Therogens, forbidden fruits...

Therogens
Originally published in Eleusis, new series, vol. 3, 1999, pp. 82-88
http://www.lycaeum.org/~eleusis/en/articles/thomas.shtml
By Benjamin Thomas

In The Age of Entheogens & The Angel's Dictionary, Jonathan Ott has catalogued a new and old vocabulary, including more than thirty neologisms, (1) to describe plant-sacraments and botanical inebriants. This has provided those interested in entheobotany – the science of shamanic inebriants and visionary plant-drugs (Ott 1995: 88) – with the requisite language to communicate their knowledge and experience of such plants and compounds. The neologism entheogen has been adopted by entheobotanists to describe certain plants and fungi, especially when used in a ritual or ceremonial context (Ott 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996a, 1996b & 1997; Ruck et al. 1979; Wasson et al. 1986).

Ruck et al. (1979) proposed the use of the word entheogen which combines the Greek (entheos), which means 'god ( theos) within', with the Greek root (-gen), che denota l'azione di 'divenire/generare' (p. 145). which denotes the action of 'becoming' (p. 145). Ott (1995: 88) suggests that the literal translation of the Greek + is 'becoming divine within.' Considering that the traditional indigenous uses of plants and fungi do not seem to produce hallucinations nor psychiatric disorders, Ruck et al. (1979) deemed the use of the terms 'hallucinogenic,' 'psychedelic' and 'psychotomimetic' to be inaccurate, pejorative and prejudicial. Although the term entheogen has been misunderstood by some as a synonym for 'hallucinogen' (vide Ott & Neely 1980), it refers more to the 'cultural context of use' than pharmacological properties (Ott 1997: 96 n.11). Entheogen, therefore, can also describe the cultural context of traditional use of shamanic inebriants and other visionary plants and fungi (Ortiz de Montellano 1981).

In some cultural contexts, however, the neologism entheogen may not be the most appropriate term to describe shamanic inebriation or visionary plant use (La Barre 1988; McKenna 1992).(2) Shamanic inebriation and visionary-plant use in some cultures is associated with bestial and belligerent behaviour [Grinspoon & Bakalar 1981 (1979): 296]. Grinspoon and Bakalar suggest, for example, that the cultures of the ancient Aztecs, (3) the Yanomamö of Venezuela, (4) other Amazonian Indian groups (5) and the Jamaican Rastafarians (6) do not fit the stereotype of passive and contemplative shamanic or visionary plant/fungi use. This is due to the fact that shamanic and other visionary experiences are dependent on "set and setting, especially the set and setting created by a particular culture" [Grinspoon & Bakalar 1981 (1979): 296]. As shamanic and other entheogens use generally occurs within a specific cultural context, that context perforce mediates the subjective experience of inebriation. In certain cultural contexts that experience cannot appropriately be described as entheogenic, nor as 'becoming divine within.' Rather, the experience of inebriation in these cultural contexts might better be characterized as therogenic (6) as 'becoming a wild beast.'

The neologism therogen(7) is derived from the Greek (ther - 'beast') and combines the Greek , the connective -o and the root -. Greek is cognate with Indo-European *ghwer (8) and Latin ferus ('wild') and fera ('wild beast').(9) The literal translation of the Greek + -o + (therogen) is 'becoming a wild beast.' A therogen is thus any substance which makes one become wild, and describes shamanic inebriants which are used in certain cultures to make people fierce and wild.(10)

Based on the logic of Structuralism (Lévi-Strauss 1962a; 1962b; 1967; 1971; 1973), one might conceptualize the neologism therogen as being in binary opposition to the neologism entheogen. Entheogen, accordingly, is to Therogen as God is to Beast, and wild to cultivated (vide Ruck 1982). Some possible permutations of binary oppositions based on this Structuralist logic are as follows:

Therogen : Entheogen
beast : god
wild : tame
animal : human
nature : culture
group : individual
aggression : quiescence
war : peace
sociability : contemplation
Dionysian : Apollonian

