Psychonautics. Psychonautics (from the Greek ψυχή (psychē "soul/spirit/mind") and ναύτης (naútēs "sailor/navigator")—a sailor of the mind/soul)[1] refers both to a methodology for describing and explaining the subjective effects of altered states of consciousness, including those induced by meditation or mind-altering substances, and to a research paradigm in which the researcher voluntarily immerses himself or herself into an altered mental state in order to explore the accompanying experiences.[2] The term has been applied diversely, to cover all activities by which altered states are induced and utilized for spiritual purposes or the exploration of the human condition, including shamanism, lamas of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition,[3] sensory deprivation,[1] and archaic/modern drug users who use entheogenic substances in order to gain deeper insights and spiritual experiences.[4] A person who uses altered states for such exploration is known as a psychonaut.
Etymology and categorization[edit] Peter J. Entheogen. A group of peyotes, in cultivation. Peyote has been used in ritual contexts for thousands of years.[1][2][3] With the advent of organic chemistry, there now exist many synthetic drugs with similar psychoactive properties, many derived from these plants. Many pure active compounds with psychoactive properties have been isolated from these organisms and chemically synthesized, including mescaline, psilocybin, DMT, salvinorin A, ibogaine, ergine, and muscimol, respectively. Semi-synthetic (e.g. LSD used by the New American Church) and synthetic drugs (e.g. DPT used by the Temple of the True Inner Light and 2C-B used by the Sangoma) have also been developed.[6] Entheogens may be compounded through the work of a shaman or apothecary in a tea, admixture, or potion like ayahuasca or bhang. Etymology[edit] The neologism entheogen was coined in 1979 by a group of ethnobotanists and scholars of mythology (Carl A.
Entheogen was coined as a replacement for the terms hallucinogen and psychedelic. L. Indole alkaloid. History[edit] The action of some indole alkaloids has been known for ages. Aztecs used the psilocybin mushrooms which contain alkaloids psilocybin and psilocin. The flowering plant Rauwolfia serpentina which contains reserpine was a common medicine in India around 1000 BC. Africans used the roots of the perennial rainforest shrub Iboga, which contain ibogaine, as a stimulant. An infusion of Calabar bean seeds was given to people accused of crime in Nigeria: its rejection by stomach was regarded as a sign of innocence, otherwise, the person was killed via the action of physostigmine, which is present in the plant and which causes paralysis of the heart and lungs.[3] Consumption of rye and related cereals contaminated with the fungus Claviceps purpurea causes ergot poisoning and ergotism in humans and other mammals.
The relationship between ergot and ergotism was established only in 1717, and the alkaloid ergotamine, one of the main active ingredients of ergot, was isolated in 1918.[4] Psilocin. Psilocin (also known as 4-OH-DMT, psilocine, psilocyn, or psilotsin), is a substituted tryptamine alkaloid and a serotonergic psychedelic substance. It is present in most psychedelic mushrooms together with its phosphorylated counterpart psilocybin.
Psilocin is a Schedule I drug under the Convention on Psychotropic Substances.[2] The mind-altering effects of psilocin are highly variable and subjective and resemble those of LSD and DMT. Chemistry[edit] Psilocin and its phosphorylated cousin, psilocybin, were first isolated and named in 1958 by Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann. Hofmann obtained the chemicals from laboratory-grown specimens of the entheogenic mushroom Psilocybe mexicana. Hofmann also succeeded in finding the synthetic routes to these chemicals.[3] Psilocin is relatively unstable in solution due to its phenolic hydroxy (-OH) group. Structural analogs[edit] Pharmacology[edit] Psilocin's half-life ranges from 1 to 3 hours.[1] See psilocybin for more details Dried psilocybin mushrooms.
Psilocybin. Psilocybin[nb 1] (/ˌsɪləˈsaɪbɪn/ SIL-ə-SY-bin) is a naturally occurring psychedelic compound produced by more than 200 species of mushrooms, collectively known as psilocybin mushrooms. The most potent are members of the genus Psilocybe, such as P. azurescens, P. semilanceata, and P. cyanescens, but psilocybin has also been isolated from about a dozen other genera. As a prodrug, psilocybin is quickly converted by the body to psilocin, which has mind-altering effects similar (in some aspects) to those of LSD, mescaline, and DMT.
