The Attraction of Peyote: An Inquiry into the Basic Conditions for the Diffusion of the Peyote Religion in North America
The Attraction of Peyote: An Inquiry into the Basic Conditions for the Diffusion of the Peyote Religion in North America (Stockholm Studies in Comparative Religion , No 33) By Ake Hultkrantz
Publisher: Almqvist & Wiksell International 1997 | 232 Pages | ISBN: 9122017127 | PDF | 3 MB
Publisher: Almqvist & Wiksell International 1997 | 232 Pages | ISBN: 9122017127 | PDF | 3 MB
The American Indian Peyote Religion is the dominating new religion on North American Indian reservations since the end of the nineteenth century. It is based on the consumption of a small type of cactus, peyote (Lophophora williamsii) which, after being consumed, causes hallucinations. Researchers, in particular anthropologists, have tried to reveal the social, economical and political prerequisites of this movement. How this religion was formed, how it came about on the basis of extant local religions ideas, new ideas from other Indian tribes and Christian Missionary influences are all problems that have scarcely been dealt with. The following work is an effort to evaluate the anthropological achievements in this connection and to construct a collected contribution to an understanding of the forming of Peyote Religion from religio-historical perspectives.