Psychoactive plants and ethnopsychiatric medicines of the Matsigenka

For the Matsigenka of the Peruvian Amazon, health and well-being in daily l ife depend upon harmonious relationships within the social group and with t he spirit world. Psychoactive plants play a crucial role in curing disrupte d social relationships while giving humans access to the otherwise remote, parallel world of spirits. Different species and cultivars of psychoactive plants, as well as varying admixtures and doses, are used to obtain differe nt intensities and qualities of psychoactive experience, depending upon the individual's goals. Strongly psychoactive plants are used by shamans to tr avel to the realm of spirits. A number of mild to strongly psychoactive pla nts are used by male hunters to purify their souls and improve their aim. M ildly psychoactive plants are used to improve women's concentration for spi nning and weaving cotton, to control negative emotions such as grief and an ger, to manipulate the content of dreams, and to pacify sick or frightened children. A majority of such remedies come from the botanical families of R ubiaceae, Solanaceae and Cyperaceae, known sources of psychoactive compound s. Interdisciplinary research into the culture, botany and pharmacology of psychoactive plants in indigenous medical systems contributes to a better u nderstanding of the role of psychological states in human health and well-b eing.