The Santo Daime without Daime Tactics, Agency, and Ritual Change in Ayahuasca Religions under Prohibition in Italy
Quotidiana December 17, 2025 DOI: 10.30687/qu/0122-2244/2025/01/004 (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 Ethnology Ethnography Everyday life Anthropology of religion Ceremony Amazon rainforest |
| Key points | Argues that Italy's 2022 ban on ayahuasca has led ayahuasca religions to replace the brew with water and create new religious travel practices, demonstrating how prohibition reshapes ritual and everyday life. |
Abstract
This article examines how ayahuasca religions in Italy have reconfigured their ritual practices following the 2022 legal ban on ayahuasca, including replacing the brew with water and creating new forms of religious travel. The Amazonian psychoactive brew ayahuasca, traditionally used in Indigenous rituals and healing, is at the centre of transnational religions that have spread globally. Drawing on anthropology, lived religion, and ritual studies, the article explores the interplay between lived religion, ritual change, and law in the use of controlled substances, and therefore how prohibition reshapes ritual practice and everyday life.