To set up an interview, contact Ken Siman at Tarcher/Putnam, 212/951-8582. Narby lives in Switzerland, and will be on a book tour in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York April 21-28. Jeremy Narby, Ph.D, is co-author with Jacques Dubochet of Voting on DNA: Science, Democracy and Genetic Engineering. Narby argues that bringing shamanism and science together could lead to a deeper understanding of such cutting-edge issues as bio-ethics, medicine, genetic engineering, and the urgent need to protect not only biodiversity in the Amazon rain forest, but the complex knowledge of shamans - the native doctors and scientists - in ecosystems around the world. A few are willing to consider that perhaps they might learn something by talking with shamans." But some scientists admit that it's getting harder to believe in random evolution, because the old theory cannot explain their new data. When I asked them about this, they still maintained it was the result of chance. "They call it an information-storage and duplication device, a text, or a program. When I talked with scientists, they described DNA as if it were the product of an intelligence," said Narby. Could it be that scientists and shamans are converging on the same discoveries about life after centuries of following diverging paths? Many say that this form shows them that the life principle is the same for all species.Īmong Narby's most astonishing discoveries were paintings and drawing done by shamans of their own visions showing identifiable bio-molecular forms, such as the double helixes of DNA, triple helixes of collagen, and chromosomes duplicating during cell division.
They also report seeing twins, twisted ladders and sky ropes in their visions. So he began an investigation of the surprising similarities between shamanism and science.ĭigging into field work by other anthropologists, Narby found that shamans on all five continents talk of a cosmic serpent, a very long single and double entity that is the key to life.
However, in recent years, as Narby began following the latest findings in molecular biology, he became haunted by the stories his Indian sources had told him. But being a pragmatist, he initially discounted these visions. When Narby tried the Indians' hallucinogenic brew, ayahuasca, he too saw brilliant multicolored snakes. "Ten years later, I discovered that much of what Amazonian shamans told me corresponds exactly to the latest findings of molecular biologists researching DNA." "The first time an Ashanica man told me he had learned the medicinal properties of plants by drinking a hallucinogenic brew, I thought he was joking ,"said Narby.
The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origings of Knowledge, a Book by Jeremy Narby, Ph.D.
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