The American anthropologist Ruth Benedict (1889-1948) applied the Dionysian/Apollonian theory described by Nietzsche in his studies of Greek tragedy [Nietzsche 1967 (1872); vide Benedict 1935: 56] to her own anthropological studies of the cultures of North America [vide 1922, 1923, 1928, 1934a, 1934b, 1934c, 1935 (1934), 1938]. Unfortunately, Benedict is not as well known for her studies of Datura [D. metel L. and D. stramonium L. (Solanaceae)] and peyote [Lophophora williamsii (Lem.) Coult. (Cactaceae)] use in North American cultures (vide Benedict 1935: 41-93), as are some of her anthropological contemporaries (eg. La Barre1938). Benedict was a pioneer of the 'culture and personality' school of thought which was popular in anthropology and psychology in the early 1930s. This school focused on the relationship between culture and the individual, wherein people were seen as adopting certain personality characteristics in accordance with the dominant characteristics of their culture. In her book Patterns of Culture (1934b, 1935), Benedict advanced the daring theory that the Kwakiutl people of the northwest coast of North America were Dionysian, while the Zuni (or Pueblo) people of New Mexico were Apollonian. Benedict has been understood by other anthropologists to mean by Dionysian: "the desire to achieve emotional excess, as in drunkenness or frenzy" (Harris 1988: 508), and by Apollonian: "given to moderation and the 'middle of the road' in all things" (Harris 1988: 508-509). Benedict regarded cultures as: "more than the sum of their traits" [Benedict 1935 (1934): 33] and suggested that patterns of psychological features could be found in all human cultures. Benedict's concept of patterns has been likened to the "chromosomes... [in] the cells of a body" (Wallace 1970: 149). Benedict considered these patterns made it possible to categorize entire cultures according to which particular patterns had been adopted. Entheogenic and therogenic constitute two such patterns which might be adopted by given cultures, and correspond to Nietzsche's Apollonian and Dionysian characterization of ancient Greek culture in The Birth of Tradedy from the Spirit of Music [Nietzsche 1967 (1872)] and to Benedict's contrasting of the Zuni (or Pueblo) and Kwakiutl of North America (Benedict 1934b, 1935).

The neologism therogen is apposite to the cultural context in which plants and mushrooms are used for ritual and ludible inebriation in the western half of Melanesia (Hogbin 1972: 758-759).(11) In the Indonesian province of Irian Jaya, the Marind-Anim (Baal 1966) and the peoples of Frendrik-Hendrik Island [Serpenti 1969; 1977 (1965)] drank a beverage made from the roots of Piper methysticum Forster fil. (Piperaceae) to make themselves fierce and eager to fight (Williams 1936: 281). On Mabuiag, in the Western Torres Strait Islands (Queensland, Australia), magicians 'wanting to be wild' are reported to have eaten several plants [De Smet 1983: 293; vide Haddon & Seligman(N) 1904: 321-323], including unidentified species of Capparis (kara), Cycas (Cycadaceae) (budzamar) and Diospyros (Ebenaceae) (kubilgim). Use of therogenic plants in Papua New Guinea is extensive, and includes: Acorus calamus L. (Araceae);(12) Endospermum moluccanum (T. & B.) Kurz (Euphorbiaceae);(13) Galbulimima belgraveana (F. Muell.) Sprague (Himantandraceae);(14) Homolanthus sp. (Euphorbiacceae);(15) Homalomena sp. (Araceae);(16) Laportea sp. (Urticaceae);(17) Palmeria sp. (Momimiaceae);(18) and a Pandanus species [Pandanus iwen B. C. Stone, Pandanus julianettii Martelli or Pandanus brosimos Merr. & Perry (Pandanaceae)].(19) Fungi, including the species Boletus manicus Heim (Boletaceae) (Thomas in press), have also been ingested in Papua New Guinea for the purpose of becoming fierce and wild.(20)

Notes
1. Ott (1995) has catalogued many neologisms including Age of Entheogens, Anahuasca, Archaic Revival, Ayahuasca Analogue, Ayahuasca Australis, Ayahuasca Borealis, Congenihuasca, Endohuasca, Entactogen, Entheobotany, Entheogen, Entheogenic Reformation, Epoptica, Epoptician, Heffter Technique, Hierobotany, Matritheistic, Mycolatory, Neogaea, Neuroleptica, Oneirogen, Panpathogen, Patritheistic, Peyohuasca, Pharmacracy, Pharmacratic Inquisition, Pharmahuasca, Phytolatry, Psychocosmos, Psychonaut, Psychotica, Shamanize, Theobotany, Utopiate, Wasson Theory, etc.

2. So-called 'theological baggage' (McKenna 1992) is not what makes the neologism entheogen inappropriate to describe certain cultural contexts of visionary plant use.

3. vide Berdan (1982) ; Coe (1977) ; Soustelle (1970) ; Vaillant (1966)

4. vide Chagnon (1968, 1974, 1983) ; Lizot (1976, 1977, 1985)

5. vide Harner (1972) , Reichel-Dolmatoff (1971, 1978)

6. vide Barrett (1977) ; Rubin & Comita (1975)

7. The neologism therogen was suggested by Jonathan Ott (pers. comm.. instead of fiersogen, a neologism I had originally used to describe plants that made one fierce, derived from the Old French fiers, a variation of the Latin ferus ('wild'). I am grateful to J. Ott for his correspondence suggesting the neologism therogen and also to Michael Bock for his additional suggestions.

8. Jonathan Ott (pers. comm)

9. Jonathan Ott (pers. comm). Aleister Crowley called himself (Therion) and Master Therion or 'The Beast' [Crowley 1979 (1969. :834]. Crowley was once asked "Why do you call yourself the Beast?," to which he replied "My mother called me the Beast" [Symonds 1979 (1969) : 14].

