On Revelations and Revolutions: Drinking Ayahuasca Among Palestinians Under Israeli Occupation
Frontiers in Psychology August 27, 2021 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.718934 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Qualitative study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 31 |
| Population | Israelis and Palestinians who drink ayahuasca together |
| Intervention | Ayahuasca |
| Topics | Ayahuasca |
| Keywords | Injustice Politics Feeling Harmony color Aesthetics Law |
| Citations | 11 |
| Key findings | Ayahuasca-induced revelatory events can disrupt depoliticized ritual structures and foster emancipatory political resistance among marginalized participants. |
Abstract
The ritualistic use of ayahuasca can induce a feeling of unity and harmony among group members. However, such depoliticized feelings can come in the service of a destructive political status quo in which Palestinians are marginalized. Through 31 in-depth interviews of Israelis and Palestinians who drink ayahuasca together, and through participatory observations, such rituals were examined. In this setting marginalization was structurally rooted by the group’s inability to recognize Palestinian national identity or admit the ongoing Israeli injustice toward Palestinians. Although the groups avoided politics, they still find their way into these rituals. This happened through occasional ayahuasca-induced revelatory events, in which individuals were confronted with a pressing truth related to the oppressive relations between Jewish Israelis and Palestinians. Three case studies of such revelatory events are described in this paper. Affected by emotions of pain, anger, and guilt, these participants developed resistance toward the hegemonic Israeli ritual structure. This was followed by an urge to deliver an emancipatory message to the rest of the group, usually through a song. Moreover, affected subjects developed a long-lasting fidelity to the truth attained at these events. In time, this fidelity led to the expansion of ayahuasca practices to other Palestinians and the politicization of the practice. The article draws on Badiou’s theory in Being and Event (1988) to analyze the relations between the Israeli ritual structure, the Palestinian revelatory event, and the emancipatory fidelity that followed. Badiou’s theory elucidates the egalitarian revolutionary potential, which is part of the sociopsychopharmacology of psychedelics.
Comparable studies
Other qualitative studies on ayahuasca, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The antipodes Of the mind Indigenous people, shamans, members of different religious sects using Ayahuasca, and... | 2002 | Qualitative study | |
| Drug Tourism or Spiritual Healing? Ayahuasca Seekers in Amazonia Westerners participating in an ayahuasca retreat in Amazonia | 2005 | Qualitative study | |
| Therapeutic Effects of Ritual Ayahuasca Use in the Treatment of Substance Dependence—Qualitative Results Therapists, expert researchers, and individuals who underwent ayahuasca-assisted... | 2014 | Qualitative study | n = 29 |
| Nourishing the Spirit: Exploratory Research on Ayahuasca Experiences along the Continuum of Recovery from Eating Disorders Individuals previously diagnosed with an eating disorder | 2017 | Qualitative study | n = 16 |
| Exploring ayahuasca‐assisted therapy for addiction: A qualitative analysis of preliminary findings among an Indigenous community in Canada Indigenous adults in Canada who participated in ayahuasca-assisted ceremonial retreats | 2019 | Qualitative study | n = 11 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 9
- Psychedelic unselfing: self-transcendence and change of values in psychedelic experiences Frontiers in Psychology June 14, 2023
- Relational Processes in Ayahuasca Groups of Palestinians and Israelis. Frontiers in Pharmacology 2021
- Moving beyond a figurative psychedelic literacy: Metaphors of psychiatric symptoms in ayahuasca narratives. Social Science & Medicine October 1, 2023
- Psychedelics for Alcohol Use Disorder: A Narrative Review with Candidate Mechanisms of Action. CNS Drugs July 10, 2025
- Micro-Messiahs and the Revolutionary Dynamics of Psychedelic Diffusion Religions June 24, 2026
and 4 more in the library
Cites 19
- Quality of Acute Psychedelic Experience Predicts Therapeutic Efficacy of Psilocybin for Treatment-Resistant Depression Frontiers in Pharmacology January 17, 2018
- Psychedelics and the essential importance of context. Journal of Psychopharmacology February 15, 2018
- Constructing drug effects: A history of set and setting Drug Science, Policy and Law 2017
- Factor Analysis of the Mystical Experience Questionnaire: A Study of Experiences Occasioned by the Hallucinogen Psilocybin Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion December 1, 2012
- MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for treatment of PTSD: study design and rationale for phase 3 trials based on pooled analysis of six phase 2 randomized controlled trials. Psychopharmacology September 1, 2019
and 14 more in the library