The Antipodes of the Mind – Charting the Phenomenology of the Ayahuasca Experience

from Oxford University Press website:


by Benny Shanon

Professor, Department of
Psychology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and holder of the Mandel
Chair in Cognition

Publisher: Oxford University
Press; ISBN: 0199252939; (December 2002)

488 pages, 7 tables and
4 halftones, 234mm x 156mm

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A pioneering study of the
phenomenology of the special state of mind induced by Ayahuasca, a plant-based
Amazonian psychotropic brew. The author’s research is based both on extensive
firsthand experiences with Ayahuasca, and on interviews conducted with
a large number of informants coming from different places and backgrounds.

Readership: Anthropologists,
psychologists, students of consciousness, neuropsychologists, psychiatrists
and other clinicians, philosophers and students of religion and of culture,
botanists and ethnobotanists, pharmacologists, physiologists, medical practitioners.

Contents/contributors

Prologue

Preliminaries:General background;
Theoretical foundations; Methodology and general structure

The Phenomenology of the
Ayahuasca Experience;Atmosphere and general effects; Open eye visualizations;
A structural typology of Ayahuasca visualizations; Interaction and narration;
The contents of visions; The themes of visions; Ideas, insights, and reflections;
Non-visual perceptions; Consciousness I; Transformations; Time; Meaning
and semantics; Consciousness II; Light

Theoretical issues:Stages
and order; Contextual considerations; Cognitive parameters; Dynamics; A
general theoretical perspective; Concluding philosophical reflections

Epilogue

Appendix (Quantitative Data)

Bibliography

by Categories: Uncategorized
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About Jay Babcock

I am an independent writer and editor based in Tucson, Arizona. I publish LANDLINE at jaybabcock.substack.com Previously: I co-founded and edited Arthur Magazine (2002-2008, 2012-13) and curated the three Arthur music festival events (Arthurfest, ArthurBall, and Arthur Nights) (2005-6). Prior to that I was a district office staffer for Congressman Henry A. Waxman, a DJ at Silver Lake pirate radio station KBLT, a copy editor at Larry Flynt Publications, an editor at Mean magazine, and a freelance journalist contributing work to LAWeekly, Mojo, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Vibe, Rap Pages, Grand Royal and many other print and online outlets. An extended piece I wrote on Fela Kuti was selected for the Da Capo Best Music Writing 2000 anthology. In 2006, I was somehow listed in the Music section of Los Angeles Magazine's annual "Power" issue. In 2007-8, I produced a blog called "Nature Trumps," about the L.A. River. From 2010 to 2021, I lived in rural wilderness in Joshua Tree, Ca.