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Shamanic Consciousness and Human Evolution

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... Psychoactive substances were inevitably incorporated into the central dynamics of shamanic and religious rituals, attested to in the diverse species used as sacraments or entheogens in cultures around the world (see Dobkin de Rios, 1984;Rätsch, 2005;Schultes et al., 1992). Shamanism provided the cosmological and ritual context within which the experiences induced by psychedelics were incorporated into human culture, and through their selective effects, into humans' innate psychology (Winkelman, 2010a(Winkelman, , 2013(Winkelman, , 2014a(Winkelman, , 2014b. These influences also contributed to the development of ritual healing practices, exploiting principles that were part of the formation of our evolved sociality and psychology (Winkelman, 2015). ...
... The human potential for entheogenic experiences and visionary encounters appears to reflect innate properties of our nervous system, a potential elicited by many different drug and non-drug mechanisms (also see Winkelman, 2011). This human search for drug-induced spiritual encounters has an intimate relationship with our evolved psychology (Winkelman, 2013(Winkelman, , 2014a(Winkelman, , 2014b and has led humans to discover many different plant substances for altering consciousness. ...
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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 environmental factors that affected hominin evolution. These substances also contributed to the evolution of ritual capacities, shamanism, and the associated alterations of consciousness. The role of psilocybin mushrooms in the ancient evolution of human religions is attested to fungiform petroglyphs, rock artifacts, and mythologies from all major regions of the world. This prehistoric mycolatry persisted into the historic era in the major religious traditions of the world, which often left evidence of these practices in sculpture, art, and scriptures. This continuation of entheogenic practices in the historical world is addressed in the articles here. But even through new entheogenic combinations were introduced, complex societies generally removed entheogens from widespread consumption, restricted them in private and exclusive spiritual practices of the leaders, and often carried out repressive punishment of those who engaged in entheogenic practices.
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