“Knowledge Belongs to All, but You Don’t Understand that because You’re Nothing but a White”: The Mystical Philosophy of Embrace of the Serpent

The article examines how the film Embrace of the Serpent presents a theory of mysticism that challenges the idea that true mystical experience is unmediated and universal. In the film, two Westerners seek entheogenic mystical experiences guided by an indigenous shaman; the first attempt fails, but the second yields a profound vision. The film argues that transcending culture and healing the trauma of colonization requires not an unmediated experience but a culturally-specific mystical expertise. Only through understanding such expertise can mystical experience foster cross-cultural understanding and deep healing.

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Abstract

Abstract This article explores the implicit theory of mysticism in Ciro Guerra’s 2015 film Embrace of the Serpent (Sp. El abrazo de la serpiente). While many theories of mysticism argue that true mystical experience is unmediated and, therefore, universal, Guerra makes a more provocative statement in the film. He depicts two Westerners’ attempts to have an entheogenic mystical experience in journeys on the Amazon, guided by an indigenous shaman named Karamakate. While the first experience is unsuccessful, the second produces an astonishing mystical vision. The film’s apex transcends culture and suggests the power of the mystical to heal the trauma of colonization and cultural destruction, but not through an unmediated “universal” mystical experience. Rather, it is the “embrace of the serpent” to which the film’s title refers, based on Amazonian mythology. The film provides valuable insight into how mystical experience can facilitate cross-cultural understanding and deep healing after the trauma of colonization. Contrary to what a scholar of mysticism might expect, it is only by understanding culturally-specific mystical expertise can one transcend culture to benefit from the insights and healing of a mystical experience.