Ayahuasca Ritual Use

Ayahuasca is the most sometimes employed shamanic plant in Northwestern and Southwestern Amazonia, which spans the states of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, used among the Yaminahua in warfare. This was also the case among the Shuar of Ecuador. Ayahuasca was involved in the rituals for the preparing of the tsentsak, or head prize, to insure that the basis of the rubbed out soldier would be submitted to the will of the winning one. Ayahuasca has been the source of inventive inspiration, for example among the Tukano of Colombia, the Shipibo-Conibo of Peru and the Kashinawua of Peru and Brazil. Among the Siona of Colombia, the main theme of cultural narratives is the journeys of shamans by way of the holy brew. In healing, its uses included shamanic journeys to revive soul loss, extraction of pathogenic objects and shamanic struggles with the animated agents of sickness.

It is pointed at the widespread use of ayahuasca in building relations with a special source of info and power for dealing with all sides of life and gaining direction and direction through life. The plant spirits inherent in ayahuasca are viewed as active and clever beings that provide direction. In the Amazon, the world is throught of being composed from sundry ( religious ) planes, which are accessible to experts by way of altered states of consciousness. Ayahuasca helps traveling thru those realms and access to info from the beings that populate them. It is also used to explore the natural environment. Among the Kamsa of Colombia, as an example, it was announced that various plants are added to the basic ayahuasca preparation to study their properties, so expanding their pharmacopocia.

Studies provided proof that all the main parts of Core Shamanism are present in these customs. These include initiation procedures, whice include sexual segregation, diet prescriptions excluding the employment of salt, sugar, alcohol and food containing much fat and repeated access to altered states of consciousness thru the use of ayahuasca or other psychointegrator plants. Dismemberment and other sorts of symbolical death to obtain shamanic powers are also present. Through coaching, the beginners contact animal and plant spirits and obtain from them sorcery songs they later use in their shamanic practice, including divination, finding lost objects, healing and journeys to other realms. Ideas of illness include soul loss and soul journey to revive the lost soul, as well as the idea of illness as a pathogenic agent with material and spiritual elements the shaman can extract. Some conventional ayahuasqueros, as practitioners who use ayahuasca are called Spanish speakers, claim to be in a position to transform themselves into various animals or elements of the natural world to explore varied shamanic realms ( rypically underwater, earth and sky ) and to attack or to protect themselves from the assault of rival shamans.

Modern Ayahuasca Practices

A growing interest by non-Amazonians in ayahuasca has producesd a big range of changes in these customs and new perceptions of these holy plants by other cultures. The sacred plants utilised by ayahuasqueros of tradidional groups are going to be employed by others : unqualified members of indigenous communities, mestizo practitioners with diverse degrees of expertise and non-Amazonians. Amazonian practitioners suddenly find that their standard information has a value in the eyes of non-Amazonians and could be a critical source of revenue. Indigenous groups have received the entrance of non-Indian and non-Amazonians differently. In some examples, there was a firm rejection of non-indigenous practitioners, in others an approval. They have denounced using ayahuasca by others. Other local practitioners have concluded to have agreed to share this info with outsiders. It was noted that this entry that "white folks are using ayahuasca and are going to use ayahuasca in the future ; so we should at least teach them to use it properly'.

Due to several waves of migrations into the Amazon from the Brazilian Northeast, native and mestizo ayahuasca practices have met Afro-Brazilian non secular practices and a new ayahuasca phenomenon has appeared in Brazil. This use of ayahuasca as a sacrament by syncretic spiritual organizations is now found in each major Brazilian town and in other states. It was also noted that religious leaders from the Brazilian Northeast made syncretic non secular organisations having ayahuasca as their central sacrament.