Jeremy Narby (born 1959 in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

) is a Canadian

anthropologist An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...

and author. In his books, Narby examines shamanism, molecular biology, and shamans' knowledge of botanics and biology through the use of

entheogens Entheogens are psychoactive substances used in spiritual and religious contexts to induce altered states of consciousness. Hallucinogens such as the psilocybin found in so-called "magic" mushrooms have been used in sacred contexts since ancien ...

across many cultures.

Early life and education

Narby was born in 1959 and grew up in

Montreal, Quebec Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, and

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. He studied history at the

University of Kent at Canterbury A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

. He has a PhD in anthropology from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

and spent time in the Peruvian Amazon undertaking his PhD researchWishart, Paul M. "
Reflections on the cosmic serpent
'." Spirituality and Health International 3.4 (2002): 50-53. starting in 1984. During those years living with the Ashaninca, Narby catalogued

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

uses of

rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

resources to help combat ecological destruction.

Career

Narby has written and edited five books, as well as sponsored an expedition to the rainforest for biologists and other scientists to examine indigenous knowledge systems and the utility of

Ayahuasca AyahuascaPronounced as in the UK and in the US. Also occasionally known in English as ''ayaguasca'' (Spanish-derived), ''aioasca'' (Brazilian Portuguese-derived), or as ''yagé'', pronounced or . Etymologically, all forms but ''yagé'' descen ...

in gaining knowledge. The resulting documentary film was ''Night of the Liana''. From 1989 to 2024, Narby was working as the Amazonian projects director for the Swiss

Non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

Nouvelle Planète Nouvelle Planète is a non-profit organization founded on Albert Schweitzer's examples, ideas and ethics; it is strictly neutral in religion and politics, and works to support small practical projects in countries in the southern hemisphere, set ...

. Narby and three molecular biologists feature in the documentary ''Night of the Liana'' that documents them revising the Peruvian Amazon to test hypothesis presented in ''Intelligence in Nature''.

Books

''The Cosmic Serpent''

''The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge'', published in 1998 documents Narby's time researching, as part of his doctoral studies in the Pichis Valley of the

Peruvian Amazon Peruvian Amazonia (), informally known locally as the Peruvian jungle () or just the jungle (), is the area of the Amazon rainforest in Peru, east of the Andes and Peru's borders with Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, and Bolivia. Peru has the second-l ...

, the ecology of the

Asháninka The Asháninka or Asháninca are an Indigenous people living in the rainforests in the regions of Junín, Pasco, Huanuco, and Ucayali in Peru, and in the State of Acre in Brazil. Their ancestral lands are in the forests of Junín, Pasco, H ...

, an

indigenous peoples in Peru The Indigenous peoples of Peru or Indigenous Peruvians comprise a large number of ethnic groups who inhabit territory in present-day Peru. Indigenous cultures developed here for thousands of years before the arrival of the Spanish in 1532. In 2 ...

that started in 1984. The book argued that modern scientific understandings of

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

have been known to indigenous people for thousands of years and learned by shamans through ritual. Narby also documents his own ingestion of ayahuasca, and claims that shamans may be able to access information at the molecular level through the ingestion of

ayahuasca AyahuascaPronounced as in the UK and in the US. Also occasionally known in English as ''ayaguasca'' (Spanish-derived), ''aioasca'' (Brazilian Portuguese-derived), or as ''yagé'', pronounced or . Etymologically, all forms but ''yagé'' descen ...

and other

. He writes that his own

ingestion was followed by hallucination and visions of two snakes, which he associates with DNA. The book documents numerous indigenous peoples who incorporate images of snakes in their documentation of human creation stories, specifically peoples in the Amazonia, Mexico, Australia, Persia,

Sumer Sumer () is the earliest known civilization, located in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (now south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age, early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. ...

, Egypt, India, the Pacific, Greece, Crete, and Scandinavia.

Critical reception

Swami Gopalananda, writing in

Ascent Magazine ''ascent'' was an independent, not-for-profit magazine published quarterly that explores the intersection of spiritual values with social and political issues, art, culture and contemporary thought. ''ascent'' also published a website, a blog, bo ...

, praises the book's "spirit of personal discovery" and "unbridled enthusiasm".Gopalananda S. Intelligence in Nature. ''Ascent Magazine''. 2005;(27):61-62. Accessed May 16, 2022. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f6h&AN=18047495&site=eds-live&scope=site Biophysicist

Jacques Dubochet Jacques Dubochet (born 8 June 1942) is a retired Swiss biophysicist. He is a former researcher at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany, and an honorary professor of biophysics at the University of Lausanne in Switzerl ...

criticized Narby for not testing his hypothesis.

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

was critical of Narby, stating that he confuses his own enthusiasm for evidence, and while it praises his advocacy for the rights of indigenous peoples, it was critical of the lack of scientific methodology, noting the absence of experimental tests to his hypotheses.

''Intelligence in Nature''

''Intelligence in Nature: An Inquiry into Knowledge'' is Narby's

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

sequel to ''The Cosmic Serpent'' and present's his hypotheses about intelligence in flora and fauna, and the ability of different species to communicate, including at the molecular level.

Works

*''The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge'' (1995) *''Shamans Through Time: 500 Years on the Path to Knowledge'' (2001) edited by Jeremy Narby and

Francis Huxley Francis John Heathorn Huxley (28 August 1923 – 29 October 2016) was a British zoologist, anthropologist and author. With a short professional career at St Catherine’s College, Oxford, he is most well known for his several anthropological ex ...

*'' Intelligence in Nature'' (2005) *''Psychotropic Mind: The World According to Ayahuasca, Iboga, and Shamanism'' (2010) *''Plant Teachers: Ayahuasca, Tobacco, and the Pursuit of Knowledge'' (2021)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Narby, Jeremy 1959 births Living people Anglophone Quebec people Canadian anthropologists Neoshamanism People from Montreal Canadian psychedelic drug advocates Psychedelic drug researchers Psychonautics researchers Alumni of the University of Kent