although the term "shamanic" is used to refer to a diverse range of phenomena, it nonetheless reflects something empirical. Cross-cultural research illustrates that the concept of the shaman reflects the existence of similar spiritual healing practices found in pre-modern foraging and simple horticultural and pastoral societies around the world (Wi...

One area of American medicine in which spirituality is widely considered a vital aspect of healing is in substance abuse rehabilitation. While mainstream spiritual healing practices are found in the methods used by members of Alcoholics Anonymous, a variety of other spiritual practices are also used in substance abuse rehabilitation. This chapter a...

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. Cross-cultural perspectives show both similarities in the experiences of altered consciousness (AC) that implicate biological factors as the basis for similarit...

The concept of shamanism provides an important paradigmatic framework for understanding altered consciousness. Shamanism is a primordial form of transcendence of ordinary consciousness that was found cross-culturally, reflecting manifestations of evolved biological adaptations. Evolved capacities for hypnotic susceptibility, processing exogenous ne...

Provides cross-cultural data analyses regarding the factors associated with human sacrifice and explains the rationale for the predictors in the dynamics of ecological circumscription and formation and maintenance of alliances.