Hallucinogens and Shamanism: A Brief Article Chicago IL

The use of psychoactive drugs was studied in the 1960s by Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert who looked at LSD and psilocybin who studied shamanic teachings and practices around the globe. These shamanic traditions involve non-ordinary states of consciousness induced by a variety of methods including ingesting hallucinogenic plants, but also drumming, fasting, wilderness vision questing, use of sweat lodges and others.

Cathedral Shelter of Chicago
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McDermott Center/Haymarket Center
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Chicago, IL
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(312) 226-7984
124 North Sangamon Street
Chicago, IL
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(312) 226-4357
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Substance abuse
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Persons with co-occurring mental and substance abuse disorders, Women
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ASL or other assistance for hearing impaired, Spanish

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Salvation Army
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1515 West Monroe Street
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Residential short-term treatment (30 days or less), Residential long-term treatment (more than 30 days), Outpatient
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Healthcare Alternative Systems Inc
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210 North Ashland Avenue
Chicago, IL
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Substance abuse , Methadone Maintenance, Buprenorphine Services
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Outpatient
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(312) 813-7009
20 North Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL
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Chicago, IL
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Hallucinogens and Shamanism: A Brief Article

In the western area, many drugs are highly refined and attempted excessively or habitually, in ways that are addictive and harmful. However, in traditional societies powerful mind-active plants are consumed ritually for therapeutic purposes or for transcending normal, everyday reality. In this article I will look in detail at the ritual use of mind-active drugs for therapeutic mind-expansion as part of shamanic traditions in comparison to the modern abuse of pharmaceutical drugs as part of drug addictions and dependencies.

The use of psychoactive drugs was studied in the 1960s by Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert who looked at LSD and psilocybin who studied shamanic teachings and practices around the globe. These shamanic traditions involve non-ordinary states of consciousness induced by a variety of methods including ingesting hallucinogenic plants, but also drumming, fasting, wilderness vision questing, use of sweat lodges and others.

Metzner notes that indigenous people have a profound knowledge of plants and herbs and their effects on the body and mind and are well able to distinguish harmful from beneficial medicines. For this reason the vision-inducing plants that have a tradition of shamanic usage are much more likely to be safe, in contrast to newly discovered and synthesized drugs, the use of which may often involve unknown long-term risks.

Western psychotherapy and indigenous shamanism use similar psychoactive substances for healing and obtaining knowledge (call...

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