Die kosmische Schlange

Jeremy Narby, a Canadian anthropologist, recounts his visionary experiences with shamans in the South American jungle. Under the influence of drugs, he gains access to the knowledge of the indigenous people: imaginatively, fantastically, and holistically symbolized as a snake, the drug and trance rituals open up a consciousness expansion that leads to the origins of life, the cosmos, and modern sciences, particularly molecular biology. The anthropologist Jeremy Narby reacts with extreme skepticism when he hears about the consciousness-expanding effects of hallucinogenic drugs, of which Ayahuasca is now traded as a designer drug. This substance induces trance, influences, and alters perception and understanding. Narby participates in the trance rituals; he is introduced to a completely unknown, imagery-rich knowledge culture. Taught by shamans, this oral knowledge has never been documented in writing. Jeremy Narby takes the first step to uncover the unique knowledge about drugs, poisons, and medicinal plants, which particularly interests Western pharmaceutical companies. The author embarks on a trance-like inner and outer journey. He unfolds the inexhaustible knowledge of the tropical plant world, which leads him to the origins of modern knowledge, and passionately advocates for the protection of this indigenous wisdom. The epitome and most common symbol for insight into nature, its structure, and its effects is the cosmic snake. It symbolizes the double helix, the model of genetic structure, and represents humanity's biological and cosmic knowledge as a whole. The snake has embodied two symbols since ancient times: healing and death, cosmos and chaos, understanding and destruction of life. In South American myths, the snake embodies the knowledge of life; it connects nature and the cosmos. The risk we take with the drug lies in shaking the fundamental power of existence.