At 08:04 PM 4/2/98 EST, you wrote:

>It can be very healing, which is why SHAMANS (healers) used it.

Though it is true that in some shamanic traditions various substances, along with hours, sometimes days of dancing and chanting are used to alter the consciousness of the individual, this act is not for the benefit/pleasure of the person taking the substance. These methods are used to open up the awareness of the shaman or medicine man or woman so that they are able to see the nature of illness in another person and effect a cure. The "patient" rarely if ever ingests the substance or actively participates in the ritual. This is not the same as taking a drug to get high. I've been there, I've done it. Many times in the past. As to the validity of the expereince, the question remains as to whether what you felt was truly divinity or just the effects of the drug.


Willow