10. Therogen is defined as any substance of plant, fungal, animal or chemical origin which makes one become as wild beast, this characterizing the subjective effects of therogens. Prototypical therogens include ibogaine and 3,4,5-trimethoxyamphetamine (TMA.. Psychotherapeutic experimentation with ibogaine has demonstrated its therogenic activity and Naranjo (1973: 176) suggested: "with no drug have I witnessed such frequent explosions of rage as with... [ibogaine] ." TMA has also been reported to release hostility and aggression (Shulgin et al. 1961; Naranjo 1973; Shulgin & Shulgin 1991). The original report on TMA by Shulgin et al. (1961) observed: "The emotional responses elicited... [by the substance 3,4,5-trimethoxyamphetamine (TMA) ] were striking in their intensity. Anger, hostility, and megalomaniac euphoria dominated the subject's thoughts and conversation. Actual acts of hostility were not observed, but it was felt that, in at least two subjects, provocation would have precipitated homicidal violence... " (p. 1012) Although Shulgin & Shulgin (1991: 124) argued: "mescaline no more produced beauty than TMA produced anger," they suggested that TMA actually "might show hints of the [true] ...meaning" of the term psychotomimetic (Shulgin & Shulgin 1991:25). It is thus not surprising that TMA became known as EA-1319 and was used in pharmacological and toxicological research conducted at the University of Michigan from 1953 to 1954 on behalf of the U. S. Department of Defense and funded by U. S. Army Chemical Center (Contract DA-18-108-CML-5663) (Hardman et al. 1973). Perhaps counterpart to therogens are serenics, as Kramer (1993:303) describes the serotonin-specific pharmaceuticals buspirone (BuSpar ®. and fluoxetine (Prozac ®) which have been used experimentally to diminish violent tendencies in aggressive and impulsive people.

11. This region extends eastward from the western-most point of the Indonesian province of Irian Jaya (West Papua. known as Vogelkop (or 'Bird's Head'. , to the western half of the Fiji island-group in the Pacific Ocean, and from the Equator down to a line running through Cape York Peninsula (Queensland, Australia. to a point in the ocean south of New Caledonia (Hogbin 1972:758-759). Geopolitically, Melanesia includes: West Irian, the province of Irian Jaya in the Republic of Indonesia; Papua New Guinea; the Torres Strait Islands and Cape York Peninsula of the state of Queensland, Australia; the Solomon Islands; New Caledonia; and west Fiji. Western Melanesia refers only to Irian Jaya, Papua New Guinea, the Torres Strait and parts of North Queensland, Australia.

12. Andrew Strathern and Pamela Stewart (pers. comm.. ; vide Powell (1976. and Wolf-Eggert (1977). The Enga have even used Acorus calamus to make their hunting dogs fierce and wild, vide Feachem (1972-1973)

13. Endospermum maluccanum has been used by the peoples of the Jimi Valley and Mount Hagen, Western Highlands, to make young men fierce (De Smet 1983). Powell (1976: 150) has also suggested that Endospermum fomicarum [?] is also used for this purpose.

14. The bark and also the leaves of Galbulimima belgraveana have been used among people of the Eastern Highlands to make young men fierce (Powell 1976: 150; Thomas 1999; Webb 1960)

15. An unidentified species of Homolanthus has been used to make young men fierce on New Britain (De Smet 1983: 296; Powell 1976: 150)

16. Leaves of an unidentified Homalomena species have been used alone, or with the bark of Galbulimima belgraveana (vide note 13. by the people of the Okapa area, Eastern Highlands, to produce: "a violent condition ending in slumber, during which visions are experienced" (Schultes & Hofmann 1979: 45; vide Barrau 1957; 1958; 1962). It has been suggested the species so used are Homalomena ereriba (Emboden 1972: 26) , H. lauterbachii Engl. (Schultes & Hofmann 1979: 45) and H. belgraveana Sprague (Ott 1993: 409)

17. The Komba people of Morobe District ingest leaves of an unidentified Laportea species known as salak in sorcery to become 'hot' or magically-powerful (Sterly 1970). The Miyanmin at Yominbip use a species of nettle (Laportea sp.. as a stimulant by flagellating themselves with the plant when on long walks. The Miyanmin also recognise another species of nettle (Laportea sp.. which is said to be more potent and dangerous (Flannery 1998: 93).

18. An unidentified species of Palmeria (Monimiaceae. known as boma kau, has been reported to have been used by men in the Chimbu area as stimulant warfare (De Smet 1985)

19. Raw or immature nuts of the fruit of an unidentified species of Pandanus (Pandanaceae. , amugl keja, are eaten in the Chimbu area to become temporarily mad (long-long. [vide Barrau (1962) ; De Smet (1983) ; Heim & Wasson (1965) ; Hyndman (1982, 1984) ; Reay (1960) ; Sterly (1973) ; and Webb (1960) ]. The ingestion of these karuka nuts often makes people become fierce or wild.

20. vide Dobkin de Rios (1984: 81-89) ; Gitlow (1947) ; Heim (1963; 1965; 1966; 1973; 1978) ; Heim & Wasson (1964; 1965) ; Nelson (1970) ; Reay (1959; 1960; 1965; 1977) ; Ross (1936) ; Singer (1958) ; Wasson & Wasson (1957).