The Power of Social Attribution: Perspectives on the Healing Efficacy of Ayahuasca
Frontiers in Psychology October 28, 2021 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.748131 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Ayahuasca Shamanism |
| Keywords | Indigenous Appropriation Environmental ethics Popularity Psychotherapist |
| Citations | 15 |
| Key points | Argues that there is an ontological incommensurability between Indigenous and modern medicinal concepts of ayahuasca use, so Indigenous practices cannot legitimate medical applications, and the coloniality of this appropriation must be resolved. |
Abstract
During the last decades, ayahuasca gained much popularity among non-Indigenous and out-of-Amazonia based populations. In popular culture, it has been advertised as a natural remedy that was discovered by Indigenous peoples ante millennia and that has been used for shamanic healing of all kinds of ailments. This “neo-shamanic,” and often recreational, use of ayahuasca, however, has to be distinguished from traditional Indigenous praxes on the one hand, and, on the other hand, from medical investigation in the modern world. The former, Indigenous use mainly understands ayahuasca as an amplifying power for interacting with non-human beings in the animal, plant, or spirit realms. Within this paradigm, efficacy is not dependent on the drug, but on the correct communication between the healer (or sorcerer) and the non-human powers that are considered real and powerful also without resorting to ayahuasca. The latter, modern mode of understanding, contrastingly treats the neurochemical processes of MAO inhibition and dimethyltryptamine activity as trigger mechanisms for a series of psychological as well as somatic responses, including positive outcomes in the treatment of various mental conditions. I argue that there is an ontological incommensurability occurring especially between the Indigenous and medicinal concepts of ayahuasca use (with recreational use in its widest understanding trying to make sense from both sides). Modern medical applications of ayahuasca are so fundamentally different from Indigenous concepts that the latter cannot be used to legitimate or confirm the former (and vice versa). Finally, the deep coloniality in the process of appropriation of the Indigenous by the modern has to be questioned and resolved in any case of ayahuasca application.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on ayahuasca, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The globalization of ayahuasca: Harm reduction or benefit maximization? | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Ayahuasca Shamanism in the Amazon and Beyond | 2014 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Antipodes of the Mind: Charting the Phenomenology of the Ayahuasca Experience | 2003 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Towards psychedelic apprenticeship: Developing a gentle touch for the mediation and validation of psychedelic-induced insights and revelations. | 2022 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Ayahuasca healing beyond the Amazon: the globalization of a traditional indigenous entheogenic practice | 2008 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 14
- 'Everybody's creating it along the way': ethical tensions among globalized ayahuasca shamanisms and therapeutic integration practices. Interdisciplinary Science Reviews 2023
- Psychedelic Therapy as Form of Life Neuroethics March 16, 2024
- A Systematic Review on the Therapeutic Effects of Ayahuasca. Plants July 7, 2023
- Experiences of Listening to Icaros during Ayahuasca Ceremonies at Centro Takiwasi:An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis Anthropology of Consciousness September 26, 2022
- Ayahuasca ceremonies, relationality, and inner-outer transformations to sustainability. Evidence from Takiwasi Center in Peru Ecosystems and People April 18, 2024
and 9 more in the library
Cites 18
- Rapid antidepressant effects of the psychedelic ayahuasca in treatment-resistant depression: a randomized placebo-controlled trial Psychological Medicine June 15, 2018
- Psychedelics and Mental Health: A Population Study PLoS One August 19, 2013
- Human Psychopharmacology of Hoasca, A Plant Hallucinogen Used in Ritual Context in Brazil The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease February 1, 1996
- Subjective effects and tolerability of the South American psychoactive beverage Ayahuasca in healthy volunteers Psychopharmacology February 22, 2001
- Ayahuasca, dimethyltryptamine, and psychosis: a systematic review of human studies Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology February 23, 2017
and 13 more in the library