16 ICSA TODAY
About the Author
Joseph Szimhart began research into
cultic influence in 1980, after ending
his 2-year devotion to a New Age sect
called Church Universal and Triumphant.
He began to work professionally as an
intervention specialist and exit counselor
in 1986.
Since 1998 he has worked in the crisis
department of a psychiatric emergency hospital in Pennsylvania.
He continues to assist families with interventions and former
members in recovery, including consultations via phone and
Internet. In 2016 he received an ICSA Lifetime Achievement
Award at the Annual Conference in Dallas, Texas. He received the
Jury award with his Jackrabbit Stew painting for a three-person
show in the fall of 2016 at Freyberger Gallery, Penn State Berks
campus. jszimhart@gmail.com n
Notes
[1] witnify.com/text-photojournalist-among-hippie-tribe/
[2] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodstock_(song)
[3] world-news-research.com/neosh1.html
[4] embraceoftheserpent.oscilloscope.net/
[5] theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/bc-doctor-
agrees-to-stop-using-amazonian-plant-to-treat-addictions/
article4250579/
[6] i ndiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/04/30/ayahuasca-
may-hold-key-breaking-addiction-canada-forcing-doctor-stop-
testing-110073
[7] theonion.com/article/ayahuasca-shaman-dreading-another-
week-guiding-tec-52941
[8] shamanism.org/ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Miguel_Ruiz
[9] meaning “nude for ritual purposes.”
[10] aurorathespirit.com/index_files/Page585.htm https://www.
facebook.com/thunderhorse.bowen
[11] psiram.com/en/index.php/Psychology_of_Vision
[12] newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=3420.0
[13] straight.com/news/345316/haida-man-remembers-abuse-
indian-day-school
[14] jszimhart.com/essays/crazy_mushroombolond_gomba
[15] Email correspondence with Laura Dutheil, May 15, 2016.
[16] “Tom Greene, Jr. for Council” (campaign newsletter for February
2012 election).
[17] amazon.com/Cleansing-Doors-Perception-Significance-
Entheogenic/dp/1591810086
[18] mensjournal.com/magazine/the-dark-side-of-
ayahuasca-20130215
[19] Soma in ancient Hindu tradition indicated three functions: as
a plant, as an intoxicating brew or entheogen, and as the god
Soma.
[20] I have copies of a waiver and guidelines handed out by Earth
Peoples United (EPU).
[21] icsahome.com/articles/book-review-shamans-and-religions
[22] Blue Morph has a good example of liability waiver for ayahuasca
tours: https://www.bluemorphotours.com/
References
Jenkins, P. (2005). Dream catchers: How mainstream America
discovered Native spirituality. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Kehoe, A. B. (2000). Shamans and religion: An anthropological
exploration in critical thinking. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press.
Smith, H. (2003). Cleansing the doors of perception: The religious
significance of entheogenic plants and chemicals. Boulder, CO:
Sentient Publications.
Turner, B. (2011, August 2). “Psychedelic use spreads in B.C. native
community,” CBC News, British Columbia. Available online at http://
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/psychedelic-use-
spreads-in-b-c-native-community-1.1111869
Alice Beck Kehoe, an anthropologist, has been critical of the
neoshaman movement. She wrote that neoshamanism is racism.
By this she meant an intellectual or ivory-tower racism that looks
down on and dismisses the achievements of a living ancient
culture, as if shamanism represents a lesser evolved human being
who needs a more advanced culture to properly interpret it.
Thus, the neoshaman feels justified in appropriating techniques
of shamanism and marketing them for personal profit.
Furthermore, the neoshaman imposes personal experience
on ancient cultures as if he knows that shamanism underlies
a common, perennial basis with all religious experience.21 In
other words, the promise of ancient tribal consciousness comes
to those who go along with one shaman’s transformation cult
and are committed to sharing that vision with anyone who
will submit to it and buy it. And yes, you must sign the liability
waiver.22 n
The neoshaman becomes an
entrepreneur in the spiritual-
seeker industries—no better
than … gurus from India ready to
bottle sacred water from the Ganges
and sell it for $1,000 a pop.
