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Mystical and Ego-Dissolution Experiences in Ayahuasca and Jurema Holistic Rituals: An Exploratory Study

Robson Savoldi, Antônio Roazzi, Rita Clara de Oliveira Sales

International Journal for the Psychology of Religion April 13, 2023 DOI: 10.1080/10508619.2023.2185369 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Observational study Peer reviewed
Sample size 26
Population Participants in ayahuasca and jurema rituals in a natural environment
Interventions Ayahuasca Jurema
Topics Ayahuasca Mysticism Ego dissolution Mystical experience
Keywords Subjectivity Psychic
Citations 6
Key findings Ayahuasca sessions produced significantly higher scores for temporal quality, ineffability, and religious quality than jurema sessions, with setting playing a key role in the differences.

Abstract

Mystical and even ego-dissolution experiences can be elicited from entheogens, like sacred potions of ayahuasca and jurema. Although composed of dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and having met at a historical moment, ayahuasca and jurema have different rituals, symbolic references, and origins. This article aims to describe ayahuasca and jurema rituals, in psychometric measures of mysticism and ego-dissolution experience and set/settings. Observational data were collected through the Hood Mysticism Scale and Ego Dissolution Inventory in a sample of 26 participants, and semi-structured interviews (n = 7), in a natural environment. Results showed that in the ayahuasca session, means for temporal quality, ineffability, and religious quality were significantly higher than in the jurema session, but no significant differences were found in the other facets of the ego-dissolution. In the ayahuasca session, EDI was positively significantly correlated with temporal and unifying quality, whereas in the jurema session, EDI was positively significantly correlated with religious, unifying, and inner subjectivity qualities. Ethnographic observations and interviews reveal that the setting plays a key role in those differences and the meaning of the experience. More studies are needed to improve our understanding of how the set/setting interacts in mystical experiences.

Comparable studies

Other observational and cohort studies on ego dissolution, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Increased Global Functional Connectivity Correlates with LSD-Induced Ego Dissolution. Human participants 2016 Observational cohort
Sub-acute and long-term effects of ayahuasca on affect and cognitive thinking style and their association with ego dissolution Non-pathological ayahuasca ceremony attendees in the Netherlands and Colombia 2018 Observational cohort n = 57
From Egoism to Ecoism: Psychedelics Increase Nature Relatedness in a State-Mediated and Context-Dependent Manner. Individuals planning to use a psychedelic 2019 Prospective online study n = 654
Neural and subjective effects of inhaled N,N-dimethyltryptamine in natural settings. Healthy and experienced participants 2021 Observational field study n = 35
Dynamic medial parietal and hippocampal deactivations under DMT relate to sympathetic output and altered sense of time, space, and the self Healthy volunteers 2025 Observational cohort n = 14

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Explore topics

Ayahuasca Mysticism Ego dissolution Mystical experience DMT Shamanism