ethnobotany

UC Berkeley and Harvard Jointly Launch Study of Psychedelics’ Influence on Art, History and Human Existence

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Among the questions the initiative will explore: What might psychedelics reveal about how societies change? How have they shaped music, history and art? Can they shed new light on age-old questions about what it means to be human, to think and to exist? 

Imran Khan, executive director of BCSP, speaks about the launch of the Psychedelics in Society and Culture humanities program.

On November 15, the University of California, Berkeley and Harvard University announced a new, collaborative initiative that will expand psychedelic research across the arts, humanities and social sciences. Called “Psychedelics in Society and Culture,” the joint effort between the nation’s foremost public and private universities will foster new ways of thinking and partnering to answer some of the most pressing and intriguing questions surrounding psychedelics and society.

While much research to date has centered on the important potential of therapeutic applications of psychedelics, this groundbreaking collaboration is one of the first comprehensive programs dedicated to exploring the cultural, humanistic and societal significance of psychedelics.

Through generous philanthropy, the initiative aims to advance interdisciplinary research in these under-explored domains, providing students and faculty researchers grants of up to $100,000 for creative and innovative projects both within and between the two universities. This collaborative venture, funded by different donors at each institution, is a testament to the current momentum propelling the expansion of psychedelic research within the nascent field.

Renowned author Michael Pollan, who co-founded the BCSP and is well-known for his book How to Change Your Mind, plays an important role at both universities and has long advocated for expanding psychedelic research into the humanities. 

“This new initiative of UC Berkeley and Harvard will delve into new areas of essential psychedelic inquiry,” Pollan said. “How might psychedelics affect our relationship with death or the natural world or our understanding of consciousness? What roles have psychedelics historically played in social change or religion? The possibilities for research and collaboration are endless, exciting, and will have the potential to shed fresh light on these questions and so many others.”

Michael Pollan, co-founder of BCSP, in conversation about Psychedelics in Society and Culture at the Mahindra Humanities Center at Harvard University.

Led by the UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics (BCSP), the Center for Interdisciplinary Critical Inquiry (CICI), and Harvard’s Mahindra Humanities Center (MHC), this collaborative effort promises to produce invaluable contributions to both institutions’ burgeoning psychedelics programs.

The Psychedelics in Society and Culture program encourages research into the multifaceted role of psychedelics across diverse histories, cultures and geographies. Potential research topics could range from Indigenous communities’ contemporary use of psychedelics to ethical considerations surrounding patenting to the interplay of psychedelics with philosophical questions around the nature of reality, consciousness, religion and the human experience.

Flourish Trust — an organization committed to catalyzing the healing and regeneration of humanity and the planet — has generously donated $1 million to fund the UC Berkeley grants over three years. 

“The enormous potential of psychedelics for healing isn’t limited to their biological effects,” said Flourish Trust director Christiana Musk. “For millennia, natural psychedelic plants have played a significant role in cultural development and meaning-making. This program will open doors of understanding into how these compounds have helped shape society and how we might navigate them to the benefit of humanity.”

Meet the Academic Centers Leading the Initiative

CICI is a gathering place for critical and creative inquiry aimed at addressing the key political, social, religious and cultural issues facing society through collaboration. “Literature and the arts have a longstanding historical relationship with altered states of perception and consciousness that yield new visions of what it means to be in the world,” said center faculty director Debarati Sanyal. “The Psychedelics in Society and Culture collaboration between Berkeley and Harvard aims to explore the role that psychedelics continue to play in that story and to support creative and critical inquiry into what is now a burgeoning interdisciplinary field.”

“The resurgence of interest in psychedelics provokes many questions about our relationship with these substances, the role they play in our society, and what they reveal about human nature,” said Imran Khan, executive director of BCSP, the interdisciplinary center at Berkeley focused on psychedelics research, public education and training. “This new joint psychedelics research program between UC Berkeley and Harvard will help answer some of those questions – and hopefully reveal just as many new ones.”

Bruno Carvalho, interim director of the center convening the initiative at Harvard — the MHC — said, “We now have unprecedented support to think carefully and imaginatively about the histories and implications of psychedelics to the human experience. Humanistic inquiry on this topic is vital. We look forward to learning from and collaborating with both seasoned experts and newcomers to the field. Our partnership with UC Berkeley is at the heart of that.”

Grants for eligible projects are open to groups or individuals at the level of undergraduate, graduate students, or faculty at all levels. Psychedelics in Society and Culture will welcome a wide range of proposals, including original scholarship and research projects, public events, dissemination of specialized knowledge, arts programming, fellowship programs,and travel grants. 

Applications will open at UC Berkeley and Harvard on December 15, 2023. For more information about the program mission and how to apply, visit the Psychedelics in Society and Culture program page.

Intercultural, Intermolecular: An Ethnobotanical Examination of the Potential Therapeutic Value of LSD for the Treatment of Depression

Lysergic acid diethylamide holds great therapeutic potential in the treatment of depression, although currently illegal in many parts of the world and seen as a recreational drug. An intercultural ethnobotanical examination of plant substances with similar chemical profiles and effects displays the true potential value of this substance and justifies an increased focus on clinical trials and studies involving it

Psychoactive Ubulawu Spiritual Medicines and Healing Dynamics in the Initiation Process of Southern Bantu Diviners

The use of psychoactive plants by traditional healers in southern Africa appears to be a neglected area of ethnobotanical research. This article explores the healing dynamics involved in the use of popular psychoactive plant preparations known as ubulawu in the initiation rituals of Southern Bantu diviners. Research methods include a review of the literature, fieldwork interviews with Southern Bantu diviners, and an analysis of experiential accounts from diverse informants on their use of ubulawu. Findings reveal that there is widespread reliance on ubulawu as psychoactive spiritual medicines by the indigenous people of southern Africa to communicate with their ancestral spirits—so as to bring luck, and to treat mental disturbances. In the case of the Southern Bantu diviners, ubulawu used in a ritual initiation process acts as a mnemonic aid and medicine to familiarize the initiates with enhanced states of awareness and related psychospiritual phenomena such as enhanced intuition and dreams of the ancestral spirits, who teach the initiates how to find and use medicinal plants. The progression of the latter phenomena indicates the steady success of the initiates’ own healing integration. Various factors such as psychological attitude and familiarization, correct plant combinations/synergy and a compatible healer-initiate relationship influence ubulawu responsiveness.