In general, the effects include euphoria, visual and mental hallucinations, changes in perception, a distorted sense of time, and spiritual experiences, and can include possible adverse reactions such as nausea and panic attacks. History[edit] Early[edit] Modern[edit] Albert Hofmann (shown here in 1993) purified psilocybin and psilocin from Psilocybe mexicana in the late 1950s. Occurrence[edit] 2C-B. History[edit] 2C-B was synthesized from 2,5-dimethoxybenzaldehyde by Alexander Shulgin in 1974. It first saw use among the psychiatric community as an aid during therapy. It was considered one of the best drugs for this purpose because of its short duration, relative absence of side effects, and comparably mild nature.[2] Shortly after becoming popular in the medical community, it became popular recreationally. 2C-B was first sold commercially as an aphrodisiac[3] under the trade name "Eros", which was manufactured by the German pharmaceutical company Drittewelle.[4] For several years, it was available as tablets in Dutch smart shops under the name "Nexus".
Internationally, 2C-B is a Schedule II drug under the Convention on Psychotropic Substances.[5] In the Netherlands, 2C-B became a list I substance of the Opium Law despite no health incidents occurring. Patterns of use[edit] Toxicity and dosage[edit] The lethal dosage is unknown. Effects[edit] The effects of 2C-B include:[2][16][17] Datura wrightii. Datura wrightii or Sacred Datura is the name of a poisonous perennial plant and ornamental flower of southwestern North America. It is sometimes used as a hallucinogen. Datura wrightii is classified as a deliriant and an anticholinergic.[1] It is a vigorous herbaceous perennial[2] that grows 30 cm to 1.5 m tall and wide.[3] The leaves are broad and rounded at the base, tapering to a point, often with wavy margins. The flowers are the most striking feature, being sweetly fragrant white trumpets up to 20 cm (8 inches) long, often tinted purple, especially at the margin.
There are five narrow points spaced symmetrically around the rim. It can bloom from April to October.[2] In clear weather, flowers open at nearly full dark and wither a few hours after sunrise the following morning; in cloudy weather, they may open earlier and last longer. The seeds are borne in a spiny, globular capsule 3 to 4 cm in diameter, which opens when fully ripe.[2] Other names[edit] Seed pods Toxicity[edit] Uses[edit]
Bhang. This article is about a preparation of cannabis leaves and flowers. For the similarly-named cannabis pipe, see Bong. Bhang (Hindi: भाँग) is a preparation from the leaves and flowers (buds) of the female cannabis plant, consumed as a beverage in the Indian subcontinent. Indian subcontinent[edit] Bhang has been used as an intoxicant for centuries in the Indian subcontinent. Bhang in India and Nepal is distributed during some Hindu festivals like Holi, and consuming bhang at such occasions is a common practice.[1][2] History[edit] Bhang has been used in India since Vedic times, and is an integral part of North Indian culture.
In 1596, Dutchman Jan Huyghen van Linschoten spent three pages on "Bangue" in his historic work documenting his journeys in the East, also mentioning the Egyptian Hashish, Turkish Boza, Turkish Bernavi, and Arabic Bursj forms of consumption.[3] The historian Richard Davenport-Hines lists Thomas Bowrey as the first Westerner to document the use of bhang.[4] Preparation[edit] 2C-B. Dipropyltryptamine. Frequent physical effects are nausea, numbness of the tongue or throat, and pupil dilation. Pharmacology[edit] Studies on rodents have found that the effectiveness with which a selective 5-HT2A receptor antagonist blocks the behavioral actions of this compound strongly suggest that the 5-HT2A receptor is an important site of action for DPT, but the modulatory actions of a 5-HT1A receptor antagonist also imply a 5-HT1A-mediated component to the actions of DPT.[2] Chemistry[edit] DPT changes Ehrlich's reagent purple and causes the marquis reagent to turn yellow.[3] Psychedelic properties[edit] While dipropyltryptamine is chemically similar to dimethyltryptamine, its psychoactive effects are markedly different.[4] The most prominent features of the DPT experience are increased significance or intensity of music, colors take on a new intensity or appearance, the body may have a buzz or vibratory feeling, a pleasant sensation of warmth, complete ego loss, apparitions of faces.
Religious use[edit] Lysergic acid diethylamide. Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide (INN) and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed- and open-eye visuals, synesthesia, an altered sense of time and spiritual experiences, as well as for its key role in 1960s counterculture.
It is used mainly as an entheogen, recreational drug, and as an agent in psychedelic therapy. LSD is non-addictive, is not known to cause brain damage, and has extremely low toxicity relative to dose.[3] However, acute adverse psychiatric reactions such as anxiety, paranoia, and delusions are possible.[4] LSD was first synthesized by Albert Hofmann in 1938 from ergotamine, a chemical derived by Arthur Stoll from ergot, a grain fungus that typically grows on rye. Effects Physical LSD can cause pupil dilation, reduced or increased appetite, and wakefulness. Psychological Sensory Potential uses. Muscimol. Muscimol (agarin, pantherine) is the major psychoactive alkaloid present in many mushrooms of the Amanita genus. Muscimol is a potent, selective agonist for the GABAA receptors and displays sedative-hypnotic effects.
