Peter T. Furst

Hallucinogens and culture Peter t. Furst

For centuries, hallucinogens have been of great significance in the ideology and religious practices of primitive societies. In fact, the use of psychotropic plants to achieve states of religious ecstasy goes back almost to the beginning of human culture. Furthermore, the content of the psychedelic experience in the West today has been found to be similar to that of the religious pilgrimages of Oriental and aboriginal New World groups. But one fundamental difference overshadows all In the traditional cultures described in this collection of ten essays, the hallucinogenic "trip" is a means to an end--a quest for confirmation of traditional values, for unity with the tribal ancestors. In contemporary Western society, by contrast, it tends to be an end in itself and a rejection of the society's values--perhaps, it has been suggested, because Western drug-users tend to be a-cultural. Clearly, we have much to learn from an objective study of societies with long histories of sanctioned, and controlled, drug use to achieve recognized cultural objectives.

The brilliant visionary yarn paintings of the shaman-artist Jose Benitez Sanchez emerge transformed into two-dimensional form from fleeting, sublime visionary experiences triggered by the complex chemistry of the divine peyote cactus. Benitez's visions are of the Huichol universe in Mexico's rugged Sierra Madre Occidental, as that world came into being in the First Times of creation and transformation and in the ongoing magic of a natural environment that is alive and without firm boundaries between the here and now and the ancestral past.Modern yarn paintings—more than 30 in the University of Pennsylvania Museum's collection are illustrated here—have their roots in the sacred art of communication with numberless male and female ancestors and native deities, related in the two remarkable Huichol origin myths also presented here to shed some light on Native American culture and provide some understanding of the religious experience that informs it.

Examines Indian art, including weapons, wood and stone carvings, pottery, masks, and jewelry.

-- An invaluable resource for schools and libraries-- The most comprehensive reference source on drugs ever published-- Written primarily by doctors and scientists-- Explores the impact of drug use -- and abuse -- on our culture, the workplace, the family, and the individual-- Each volume contains a directory of drug treatment agencies

The Huichol people live in west Mexico’s Sierra Madre Occidental. The most authentically 'traditional' of all Mexican Indians, they have recently become famous for their vivid yarn paintings, their sacramental use of hallucinogenic cactus, and the well-documented peyote pilgrimages that take them three hundred miles east from their present homeland into the north-central desert.In the mid-1960s, Peter T. Furst began a lifelong encounter with their intellectual culture, facilitated by a growing relationship of mutual trust with Ramón Medina, an aspiring Huichol shaman, storyteller, and artist, and his wife Guadalupe de la Cruz Ríos. Ramón, who became a full-fledged shaman with his fifth peyote pilgrimage, also had a Huichol 'Uru Temay, Young Arrow Person.' Over the years Furst published a number of articles on various facets of Huichol life, many of them centered on what he learned and observed during his growing relationship with Ramón and his people.Bound together by personal reminiscences and background explanations, Furst here brings many of those articles together and updates them. It includes transcriptions of myths that function as charters for 'being Huichols,' descriptions of deities, rituals, beliefs, as well as discussion of the place of hallucinogens in Huichol culture. Furst skillfully weaves current reflections with memories and older material in a manner that makes for a highly readable, contemporary presentation.

This book is a classic introduction to some of the hallucinogenic drugs in their cultural and historical context, stressing their important role in religion, ritual, magic and curing. It will be of interest to botanists, pharmacologists, physicians, anthropoilogists, psychologists and all those interested in hallucinogens. It provides a comprehensive and cross-cultural survey of plant hallucinogens of the Americas. Tobacco, Cannabis, Ibogaine, LSD, Morning Glories, Sacred Mushrooms, Fly-Agaric, Soma, Peyote, Datura, and Toad Poison are some of the hallucinogens discussed.

México. 17 cm. 341 p. il. Encuadernación en tapa blanda de editorial ilustrada. Furst, Peter T. 1922-. Traducción de José Agustín. Colección popular .. Este libro es de segunda mano y tiene o puede tener marcas y señales de su anterior propietario.

L’usage des substances hallucinogènes dans les sociétés industrielles n’est pas si éloigné de leur emploi par d’autres cultures dans un contexte magico-religieux.L’anthropologue Peter Furst dresse un tableau des principales recherches entamées sur l’expérience psychédélique à travers les âges.

Ritual Beauty paints a portrait of social, political and religious life in the ancient Americas, the setting in which these exceptional works of art were created. An overview of the PreColumbian world prior to European contact by Joanne Stuhr is followed by essays on Mesoamerican and Andean cultures, shamanism, and textile arts that contribute important scholarship from eminent experts in the Peter T. Furst, Margaret Young Sánchez, and Marta Turok. The volume is richly illustrated and annotated with artifacts from both Mesoamerica and the Andean region and the readable and informative essays are suitable for the layperson as well as the scholar.

Book by The Natural History Museum of Los Angele