Shamanism & the scope of psychedelic use – Manvir Singh

Manvir Singh's lecture "Shamanism & the scope of psychedelic use" from the Psykedeelit 2023 conference held in Turku, Finland on November 23–24, 2023.

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"A common assumption among scientists and popularizers is that indigenous peoples around the world have used psychedelics for millennia, often for social and psychological healing. But is this true? In this talk, I will review ethnographic and archaeological evidence to determine where and how psychedelics have been used. Considering classic psychedelics (serotonin 2A agonists), I will argue that, despite the widespread availability of psychedelic substances in nature, reliable evidence of indigenous psychedelic use is restricted to a few locations in Meso- and South America, corresponding roughly to about 1% of documented human societies. Expanding to a broader definition of psychedelics—encompassing, for example, deliriants and dissociatives—leads to a higher estimated prevalence, although reliable evidence of hallucinogenic use remains globally and historically marginal. Finally, I will review ethnographic descriptions of how shamans actually used psychedelics, complicating analogies drawn between traditional shamanic use and modern therapeutic uses. A rigorous evaluation of the scope and history of psychedelic use suggests that modern applications are more novel than many researchers and popularizers admit.

Manvir Singh is an anthropologist at the Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse. He studies shamanism, witchcraft, myth, and music. He graduated with a PhD from Harvard in 2020 and, since 2014, has conducted research on indigenous law and religion among the Mentawai people of Siberut Island, Indonesia. His research articles and popular essays, which have appeared in The New Yorker, Wired, Aeon, and The Guardian, can be found on his website (manvir.org)."

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