Otherwise Ayahuasca Expressions. Ritual Reinvention and Social Change in Ayahuasca Rituals
Studia Religiologica December 19, 2025 DOI: 10.4467/20844077sr.25.006.22458 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Ethnography Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Ayahuasca ritual practitioners and settings in Brazil and Italy |
| Topics | Ayahuasca |
| Keywords | Ethnography Social anthropology Aesthetics Omnipresence Anthropology of religion Amazon rainforest Bridging networking Visual anthropology |
| Key findings | Ayahuasca rituals are being reinvented through hybrid, artistic forms that navigate the tension between fixity and flexibility, allowing experiences not permitted in other comparable settings. |
Abstract
This article examines a range of hybrid, artistic ayahuasca ritual formations that I define as otherwise ayahuasca expressions to engage with the question of ritual reinvention. Given the kaleidoscopic multiplicity in the diffusion of the Amazonian psychoactive plant brew ayahuasca, this article argues that ritual forms navigate the tension between fixity and flexibility, and that ritual change involves shifting flows between established ritual structures and more flexible ones. Drawing on multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork in Brazil and Italy, the article explores specific transformations in ayahuasca ritual structures, bridging ritual studies and the anthropology of the otherwise. Emerging from other religious and ritual forms, the otherwise ayahuasca expressions mediate ritual experiences that are mostly not allowed to exist in other comparable settings through art and experimentation.
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 |