About the lecture:
The role of psychedelic substances in the formation of primitive shamanism
The extraction of psychedelic substances from the biosphere became one of the central tenets of shamanism as it developed. The formation of primitive shamanism on Earth appears to be closely linked to altered states of consciousness and the substances that induce such states. In this lecture, I will discuss this topic from the perspective of contemporary scientific research and what we already know from recent and older publications. We will then use this knowledge to look back, which may allow us to better understand the phenomenology of shamanism and ancient spiritual practices.
About the Speaker
Biologist, pharmacognosist, and herbalist. I work in the herbal and pharmaceutical industry and conduct scientific research in the fields of biology, botany, biochemistry, and tryptamines. My interests include the distribution of bioactive compounds in local ecosystems, phytopharmacology and ethnopharmacology of the common flora of the Polish lowlands and the Amazon rainforest, neurogenesis, the evolutionary role of psychedelic tryptamines in the biosphere, the biology and evolution of pathogens, psychedelic research, genomics, and epidemiology.
I am also interested in a wide range of topics across the natural sciences, both in their rigorous scientific aspects and at their intersection with philosophy, including the origins and evolution of life and theories of consciousness. Another major area of interest is virology—a field historically rooted in agricultural biology and botany. I am particularly interested in the search for antiviral compounds within the biosphere. Currently, I am studying genomics and bioinformatics.
Learn more at: http://www.botanicscience.blogspot.com