Daniel Waterman

Amongst others, Waterman and Hardison coined the phrase “Responsibility Assignment Narrative.” RAN’s, they argue, constitute a specific function of language in the context of drugs discourse and policy making whereby key words and narratives serve to conceal the interests of the speaker. Speakers adopt an RAN to avoid responsibility or to blame others. The authors argue that concepts of responsibility — moral, legal and pragmatic — are founded on beliefs about free will and causality. These principle belong to what Thomas Nagel identifies as ‘absurdism,’ namely the principle that the ‘chain of justification,’ of what causes what, is never satisfactorily resolved either in psychological theory, or in physics. According to Waterman and Hardison:

Waterman is a staunch critic of Israel. Following the Israeli army’s incursion into Gaza in 2009 he burned his passport and posted a video on YouTube. This earned him scathing condemnation from pro-Israeli activists. Together with his mother, Ruth Kupferschmidt, he co-signed an ad in the New York Times, (August 23, 2014) in which over 300 Holocaust survivors and their descendants unequivocally condemn the Israeli policies re Palestinians as “Genocidal.””More than 350 Survivors and Descendants of Survivors and Victims of the Nazi Genocide Condemn Israel’s Assault on Gaza”. YouTube. 2009.

Waterman’s first book Entheogens, Society & Law, (ESL) published by Melrose Books, Oxford in 2013, constitutes one of the most thorough non-academic critiques of contemporary discourses on entheogens and psychedelics to date, presenting an analysis of the role of magical thinking, moral and ideological preferences in the dissemination of conflicting interpretations of psychoactive plants, substances, their uses, users and effects. ESL covers important historical events such as Dutch psychiatrist Jan Bastiaan’s use of LSD in the treatment of victims of Nazi persecution and the ensuing political debate in the Netherlands, landmark legal cases such as Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficente Uniao do Vegetal 546 U.S. 418 (2006) in the US and Santo Daime vs. Netherlands (2001), philosophical arguments, medical ethics, religious arguments, the influence of New Age beliefs, and finally takes a critical look at the role of Judeo-Christian moral concepts in the undermining of the relationship between spirituality and ethics in different areas of society.

The September 2001 attacks on the Twin Towers in New York left a deep impression, prompting a critical inquiry into the relationship between consciousness, ethics and injustice. This inquiry ultimately led to the publication of a book, “Entheogens, Society & Law: Towards a Politics of Consciousness, Autonomy and Responsibility”.

In 2001, having returned to the Netherlands, Waterman founded “Ayahuasca Open Style” a loose association of ayahuasca providers and participants that advocates a secular psychotherapeutic approach to the use of “entheogenic” technologies. Around this time he also began researching and writing Entheogens, Society and Law while working as an ayahuasca provider in the Netherlands and abroad.

In 2001, Waterman founded Ayahuasca Open Style (AOS) as a secular alternative to religious style ayahuasca ceremonies such those of the Brazilian Santo Daime. Ayahuasca Open Style ceremonies have been held in the Netherlands (2001 ongoing), Israel (2003-2006), Spain (2006), Czechoslovakia (2007), and the UK (2010). The ceremonies differ significantly from the religious format adopted by traditional ayahuasca shamans and contemporary religious groups like the Santo Daime. AOS ceremonies have no formal structure and no official functions such as “fiscal” (sitter/caretaker) or “commander” (master of ceremonies in the Santo Daime tradition). Decisions concerning the duration of the ceremony and the type of musical accompaniment are taken collectively based on the preferences and needs of participants. AOS ceremonies are eclectic, incorporating methods from psychedelic psychotherapy, shamanism and a variety of religious traditions. To compensate for the lack of formal structure, participants are given a thorough interview beforehand and invited to share their experiences with other participants afterwards. As of 2012, AOS ceremonies have begun to be integrated with workshops on a wide range of topics including personal development, communication skills, writing and other forms of creative expression, ecology and transitioning and activism. The workshops aim to extend the transformational value of the ayahuasca ceremony by providing an opportunity for reflection and sharing on a wide range of ethical and existential problems impacting the lives of participants.

Waterman originally studied gold & silversmithing at the Vrije Academie Psychopolis [1] in The Hague and Vakschool Schoonhoven [2], as well as graphic design and fashion and St. Joost Akademie voor de Beeldende Kunsten [3] in Breda, from 1982 to 1986. Upon graduation, Waterman began traveling and developed an interest in the relationship between creativity, consciousness and health. In the 1990s he first came into contact with Santo Daime, a syncretic religious tradition from Brazil. Adherents consume a powerful psychoactive brew that catalyses altered or non-ordinary states of consciousness. Inspired by his experiences with ayahuasca, he subsequently traveled around the Amazon learning about native religious beliefs, mythology and healing practices. Waterman briefly worked as an instructor at the Usko-Ayar school of Amazonian Painting in Pucallpa, Peru, and collaborated with its founder, Don Pablo Amaringo, a mestizo curandero turned painter, teaching English, computer animation and drawing skills.

Daniel Waterman (born 1962) is a British philosopher, artist, writer, freelance researcher, locksmith, and Ayahuasca provider, living in the Netherlands. He is the author of Entheogens, Society & Law: Towards a Politics of Consciousness, Autonomy & Responsibility, edited by Casey William Hardison, and published in 2013.