ENVS 055. Sacred Plants, Holy Fungi, and Religious Experience.

(Cross-listed as RELG 050)
This course investigates the sacred meaningfulness and practical utility humans have discovered in plants and fungi. From pharmacopeia and herbalism employed to cure ailments and relieve pain, to psychedelic and entheogenic rituals that modulate the sensorium of one's consciousness to "reveal the God within," the intimate relationships worked out between humans, plants, and fungi reveal the human in all of its evolutionary-biological, mythic, poetic, and religious dimensions. Through primary and secondary scholarly readings, multimedia sources, and case studies highlighting the cultural histories of the African Diasporic and Indigenous Mesoamerican communities, students will encounter various healing rituals, wisdom traditions, and emerging scientific paradigms that place plants and fungus at the center of human health and wellness. Topics include: mystical and visionary circuits of consciousness; Cannabis sativa and the Transatlantic Slave Trade; Inquisition witchcraft trials and "witches' ointment;" Mexican-Oaxacan psilocybin shamans and the 1960s Hippie Movement; and a potential fieldsite visit to the Johns Hopkins University Center for Psychedelic & Consciousness Research.
This course does not advocate the casual use of psychedelics or other substances.
Humanities.
1 credit.
Spring 2023. Padilioni.
Fall 2024. Padilioni.
Catalog chapter: Environmental Studies
Department website: https://www.swarthmore.edu/environmental-studies

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