Ayahuasca Shamanism In The Amazon And Beyond University Press Scholarship Online

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 to countries far beyond its Amazonian origin, spurring a wide variety of legal and cultural responses. 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. These 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 in the 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 discusses how Amerindian epistemology and ontology related to certain indigenous shamanic rituals of the Amazon spread to Western societies, and how indigenous, mestizo, and cosmopolitan cultures have dialogued with and transformed these forest traditions. The collection also focuses on how shamanic rituals have been spreading and developing in post-traditional urban contexts throughout the world. Special attention is given to ayahuasca, a psychoactive drink usually composed of two plants, the vine Banisteriopsis caapi and leaves of the Psychotria viridis bush. Ayahuasca use has spread beyond its Amazonian origin and instigated a variety of legal and cultural responses in the countries it has spread to. The chapters in this book address some of the ways these responses have influenced ritual design and performance in traditional and non-traditional contexts. The book analyzes how displaced indigenous people and rubber tappers are engaged in creative reinvention of rituals, and how these rituals help build ethnic alliances and cultural and political strategies for their marginalized position. It also explores modernity's fascination with "tradition" and the "other." This phenomenon is directly tied to important classic and contemporary issues in anthropology. Some of them are the relationship between the expansion of ecotourism and ethnic tourism, recent indigenous cultural revivals, and the emergence of new ethnic identities. Another focus of this book is on trends in the commodification of indigenous cultures in post-colonial contexts, and the combination of shamanism with a network of health and spiritually-related services. Finally, the book addresses the topic of identity hybridization in global societies"-- Provided by publisher Foreword: Authentic Ayahuasca -- Oscar Calavia Saéz Notes on the expansion and reinvention of Ayahuasca shamanism -- Beatriz Caiuby Labate, Clancy Cavnar, and Françoise Barbira Freedman Will the real shaman please stand up? The recent adoption of Ayahuasca among indigenous groups of the Peruvian Amazon -- Glenn H. Shepard Jr. Kuntanawa: Ayahuasca, ethnicity, and culture -- Mariana Ciavatta Pantoja ; translated by Matthew Meyer Materializing alliances: Ayahuasca shamanism In and beyond western Amazonian indigenous communities -- Pirjo Kristiina Virtanen Medicine alliance: contemporary shamanic networks in Brazil -- Esther Jean Langdon and Isabel Santana de Rose Ritualized misunderstanding between uncertainty, agreement and rupture: communication patterns in Euro-American Ayahuasca ritual interactions -- Anne-Marie Losonczy and Silvia Mesturini Cappo Shamans' networks in western Amazonia: the Iquitos-Nauta road -- Françoise Barbira Freedman On the uneasiness of tourism: considerations on shamanic tourism in western Amazonia -- Evgenia Fotiou The internationalization of Peruvian vegetalismo -- Beatriz Caiuby Labate From the native's point of view: how Shipibo-Konibo experience and interpret Ayahuasca drinking with ''gringos'' -- Bernd Brabec de Mori Ayahuasca's attractions and distractions: examining sexual seduction in shaman-participant interactions -- Daniela Peluso Yage-related neo-shamanism in Colombian urban contexts -- Alhena Caicedo Fernández. Beatriz Caiuby Labate and Clancy Cavnar offer an in-depth exploration of the spread of indigenous shamanic rituals of the Amazon to Western societies, looking at how indigenous, mestizo, and cosmopolitan cultures have engaged with and transformed these forest traditions.