The World Ayahuasca Diaspora: Reinventions and controversies

This book investigates how certain alternative global religious groups, shamanic tourism industries, and recreational drug milieus grounded in the consumption of the traditionally Amazonian psychoactive drink ayahuasca embody various challenges associated with modern societies. During its expansion from the Amazon jungle to Western societies, ayahuasca use has encountered different legal and cultural responses in the destination countries. This encounter is discussed in the book in terms of how it discloses contemporary controversies regarding religious ambivalence in modern societies, and how disparate and competing ontological and epistemological discourse on ayahuasca use has emerged among ayahuasca drinkers and between them and the state. The role of science in the confrontations between ayahuasca drinkers and the law is also contemplated. The chapters include ethnographic investigations of ritual practice, transnational religious ideology, the politics of healing, and the invention of tradition. Authors explore symbolic effects of a “bureaucratization of enchantment” in religious practice, and the “sanitizing” of indigenous rituals for tourist markets. Larger questions on the global economics of ayahuasca in terms of notions of commodification and the categories of sacred and profane are also addressed. This unique book explores classic and contemporary issues in social science and the humanities, providing rich material on the bourgeoning expansion of ayahuasca use around the globe.

During its expansion from the Amazon jungle to Western societies, ayahuasca use has encountered different legal and cultural responses. Following on from the earlier edited collection, The Expanding World Ayahuasca Diaspora continues to explore how certain alternative global religious groups, shamanic tourism industries, and recreational drug milieus grounded in the consumption of the traditionally Amazonian psychoactive drink ayahuasca embody various challenges associated with modern societies. Each contributor explores the symbolic effects of a " bureaucratization of enchantment " in religious practice and the " sanitizing " of indigenous rituals for tourist markets. Chapters include ethnographic investigations of ritual practice, transnational religious ideology, the politics of healing, and the invention of tradition. Larger questions on the commodification of ayahuasca and the categories of sacred and profane are also addressed. Exploring classic and contemporary issues in social science and the humanities, this book provides rich material on the bourgeoning expansion of ayahuasca use around the globe. As such, it will appeal to students and academics in Clancy Cavnar has a doctorate in clinical psychology (PsyD) from John F. Kennedy University. She currently works at a dual-diagnosis residential drug treatment center in San Francisco and is a research associate of the Nucleus for Interdisciplinary Studies of Psychoactives (NEIP).

Shaman, 2022

In this article, I discuss some of the implications of the transnational expansion of ayahuasca shamanism, which was traditionally found in Amazonia. This expansion has resulted in new transreligious ritual forms that although derived from Indigenous Amazonian traditions have developed their own characteristics. These ritual forms combine spiritual motivations with healing, making them harder to categorize in the way that religion is usually defined in Western cultures. I present what I see as the two major paradigms within which ayahuasca and other psychedelics are used currently, namely the therapeutic and religious paradigms, and reflect on what they mean for the future of psychedelics and religion, particularly in the U.S. context. Within the transnational spread of ayahuasca and its use in contexts such as shamanic tourism and informal ritual circles that have emerged in recent years, the religious and therapeutic paradigms seem to be enmeshed. I argue that, although several stakeholders and scientists are working towards establishing the safety and therapeutic potential of psychedelics such as ayahuasca, the religious paradigm shows just as much promise as a road to legitimacy. However, given the compartmentalization between religious and therapeutic uses, it is likely that if a religious discourse as a path to legitimacy becomes more pronounced in the future, it cannot be within traditional religious frameworks. I discuss the limitations of the Christian-centric religious paradigm that dominates how religion is defined in Western cultures and argue that the transnational expansion of ayahuasca circles shows the emergence of a new paradigm combining transreligious elements, and has the potential of reshaping the way religion or spirituality is conceptualized.

Ayahuasca is a hallucinogenic plant mixture used in a ceremonial context throughout western Amazonia, and its use has expanded globally in recent decades. As part of this expansion, ayahuasca has become popular among westerners who travel to the Peruvian Amazon in increasing numbers to experience its reportedly healing and transformative effects. Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork in and around the area of Iquitos, Peru, the epicenter of ayahuasca tourism, this paper focuses on some of the problematic aspects of western engagement with indigenous spiritual traditions. This engagement is usually based on idealized and romanticized notions of indigenous shamanism and an inability to digest its less palatable aspects, such as sorcery. Through ethnographic examples and ethnohistorical evidence, I show that the romanticization indigenous peoples is not benign. In fact, this one-sided romantic image hides the complexity of indigenous peoples' situations by erasing the injustices that they have experienced and continue to experience. I propose a more holistic approach to ayahuasca shamanism that views indigenous peoples not living in a fictitious harmony with nature but as people embedded in larger struggles and facing important challenges not the least of which is the recent commercialization of indigenous spirituality.

