Experience with Hallucinogenic Plant Ayahuasca in the Context of Shamanic Ritual

Vol.5,No.1(2014)

Abstract
This research focuses on people who travelled to the Amazonian forests to experience natural hallucinogen Ayahuasca in the context of "shaman" rituals. Anthropologists began describing this phenomenon in the 1970s as so called "shaman tourism" and it is becoming more and more recognised as such by citizens of countries across Europe and USA. Our goal was to map how the Ayahuasca shaman tourism functions - what motivates the people who seek this type of experience. The benefits, risks and the consequent integration of this extraordinary experience on their lives. Data was collected in the Czech Republic and in the Peruvian Amazon in the places which are known as the centers of ayahuasca shamanic tourism (Tarapoto, Iquitos) through a process of semi – structured interviews, screening questionnaires and involved observation. We obtained testimonies from seventy seven people. The interviews show that the main motivation to use Ayahuasca was curiosity, a form of therapy for mental health problems and the need for self – knowledge. Benefits were seen primarily in relation toward self, in terms of self – knowledge and self-acceptance, and on the spiritual, mental, somatic and relational levels. A detached viewpoint of life, satisfaction and clarification of one´s life were also mentioned quite often. Among the stated risks were the distrust of the shaman or organizer. The distortion of information they provided and the exposure to a high – risk situation. Most respondents regard the experience itself as a safe one. Any difficulties experienced with taking  Ayahuasca were later evaluated as positive in terms of life improvement. This research was funded by two research projects at Palacký University in Olomouc: IGA (SPP:432101021) and FPVČ (SPP: 452100061).

Keywords:
Ayahuasca; shaman tourism; shamanism; ritual; Amazon Basin
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