Psychedelic Naturalism

Psychedelic Naturalism is a recent term coined by the anthropologist Joanna Steinhardt. It is a contradiction in terms. Whereas the naturalist will insist on one plane of existence (the natural one) the user of psychedelics may insist on any number of planes of existence and probably way more than your mind can handle. The virtue of this contradictory worldview is a stance of inherent tension: the psychedelic naturalist, claiming like any good naturalist that knowledge may be gained from the study of our environment, nevertheless makes it clear that this knowledge is sacred (and weird); it cannot be confined to books and it results in a peculiar kind of psychosis in which much of western society no longer makes any sense. Likewise we (the psychedelic naturalists) claim that fungi-induced psychosis (oceanic feeling) generates sacred knowledge. This tension, between what can be known and the breakdown of mental boundaries, is the dynamo that eludes (and destroys) domination by structures of power (the academy); this is guerrilla science at its limits. The stoned scientist is quickly ejected from the institution even while she gathers clues to the complete falsification of hegemonic biology. It is more to the point that this weird knowledge is not produced by human science but is shared with us by alien organisms (mushrooms).