The Intersection of Culture and Science in South African Traditional Medicine

Traditional African medicine often carries with it a perception and stigma of being irrational and ungrounded in scientific method in academia. One reason for this common prejudicial view of traditional African medicine is the failure to effectively interpret African traditional medicine concepts, as these are often metaphorical descriptions of the biological and psychological effects of plants or combinations of them used in the traditional medicine preparations. When translated into other languages such as English, these metaphorical descriptions of medicinal plant use can seem to incorrectly reflect mysticism and/or superstition with no scientific basis. This difficulty in interpreting cultural descriptions of medical phenomena, together with the fact that there are hardly any academic papers engaging the science of South African traditional medicine in the biological sciences, is an indication of the disconnection between the humanities studies and the biomedical studies of South African traditional medicine. This paper investigates some popular examples of spiritual plant use in traditional South African medicine using phytopharmacological studies together with anthropological fieldwork methods, demonstrating the empirical basis for use of some plants in divination (by producing clarity of thought or dreams). The examples also reveal the phytochemical and biomedical foundations of the South Bantu speaking traditional healers’ explanations of why and how various spiritually used plants have medicinal value. The challenge for scientists (such as botanists) is to effectively translate and interpret cultural and language based descriptions of spiritual medicinal plant use made by indigenous peoples while recognizing and discarding cultural prejudices that prevent a more comprehensive and integrated understanding of the science that intersects and forms the basis of many, though not all, cultural healing practices.

Enigma of Drug-Induced Altered States of Consciousness Among the !Kung Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert

This article examines data presented in Katz’ book, Boiling Energy: Community Healing among the Kalahari Kung, particularly with regard to plant drugs present in the community during the 1968 visit. The author argues that the similarity of the Bushman trance state, kia and that of drug-induced altered states of consciousness has been paid too little attention in the research, and that an enigma currently exists with regard to the degree to which plant drugs may have influenced the !Kung trance phenomenon and healing beliefs. The author discusses the existing evidence for plant drug use based on Katz’ research and the specimens currently on hand at the Harvard Botanical Museum herbarium, and presents a Table which contrasts drug-induced behaviors and ideologies of societies known or suspected to have used mind-altering drugs with similar behavior/beliefs of the!Kung. It is suggested that the influence of a number of psychoactive drugs may have played a much more pivotal role in Bushman behavior and belief than is generally acknowledged.

The Soma Drinker of Ancient India: An Ethno-Botanical Retrospection

The juice of the plant Soma, was an uncommon drink, consumed by the Vedic people known as Soma Rasa. It was offered to Gods, considered as divine and contemplated with medicinal efficacy for restorative treatments; being neither hallucinogenic nor intoxicating.The paper presents a brief account of the Soma plant as described in Rig Veda and more research on it in Aayurveda along with search for the proper plant by modern man since the last two centuries.The regime of Soma drink was simple in Vedic description, while as per the Aayurvedic text, it required an intense care unit (ICUSD) for the Soma drinker to take care of the rejuvenating process.

African Ethnobotany in the Americas

African Ethnobotany in the Americas provides the first comprehensive examination of ethnobotanical knowledge and skills among the African Diaspora in the Americas. Leading scholars on the subject explore the complex relationship between plant use and meaning among the descendants of Africans in the New World. With the aid of archival and field research carried out in North America, South America, and the Caribbean, contributors explore the historical, environmental, and political-ecological factors that facilitated/hindered transatlantic ethnobotanical diffusion; the role of Africans as active agents of plant and plant knowledge transfer during the period of plantation slavery in the Americas; the significance of cultural resistance in refining and redefining plant-based traditions; the principal categories of plant use that resulted; the exchange of knowledge among Amerindian, European and other African peoples; and the changing significance of African-American ethnobotanical traditions in the 21st century.

Bolstered by abundant visual content and contributions from renowned experts in the field, African Ethnobotany in the Americas is an invaluable resource for students, scientists, and researchers in the field of ethnobotany and African Diaspora studies.

Indian Medicinal Plants: An Illustrated Dictionary

In an easy to use dictionary style of A–Z presentation, this volume lists the taxonomy and medicinal usage of Indian plants. Also given are both traditional Indian and international synonyms along with details of the habitats of the plants.

Indian Medicinal Plants. An Illustrated Dictionary is aimed at bringing out an updated Acute Study Dictionary of plant sources of Indian medicine.

The text is based on authentic treatises which are the outcome of scientific screening and critical evaluation by eminent scholars. Readers, if they so desire, can always refer back to a particular research paper cited in the original source.

The text is illustrated by over 550 full-color figures.

Handbook of Medicinal Herbs

Still considered the definitive work on medicinal herbs and their uses after two decades, the Handbook of Medicinal Herbs has undergone a long-anticipated revision. In the second edition, world-renowned ethnobotanist James A. Duke provides up-to-date data on over 800 of the world’s most important medicinal plant species. The book contains more species, phytochemicals, proven indications, folk indications, and dosage data than the first edition in a new easier to use format. The in-depth content, the addition of color plates and over 200 black and white illustrations makes this book the most comprehensive resource on medicinal herbs available.

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