Purging and the body in the therapeutic use of ayahuasca

Ayahuasca, a psychoactive plant mixture used ceremonially in Western Amazonia, has become popular among westerners traveling to the Peruvian Amazon for its healing effects. Drawing on a literature review and ethnographic data from shamanic tourism in Peru and neo-shamanic networks in Australia (227 people interviewed or surveyed between 2003 and 2015, including healers and participants), the authors demonstrate that purging is integral to ayahuasca's therapeutic use across and beyond Amazonia. Therapeutic approaches combine modulations of the gut and mind, and the bodily and social, expressed through healing discourse. Relating ethnographic evidence to scientific studies connecting gut and emotional health, the authors argue that ayahuasca purging should not be dismissed as a drug side effect or irrational belief but reconsidered for its potential therapeutic effects.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Ayahuasca is a psychoactive plant mixture used in ceremonial contexts throughout Western Amazonia. Its use has expanded globally in recent decades and become popular among westerners who travel to the Peruvian Amazon in increasing numbers to experience its reportedly healing effects. Through a review of relevant literature on Amazonian shamanism, combined with the authors' ethnographic data from shamanic tourism contexts of the Peruvian Amazon and neo-shamanic networks in Australia (collected between 2003 and 2015 - with a total of 227 people interviewed or surveyed, including healers and participants), we demonstrate that purging has been integral to the therapeutic use of ayahuasca across and beyond Amazonia. Therapeutic approaches to ayahuasca point to combined modulations of the gut and the mind, and the bodily and the social, that are expressed through discourse about healing and the body. Relating ethnographic evidence to recent scientific studies that connect the gut to emotional health, we do not approach the gut as merely biological ground on which cultural meanings are imposed, but rather as simultaneously physical and cultural. Based upon our analysis, we argue that ayahuasca purging should not be dismissed as a drug side effect or irrational belief but reconsidered for its potential therapeutic effects.