Psychedelic Plant Medicines of the Americas: History, Traditions, and Indigenous Voices - Softcover

Labate, Biatriz Caiuby; Antunes, Henrique Fernandes

Softcover

ISBN 13: 9798889842439

Publisher: North Atlantic Books,U.S., 2026

Synopsis

An essential new anthology that reveals the cultural, medicinal, and spiritual traditions behind marijuana, mushrooms, ayahuasca, and other psychedelics, informed by both Western and Indigenous science

What if your psychedelic journey could be even more meaningful? What if, instead of seeing a trip as an escape from the world, we saw it as an entryway into numerous time-tested Indigenous traditions, each full of vast histories with valuable insights—lessons we can incorporate into our own journeys?

The Psychoactive Plants in the Americas encourages this far greater, fuller mind-expansion. An anthology of 23 psychedelic-specific articles, written by historians, anthropologists, and psychologists, it includes extensive interviews with Indigenous Latin American practitioners and a deep understanding of Western science. Altogether, it offers the broadest, most up-to-date perspectives of any book on the field of psychedelics yet, including examinations of:

• Marijuana’s colonial history in Mexico
• Psilocybin mushrooms’ actual traditional use—which contradicts common, mistaken assumptions
• Ayahuasca and peyote’s roles in Native rituals, and their subsequent cultural appropriation
• Many more psychotropic drugs, including coca and tobacco snuff

The anthology is a critical reminder, at a time when psychedelics continue to become more popular and accepted within Western society, that these practices are not just part of a counterculture—in many places, they are central to the culture. And with the rise of psychedelic tourism, some of those cultures and cosmologies are now being put at risk. Gaining a greater understanding of why people have used and continue to use these psychedelics—informed by those with the deepest histories of experience—is only growing more important. There's never been a better time to not only gain a greater understanding of yourself, but also a deeper, more rooted understanding of psychedelics.

About this title

About the Author

Dr. Bia Labate is an anthropologist, educator, author, speaker, and activist, committed to the protection of sacred plants while amplifying the voices of marginalized communities in the psychedelic science field. She has a PhD in Anthropology, and her main areas of interest are the study of psychoactive substances, drug policies, shamanism, ritual, and religion. She is author, co-author and co-editor of twenty-eight books, one journal special edition and several peer-reviewed articles.

Dr. Henrique Fernandes Antunes holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of São Paulo (2019) and has been a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley. He has held postdoctoral positions at EHESS, the University of Ottawa, and CEBRAP. Currently, he is Research Coordinator at the Chacruna Institute and a member of CEBRAP's Religion in the Contemporary World group. He is also affiliated with NEIP and UC Berkeley's Center for the Science of Psychedelics. His research focuses on the global regulation of ayahuasca.

Nidia A. Olvera Hernández is a Mexican historian and anthropologist. She has a Ph.D. in modern and contemporary history at the Mora Institute in Mexico City. Nidia earned a bachelor's degree in ethnohistory from the National School of Anthropology and History (ENAH) and a masters in social anthropology from the Center for Research and Higher Studies in Social Anthropology (CIESAS), in Mexico City. Her main areas of interest are the old and modern history of psychoactive substances and drug policy. She collaborated as the Research Associate at Chacruna Latinoamérica in México and contributes to the Journal of Social History of Alcohol and Drugs as Associate Review Editor and is a Research Fellow at the Consortium for the History of Science. Currently she is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Project "Poison, Medicine or Magic Potion? Shifting Perspectives on Drugs in Latin America (1820-2020)" at Radboud University, Netherlands.

Clancy Cavnar, Psy.D., is a clinical psychologist in San Francisco, Co-Founder of the Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines, and a research associate with NEIP. She holds an MFA in Painting, a Master's in Counseling, and completed the Certificate in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy at CIIS. Dr. Cavnar has authored and co-edited several books and articles on psychedelic science and therapy.

Edition details

• Publisher: North Atlantic Books,U.S.
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 13: 9798889842439
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 440