The expansion of ayahuasca shamanism is examined in the context of its interactions with Western therapies and the New Age movement, and shamanism's role as a mediator in contemporary indigenous ethnic relationships is considered. The introduction reviews existing research and provides context for each chapter of the book.
Ayahuasca shamanism is well studied, but the medicinal plant gardens commonly found at ayahuasca centers have received less attention. This paper provides detailed mapping and commentary on one such garden, identifying a relatively stable set of plants typical of Amazonian vegetalismo that defines shamans' gardens as a genre. Visitors develop personal relationships with plants, while shamans adopt biomedical and psychotherapeutic vocabulary. These ethnobotanical gardens become sites of constructive equivocation, where contrasting cultural assumptions find partial accommodation.