Send message to Author

Paper short abstract

The ayahuasca brew has been the focus of research for addressing psychological and spiritual concerns on Global North contexts, leaving a gap regarding indigenous and mestizo populations. I will argue how their experiences are anchored in local notions of spirituality (e.g., visions, dreams).

Paper long abstract

Ayahuasca is an Amazonian psychedelic substance product of the combination of the ayahuasca vine (Banisteriopsis caapi) and the chacruna shrub (Psychotria viridis). It has gained renewed interest in the past 20 years, both in academic spaces and the public sphere, as research in the context of the “psychedelic renaissance” focuses on its potential therapeutic applications -and of other substances- while users from globalized contexts seek it as a solution to a wide array of psychological ailments (e.g., depression, post-traumatic stress disorder), or a gateway for spiritual inquiries.

While relevant research has been done in relation to the ayahuasca tourism scene in Latin American countries, and the circulation of the practice in the Global North, less attention has been placed on how indigenous and mestizo (i.e. people from mixed ethnic and cultural backgrounds often based in urban or peri-urban areas) establish significance of their ayahuasca experiences according to their local notions of spirituality. In this paper, I will explore how the ingestion of ayahuasca and other plants allows indigenous and mestizo people anchor their spiritual realities into concrete forms of relation for human/more-than-human interactions through visions, dreams, and contemplation.

I will argue based on the ethnographic data I gathered among indigenous and mestizo populations during my doctoral fieldwork (January 2022-August 2023; September-November 2024) in the Amazonian region of San Martin, Peru, at two locations: Tarapoto, a city that acts as a gateway to Kichwa-Lamista provinces; and Alto Mayo, a valley accessible by highway from Tarapoto, were the Awajún people are based.