About the Author
Joseph Szimhart began research into
cultic influence in 1980, after ending
his 2-year devotion to a New Age sect
called Church Universal and Triumphant.
He began to work professionally as an
intervention specialist and exit counselor
in 1986.
Since 1998 he has worked in the crisis
department of a psychiatric emergency hospital in Pennsylvania.
He continues to assist families with interventions and former
members in recovery, including consultations via phone and
Internet. In 2016 he received an ICSA Lifetime Achievement
Award at the Annual Conference in Dallas, Texas. He received the
Jury award with his Jackrabbit Stew painting for a three-person
show in the fall of 2016 at Freyberger Gallery, Penn State Berks
campus. jszimhart@gmail.com n
Notes
[1] witnify.com/text-photojournalist-among-hippie-tribe/
[2] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodstock_(song)
[3] world-news-research.com/neosh1.html
[4] embraceoftheserpent.oscilloscope.net/
[5] theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/bc-doctor-
agrees-to-stop-using-amazonian-plant-to-treat-addictions/
article4250579/
[6] i ndiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/04/30/ayahuasca-
may-hold-key-breaking-addiction-canada-forcing-doctor-stop-
testing-110073
[7] theonion.com/article/ayahuasca-shaman-dreading-another-
week-guiding-tec-52941
[8] shamanism.org/ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Miguel_Ruiz
[9] meaning “nude for ritual purposes.”
[10] aurorathespirit.com/index_files/Page585.htm https://www.
facebook.com/thunderhorse.bowen
[11] psiram.com/en/index.php/Psychology_of_Vision
[12] newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=3420.0
[13] straight.com/news/345316/haida-man-remembers-abuse-
indian-day-school
[14] jszimhart.com/essays/crazy_mushroombolond_gomba
[15] Email correspondence with Laura Dutheil, May 15, 2016.
[16] “Tom Greene, Jr. for Council” (campaign newsletter for February
2012 election).
[17] amazon.com/Cleansing-Doors-Perception-Significance-
Entheogenic/dp/1591810086
[18] mensjournal.com/magazine/the-dark-side-of-
ayahuasca-20130215
[19] Soma in ancient Hindu tradition indicated three functions: as
a plant, as an intoxicating brew or entheogen, and as the god
Soma.
[20] I have copies of a waiver and guidelines handed out by Earth
Peoples United (EPU).
[21] icsahome.com/articles/book-review-shamans-and-religions
[22] Blue Morph has a good example of liability waiver for ayahuasca
tours: https://www.bluemorphotours.com/
References
Jenkins, P. (2005). Dream catchers: How mainstream America
discovered Native spirituality. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Kehoe, A. B. (2000). Shamans and religion: An anthropological
exploration in critical thinking. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press.
Smith, H. (2003). Cleansing the doors of perception: The religious
significance of entheogenic plants and chemicals. Boulder, CO:
Sentient Publications.
Turner, B. (2011, August 2). “Psychedelic use spreads in B.C. native
community,” CBC News, British Columbia. Available online at http://
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/psychedelic-use-
spreads-in-b-c-native-community-1.1111869
Alice Beck Kehoe, an anthropologist, has been critical of the
neoshaman movement. She wrote that neoshamanism is racism.
By this she meant an intellectual or ivory-tower racism that looks
down on and dismisses the achievements of a living ancient
culture, as if shamanism represents a lesser evolved human being
who needs a more advanced culture to properly interpret it.
Thus, the neoshaman feels justified in appropriating techniques
of shamanism and marketing them for personal profit.
Furthermore, the neoshaman imposes personal experience
on ancient cultures as if he knows that shamanism underlies
a common, perennial basis with all religious experience.21 In
other words, the promise of ancient tribal consciousness comes
to those who go along with one shaman’s transformation cult
and are committed to sharing that vision with anyone who
will submit to it and buy it. And yes, you must sign the liability
waiver.22 n
The neoshaman becomes an
entrepreneur in the spiritual-
seeker industries—no better
than … gurus from India ready to
bottle sacred water from the Ganges
and sell it for $1,000 a pop.
