Deck 5: Altered States of Consciousness and the Religious Use of Drugs

Question 1

An altered state of consciousness can be described as

A) a state of consciousness where the soul is perceived to leave the body.
B) the most dramatic form of consciousness that may be deliberately induced.
C) always induced by a hallucinogenic substance.
D) a personal experience with a god or spirit unique to a religion.

Answer 1

the most dramatic form of consciousness that may be deliberately induced.

Question 2

Ordinary human consciousness without deliberate alteration include:

A) Sleep and dreaming
B) Relaxation
C) Attentiveness
D) All of the above

Answer 2

All of the above

Question 3

Humans on all continents, and probably since prehistoric times, have used _________ to produce dramatically altered states.

A) sacred tools
B) tobacco leaves
C) plants and animal substances
D) holy water

Answer 3

plants and animal substances

Question 4

All of the following factors discussed by the editors of this book have been utilized across the globe to induce ASC or trance, EXCEPT:

A) Drumming/Dance
B) Ritual grooming
C) Drugs
D) Ingestion or abstinence from food

Question 5

Cross-cultural comparisons of hallucinogenic drugs show that

A) all societies have used some form.
B) overall they have a negative effect on the society.
C) they can have different effects on the users from one society to the next because of differing cultural expectations.
D) only shamans and various types of spiritual leaders use them.

Question 6

According to Lewis, what are the two trance inducing processes found in all civilizations and cultures?

A) sensory deprivation and overload.
B) performance of music and dance.
C) psychotropic drugs and music.
D) repetition and seclusion.

Question 7

Lewis compares trance to female sexual climax by arguing that

A) neither is easily obtained.
B) both are obtained by using the body in similar ways.
C) both are a condition of dissociation characterized by automatisms of action and thought.
D) both are affected by cultural conventions.

Question 8

Lewis agrees that shamanism can be understood as

A) a unique relationship with animals.
B) a characteristic unique to Siberian cultures.
C) mystical flight.
D) possession by a spirit or spirits.

Question 9

Greenfield describes Rossi's theory that accessing state-dependent memory may be the common denominator between

A) trance and shamanism.
B) Western medicine and approaches to healing that depend on highly specialized cultural belief systems.
C) holistic, shamanistic and spiritist approaches to healing.
D) all trance-based religions worldwide.

Question 10

According to Brazilian Spiritists, the surgeries described by Greenfield were actually performed by__________.

A) the spirits of deceased humans
B) the gods
C) animal spirits
D) shamans

Question 11

Brazilian Spiritist healer-mediums go into trance to

A) receive their spirit guides.
B) escape the reality of the surgery.
C) control the spirits that have taken over the client's body.
D) be able to conduct surgeries quickly and efficiently.

Question 12

Greenfield argues that Brazilians are good hypnotic subjects because

A) most have lost faith in Western medicine.
B) they believe in psychotherapy and use hypnosis in their daily lives.
C) they believe in the Spiritist view of reincarnation.
D) their society teaches, reinforces and rewards fantasy.

Question 13

The native Amerindian enema and the Old World enema

A) are indistinguishable, except for the type of plants used; in some cases, as in members of the morning glory family, the plants used are in fact markedly similar
B) interestingly enough, are both thought to have come into practice, or been discovered, during the tenth century A.D.
C) are distinguished from one another because while the Old World enema was concerned with clearing the bowels, the New World enema was considered a delivery system for medicines and intoxicants.
D)are really one and the same because the enema was unheard of before the explorers brought the practice back with them and turned it into a European craze in the use of belladonna and opium.

Question 14

According to Furst and Coe, the intoxicating enema

A) is an excellent delivery system that can dramatically alter one's state of consciousness faster than oral ingestion with fewer negative side effects.
B) produces a more intense experience of the drug than does oral ingestion, but there are serious side effects and associated health concerns.
C) is about the same as a bio-delivery system as oral ingestion.
D) resembles the effect produced by an intravenous injection, but the rectal delivery system is associated with fertility problems.

Question 15

Among the J'varo Indians, both bewitching and curing shamans use a hallucinogenic drink the J'varo refer to as

A) ayahuasca.
B) yagé or yajé.
C) natema.
D) Banisteriopsis.

