Prehistoric paintings in Cueva de las Manos in Argentina; dated 13,000 to 9,000 years ago. Recent scientific research has suggested that early cave artists used psychotropes to intentionally seek altered states of consciousness to inspire their artwork.

Instead of silencing Ayahuasca users, demand the legalization of DMT

The real enemy is the prohibition of human consciousness

Let’s talk about the prohibition on psychotropic drugs.

More to the point: let’s talk about Western civilization’s war on the exploration and evolution of human consciousness.

I’ve been watching the rise in the usage of Ayahuasca and similar DMT-based psychotropic medicines for a few years now, with no small amount of interest. My educational background in anthropology, combined with my interest in advancing my journey to expand my own consciousness, has created the perfect cocktail of intrigue for me.

In college, I remember reading through reports from anthropologists in the 1950’s and 60’s in the Brazilian rainforests, and nearly all of them had encountered psychotropes — some positive encounters, others not so much. In one encounter with a Yanomami tribe, a reclusive tribal people living deep in the Amazon rainforest, an anthropologist observed that tribe members would constantly chew a green psychotropic leaf, which seemed to be either the coca leaf (from whence comes cocaine) or something similar to it. According to the scientist’s description, they chewed it morning, noon, and night, and it made for a very unhygienic dental situation, and quite a violent and crazed cultural atmosphere. Brutal gang rapes were a near nightly occurrence, as the men would chew more of their leaf after dinner and work themselves into an upper-induced violent craze.

These are the kinds of drugs we see associated with war traditions — like the types of brews the Scots and the Picts (heyo to my Irish grannies) would drink to give them their battle frenzy as they screamed naked and fearless into battle.

So, like, totally not the kind of drug you’d want to use everyday. With this particular tribe, it was clear that the drug’s use had far exceeded the parameters of any ceremonial use, and was having a harmful effect on the community’s wellbeing.

Still other stories, though, described journeys to peaceful secluded villages, where people led scientists to shamans, who, upon building a relationship, invited the scientists to partake in their teaching tool, the Mother Ayuhuasca — or a similar psychotropic dream state-inducing brew.

And the dreams they had. Neon leopards chasing them through the forest, morphing in and out of their bodies, crashing through violent battles, philosophical conversations with talking animals — you just can’t make this stuff up. This was the 1950s, long before the scientific community had any language to describe, let alone understand what was happening. Not that we understand it any better today.