The Spice Must Flow: The Short, Intense Trip of N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT)
In reference to the novel Dune and its depiction of the drug called "spice," the novel hallucinogenic compound DMT has been widely nicknamed "spice" by contemporary users. DMT is a component of psychoactive preparations employed historically for shamanic, spiritual, and medicinal purposes by numerous indigenous populations within the Americas. It is also a controlled substance in most countries, banned as a “drug of abuse." With its popularity on the rise in recent years, in this paper I examine how DMT moved out of the jungles of the Amazon to become increasingly well known in the West. DMT has undergone a variety of processes that have furthered its geographical diffusion, including synthesis and scientific research; its importance to the ayahuasca religions founded in Brazil; and its increasing popularization in contemporary culture through a variety of artistic mediums and movements.
Tuesday, November 3, 2015, Pollak LIbrary