Question 16

In the J'varo worldview, shamans use hallucinogens and tobacco to

A) travel to the underworld in order to communicate with spirits.
B) see through the sky to where the gods live.
C) induce life-changing experiences for initiation rites.
D) connect with the "real" in the world that can't be seen because of the illusion experienced in normal waking life.

Question 17

A novice may become an effective practicing shaman

A) almost instantaneously after a true encounter with the "real" and the procurement of a tsentsak.
B) no less than five months after receiving tsentsak from a mentor, provided the novice has self-discipline.
C) only after finishing with the family phase of life and achieving tsentsak.
D) only after years of training in order to accumulate tsentsak.

Question 18

The tsentsak, or spirit helpers, that aid J'varo shamans in their work are

A) often actual objects, small enough to be swallowed, that have both natural and supernatural aspects.
B) perceived as tarantulas in the "illusion" of ordinary life.
C) physically embodied in the Ecuadorian Wakani bird.
D) usually large natural phenomena like rivers, valleys, and mountains.

Question 19

Harner asserts that "words alone can never adequately convey the realities of shamanism"because

A) so much is lost in translation from the J'varo language.
B) the J'varo socio-economic environment must be witnessed in order to properly contextualize any description.
C) in order to really see, we need the aid of the natema.
D) so much of it is a visual and non-verbal audio experience.

Question 20

What three elements does Hutson believe are crucial to a rave?

A) mind altering drugs, dance music, long duration.
B) dance music, rhythmic drumming, mind altering drugs.
C) dance music, long duration, ecstatic experience.
D) rhythmic drumming, flashing lights, ecstatic experience.

Question 21

Hutson found that rave was continuously described in _______ terms.

A) spiritual
B) futuristic
C) physiological
D) economic

Question 22

The DJ at a rave can be described as a "technoshaman"because

A) many times he prepares the mind altering drugs used.
B) he helps participants to enter a trance state by chanting specific learned scriptures.
C) he takes ravers on a spiritual journey using learned techniques to control helper spirits.
D) he takes ravers on a spiritual journey using specialized knowledge of the techniques of ecstasy.

Question 23

Hutson argues that the two predominant genres of rave, future and primitive, share a sense of disdain for the present age and reveal

A) why many participants consume mind altering drugs.
B) an attraction to alternative possibilities.
C) participants' rejection of organized religion.
D) problems of youth in contemporary society.

Question 24

Anthropologists are particularly interested in the ways altered states of consciousness are interpreted in political systems.

Question 25

Altered states of consciousness represent a biological capacity common to all humans and a huge majority of cultures uses at least one form.

Question 26

Altered states are always seen as spiritual gifts that allow participants to see into other realms.

Question 27

While studying the zar people of Sudan, Lewis found that trance is always induced by dance.

Question 28

Lewis asserts that the most common cross-cultural explanation of trance is the invasion of the human body by an external spirit.

Question 29

Shamanic rituals are often filled with sexual imagery.

Question 30

Brazilian Spiritists believe that between the material world and the world of the spirits, contact and communication are possible.

Question 31

Brazilian Spiritist healer-mediums assist their patients in entering trance before the medical procedure.

Question 32

Greenfield asserts that because Brazilian culture patterns social relationships similar to those of hypnotist and client, patients of Brazilian healers are easily induced into trance.

Question 33

Furst and Coe assert that the rectal delivery system for intoxicating substances can result in a more radically changed consciousness with the speed of an intravenous injection and fewer negative side effects.

Question 34

The mural at Bonampak depicts a fierce battle among Maya warriors.

Question 35

Harner asserts that curing shamans could be more prosperous and benefit the community more if there was less witchcraft in J'varo culture.

Question 36

J'varo shamans use Datura to deal with the wakani bird helping a bewitching shaman.

Question 37

J'varo shamans must purchase tsentsaks again and again throughout their career to maintain power.

Question 38

Hutson believes that much of the academic discourse on raves is incomplete because it ignores drug use.

Question 39

Hutson argues that raver descriptions of "spiritual healing"resemble experiences of evangelical conversion.

Question 40

Participants claim that raves promote individual identity.

Question 41

Hutson states that unlike Rainbow Family practices, raves do not include the use of "fakelore."