Enteógenos na América Latina: experiências de realidade expandida

Abstract

Based on literary narrations of experiences with entheogens in Latin America, the present work aims to discuss the access to knowledge through states of expanded consciousness. The use of mind-altering substances is related to ancient traditions: several civilizations from the past used mushrooms, cactus, seeds and plants as a way to obtain knowledge and to deal with a complex reality. Today, urban societies witness a rediscovery of such resources, known in the academic sphere as entheogens. The increasing interest of the pharmaceutical industry in the synthesis and medical research of psychoactive substances in the first half of the XX century, as well as the countercultural revolution started in the United States in the sixties, introduce the subject of legalization after centuries of rejection. What are the routes of entheogens in Latin America? Through the analysis of two narrations of experiences with entheogens, the present work develops two argumentative lines around the notion of experience: transformation and communication. The first one results from the analysis of Horacio Quiroga's experience with hashish, a bad trip that deeply affects the writer, who rapidly goes from curiosity to fear of death. The second one follows the story of Daniel Vidart, whose experience of shamanic ecstasy provides us with elements to discuss the legitimacy of the account and the limits of language. Finally, the study includes the personal experience of the author in rituals with ayahuasca in Rio de Janeiro, in order to conduct a comparative analysis with the previous references, based on the considerations on common and uncommon reality by Carlos Castaneda.