Psychedelic Shamanism, Updated Edition: The Cultivation, Preparation, and Shamanic Use of Psychotropic Plants

by Jim DeKorne

Overview

Psychedelic Shamanism presents the spiritual and shamanic properties of psychotropic plants and discusses how they can be used to understand the structure of human consciousness. Author Jim DeKorne offers authoritative information about the cultivation, processing, and correct dosages for various psychotropic plant substances including the belladonna alkaloids, d-lysergic acid amide, botanical analogues of LSD, mescaline, ayahuasca, DMT, and psilocybin.
 
Opening with vivid descriptions of the author’s personal experiences with psychedelic drugs, the book describes the parallels that exist among shamanic states of consciousness, the use of psychedelic catalysts, and the hidden structure of the human psyche. DeKorne suggests that psychedelic drugs allow us to examine the shamanic dimensions of reality. This worldview, he says, is ubiquitous across space, time, and culture, with individuals separated by race, distance, and culture routinely describing the same core reality that provides powerful evidence of the dimensional nature of consciousness itself. The book guides the reader through the imaginal realm underlying our awareness, a world in which spiritual entities exist to reconnect us with ourselves, humanity, and our planet. Accurate drawings of plants, including peyote, Salvia divinorum, and San Pedro, enhance the book’s usefulness.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781556439995
Publisher:	North Atlantic Books
Publication date:	07/26/2011
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	1,219,394
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Jim DeKorne has been a political activist, epidemiologist, and college English teacher, and is the author of several books. The former publisher of The Entheogen Review, he lives in Pahoa, HI.

Table of Contents

About the Cover xi

Preface to 1994 Edition x

Preface to 2011 Edition v

Part 1 The Shamanic Hypothesis 1

Chapter 1 Altered States 3

Chapter 2 Shamanic Dimensions 43

Chapter 3 The Experience of Many Worlds 51

Chapter 4 Living in the One World 63

Chapter 5 The Entities of the Imaginal Realm, Part One 73

Chapter 6 The Entities of the Imaginal Realm, Part Two 89

Part 2 Psychedelic Catalysts 101

Chapter 7 The Belladonna Alkaloids 103

Chapter 8 D-Lysergic Acid Amide: Morning Glory Seeds 119

Chapter 9 Mescaline: Peyote and San Pedro 133

Chapter 10 Ayahuasca and Its Analogues: Harmine and DMT 145

Chapter 11 Smokable Tryptamines from Plants 165

Chapter 12 Psilocybin: "Magic Mushrooms" 173

Chapter 13 Some Other Psychedelic Plants 185

Chapter 14 Extraction Procedures 199

Chapter 15 Some Thoughts on Technique 201

Afterword to 1994 Edition 215

Afterword to 2011 Edition 219

Notes 223

Bibliography 233

Index 239

About the Author 247

Editorial Reviews

No hands-on explorer of psychedelic hyperspace will want to be uninformed of the facts and techniques in this book. It is a valuable contribution to the new literature of do-it-yourself shamanism and psychoactive ethnobotany.”
—Terence McKenna, author of Food of the Gods: A Radical History of Plants, Drugs, and Human Evolution

“Jim DeKorne’s Psychedelic Shamanism is a classic in the field of exploratory ontological musings on substance-induced changes of consciousness and their multidimensional implications. I recommend it highly.”
—Daniel Pinchbeck, editorial director of Reality Sandwich and author of Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism
 
“The original Psychedelic Shamanism filled a crucial niche in the literature on the use of psychoactive plants in spiritual practice. This updated and revised version establishes its relevance to the current generation’s search for insightful and thought-provoking treatments of a controversial topic.”
—Rick Strassman, MD, Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, and author of DMT: The Spirit Molecule

“At last, a book about drugs and the paranormal that makes sense. I recommend it to everyone.”
—Robert Anton Wilson, coauthor of The Illuminatus! Trilogy
 
“DeKorne writes closely from experience, within an informed background of inner exploration and growth, and that is what makes this book good. Kudos to North Atlantic Books for bringing it back into print.”
—Dale Pendell, author of Pharmako/Gnosis: Plant Teachers and the Poison Path
 
“An indispensable guide to the theory, practice, cosmology, theology, and ethnobotany of plant teachers.”
—Howard Rheingold, editor of The Whole Earth Review
 
“The myth and mystery of shamanism—the drugs, taboos, sex, death, and genius—get a first class Broadway showing, thanks to Jim DeKorne. This book is indispensable reading for anyone interested in drug or state of consciousness issues. DeKorne proves that passion can produce real art!”
—Thomas Lyttle, publisher of Psychedelic Monographs and Essays
 
“DeKorne describes not only how to handle your plants, and the journeys you’re about to take, but he gives you a flight plan, explaining with personal stories and shamanic theory just what it is you will be experiencing.”
—Richard Kadrey, author of Covert Culture Sourcebook

From the Publisher