Jeremy Narby

> Babelio : https://www.babelio.com/livres/Narby-Le-serpent-cosmique-lADN-et-les-origines-du...
> Clés, (11), (Automne 1996), p. 75 : https://drive.google.com/file/d/15AX4-qWsL5UtmN0XubcwSExMwZgdzuiA/view?usp=shari...

> LE SERPENT COSMIQUE, L’ADN et les origines du savoir, de Jeremy Narby, (éd. Georg). — Ce livre passionnant relate l'enquête de l’anthropologue Jeremy Narby en Amazonie péruvienne, chez les ayahuasqueros, authentiques chamanes utilisant les propriétés hallucinatoires d’une liane, l'ayahuasqua. Le but du scientifique occidental est d’abord très politique : il cherche à aider les Indiens à conserver leurs terres, en démontrant qu’ils ont une connaissance poussée de la flore équatoriale et ne sont pas les brutes primitives que s’imaginent les modernes. Mais Jeremy Narby va se trouver embarqué dans une démonstration beaucoup plus forte que celle qu’il avait imaginée. Une légende raconte que íes ayahuasqueros « dialoguent avec les plantes » et que ces dernières leur enseignent directement toutes sortes de savoirs, à la fois pratiques et essentielles. Légende !… Sauf que le jeune homme fait l’expérience lui-même, et s’aperçoit avec stupeur que c’est vrai : les plantes lui parlent, comme des instructeurs anciens s’adressant à un blanc-bec. Cherchant à comprendre, celui-ci est amené à faire des rapprochements remarquables entre des mythes anciens et des découvertes récentes de la science, par exemple entre l’ADN et une mystérieuse « corde » reliant la Terre et le Ciel - dans les deux cas, on a un filament de plusieurs milliards de kilomètres, qui organise la vie… De surprise en surprise, l’auteur découvre que la biologie et la génétique actuelles reposent essentiellement sur des dogmes et sont d’une cuistrerie incroyable, simplement parce qu'on ignore à quoi ils servent. En réalité, tout se passe comme si tous les êtres composés d’ADN pouvaient entrer en résonnance profonde… (Patrice VAN EERSEL)
—Nouvelles Clés, (8), Hiver 1995, (p. 62)… (altro)

Narby's book doesn't perhaps have the most compelling narrative - he traces quite a 'serpentine' path through science, anthropology, evolutionary biology, etc, and whilst these observations are frequently fascinating and thought provoking, they don't especially make for a coherent 'story'.

But it's Narby's overall hypothesis which is most intriguing. The shamans of the Amazon - along with other native cultures - profess a detailed knowledge of botany and the effects of various psychotropic substances that is difficult to account for rationally. This, of course, is a disputable claim, but if true it demands an answer: How did they come by such knowledge? But it is an answer that, Narby argues, traditional anthropology and science are not in a position to provide.

Narby's proposed solution is that we should take the claims of the shamans seriously: they say that 'the spirits tell them', so why not believe them? But 'spirits', in Narby's interpretation, are not the traditional immaterial entities of myth and religion, but the mechanism of life itself - specifically, DNA. Highlighting the prevalence of serpent symbolism in shamanic cultures (especially in the Amazon), Narby argues that shamans have found a means to 'interrogate' the information held in DNA (the snake-like double helix), and in fact to 'converse' with it. In his words, the biosphere which is controlled and moulded by DNA is 'minded' - it is conscious and intelligent.

It is to Narby's credit that, whilst endeavouring to make his case in robust scientific terms, he recognises that his argument will do nothing to convince the harder-headed type of scientist and rational sceptic, considering their world view to be inherently opposed to his hypothesis. Here, he makes some good observations, I think, concerning how the method and principles of modern scientific materialism (of which Darwinism is an expression) necessarily exclude a number of intriguing possibilities: that nature is conscious and purposive; that - even if we are not talking of divine design - there may be other principles at work in evolution than the mechanistic theory of natural selection (which he considers woefully inadequate to account for biological complexity and intentionality).

This is, obviously, an unpopular view (the majority of evolutionary biologists being firmly in the mechanistic/materialistic Darwinian camp). Add to this Narby's openness to the meaningfulness of shamanic-type hallucinogenic experiences, and it is easy to see how the book will be summarily dismissed or ignored by those who would be best placed to consider his arguments (biologists, anthropologists, scientists in general). However, this would be a great shame. This is far from a 'quack' book. Narby is personally and passionately invested in the issues he raises - he talks hallucinogens himself, under supervision of a native shaman, and through his involvement in the indigenous culture he comes to realise the threats and dangers they face from Westernisation and the exploitation of big business. Furthermore, his sincere and thoughtful appraisal of the topics raised, always seeking to phrase his ideas in the terms of science and rational discourse, make this a valuable contribution not only to literature on shamanism and hallucinogenics, but also to those seeking to appraise the biases of science and the Western perspective.

Gareth Southwell is a philosopher, writer and illustrator.… (altro)