ANT 4461 Florida International Hallucinogens and The Origin of Religion Essay

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qnaznfgre03

Humanities

ANT 4461

Florida International University

ANT

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8-10 Pages recommended length. Double spaced, typed/printed, legible font. Hard copy requested. Citation format may be MLA, APA, or any clear & consistent format. Due Dec. 4th. You will be submitting online through Canvas (DOC, PDF, or RTF). Cover page, bibliography.

You will only be allowed to resubmit the paper once if you make some mistake with submission. It will be checked for plagiarism through TurnItIn.

For your term paper, as a topic, you should choose either a plant/substance (it is acceptable to do your term paper on a synthetic substance not of biological origin) and focus on that, or on a more general topic, such as “the use of hallucinogens in religious movements,” “hallucinogens and the origins of religion,” “drug interdiction policy and hallucinogens,” “the use of psychotropics in psychotherapy,” etc., etc. So your term paper could be on ayahuasca/DMT, bufo toads/bufotenine, a synthetic (MDMA, katamine, etc.), or on a general topic covering hallucinogens. Discuss cultural, medical, religious, therapeutic, recreational, and other uses of the substance; also discovery, historical usage, isolation of active ingredients, etc. This paper is a formal essay and should have a cover page and bibliography, containing at least 3 academic sources, other than your textbook or lectures. Do not cite 3 Wikipedia articles (only) unless you want to fail. Use a consistent referencing format that is clear, style is up to you. It will be evaluated for both content and mechanics. 10 pts for mechanics, 40 for content, 50 points total.

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Explanation & Answer

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Running Head: HALLUCINOGENS AND THE ORIGIN OF RELIGION

Hallucinogens and The Origin of Religion
Student’s Name:
Institutional Affiliations:

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HALLUCINOGENS AND THE ORIGIN OF RELIGION

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Hallucinogens and the Origin of Religion
Introduction
Winkelman (2014) proved in his journal that hallucinogens are not just vision-inducing
plants but also play pivotal roles in many societies. He argued that hallucinogens had been used
for centuries to evoke powerful emotions ranging from emotional, therapeutic, cognitive,
psychological, and political sentiments. Most importantly, these vision-inducing plants have
been consistently used in evoking spiritual and religious emotions around the globe and left a
notable mark in the spiritual world. Hallucinogens bear psychophysiological properties that
determine cross-cultural similarities and differences in experiences and patterns of use. On the
other hand, hallucinogens' political factors have been proved to shape cultural desirability in
society.
Similarly, researchers in anthropology have challenged the conventional views on
Christianity that have poised it as a religion of mythology and now prove that hallucinogens
played a crucial role in the origin of Judeo-Christianity. The evidence, which has been hidden in
plain sight for centuries, proves that Christianity is not the more rational and profound religion
than shamanistic traditions as many scholars show it to be. Shamanism, which is primarily
defined as the ancient techniques of ecstasy, bears indisputable similarities to Christianity, which
has been revolutionized into modern methods of inducing the flight of the soul through
psychedelic experiences (Winkelman, 2014).
Discovery and Historical Uses of Hallucinogens
Hallucinogens boast of a rich history dating back to the 1000 B.C when they first started
being used, with the latest discovery of 2008 proving that they were already in use by 400 B.C.
This discovery was about hallucinogenic paraphernalia that was discovered by archeologists on

HALLUCINOGENS AND THE ORIGIN OF RELIGION

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Carriacou island. However, recorded history dates the discovery of hallucinogens to the early
1930s, when a Swiss chemist first synthesized the lysergic acid diethylamide, commonly known
as LCD. Despite the modern world and modern science successfully altering the biological
chemicals in hallucinogens to achieve various purposes, hallucinogens originate from plants. The
only known exception of a hallucinogen that stems from an animal is Bufo marinus, commonly
called the New World Toad, even though the research into this discovery is not exhaustive yet.
The Roman dreamfish, Sarpa salpa, was eaten by Romans due to the hallucinogenic effects, such
as visual and auditory hallucinations. Modern history claims that the dreamfish was the Romans'
version of the LCD (Doblin et al., 2019).
Evolutionarily advanced flowering plants, particularly the fungi, have been proved to be
plants containing hallucinogens. One of the first hallucinogenic compounds to be isolated is
Mescaline, which was discovered from peyote and brought to light in 1888 when it was found to
have psychoactive properties. The Swiss chemist who discovered LCD in 1938 ingested his
invention accidentally five years later, and that marked a turning point for its hallucinogenic uses
globally. Mushroom further became the new invention in the hallucinogenic world, with
widespread recreational use recorded throughout the 1950s. Archeologists argue that entheogens
were used in several ancient societies to facilitate the leaders’ decision making process. These
decisions were related to issues such as migration, hunting, war, appointing spiritual leaders, and
whether or not to go to war (Clark, 2018).
Hallucinogens were historically used for religious, supernatural, and spiritual rituals in
various cultures before the...


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