Runt
Well-Known Member
Although both the Jivaro people of Eastern Equador and the Native American Church of the United States use drugs ritually, the kind of rituals that their drug use embodies are different for each group.
As Lehmann, Myers, and Moro assert, it is no surprise that The focus of drug use in traditionally based non-Western cultures is on the religious specialist, particularly the shaman, whose duty it is to control the spirit world for the benefit of the members of his society (Lehmann, Myers, and Moro 2005: 180).
Although among the Jivaro drug use is not restricted merely to the religious specialistsindeed, hallucinogens in not only the Jivaro religion but also the Peyote religion as well are consumed by the whole communitythe ultimate purpose of the drug use (among the Jivaro) is the control of spirits. Essentially, the Jivaro people believe that drugs reveal the true reality to them. This reality is populated with spirits that can be won, coaxed into the bodies of humans, and used to either harm or heal individuals within Jivaro communities. According to Wallace, rituals such this that are designed to control human health are called Therapy Rituals (Lehmann, Myers, and Moro 2005: 93), and Jivaro drug use embodies this type of ritual.
On the other hand, the purpose of peyote use among the members of the Native American Church does not seem to only be to influence the physical health of other human beings. Although hallucinogenic consumption among the Native American Church is a Therapy Ritual because the peyote religion is fundamentally concerned with healing (Kiyaani and Csordas 1997: 188), the use of peyote among members of the Native American Church can also be classified as a Salvation Ritual. The use of the hallucinogenic peyote is a Salvation Ritual because its purpose involves repairing damaged self-esteem and other forms of impaired identity (Lehmann, Myers, and Moro 2005: 93).
Such drug use among the members of the Native American Church is also a Revitalization Ritual because believers, by consuming hallucinogens and following the Peyote Road, are striving to create a better culture and are also addressing the identity crisis that has long been experienced by their subjugated community since the time the white men arrived to take their culture away (Lehmann, Myers, and Moro 2005: 93).
As Arthur C. Lehmann, James Myers, and Pamela A. Moro state in the article titled Ritual, through ritual, religion is able to impress on people a commitment to their system of religious beliefs (Lehmann, Myers, and Moro 2005: 92). It may be difficult to believe, but this remains a fact even when concerning the ritualistic use of hallucinogens.
For the Jivaro, religious drug use allows individuals within their society to first transcend the illusionary boundaries of their world and view the ultimate reality. Then, after these individuals have been able to see the truth, they are able to commit to this drug-revealed reality by continuing the ritual of hallucinogenic consumption.
In comparison, the Native American Churchs use of the peyote ritual allows practitioners to commit to their religion by helping them achieve a state of communion with God that is apparently not as easily or powerfully experienced without the use of drugs.
Lehmann, Myers, and Moro also suggest that, participants in a ritual are able to express group solidarity and loyalty (Lehmann, Myers, and Moro 2005: 92).
By administrating mild hallucinogens to even their newborn infants, the Jivaro people are incorporating (one may even want to say initiating) their young children into their community by offering them the gift of true sight that will help protect them throughout their entire life. Furthermore, when a young Jivaro boy reaches puberty he may be initiated into adulthoodor more specifically manhoodafter he goes on a vision quest that is, of course, facilitated by the use of hallucinogenic drugs (in addition to fasting). After he has received his vision and his protecting spirit has come to him, the boy becomes a man and is now able to return home and becomes a full-fledged member of Jivaro society, with all the rights and responsibilities that this entails.
In comparison, the members of the Native American Church believe that by following the Peyote Road they are helping to heal their people from the various social ills that afflict a culture that has been subjugated; thus each and every time that a member of the Native American Church consumes a hallucinogenic peyote button, he or she is not only committing to his or her religion once again, but also to the health and welfare of his or her own community.
Thus the use of hallucinogenic drugs among the Native American Church and the Jivaro people is a ritual that strengthens the bonds individual members within the community.
Ritual also helps relieve anxiety (Lehmann, Myers, and Moro 2005: 92), and drug use among the Native American Church and the Jivaro is able to perform this function as well.
As a species, we fear the unknown far more than we fear that which we can sense. The Jivaro are able to confront their fear of the dangerous, invisible spirit world by consuming drugs that will allow them to view the true reality.
Similarly, the peyote ritual of the Native American Churchs helps alleviate fear by giving believers the Peyote Road with which they can begin to heal the problems facing their people.
For both the Jivaro of Eastern Equador and the Native American Church of the United States, drug use is an important aspect of religion, serving as a type of religious ritual for both groups. Although drug use may not normally be considered a religious ritual, for the Jivaro and the Native American Church the use of hallucinogens is a ritual because it fulfills all the traditional roles usually attributed to ritual: it helps control the natural world by affecting human health, mending injured self esteem, and generating a more desirable culture; it helps followers commit to their religious system and express group solidarity; and finally it helps worshippers alleviate their anxiety of the known and unknown.
Works Cited
Kiyaani, Mike and Thomas J. Csordas. On the Peyote Road. Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion. 6th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2005.
Lehmann, Arthur C., James E. Myers, and Pamela A. Moro. Ritual. Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion. 6th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2005.
---The Religious Use of Drugs. Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion. 6th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2005.
