The phenomenon of ayahuasca usage discussed in Taylor’s article, “La Medicina” and in the video, “Vine of the Soul,” reveals multiple ideologies about the role of ayahuasca in healing among indigenous Amazonian and Peruvian shamans, as well as differing definitions of healing itself between indigenous and Western peoples. Many people seek out ayahuasca shamans in search of something more profound than physical or psychological healing. The unique characteristics of ayahuasca usage in healing rituals help to explain the global rise in its popularity.
The definitions of healing through the use of ayahuasca, even among traditional shamans are not identical. In the article, “La Medicina,” Taylor discusses the shamans of the Napo Runa in the Northwest Amazon, known as yachajs, who utilize ayahuasca as a diagnostic aid. The shaman enters a heightened state of consciousness to investigate the cause and nature of illness by spiritually entering the world of plants. These plants, as alive and conscious as people, share their knowledge of sickness and healing with the shaman, who is then able to understand how and what to do to treat the ailing patient (Taylor 152). Taylor goes on to describe the urban mestizo shamans in Peru around Iquitos and Pucallpa and their traditional ritual practice called “vegetalismo” which translates to the “science of plants” (Luna 1984b: 135). These urban shamans recognize a similar indirect usage of ayahuasca in healing but differ in ritual forms not found in Napo Runa practice. Plant and river spirits relate to the urban shamans through ayahuasca visions, teaching the shamans songs of healing called “icaros” (Luna 1984b: 135). These songs also offer spiritual protection to both the shaman and his patient. In contrast to Napo Runa, the vegetalismo ritual practice more often includes drinking of ayahuasca by both shamans and patients (Taylor 154).
Beyond the indigenous Amazonian and Peruvian peoples utilizing ayahuasca in their traditional search for healing in their everyday lives, many people from outside cultures now seek out shamans or even non-indigenous “New Age” shamans to find biophysical, psychological, or spiritual healing through ayahuasca usage. Some scholars doubt the sincerity of so-called “Ayahuasca tourists.” Dobkin de Rios describes the practice as “little more than a hedonistic desire for foreigners from technobureaucratic societies simply to get high” (2009:166). Still, according to Arévalo, many of these people just want to “liberate themselves” from psychological and spiritual traumas and suffering, seeking “the true spiritual path”’ (Rumrill 2005:204).
One explanation for the rapid and global spread of ayahuasca usage is as much spiritual as physical. For many people, the modern, secular, industrial society fails to meet an inherent spiritual need for “wholeness.” Research by Winkelman determined that many Western ayahuasca drinkers are seeking “spiritual awareness” and “emotional healing” or even “personal evolution” (2005:211).
The debate remains among scholars concerning the motives of Western ayahuasca seekers and whether their want for healing and therapeutic effects is consistent with the traditional ideology and cultural values of Amazonian shamans. Even the very definition of healing that ayahuasca provides is not a settled matter. Regardless, the popularity of ayahuasca continues to increase as the vine’s reputation for biophysical, psychological, and spiritual healing beyond the scope of Western medicine spreads.
