University of Valladolid

• Well-known figures like quarterback Aaron Rodgers, singer Miley Cyrus and boxer Mike Tyson testify to their transformative impact.
• Less visible consumers are “microdosing” or signing up for retreats with shamanic guides in this rapidly expanding subculture.

Drugged animals?

• Signs of stoner life in the animal kingdom go way beyond cats and their catnip.
• Among the more celebrated examples of this phenomenon are Siberian reindeer, which partake in the consumption of the fly agaric mushroom, a hallucogenic.
• Biology professor Oné R. Pagán makes a similar argument in his 2021 book “Drunk Flies and Stoned Dolphins.”

Drugged ancestors?

• In fact, the archaeological record seems quite overwhelming in linking psychoactive substances in nature to ancient religious rituals.
• Researchers chemically analyzed human hair samples that had been put in tubes made of wood or antler and placed near the dead.
• Switching continents, a funerary space in western China also points to deep-rooted connections among drugs, altered states and ritual life.

Sacred drugs?

• What led our prehistoric ancestors to these powerful plants and fungi, and why did they use them over and over?
• On the other hand, the needs and desires of people living today have been shaped by modern societies.
• In research about prehistoric societies, the term “shaman” is a catch-all designation for individuals whose roles included religious leadership, healing and spirit communication, among others.

Drugged today

• What do the animalistic and ancient roots of humans’ interaction with drugs tell us about this contemporary landscape?
• The use of drugs in these experiences was not universal, but it was not uncommon either – especially in religious life.
• Here and now, these types of uses for psychedelics have often been rebranded as clinical science, not spirituality.