Bliv medlemSøndag den 17. september • 15:00 – 16:00
Abstract:
“Psychedelics (e.g., ayahuasca, LSD, psilocybin mushrooms, etc.) and hallucinogens are often equated. I will argue that the two should be thoroughly distinguished as psychedelics are only one subclass of the broader class of hallucinogens. Another important – and as yet largely overlooked – class of hallucinogens is that of deliriants (e.g., Datura stramonium, Brunfelsia grandiflora, Ditran, etc.). Deliriants (i.e., anticholinergic hallucinogens) differ from psychedelics (i.e., serotoninergic hallucinogens) in many respects. The comparison of psychedelics and deliriants can thus shed valuable light on the diversity of hallucinogenic experiences. Both the neuropsychopharmacological and the anthropological differences between these two classes of hallucinogens will be explored. I will specifically look at three topics. First, these two classes of hallucinogens induce very different hallucinatory contents (i.e., different landscapes, entities, shapes, etc.). Second, these substances differ as regards their sense of reality: deliriant hallucinations are most of the time taken at face value (they cannot be discriminated from everyday objects) whereas psychedelics hallucinations are not delusional (one can discriminate between everyday objects and psychedelic ones). Third, each substance has unique cultural effects. Indeed, the anthropology and the psychopharmacology of hallucinogens suggest that deliriants have played no particular role in the evolution of religious representations while psychedelics may have importantly shaped some religions.”