Entheogens have been part of such shamanic traditions in the past, but rediscovering them is like the post-grad studies of shamanism. Most of us are lucky if we get through Kindergarten. Entheogens are usually used as aids for weak or inexperienced shamans, but they’re used under the supervision of very experienced shamans who understand the plant and its agenda. You’re engaging this plant, after all; it may want to “ride” you around for a bit, and if you don’t know that this particular plant is willful, tricky and not particularly concerned with human welfare, you might easily fall into that trap.

The other important part to look at is your own local ecology. Is your bioregion a place where entheogens have traditionally been used? What entheogens are they?

I’ve been using the term “Second Shaman,” because while we have some last vestiges of shamanic traditions to learn from, we’ll largely need to rediscover it for ourselves, and learn from the plants, animals, winds and Others directly. We’ll need to duplicate the feat of First Shaman. I doubt First Shaman used entheogens, though; that’s probably too advanced, and it’s probably too advanced for us. Our great-grandchildren might get to the point where they’re able to deal with powers like that, but for us, just wrapping our heads around the notion that we can shapeshift or talk to animals is difficult enough.

Let me clarify: I’m really not talking about the use of entheogens as a way to “become” a (neo)shaman of any existing tribe/tradition, but as a possible tool for reconnecting with our plant teachers. My experiences on these substances have been both terrifying and illuminating, never to be undertaken lightly or for recreation. The context in which they are taken is critical. There is ecstasy, but there is agony, too.

But these plants have always taught me something about the world and our place in it. We could do worse than model ourselves on their processes. I’m not saying they are the only way, but they can be a tool for trying to reconnect with nature. And whether we call it shamanism or not, I think we all agree that a reconnection to our ground of being is essential for our continued survival as a species.

Terence McKenna never claimed to be a shaman of any kind, by the way. He was probably more of a trickster or maverick, by his own definition. But his experiences with the realms he encountered on psychedelics helped him see that the way out of our present predicament is a combination of what we’ve learned technologically with what we left behind 15,000 years ago. Only the technology is in our minds, not outside of us in our toys/artifacts. My reading of him shows no conflict whatsoever with much of what you and others are writing about now. Apparently it is only the means by which he gained his insights that cause discomfort. Try as we might, we cannot easily escape our barren birthright of Judaeo-Christian distrust of altered consciousness and pleasure.

It’s true we should not and truly cannot appropriate another’s culture. But how are we to reclaim our own shamanism, without seeing how others are doing it? Perhaps certain plants can teach us how, can help us create a shamanism that is distinctly our own. There had to be a “first shaman” somewhere–how did he/she learn it? How do we reclaim it? A thorny question to be sure…

Just another piece of the tapestry, for your consideration. Regardless of one’s comfort level with the discussion, the entheogens are also mythic plants, and ought not be overlooked due to cultural/societal prejudice. They are healers, too, little as we may trust them.

Keep up the great writing, Jason and Tribe…

the story stand appropriate as-is for a songlines sub-page in the wiki. now we just need a plantain page to parent it.