Entheogens, shamanry and human sacrifice

Somthing I have found interesting over my years of study on the subject of entheogens and shamanry is that entheogens offer people a lot of hope; they are considered a most benevolent force, by many a source of salvation, and a panecea for the modern ill's of western socieity. Yet historically if you look at the traditions and cultures that work with entheogens you find that they did not always work with them in soft, heart charkra opening, kundalini rising, talking to the your spirit guides, and totem animals sort of way we do now.
Ayahuasca for example has always interested me a lot because of its use in brujeria (or sorcerey). Ayahuasca is utilized to kill, harm, control, or manipulate others against their will in some cases. Many see Ayahuasca as a divine mother goddess from the Amazon, who is able to heal and guide us in ways we cannot fully fathom. Yet Ayahuasca has been used as an aid in battle, and warfare in traditional socieities. To this very day Ayahuasca is worked with in that same manner, as well as to assasinate people, gain wealth, and get cheeky with someone who is not really all that interested.
Vilca, or yopo is another interesting example. There has been some evidence to support that Vilca was worked with in possession practices embodying the deity who consumed the souls of those they would ritually behead/sacrifice during ceremonies. I can almost imagine what that would be like... which is the scary part. Vilca is a very powerful plant teacher and painful to snuff, the association with pain could bring out very interesting dynamics, and could be considered in some cases a therogen instead of an entheogen.
Then there are the entheogenic drinks of chocolate and mushrooms as well as many other entheogenic plants worked with by the Mayans and the Aztecs, just to name a few. Very grizzley human sacrifice was commited, the flayed god recieved its feast and men wore the skin of others to become possesed by deities all with the aid of powerful and "loving" plant teachers.
Sanpedro cactus as well is still to this day worked with in northern Peruvian sorccery to harm others and is suspected to have been utilized in Chavin ritual sacrifices, actually it appears to be rare to find a "plant teacher" that has not been worked with in warfare, harmful magic, or ritual sacrifice to be honest!
See article on snuff and sanpedro in Chavin culture
http://hubpages.com/hub/What-about-the-Drug-Cult-at-Chavn-de-Huntar
We look at these entheogens and the socieites who work with them for wisdom, guidance and healing. Yet we ignore these little tibits of history. Seeking salvation through them as we have been taught in traditional western religion to do. We neuroticlly and subconsciously attempt to find salvation outside of ourself and through the other. When we look at both the grizzly reality of some traditional peoples relationships with plant teachers, AS WELL as the beautiful side, we get a clearer picture! We begin to see that our intention shapes the relationships we form with the plants and the relationships that the plants(or chemicals) form with us. It is not as much the innate qualities of the plants to transform us and to assist us in our evolution, but our own inner ability to transform and evolve. Are the entheogens a catylist for this transformation and evolution, or do we turn them into a catylist because that is our intention? I beleive it is the later. We transform the poison into a medicine, the medicine does not do that. I cannot blame the entheogenic plant for my personal transformation any more then I can blame it for the sacrifice of humans to a Mayan Jaguar God. I cannot say that Ayahausca is as holy of a mother as I can say she is a deadly weapon or spiritual assassin. The plants cannot be blamed for what humans do with them or on them for that matter, and that includes our personal growth, our healing, and transformation/evolution. We have to take responsability for those things, and not place them on the plants.
The true difference between a poison and a medicine is our intention.

Art greatfully provided by LLB thanks dude...
http://animistvisionaryart.blogspot.com/