The Cosmic Serpent
by Jeremy Narby · first published 1998
88% recommend13% neutral
Why HN recommends it
An anthropologist-style look at Amazonian shamans' knowledge of plants and ayahuasca, framed around DNA and the origins of knowledge; a readable, thought-provoking pick for anyone curious about psychoactives.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
For ten years, Jeremy Narby explored the Amazonian rain forests, the libraries of Europe, and some of the world's most arcane scientific journals, following strange clues, unsuppressible intuitions, and extraordinary coincidences. He collected evidence and researched the seemingly impossible possibility that specific knowledge might somehow be transferred through DNA, the genetic information at the heart of every cell of every living thing, to a specially prepared consciousness. Narby demonstrates that indigenous and ancient peoples have known for millennia - and have even drawn - the double
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Thanks for sharing this, I love reading about how different societies interact with and approach psychoactives. Historical works liek this and anthropological works like Jeremy Narby's Cosmic Serpent are so intriguing.
on “Opium or Cucumber? Debunking a Myth About Sumerian Drugs” ↗I read a fascinating book called The Cosmic Serpent [0] wherein a team of biologists went to Peru to document the kinds of things that shamans have learned by taking Ayahuasca. If you want to know more about this, I highly recommend it as basic reading.…
on “Could ayahuasca have health benefits?” ↗"Breaking Open the Head", by Daniel Pinchbeck "DMT: The Spirit Molecule", by Dr. Rick Strassman "The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge", by Jeremy Narby "The Law", by Frederic Bastiat
on “Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?” ↗…have no explanation. This is the best write-up that I've come across on the subject: http://ewwty.com/2012/02/24/dimethyltryptamine-dmt-experienc... And for a longer treatment I recommend reading "The Cosmic Serpent", which centers around the information gained during Shamanistic ayahuasca sessions (dmt based) which led to the discovery of many plant-based pharmaceutical precursors: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cosmic_Serpent
on “Why We'll Never Meet Aliens” ↗…going in and out of phase with each other.) this would work similarly to holography (instead of composite wave fronts, those entangled.) The brain is very much an antenna, though not only an antenna. The Cosmic Serpent (book) does a good job speculating how this might work, using 2D crystalline DNA as “fractal antennas.” The brain stores it’s own information locally. Consciousness is not computation (or intelligence).…
on “What if consciousness is a field that surrounds us and our brain is an antenna?” ↗I thought “Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge” was a pretty good book.
on “Compound found in the hallucinogenic tea ayahuasca can grow new brain cells” ↗…ways I have come to understand, yet I will expect to be scorned and badgered for the inherently abstract nature of our topic. Neurons in isolation exhibit a telemetric awareness of one and other The Cosmic Serpent was inspiring in my youth. The primitive ideas the author discusses relate. Microtubul structures likely provide a substrate for our experiential being. Electrochemical processes flash these substrates,…
on “What Is a Mathematical Structure of Conscious Experience?” ↗The author of Cosmic Serpent asked this question. They replied “the plants told us”
on “Compound found in the hallucinogenic tea ayahuasca can grow new brain cells” ↗