The Cosmic Serpent

The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge
	Penguin paperback cover, showing symbolic correspondence between an image of a snake and DNA
Author	Jeremy Narby
Original title	Le serpent cosmique, l'ADN et les origines du savoir
Language	French
Publisher	Georg
Publication date	1998
Published in English	1998
Media type	Print
Pages	257
ISBN	2-8257-0495-4
OCLC	34122475
Followed by	Intelligence in Nature

The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge is a 1998 non-fiction book by anthropologist Jeremy Narby.

Research[]

Narby performed two years of field work in the Pichis Valley of the Peruvian Amazon researching the ecology of the Asháninka, an indigenous peoples in Peru.

Hypothesis[]

Postulating connections between shamanism and molecular biology, Narby hypothesizes that shamans may be able to access information at the molecular level through the ingestion of entheogens, specifically ayahuasca.^[1] Biophysicist Jacques Dubochet criticized Narby for not testing his hypothesis.^[1]

Documentary[]

Narby and three molecular biologists revisited the Peruvian Amazon to try to test the hypothesis, and their work is featured in the documentary film, Night of the Liana.^[2]

References[]

^ ^a ^b Narby, Jeremy (2006). Intelligence in Nature. Penguin. pp. 1–2, 149–150. ISBN 1-58542-399-8.
^ Grant, John (2006). Discarded Science. Sterling Publishing. pp. 285–286. ISBN 1-904332-49-8.

Further reading[]

Posner, Michael. article, "Plants with Soul", [1]. The Walrus, Jul/Aug 2006.
Shanon, Benny. (2002). Antipodes of the Mind: Charting the Phenomenology of the Ayahuasca Experience. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-925292-0
Stewart, Todd. "The Cosmic Serpent: An interview with Jeremy Narby" in ascent magazine. Issue 03. 1999.