THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF ECSTASY

The Long Trip: A Prehistory of Psychedelia
Paul Devereux. London: Penguin Press. 1998. Pp 298. #7799. ISBN 0-14-019540-8

The exploration of psychedelic substances for "mind-expanding" purposes did
not, as many assume, start with Timothy Leary's plea to "Tune in, turn on,
drop out". Nor was the desire for trance states initiated by the writings
of Aldous Huxley, William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, or their like.
According to Paul Devereux, society has been on a "long trip" for thousands
of years, with the use of psychoactive plants sanctioned for ritual,
spiritual, or healing purposes.

Devereux casts his eye over several threads of archaeological and
ethnobotanical evidence that suggests widespread use of mind-altering
substances through different ages and regions. For example, artefacts from
Neolithic Europe seem likely to have been used for burning opium or
cannabis--each in the correct set and setting capable of inducing ecstatic
states. The peyote cactus Lophophora williamsii--used today by native
Americans for ritual purposes--is depicted on tombs dating back to 100 BC.
And did the red and white Father Christmas myth result from Siberian
shamans' use of fly agaric (Amanita muscaria), and his flying reindeer from
those animals' predilection for the same psychoactive mushrooms?

Rock art from many different areas and tribes, suggests Devereux, includes
imagery as seen through the eyes of those under the influence of
hallucinogens. Certain abstract, geometric patterns--known as entoptic
imagery--are universal to all trance states, however induced. These
entoptic forms perhaps reflect the common circuitry of our
perception-processing pathways?

Many psychedelics researchers, says Devereux, propose that our minds'
internal construction of our world--our "reality"--is but one cognitive
model of the many possible. Could further analytical research with such
substances improve understanding of mind-brain functioning? Could we even
see the social application of psychedelics as therapeutics to paradigm
shift an individual's consciousness? Ironically, it is substance misuse
that has already been the target of such an approach. LSD and MDMA started
life in the laboratory as potential psychiatric tools. More recently,
ibogaine from the plant Tabernanthe iboga is being studied for its benefits
in withdrawal of opioids and other drugs. Psychedelics research is not
exactly heading into the mainstream. But with such renewed interest comes
the inherent move to value subjective experience as part of such
studies--for me, a welcome relief to the reductionist approach of molecular
psychiatry.

Devereux's "long trip" starts with his own experience of LSD on his 21st
birthday, when he realises that what passes for "normal rational mentality
is in fact the grossest of illusions". Cynics and hardliners might suggest
that his altered state has coloured the sense of his work from that time
on, and that this book is a reflection of that process. Certainly, some of
his arguments, such as the speculation that the vast ancient drawings and
straight ways scattered across many landscapes could only have been planned
by the "soul flight" that can accompany hallucinogenic states, seem
far-fetched. But it is Devereux's consideration of the scientific and
therapeutic issues that contains some challenging concepts, worthy at least
of further consideration, rather than being sidelined by the mainstream.

If you perceive Devereux's ideas as inherently dangerous, as encouraging
drug misuse, then reading this book is not likely to expand your mind.
However, the book is no treatise advocating widespread use of psychedelic
drugs. Indeed, Devereux points out that no-one in their right minds likes
the human misery, street violence, and international organised crime
associated with "hard" drugs. But, if the use of intoxicants has persisted
for thousands of years, then is it likely that the desire for these
substances will simply disappear? The rise of the rave scene and the
popularity of Ecstasy (MDMA) surely argues against this. If a desire for
altered states is as primal an urge as hunger or the sexual drive, and if
such states--in the appropriate se t and setting--can have benefits, then
this has widespread social and political ramifications.

- - Kelly Morris