Ayahuasca and Creativity

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Ayahuasca and Creativity
Benny Shanon, PH.D., Department of Psychology, The Hebrew University
• v o l u m e X n u m b e r 3 • c r e a t i v i t y 2 0 0 0

INDICATED in previous publications (Shanon,1997, 1998a, 1999) I am a cognitive psychologist who is studying the phenomenology of the ayahuasca experience. My study is based on extended firsthand experience as well as on the interviewing of a great number of persons in different places and contexts. In the publications cited the reader can find background information about both ayahuasca and the program of my research; for further theoretical discussion, see my forthcoming book The Antipodes of the Mind: Charting the
Phenomenology of the Ayahuasca Experience. Phenomenologically, the effects of ayahuasca are multifariousÑthey include hallucinatory effects in all perceptual modalities, psychological insights, intellectual ideations, spiritual uplifting and mystical experiences. As
discussed at length in the book mentioned above, many facets of these may be attributed to enhanced creativity. This characterization is also in line with that made by Dan Merkur (1998) with respect to psychotropic substances in general. According to Merkur, the sole effect of these substances is the induction of enhanced imagination. I do not think that this is the sole effect of these substances, but I do agree that it is a central one. Let me begin with the visual effects that ayahuasca induces. When powerful, these consist of majestic visions that are comparable to cinematographic films of a phantasmagoric nature. The indigenous Amazonian users of ayahuasca believed that these visions reveal other,
independently existing realities; many modern drinkers share these beliefs. While not denying the marvelous, otherworldly character of the visions, as a scientificminded investigator I would rather account for them in psychological, not ontological, terms. Apparently, ayahuasca can push the human mind to heights of creativity that by far exceed those encountered ordinarily. I myself have realized this in conjunction with a vision in
which I was guided through an exhibition displaying the works of an entire culture. The exhibits included beautiful artistic objects and artifacts that resembled nothing that I had ever seen before in my entire life. What was striking was that they all adhered to one coherent style. Seeing them I reflected: ÒIf all this is created by my mind, then the mind is indeed by far more mysterious than any cognitive psychologist has envisioned.Ó Since then this reflection remains very much with me: If it is the mind itself that produces the visions seen with ayahuasca, then the creative powers of the mind transcend anything that psychologists normally speak of. As explained in Shanon (1998b), ayahuasca can also
induce very impressive ideations. It is very typical for ayahuasca drinkers to report that the brew makes them think faster and betterÑindeed, makes them more intelligent. Several of my informants reported the feeling of potentially being able to know everything; I too had
this experience. While, this overall feeling is not objectively provable, my data do reveal some ideations which are truly impressive. Especially let me mention philosophical insights attained by drinkers without prior formal education. Some of these resemble ideas encountered in classical works as those of Plato, Plotinus, Spinoza and Hegel. Significant insights are more likely to be encountered in domains in which drinkers have special competence. Personally, with ayahuasca, I had many insights regarding my professional field of expertise and to which, following further critical scrutiny, I still hold. I have heard the same from other persons. It is in this vein that I would interpret the common reports of indigenous medicine-men that ayahuasca reveals to them the diagnosis of their patientsÕ
afflictions and instructs them on how to cure them. The traditional interpretation is that the information comes by way of supra-natural revelation. On the basis of both my general theoretical approach and checks I have conducted empirically, I would rather say that what happens is the result of heightened sensitivity and insight in a domain in which the shaman already has substantial knowledge and expertise.

