Eleonora Molnar

Track: Shamanism and Its Potential for Modern Man

Problematic Behaviours in North American Entheogenic “Ceremonies”

One of the consequences of international drug tourism in the Amazon basin has been the noteable appropriation of traditional indigenous practices in North (and South) America by non-indigenous peoples. This appropriation of indigenous practices, many of which use entheogenic substances, has shaped a number of problematic behaviours that create harms for users in North America (as they do elsewhere, including indigenous communities in the Amazon). This presentation identifies some of these behaviours and their underlying values through the lenses of bioethics, race, gender, addiction and capitalism. The presentation concludes by offering suggestions for possible ways to mitigate the harms that result from problematic behaviours arising from entheogenic “ceremonies” in North America.

Eleonora Molnar is a health professional and an independent researcher with interests in public and primary health, ethics, drug policy reform, deep ecology and consciousness studies. Eleonora reveres the divine feminine and values women’s roles and perspectives regarding non-ordinary states of consciousness.