Question

what are the earliest forms of religion? How does that correlate with hallucinogenic drugs, if there is any correlation.

Answer 1

Don't quote me, but I believe it's ancestor worship, evidenced by remains of flowers and offerings found in paleolithic graves. I found two articles that support this evidence, but as far as hallucinogens, I think it can be argued that some hunter/gatherers must have come across a berry bush one day and found that eating them made them see cool colors.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1200/is_24_160/ai_81827792/

http://www.slideshare.net/cckanth/the-paleolithic-age

Answer 2

would you say that drugs correlate with these religions?

Answer 3

According to me, the earliest form of religion was worshipping forces of nature. Man was bewildered by the lightening, fire, erupting volcanoes etc. i.e. force of nature which were too strong and beyond his understanding.

That is why if you look at the gods and goddesses from various countries/cultures, fire-god, thunder-god, rain-god etc. are quite common...........

Answer 4

You may want to consider the Native Peoples of the Americas, (US, Canada, Alaska, etc.) Since Native Peoples were some of the first to inhabit the land, it can probably be assumed that their relgions were some of the first established. Keep in mind that Native Americans have used hallucinogens such as Peyote to aid in their spirit or vision quests.

I found an interesting article with great references... I hope this helps. :)

http://csp.org/nicholas/A57.html

Answer 5

Is your suggestion that "religious experiences" caused by hallucinogenics could have triggered the first formulation of religious thought? (I like that hypothesis btw,) BUT from what i can tell, and i haven't studied toooo much on the matter, the earliest religions would have either been ancestor worship, out of fear of death, or nature worship (pan theism) because of our hunter/gathering past. Interesting side note: the concept of reincarnation in Hinduism, Jainism and Sikhism, likely came about because of the rain patterns on the indian sub continent. When the monsoons would come they would bring new life every rainy season and reincarnate the land.