As emphasized in my book, some salient effects of ayahuasca pertain to overt performances. Impressive performances that I have witnessed myself included instrument playing, singing, dancing, tai-chi-like movements, and acting. In these, drinkers exhibited technical agility, aesthetic delicacy, accuracy and coordinated motor control which by far exceeded their normal abilities. Here is one experience of my own. Once during a private
ayahuasca session, on the spur of the moment, I decided to play the piano. In an amateur fashion, I have been playing the piano since childhood. I have played only classical music, always from the score, never improvising and very seldom with an audience. Here, for the first time in my life, I began to improvise. I played for more than an hour, and the manner of my playing was different from anything I have ever experienced. It was executed in one unfaltering flow, constituting an ongoing narration that was being composed as it was being executed. It appeared that my fingers just knew where to go. Throughout this act, my technical performance astounded me. Another person was present and he was very moved by it. When the session ended, it occurred to me that I had had the most wonderful piano lesson of my life. Since then I have been free-playing without ayahuasca. The quality of this
playing is not like that under the intoxication, but it does exhibit some features that my piano playing never did before that ayahuasca session. Let me conclude with a word of caution. I have met many who believed that ayahuasca enabled them to do things they knew nothing of. For instance, many of my informants vouched that they heard people speak in languages completely foreign to them. I have checked into the matter and found no empirical support for that. In general, I would strongly advise against simplistic, reductionist views of the effects of ayahuasca (and psychoactive substances in general). I do not think that these effects are direct, biologically-determined products of chemical substances that act upon the brain. Rather, as argued at length in my book, what happens in the course of the ayahuasca inebriation is a joint product of both the substance and the person consuming it.

An analogy that comes to mind is that of a race car. Obviously, without the vehicle, the driver would not be able to attain the fast speeds he/she does; at the same time, in order to drive the car and obtain good performances from it, one should be an experienced driver. Likewise with ayahuasca: This brew can endow human beings with special creative energy but what will be done with this energy depends on the individual in question.

“I did acid on three occasions—small tabs of it. I liked it because it lasted a long time, and it was really a brain freedom. It didn’t get ugly for me. It released part of my brain into some abstract thinking. I dare-say I would have gotten there eventually anyway, but I was happy for that freedom it gave me in my mind.”
Tony Curtis, actor, from the 1993 book Tony Curtis: The Autobiography
by Tony Curtis with Barry Paris

References:
Merkur, D. 1998. The Ecstatic Imagination: Psychedelic Experiences and the Psychoanalysis of Self-Actualization. State University of New York Press.

Shanon, B. 1997. ÒA cognitive-psychological study of ayahuasca,Ó MAPS Bulletin 7: 13Ð15.
Shanon, B. 1998a. ÒCognitive psychology and the study of Ayahuasca,Ó Yearbook of
Ethnomedicine and the Study of Consciousness 7 (in press). Edited by C. RŠtsch & J. Baker.
Berlin: VWB Verlag.

Shanon, B. 1998b. ÒIdeas and reflections associated with Ayahuasca visions,Ó MAPS Bulletin 8: 18Ð21.

Shanon, B. 1999. ÒAyahuasca visions: A comparative cognitive investigation,Ó Yearbook for Ethnomedicine and the Study of Consciousness 8 (in press). Edited by C. RŠtsch & J. Baker.
Berlin: VWB Verlag.
Benny Shanon (Israel)
msshanon@mscc.huji.ac.il

[Dmtshaman Profile WebsiteYIM]

...On the latest Graham Hancock interview on Coast to Coast AM, he tells of how he has had over 30 Ayahuasca experiences, and that it was the source inspiration for his latest book Entangled...
From his website:
In 2005 Graham published Supernatural: Meetings with The Ancient Teachers of Mankind, an investigation of shamanism and the origins of religion. This controversial book suggests that experiences in altered states of consciousness have played a fundamental role in the evolution of human culture, and that other realities - indeed parallel worlds - surround us all the time but are not normally accessible to our senses.

While researching Supernatural Hancock travelled to the Amazon to drink visionary brew Ayahuasca - the Vine of Souls - used by shamans for more than 4000 years. It was his experiences with the vine lead to his latest work, Entangled. Written with the same page-turning appeal that has made his non-fiction so popular Entangled is his first novel. It tells the story of a supernatural battle of good against evil fought out across the dimension of time on the human plane.

Visit Graham's Official homepage at
http://www.grahamhancock.com/
http://www.entangledthebook.com/

[Marduk2012 Profile]

Sometimes I think the best view of God is from Hell....eheh