Psychedelic Plant Medicines of the Americas

An essential new collection that explores the cultural, medicinal, and spiritual traditions of marijuana, psilocybin, ayahuasca, and other psychedelics—informed by both Western and Indigenous knowledge Psychedelic Plant Medicines of the Americas is a collection of 23 psychedelic-specific articles, written by historians, anthropologists, psychologists, and those from other fields in the humanities. Edited by Beatriz Caiuby Labate, PhD—the executive director of the Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines—this book includes contemporary Indigenous voices and weaves together deep understandings of Indigenous and Western encounters. It offers the broadest, most up-to-date perspectives of any book on the field of psychedelics, including explorations of: • Marijuana’s colonial history in Mexico • Psilocybin mushrooms’ traditional and contemporary uses • Ayahuasca’s and peyote’s roles in Indigenous and religious contexts • Many more psychoactive plant medicines, including coca and tobacco The anthology is a critical reminder, at a time when psychedelics continue to become more popular and mainstreamed at a global level, that these plant medicines are more than a facet of Western counterculture—they’re central to the Indigenous cultures and lifeways that sustain them. Gaining a greater understanding of why people have used and continue to use psychedelic plant medicines—informed by those with rich expertise and knowledge histories—is imperative. The editors and contributors offer a vital, comprehensive, and deeply rooted examination of plant medicine ontologies.