{"id":9125,"date":"2012-02-12T09:15:15","date_gmt":"2012-02-12T17:15:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildhunt\/?p=9125"},"modified":"2012-02-12T09:15:15","modified_gmt":"2012-02-12T17:15:15","slug":"quick-note-the-new-york-times-and-entheogens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildhunt\/2012\/02\/quick-note-the-new-york-times-and-entheogens.html","title":{"rendered":"Quick Note: The New York Times and Entheogens"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Entheogens,\u00a0psychoactive substances used in \u201ca\u00a0religious,\u00a0shamanic, or\u00a0spiritual context,\u201d<\/a><\/em> once popularly known as \u201cpsychedelics,\u201d are often sensationalized, misunderstood, and are usually banned from being used legally. Despite the United State\u2019s policy of religious freedom, there are only two instances where entheogens have been able to win legal protection (peyote for Native American ceremonial purposes<\/a>, and \u00a0ayahuasca by the\u00a0Uni\u00e3o do Vegetal<\/a>). So any attempts to demystify and\u00a0contextualize their use to a broad audience can only help change the tone of the conversation. Enter Hamilton Morris, and his Vice.com<\/a> web series\u00a0\u201cHamilton\u2019s Pharmacopeia,\u201d<\/a> profiled on Friday by the New York Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n
Hamilton Morris<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThrough documentary footage \u201cHamilton\u2019s Pharmacopeia\u201d tries to expand viewers\u2019 knowledge of drugs and temper a subject that can be romanticized. Episodes run as shorts or sometimes as multipart serials, chronicling Mr. Morris\u2019s travels, obsessions and encounters with figures on the fringe of culture. Unlike his father, who has an understated off-screen presence, Mr. Morris is in front of the camera as interviewer and host. His narration is filled with monologues on sub-subcultures and scientific evidence.<\/em><\/p>\n

His work is driven by research, not by aesthetics or any filmic lineage. In most episodes the stories that emerge feel exploratory, with failures and complications incorporated, not hidden, in the final edit. Mr. Morris spent several miserable nights in a Brazilian village waiting for a frog that didn\u2019t arrive and in Reykjavik discovering that the liberty cap mushrooms he planned to ingest were out of season. It\u2019s a raw, earnest approach used across much of Vice\u2019s programming, including the widely viewed series, \u201cThe Vice Guide to Travel.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Famed entheogen guide Erowid<\/a> gets a nod in the NYT article, and most interestingly, notes that Morris will \u201cdepart from drugs entirely\u201d<\/em> in future episodes, \u201cwidening the purview to include all the ways people alter consciousness.\u201d<\/em> This seems like an important step, because it puts entheogens in the context of just being one of many different tools used to change our consciousness and achieve altered states.<\/p>\n

I personally know many modern Pagans who use, or have used, entheogens within a ritual context. It\u2019s a small but expanding population within our communities, though most still prefer to avoid potential entanglements with the law, and use legal methods of attaining an altered state. That said, the responsible use of these substances within a religious context should be allowed, and the ongoing harassment of practitioners who have fought hard for legal recognition<\/a> needs to end. In my mind, legal entheogens are an inevitable eventuality<\/a>, the question is not \u201cif\u201d but \u201cwhen.\u201d This article, and Hamilton\u2019s work, helps to change perceptions and misconceptions for when that day arrives.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Entheogens,\u00a0psychoactive substances used in \u201ca\u00a0religious,\u00a0shamanic, or\u00a0spiritual context,\u201d once popularly known as \u201cpsychedelics,\u201d are often sensationalized, misunderstood, and are usually banned from being used legally. Despite the United State\u2019s policy of religious freedom, there are only two instances where entheogens have been able to win legal protection (peyote for Native American ceremonial purposes, and \u00a0ayahuasca by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6],"tags":[715,3191,3190,1308,1624],"class_list":["post-9125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-paganism","category-religion","tag-entheogens","tag-hamilton-morris","tag-hamiltons-pharmacopeia","tag-law","tag-new-york-times"],"yoast_head":"\nQuick Note: The New York Times and Entheogens<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Entheogens,\u00a0psychoactive substances used in "a\u00a0religious,\u00a0shamanic, or\u00a0spiritual context," once popularly known as "psychedelics," are often\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, 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