Forbidden Therapies: Santo Daime, Ayahuasca, and the Prohibition of Entheogens in Western Society

The Santo Daime religion, which uses a psychoactive beverage called ayahuasca as a sacrament, has spread from Brazil to Europe and North America. Most Western governments treat ayahuasca as a dangerous hallucinogen and prosecute participants, while members consider it a medicinal sacrament or entheogen. Empirical studies support the claim that entheogens can be safe and beneficial when used in controlled settings. Drawing on anthropology's aim to make different cultural perspectives understandable to one another, this article addresses the misunderstanding between prohibition policies and the emerging subculture of entheogenic therapy.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Santo Daime, a Brazilian religion organized around a potent psychoactive beverage called ayahuasca, is now being practiced across Europe and North America. Deeming ayahuasca a dangerous "hallucinogen," most Western governments prosecute people who participate in Santo Daime. On the contrary, members of Santo Daime (called "daimistas") consider ayahuasca a medicinal sacrament (or "entheogen"). Empirical studies corroborate daimistas' claim that entheogens are benign and can be beneficial when employed in controlled contexts. Following from anthropology's goal of rendering different cultural logics as mutually explicable, this article intercedes in a misunderstanding between policies of prohibition and an emergent subculture of entheogenic therapy.