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Jurema In Contemporary Brazil: Ritual Re‐Actualizations, Mysticism, Consciousness, And Healing

Rodrigo de A. Grünewald, Robson Savoldi, Mark I. Collins

Anthropology of Consciousness September 1, 2022 DOI: 10.1111/anoc.12150 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Ethnography Peer reviewed
Population Participants in contemporary Brazilian esoteric jurema rituals, including users who treat jurema as a spiritual path
Interventions Jurema Syrian rue (juremahuasca)
Topics Mysticism
Key findings The authors argue that jurema, especially when mixed with Syrian rue as 'juremahuasca,' is treated by contemporary Brazilian esoteric practitioners as an entheogen that produces altered states of perception and consciousness and mystical transformation, which users often frame as healing. They propose that understanding jurema requires attention to the cultural bricolage and mystical attributes practitioners elaborate, and to the intertwining of consciousness, mysticism, and healing.

Abstract

AbstractThis article proposes an exposition and analysis of perceptions intrinsic to rituals carried out with the use of the jurema plant, especially when mixed with Syrian rue (juremahuasca) in contexts of contemporary esoteric re‐actualizations in Brazil. These rituals are conducted by people who look at jurema as a spiritual path, once acquainted with its psychedelic properties. We highlight the mystical attributes and the cultural bricolage elaborated by these individuals, who conduct ceremonies in ritual spaces in which participants experience altered states of perception and consciousness. Considered as an entheogen, jurema leads to states of mystical transformation in people. Such personal changes are often considered by users as the rhetoric of healing. Life stories and ethnographic contexts form the background of the article, which seeks to advance understandings about jurema based on speculations around the intertwining of the themes of consciousness, mysticism, and healing.

Comparable studies

Other qualitative studies on mysticism, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Qualitative and Quantitative Features of Music Reported to Support Peak Mystical Experiences during Psychedelic Therapy Sessions Individuals with extensive experience administering psilocybin or psilocybin-containing... 2017 Survey and qualitative/quantitative analysis n = 10
Common Core Thesis and Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Mysticism in Chinese Buddhist Monks and Nuns Chinese Pure Land and Chan Buddhist monks and nuns 2011 Mixed-methods study n = 139
Do Drugs Have Religious Import? A 40-Year Retrospective 2004 Interview
Narratives of the mystical among users of psychedelics Psychedelic drug users 2021 Qualitative study n = 50
Auras in mysticism and synaesthesia: a comparison. Synaesthetes who experience colors in response to human faces and figures 2012 Qualitative study n = 4

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Mysticism Altered states of consciousness Mystical experience Shamanism