Changa and DMT Crystals, Engines of Cosmopolitan Neo-Shamanism
摘要
The chapter presents the author’s experiences with DMT from the black jurema tree (Mimosa tenuiflora) in different neo-shamanic settings and ceremonies, such as Equinox Festival in the state of Bahia, a Umbanda terreiro in Pernambuco and a Catimbó ritual in Rio Grande do Norte. The first experience was provided by a smokable version known as changa that became popular among psychonauts. Changa is supposed to have been invented in Australia, but using acacia instead of jurema as the source of DMT, a preparation also referred to as “aussiewaska,” according to Graham St John. Incorporation of enchanted beings (mestres, caboclos, pretos velhos, pombajiras) is the common element in the eclectic and variable ceremonies performed by Brazilian neo-shamans that employ the entheogen for spiritual healing, not recreationally, allegedly spreading the kind of benefit they have received from the sacred plant in their own life histories, a glimpse of which is provided.