Description
Ayahuasca is a sacred psychoactive drink prepared from South American vines and bush leaves. Indigenous communities in the Amazon have long used it for ritual purposes, but it has recently received growing interest around the world as a powerful tool for personal transformation, and more and more Westerners are reaching for it with the intention of knowing themselves better, either to experience healing or to regain a connection to the natural world.
Until recently, ayahuasca was little known, but now it is one of the most important elements of the worldwide psychedelic renaissance. Why? In this book, Daniel Pinchbeck and Sophia Rokhlin explore the cultural and historical origins of this decoction, considering the role of the shaman or curandero in Amazonian culture and Western culture. They analyze the surprising process of ayahuasca's spread around the world, as well as its current legal status and the latest scientific research on its properties. They take a close look at how modern people view and use this decoction.
How does ayahuasca influence our culture? Does it provide an antidote to the problems of consumerist Western societies? Pinchbeck and Rokhlin lean into the economic, social, political and ecological impact of this decoction on the people of the Amazon and other parts of the globalized world. Where might humanity's growing popularity of the mysterious Indian medicine lead?
