Facilitating pura medicina
Approaching Religion December 18, 2023 Tero Heinonen 3 citations
Finnish mystical tourists appropriate religious elements from South America, such as plant medicine ceremonies involving ayahuasca, cacao, and sacred tobacco, treating them as spiritual commodities. They reimagine local beliefs as ancient, authentic heritage, adapting practices for therapeutic use in collectively created musical and ritual spaces. Singing prayers to plant spirits, understood animistically, is central. The appropriation gives Finnish participants a racially privileged role over subaltern indigenous peoples through commercialization, where reimagined elements become spiritual commodities. This aligns with individualistic well-being needs and a 'sacralization of the self'.