Resumen de Through the looking-glass: the use of psychoactive plants in catalonia
millennia. In the 21st century these ancient traditions, that have been almost completely lost, are gaining popularity. People seeking healing are travelling to the jungle of South America, and traditional healers are travelling the world bringing sacred medicines to the western countries. Due to the globalisation of the psychoactive plants, we have an unprecedented opportunity to research unique phenomenon that has never before been possible, and learn about the ritual uses in western settings, as well as the interaction between the traditional and western worldview.
I was conducting fieldwork in a unique community in Catalonia that is using psychoactive plants regularly in a ritual setting. The community and their ritual practices have never been documented before. Anthropology has a long tradition of studying drug use and the importance of this work is in documenting novel and unique ritual uses of psychoactive plants in contemporary cultures that are not strictly religious. Moreover, this work offers a different perspective to the almost exclusively toxicological approaches in studying drug use in other disciplines such as epidemiology, pharmacology, neuroscience, addiction studies, sociology, and criminology, which consider drug use as inherently bad for the individual’s health and destructive for the whole society. Non-problematic use of psychoactive substances is an important aspect of drug research that has been enjoying solid development for quite some years. Studies on user communities, particularly in the case of psychedelics, have a rich history. Disciplines such as ethnobotany and anthropology are those with the most continuity in the study of psychoactive plants and the present study situates itself among them with utilising classical ethnography to explore life philosophies, childrearing strategies, gender notions, and healthcare practices. I intend to join a growing number of people who are defending the need to explore psychoactive plants, its uses, and its effects not only on a political, economical, medical, and personal level but on a societal, spiritual and environmental level. These perspectives can contribute to a fuller image of the social reality and should be part of public policies as those have an impact on all of us, user or not. My work also gives an insight into the new forms and contexts of non-problematic use (such as ritual or ceremonial use) that are being developed in these networks and are gaining popularity in the globalised world. Besides that, it contributes to the normalisation of the discourse on drug use by understanding drug use as a social phenomenon in its particular cultural context, as a cultural identity, and as a practice of self-care. The objective of my work was therefore to document the use of psychoactive plants in the Catalan community with everything that this implies in terms of coexistence and community, world-views, conceptions about health, children's education, social relationships, etc. I was not only interested in the practices of use, but in the people itself. The life stories of the people. Who are they? Why do they use the plants? Which plants do they use? How do they use them? How did these practices of use develop? What subjective effects do these plants have? What role do psychoactive plants have in the lives of the people? The principal method for data collection in the present study is participant observation or rather observational participation in people’s everyday life and the ceremonies. Field notes and a diary have been used to record daily activities and personal thoughts. Besides that, I was conducting in-depth interviews with twenty-two individuals and audio recorded a few ceremonies. A social network map has been created to show the structure and extensiveness of the community. The principal method for analysis of the interviews was thematic analysis, a generic and flexible method for identifying and analysing patterned meaning within data. Anthropology always tells a story therefore reflexivity and auto-ethnography form part of the analysis and enrich the narrative. Both the emic and the etic approach are needed to deliver a balanced interpretation of the studied phenomenon. Moreover, incorporating the researchers own experiences and background creates a relational approach that transforms and dehierarchises the relationship between the researcher and the researched and convert the ethnographic practice into a “weaving technology” in which the researcher is knitting broad nets of engaged knowledge producers.
My findings suggest that the use of psychoactive plants, which is incorporated into society, has several benefits for the individual as well as society. It not only decreases stigma, but also the harms these substances could potentially cause if used in secrecy and without proper knowledge. The rituals ensure safety and control regarding quality, dose, as well as the set and setting. The facilitators of the ceremonies are role models. They are teachers, guides, and therapists. All in one. The members of the community reported diverse subjective effects and several benefits such as a more positive outlook on life, disengagement in addictive behaviour, healing from trauma, establishing more meaningful relationships, having a healthier lifestyle, gaining more awareness about one's actions, enhancing pro-environmental sentiments, introducing spirituality in their lives, changing their priorities and values in life, and other.
Throughout this work, I slowly uncover the people, the practices, the values, the stories, and unravel their journey as we move through different topics and chapters. Layer by layer. Like an onion. After all, life is not dichotomous, it is an assemblage of elements that are all relevant and form part of the bigger picture. Therefore, I invite the reader to think about the use of psychoactive plants in this Catalan community as no different than coffee rituals in Ethiopia or tea ceremonies in Japan. In these rituals, the substance has the central role, but the ritual itself has the role of creating strong bonds between the people and generating feelings of generosity and sharing. It is creating a community, a family. In western society, where we feel increasingly alienated from nature, the others and even ourselves, such rituals might help us to face some of the challenges of modern society.
