Talk:Psychonaut
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This article is part of the WikiProject on Psychedelics, Dissociatives and Deliriants, set up to organize and expand entries on Psychedelics, dissociatives and deliriants as well as related subjects according to chemical type, effects, organic carriers, and cultural/historical uses. Please feel free to participate by editing this article and visiting the project page. |
Can we reference this? It sounds a little bogus to me. Mark Richards 21:08, 23 Mar 2004 (UTC)
- Googling finds a few references in this format - seems legit, if pretty marginal. It's also a band's name. - DavidWBrooks 00:39, 24 Mar 2004 (UTC)
It's a legitimate term, slightly slang, but well established. (Plus has over 125,000 google references). Also consider the Black Sabbath song, Supernaut. By reading the lyrics I'm fairly certain it's a play on psychonaut. --Thoric 22:28, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Contradictions with the Entheogens Page
Paragraph 1 of this page defines a psychonaut as "a person who uses psychoactive entheogens as guides ... quite distinct from religious use...." But the page on Entheogens defines the term entheogens as "that which causes (a person) to be in God," i.e., clearly specifying the term as religious. I think that the real problem is a lack of NPOV on the part of the entheogens page and this page.
- I agree with you that the articles could be clearer, but I don't think it is necessarily an NPOV issue (if it is this is not evidence of such, merely writing that could be improved). However, the definition in 'entheogen' you refer to, 'that which causes a person to be in god', refers to the literal meaning of the Greek syllables that make up the word. The article then goes on to state: In its strictest sense the term refers to a psychoactive substance (most often some plant matter) that occasions enlightening spiritual or mystical experience, within the parameters of a cult, in the original non-pejorative sense of cultus. In a broader sense, the word "entheogen" refers to artificial as well as natural substances that induce alterations of consciousness similar to those documented for ritual ingestion of traditional shamanic inebriants, even if it is used in a secular context. Yes, this obviously includes -- but is not limited -- to religious uses.
- The distinction which is being made in the definition of psychonaut, I believe, although very unclearly, is that the term is not, or almost never used to refer to traditional religious use of entheogens. While a psychonaut may certainly seek or obtain spiritual and religious benefit from their substance use, the term is not used to refer to Amazonian shamans making traditional use of ayahuasca, or Native Americans using peyote in religious ceremonies. However, if you or I were to dose up in our bedrooms in the hopes of communing with God, the slang term psychonaut might very well apply. Does this make things clearer? If so I will attempt to improve the article as well along these lines. Kit O'Connell (Todfox: user / talk / contribs) 18:41, 20 January 2006 (UTC)
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- Of note, the definition of entheogen is incorrect. It doesn't mean to be in god, but the god within. Entheogens are spiritual, not religious. A psychonaut is a person who travels to uncharted realms of their mind (and entheogens certainly help with this), it could be spiritual, but it is more likely to be intellectual, or simply, "far out, man". --Thoric 19:32, 20 January 2006 (UTC)
This was added to the introduction tonight: "It should be noted that this is considered a dangerous practice, and is in no way recommended, nor is it anything resembling a proven concept for an increase in brain function. It is in many ways flawed and violates the concept of observation, as somebody who is under the effect of a neural disrupting substance is impaired in their perception of what is occuring both in their minds and bodies." I figured that something of this nature ought to be discussed before it actually goes into the article, so I took it out to repost here for discussion. What are your thoughts? The Chief 09:52, 1 November 2006 (UTC)