Ayahuasca is a psychoactive brew that has origins in the indigenous traditions of the Amazon regions of South America. It is known as a healing medicine that is deeply embedded in shamanic practices and spiritual beliefs. In the last few decades the use of Ayahuasca has developed outside of the Amazon and has since become a transnational phenomenon, crossing boundaries between Western and non-Western healing contexts. This increasing popularity has attracted a multidisciplinary array of research interests, of which anthropology has significantly contributed. It has become evident for those engaged in Ayahuasca research that Western epistemology is limited by its longstanding constraints of objectivism, rationalism and scientific materialism. In this thesis, I provide an analysis of Ayahuasca to outline the spiritual centrality of its use and appropriation, especially in context of healing beliefs and practices. I apply the concept of neo-enchantment to outline how the globalization of Ayahuasca challenges the hegemony of rationalism and secularism in industrialized society. This is achieved through reference to recent Ayahuasca research and analysis that seek to overcome limitations of Western epistemology, through dialectically synthesizing scientific and indigenous paradigms of healing and knowledge. While focused on Ayahuasca research, the outcomes of this thesis relates to broader issues in the social sciences and beyond, and raises some important questions for future research.

2019

In 1985, ayahuasca was banned for a short period of time by the Federal Council of Drugs (CONFEN). After more than two decades of debates and public policies, the Brazilian government consolidated the regulation of ayahuasca consumption for religious purposes and recognized ayahuasca groups as legitimate religions and part of the cultural heritage of the Amazon region. The aim of this work is to demonstrate that scholars played a crucial role in shaping public policy related to the regulation of ayahuasca exclusively for religious purposes, as well as influencing the public recognition of the Brazilian ayahuasca religions. Thus, by participating in the decision-making processes and incorporating elements from the academic field into the debate, Brazilian researchers contributed to mold the regulation of ayahuasca and shape public policies.

2011

Ayahuasca, an entheogenic beverage endemic to the Amazon, has been utilized by indigenous peoples in the region for hundreds of years for a wide range of purposes. Recently however, this beverage has entered into the Occidental consciousness, becoming a facet of Western popular culture and triggering a surge in tourism to the region. As this trend in tourism has grown over the past sixty years, ayahuasca has become increasingly commoditized and delocalized as it circulates on a global scale. Likewise, a number of scholars have critiqued the practice of ayahuasca tourism, labeling many practitioners as charlatans and tourists as “drug” users. In order to investigate this phenomenon and provide a deeper anthropologically informed critique, I draw upon ethnographic fieldwork conducted in 2007 and 2008 in the far Western Peruvian Amazon. Utilizing field data and a review of the extant literature, I argue that the vast majority of shamans participating in ayahuasca tourism rely on an ontology based upon the notions of mimesis and alterity, which in turn structures their practice and experience. Underscoring the political economy of its use, I conclude by problematizing ayahuasca tourism’s uncertain future.

. In this paper, I will argue that the best approach to ayahuasca in international legislation and drug policies that deal with “traditional” uses of plants, should be framed in terms of cognitive liberty in order to account for U.S. hegemony and colonial history affecting the South American region. Although this may sound extremely “libertarian” at the outset, my rationale is based on the idea that legislation around any traditional or indigenous practices causes more harm than good, even when the legislation is intended to protect certain practices. While I will be focusing on ayahuasca, there will be implications for, and parallels with, other substances such as the coca leaf as well. Obviously, the scope of the issue is global, but I my argument frames it here within the particular context and history of U.S. and Latin American relations to emphasize the harmful history of the War on Drugs, which has largely been led by the U.S. since the Nixon administration. Ignoring the ongoing dominance of the United States in the region is not an option. A particular attention to indigenous and traditional uses is also necessary.

Drugs: Education, Prevention, and Policy, 2012

This article comments on the agreement signed in 2010 between a US branch of the Brazilian ayahuasca religion Uniã o do Vegetal (UDV) and the US Drug Enforcement Agency. This document settles a dispute regarding administrative issues involving ayahuasca, a psychoactive brew used by this group as a religious sacrament. The government originally confiscated this substance in 1999, and the matter went to the Supreme Court, which handed down a decision favourable to the UDV in 2006. Despite the fact that this group prevailed, the agreement reveals that the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) views ayahuasca not as a religious sacrament, but as a toxic and hazardous compound. This article also contextualizes this agreement in relation to the history of the UDV, which has been expanding beyond the Amazon since the 1970s. This process entailed increasing levels of institutionalization, formalization and bureaucratization. In its search for social legitimacy and legal conformity, the group has gradually shifted from its popular Amazonian origins. This process reached its peak with the current agreement with the DEA. Nevertheless, the agreement surpassed the levels of control and interference that would be tolerated by these religions in Brazil. It raises serious concerns for all those interested in human rights, religious freedom and cognitive liberty.