It’s all you! Australian ayahuasca drinking, spiritual development, and immunitary individualism
Critique of Anthropology May 14, 2018 DOI: 10.1177/0308275x18775818 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Ethnography Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Australian ayahuasca ceremony participants |
| Intervention | Ayahuasca |
| Topics | Ayahuasca Shamanism |
| Keywords | Narcissism Individualism Transcendence philosophy Numinous Aesthetics Anthropology Epistemology Theology Archaeology |
| Citations | 13 |
| Key findings | Individualism shapes ayahuasca rituals and spiritual development in Australian neoshamanic contexts, reflecting immunitary individualism that negates relationality and may reproduce the culture of narcissism. |
Abstract
Ayahuasca, a psychoactive plant decoction, has spread from indigenous communities in South America to urban areas in the Americas, Europe, and Australia where it is used in neoshamanic rituals. This paper draws on ethnography of Australian ayahuasca ceremonies to examine the ways that individualism shapes the structure of ayahuasca rituals, the interpretation of visionary experiences, and notions of spiritual development. I show how the metaphors that Australian drinkers involved in this study use to understand their ayahuasca experiences and spiritual development reflect a form of immunitary individualism, which is premised on the negation of difference and relationality. Secular disenchantment and a culture of narcissism may drive people to seek ayahuasca, but transcendence is interpreted in terms of an expansive, non-relational self. In this sense, neoshamanic ayahuasca culture may be an escape from and reproduction of the culture of narcissism associated with the malaise of modernity.
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 13
- Psychedelic Communitas: Intersubjective Experience During Psychedelic Group Sessions Predicts Enduring Changes in Psychological Wellbeing and Social Connectedness. Frontiers in Pharmacology March 25, 2021
- Relational Processes in Ayahuasca Groups of Palestinians and Israelis. Frontiers in Pharmacology 2021
- Altered vision: Ayahuasca shamanism and sensory individualism Current Anthropology April 1, 2021
- Ayahuasca ceremonies, relationality, and inner-outer transformations to sustainability. Evidence from Takiwasi Center in Peru Ecosystems and People April 18, 2024
- Mescaline, Peyote and San Pedro: Is sustainability important for cacti consumers? Journal of Psychedelic Studies August 19, 2023
and 8 more in the library
Cites 16
- The antipodes Of the mind November 7, 2002
- Ayahuasca Shamanism in the Amazon and Beyond Oxford University Press eBooks June 18, 2014
- Drug Tourism or Spiritual Healing? Ayahuasca Seekers in Amazonia Journal of Psychoactive Drugs June 1, 2005
- Hallucinogenic Drugs and Plants in Psychotherapy and Shamanism Journal of Psychoactive Drugs December 1, 1998
- Ayahuasca healing beyond the Amazon: the globalization of a traditional indigenous entheogenic practice Global Networks December 9, 2008
and 11 more in the library