Ayahuasca ceremonies, relationality, and inner-outer transformations to sustainability. Evidence from Takiwasi Center in Peru
Ecosystems and People April 18, 2024 David Manuel‐navarrete, Serena Deluca, Fabio Friso et al. 7 citations
Ayahuasca use in settings co-produced by Indigenous and Western knowledges can foster relationality and sustainability transformations across ontology, praxis, and epistemology. A survey of 74 English-speaking individuals who attended ceremonies at the Takiwasi Center in Peru, along with 11 interviews and a discussion circle, revealed unexpected shifts: participants reported boundary dissolution and changes in self-perception, experiencing nature and non-human beings as having spiritual or human-like agency. This blurring of boundaries challenged their materialist ontologies. Co-produced ceremonies enhanced relational thinking and embodiment of relationality, with inner-outer transformations emerging from integrating the 'plant's teachings' into daily life. The findings contribute to inner transformations and the relational turn in sustainability, though scaling plant-based ceremonies must be weighed against impacts on the Amazon rainforest and its biocultures.