This week on The Conscious Consultant Hour, Sam welcomes Researcher, Alchemist and Author, P. D. Newman.
P.D. Newman has been immersed in the study and practice of shamanism, alchemy, hermetism, and theurgy for more than two decades. The author of Theurgy: Theory and Practice: The Mysteries of the Ascent to the Divine, Angels in Vermilion: The Philosophers' Stone from Dee to DMT, and Alchemically Stoned: The Psychedelic Secret of Freemasonry.
The use of hallucinogenic substances like peyote and desert tobacco has long played a significant role in the spiritual practices and traditions of Native Americans. While many of those practices are well documented, the relationship between entheogens and Native Americans of the Southeast - whose psychedelic use was just as sophisticated - has gone largely unexplored. In Tripping the Trail of Ghosts: Psychedelics and the Afterlife Journey in Native American Mound Cultures, P.D. Newman examines these lost psychedelic traditions.
Examining the role of psychoactive plants in afterlife traditions, sacred rituals, and spirit journeying by shamans of the Mississippian mound cultures, P. D. Newman explores in depth the Native American death journey known as the “Trail of Ghosts” or “Path of Souls.”
He demonstrates how practices such as fasting and trancework alongside psychedelic plants like jimsonweed, black nightshade, morning glory, amanita and psilocybin mushrooms, and an as-yet-undocumented analogue to ayahuasca were used to evoke the liminal state between life and death in initiatory rites and spirit journeys for shamans and chiefs.
Tune in and share all of your questions and comments about Psychedelic Traditions on our YouTube livestream or on our Facebook page.
