Ayahuasca Shamanism in the Amazon and Beyond

Beatriz Caiuby Labate and Clancy Cavnar offer an in-depth exploration of how Amerindian epistemology and ontology concerning indigenous shamanic rituals of the Amazon have spread to Western societies, and of how indigenous, mestizo, and cosmopolitan cultures have engaged with and transformed these forest traditions. The volume focuses on the use of ayahuasca, a psychoactive drink essential in many indigenous shamanic rituals of the Amazon. Ayahuasca use has spread far beyond its Amazonian origin, spurring a variety of legal and cultural responses in the countries to which it has spread. The essays in this volume look at how these responses have influenced ritual design and performance in traditional and non-traditional contexts, how displaced indigenous people and rubber tappers are engaged in the creative reinvention of rituals, and how these rituals help build ethnic alliances and cultural and political strategies for theirmarginalized position. Some essays explore important classic and contemporary issues in anthropology, including the relationship between the expansion of ecotourism and ethnic tourism and recent indigenous cultural revival and the emergence of new ethnic identities. The volume also examines trends inthe commodification of indigenous cultures in post-colonial contexts, the combination of shamanism with a network of health and spiritually related services, and identity hybridization in global societies. The rich ethnographies and extensive analysis of these essays will allow deeper understanding of the role of ritual in mediating the encounter between indigenous traditions and modern societies.

This book is a welcome addition for those interested in the use of ayahuasca in the Amazon and beyond, for both anthropologists and those with an interest in ayahuasca in general. Highly recommended., The essays open up some new paths for researching the interplay between tradition, culture, identity and ayahuasca. This book is a welcome addition for those interested in the use of ayahuasca in the Amazon and beyond, for both anthropologists and those with an interest in ayahuasca in general. Highly recommended, This book presents the encounter between Amazonian and modern worlds through the account of the recent phenomenon of expansion of shamanistic rituals based on the consumption of ayahuasca. Reinvention and transformation of religious traditions, ethnic and ecological tourism, debates on intellectual property and on legalization of psychoactive substances feature among the topics which make up this brilliant collection., Much has been written about ayahuasca and shamanism, but this book will certainly stand out because it is problem-oriented and includes a fascinating array of chapters by leading experts of different backgrounds. It therefore promises to be an important contribution to religious anthropology rather than yet another instance of mystical mumbo-jumbo., This volume unravels the complex meanders of intellectual and practical exchanges in a time when Amazonia goes global and the world goes Amazonian.

Beatriz Caiuby Labate is Visiting Professor, Drug Policy Program, Center for Economic Research and Education.Clancy Cavnar is research Associate at the Nucleus for Interdisciplinary Studies of Psychoactives (NEIP), California, USA