Author: Jeremy Narby
The Cosmic Serpent is one of my favorite books that walks the line between sound science(biology), anthropology and spirituality. A narrative that follows a Ph.D student from Stanford on his field work in the Peruvian Amazon investigating the ecology of the area, shamanism and molecular biology. If that sounds trippy, you are very correct as the author is particularly interested in the natives use of the ayahuasca plant.
With effects similar to that of DMT, the ayahuasca plant is used as an intense spiritual instrument. Ayahuasca is quite a bit less synthetic than DMT and is quite interesting when you look at the chemistry of the drug. The active ingredient that induces hallucinations can only be activated when prepared with a plant that contains an monoamine oxidase inhibator. This basically means the two plants don't have any effect when used independently, but when used together they give a strong effect. And it's not like they just have to be mixed together, they must be boiled and prepared together. Seeing that the origins of ayahuasca are mysterious, it's no coincidence that a book based around ayahuasca is intriguing.
The passage highlighted below is pretty simple but when you really think about it, well, it can be reality defining and perception distorting. Although it may sound like a psychedelic idea, the statement is based in sound science and any biologist will agree.
We never see reality, but only an internal representation of
it that our brain constructs for us continuously.
Whoa.
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