Does India have entheomycology traditions? A review and call to research

341-352This article reviews evidence for India‘s entheomycological traditions—religious practices using fungi to produce spiritual experiences- and proposes needed studies. The proposed fungal identity [Amanita muscaria (L.) Lam.] of the entheogenic Soma and the identity of soma substitutes still lack adequate ethnobotanical studies. Furthermore, the need for entheomycological studies in India is illustrated by the presence of many psychoactive mushrooms and evidence of their possible sacred use in India. Evidence for historical entheomycology is illustrated in: the mushroom stones of Kerala; entheogenic mushroom traditions and mushroom iconography in Buddhism; the mushroom sculptures on the thresholds of the temples of Khajuraho; and results from a pilot interview on cultural history of entheogenic mushrooms in a rural area of Chattarpur near Khajuraho. A review of recent Indian ethnomycology publications provides guidelines for entheomycology research by indicating optimal regional areas, research methods, interview respondents and language groups for research into India‘s mycophilic cultures and elusive entheomycological traditions

Healing in the Sámi North

There is a special emphasis today on integrating traditional healing within health services. However, most areas in which there is a system of traditional healing have undergone colonization and a number of pressures suppressing tradition for hundreds of years. The question arises as to how one can understand today’s tradition in light of earlier traditions. This article is based on material collected in Sámi areas of Finnmark and Nord-Troms Norway; it compares local healing traditions with what is known of earlier shamanic traditions in the area. The study is based on 27 interviews among healers and their patients. The findings suggest that although local healing traditions among the Sámi in northern Norway have undergone major transformations during the last several hundred years, they may be considered an extension of a long-standing tradition with deep roots in the region. Of special interest are also the new forms tradition may take in today’s changing global society

Does India have entheomycology traditions? A review and call to research

This article reviews evidence for India’s entheomycological traditions—religious practices using fungi to produce spiritual experiences-- and proposes needed studies. The proposed fungal identity (Amanita muscaria (L.) Lam.) of the entheogenic Soma and the identities of soma substitutes still lack adequate ethnobotanical studies. Furthermore, the need for entheomycological studies in India is illustrated by the presence of many psychoactive mushrooms and evidence of their possible sacred use in India. Evidence for historical entheomycology is illustrated in: the mushroom stones of Kerala; entheogenic mushroom traditions and mushroom iconography in Buddhism; the mushroom sculptures on the thresholds of the temples of Khajuraho; and results from a pilot interview on cultural history of entheogenic mushrooms in a rural area of Chattarpur near Khajuraho.  A review of recent Indian ethnomycology publications provides guidelines for entheomycology research by indicating optimal regional areas, research methods, interview respondents, and language groups for research into India’s mycophilic cultures and elusive entheomycological traditions