Entheogenic Healing among the Kamëntsá Biyá: an Intercultural Dialogue between Tradition and the Post-modern World

Abstract

This chapter reflects on the cultural uses of yajé (ayahuasca) within the ethnomedical system of the Kamëntsá Biyá people in southern Colombia, the expanded states of consciousness produced by the entheogenic mixture, and its relationship with symbolic healing processes. We analyze these phenomena within the cultural history of the Kamëntsá and their eco-cosmology and the elements of mythopoeic thought that persist within their belief system. These inform the processes of initiation, learning, integration, and aesthetic and symbolic construction of the entheogenic experience within their worldview. Kamëntsá healing addresses physical, emotional, and spiritual conditions, as well as resolution of family and community conflicts. Kamëntsá notions of causes of illness take us into the interpersonal and social fields, recognizing that the intentional actions and emotional energies of others have the potential to produce energetic and psychological imbalances, and the breakdown of affective and social ties. The Kamëntsá emphasize the diagnostic aspects of yajé that reveals the causes of physical and emotional conditions, the behavioral changes necessary for cure, and the necessary ritual healing processes for the patient. These conceptions of illness and health underpin the spiritual and healing traditions of the Kamëntsá community. A critical reflection on the current developments of yajé entheogenic healing illustrates the transformation of traditions, driven by the processes of interculturality and globalization of the post-modern world.