Chemistry[edit] Muscimol is the psychoactive compound responsible for the effects of Amanita muscaria intoxication. Ibotenic acid, a neurotoxic secondary metabolite of Amanita muscaria, serves as a prodrug to muscimol when the mushroom is ingested or dried, converting to muscimol via decarboxylation. Biology[edit] Pharmacology[edit] While muscimol is conventionally thought of as a selective GABAA agonist, it is also a partial agonist at the GABAA-rho receptor, and so its range of effects results from a combined action at both targets.[7] In patients with Huntington's disease and chronic schizophrenia, oral doses of muscimol have been found to cause a rise of both prolactin and growth hormone.[8] Toxicity[edit] Effects[edit] See also[edit] Notes[edit] References[edit]
Ergotamine. Ergotamine is an ergopeptine and part of the ergot family of alkaloids; it is structurally and biochemically closely related to ergoline. It possesses structural similarity to several neurotransmitters, and has biological activity as a vasoconstrictor. It is used medicinally for treatment of acute migraine attacks (sometimes in combination with caffeine). Medicinal usage of ergot fungus began in the 16th century to induce childbirth, yet dosage uncertainties discouraged the use. It has been used to prevent post-partum haemorrhage (bleeding after childbirth). It was first isolated from the ergot fungus by Arthur Stoll at Sandoz in 1918 and marketed as Gynergen in 1921.[4] Mechanism of action[edit] Biosynthesis[edit] Drug uses[edit] Ergotamine produces vasoconstriction peripherally as well as damages the peripheral epithelium. Ergotamine continues to be prescribed for migraines. Availability and dosage[edit] See also[edit] References[edit] Ibogaine.
Ibogaine is a naturally occurring psychoactive substance found in plants in the Apocynaceae family such as Tabernanthe iboga, Voacanga africana and Tabernaemontana undulata. A psychedelic with dissociative properties, the substance is banned in some countries; in other countries it is used by proponents of psychedelic therapy to treat addiction to methadone, heroin, alcohol, cocaine, methamphetamine, anabolic steroids, and other drugs. Ibogaine is also used to treat depression and post traumatic stress disorder. Derivatives of ibogaine that lack the substance's psychedelic properties are under development.[1] Ibogaine-containing preparations are used for medicinal and ritual purposes within African spiritual traditions of the Bwiti, who claim to have learned it from the Pygmy peoples. Although it was first commonly advertised as having anti-addictive properties in 1962 by Howard Lotsof, its western use predates that by at least a century.
History[edit] Synthesis[edit] Psychotherapy[edit] Salvinorin A. Salvinorin A is the main active psychotropic molecule in Salvia divinorum, a Mexican plant which has a long history of use as an entheogen by indigenous Mazatec shamans. Salvinorin A is considered a dissociative exhibiting atypically psychedelic effects. Salvinorin A can produce psychoactive experiences in humans with a typical duration of action being several minutes to an hour or so, depending on the method of ingestion.[2] History[edit] Salvinorin A was first described and named in 1982 by Alfredo Ortega and colleagues in Mexico. Pharmacology[edit] Potency and selectivity[edit] Salvinorin A is unique in that it is the only naturally occurring substance known to induce a visionary state via this mode of action; there are synthetic kappa-opioid agonists, (e.g. enadoline, ketazocine, pentazocine and relatives), which show similar hallucinatory and dissociative effects.
Effect on intestinal motility[edit] Solubility[edit] Detection in urine[edit] Associated compounds[edit] Synthesis[edit] Dimethyltryptamine. History[edit] Another historical milestone is the discovery of DMT in plants frequently used by Amazonian natives as additive to the vine Banisteriopsis caapi to make ayahuasca decoctions. Biosynthesis[edit] Biosynthetic pathway for N,N-dimethyltryptamine This transmethylation mechanism has been repeatedly and consistently proven by radiolabeling of SAM methyl group with carbon-14 (14C-CH3)SAM).[22][20][24][25][26] Evidence in mammals[edit] In 2013, researchers first reported DMT in the pineal gland microdialysate of rodents.[28] A study published in 2014 reported the biosynthesis of N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) in the human melanoma cell line SK-Mel-147 including details on its metabolism by peroxidases. [29] In a 2014 paper, a group first demonstrated the immunomodulatory potential of DMT and 5-MeO-DMT through the Sigma-1_receptor of human immune cells.
INMT[edit] Endogenous DMT[edit] The first claimed detection of mammalian endogenous DMT was published in June 1965: German researchers F. Mescaline. Organic chemistry. Amanita muscaria. Ergoline. Tabernanthe iboga. Psilocybin mushroom. Chlorpromazine. Salvia divinorum. Ayahuasca.