Ayahuasca, a psychoactive plant decoction, has spread from indigenous South American communities to urban areas worldwide, where it is used in neoshamanic rituals. Ethnography of Australian ayahuasca ceremonies reveals that individualism shapes the structure of rituals, interpretation of visionary experiences, and notions of spiritual development. Metaphors used by Australian drinkers reflect immunitary individualism, premised on negation of difference and relationality. Secular disenchantment and a culture of narcissism may drive people to seek ayahuasca, but transcendence is interpreted as an expansive, non-relational self. Neoshamanic ayahuasca culture may thus be both an escape from and reproduction of the culture of narcissism associated with modernity's malaise.
The medicalization of psychedelic drugs in the United States over the past two decades has created new scientific and clinical practices, but this emphasis on therapeutic use is a specific cultural reification. Because limited anthropological research exists on this topic, the article introduces the concept of psychedelic assemblages to argue that the nature of psychedelics transforms within and across cultural contexts. The nature of these drugs is contingent on how each culture assigns meaning and function, and each form of reification produces unique sociocultural and material effects. The argument draws on interdisciplinary research, semi-structured interviews, and netnography.
Magical or symbolic power in Tamang shamanic rituals of highland Nepal is a form of 'alienated consciousness' produced through processes of symbolic transcendence. These rituals, including curative soundings and collective pilgrimages, seek to transform afflicted individuals from abject subjects into active agents. Drawing on Terence Turner's ritual theory, the article argues that shamans (bombo) deconstruct socio-ritual orders through transcendent moves, exposing their constructedness and arbitrariness. This deconstruction lays the groundwork for individual and collective transformation, enabling the afflicted to move from a state of abjection to one of agency.