Ayahuasca: Between Cognition and Culture PDF Download

Author: Ismael Eduardo Apud Peláez
Publisher: PUBLICACIONS UNIVERSITAT ROVIRA I VIRGILI
ISBN: 8484248348
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 294

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Book Description
This book summarizes Ismael Apud’s ethnographic research in the field of ayahuasca, conducted in Latin America and Catalonia over a period of 10 years. To analyze the variety of ayahuasca spiritual practices and beliefs, the author combines different approaches, including medical anthropology, cognitive science of religion, history of science, and religious studies. Ismael Apud is a psychologist and anthropologist from Uruguay, with a PhD in Anthropology at Universitat Rovira i Virgili.

Author: Beatriz Caiuby Labate
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030556883
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 267

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Book Description
This book offers a series of perspectives on the therapeutic potential of the ritual and clinical use of the Amazonian hallucinogenic brew ayahuasca in the treatment and management of various disorders. This book presents biomedical and anthropological data on the use of ayahuasca and provides critiques on how it is used for treating depression, PTSD, anxiety, substance dependence, and eating disorders. The volume also explores ayahuasca’s role in the psychological well-being and quality of life of humans, and discusses possibilities of it enhancing cognition and coping with grief. The book examines ayahuasca’s association with psychotherapy and also highlights the challenges of integrating plant medicines into psychiatry. Further, the book expands on some preliminary research with animals, suggesting that ayahuasca acts at multiple levels of neural complexity. The study on the neurogenic effects of ayahuasca alkaloids opens a new avenue of research with potential applications ranging from psychiatric disorders to brain damage and dementia. Psychologists, psychiatrists, and other mental health professionals will find this book relevant to their work regarding substance abuse and alternative medicine.

Author: Benny Shanon
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780199252930
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 500

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Book Description
This is a study of the phenomenology of the special state of mind induced by Ayahuasca, a plant-based Amazonian psychotropic brew. The author's research is based both on extensive firsthand experiences with Ayahuasca, and on interviews conducted with a large number of informants.

Author: Beatriz Caiuby Labate
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 364240426X
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 254

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Book Description
This book presents a series of perspectives on the therapeutic potential of the ritual and clinical use of the Amazonian hallucinogenic brew ayahuasca in the treatment and management of various diseases and ailments, especially its role in psychological well-being and substance dependence. Biomedical and anthropological data on the use of ayahuasca for treating depression, PTSD, and substance dependence in different settings, such as indigenous contexts, neo-shamanic rituals, contemporary therapeutic circles, and in ayahuasca religions, in both South and North America, are presented and critiqued. Though multiple anecdotal reports on the therapeutic use of ayahuasca exist, there has been no systematic and dense reflection on the topic thus far. The book brings the therapeutic use of ayahuasca to a new level of public examination and academic debate. The texts in this volume stimulate discussion on methodological, ethical, and political aspects of research and will enhance the development of this emergent field of studies.

Author: Ralph Metzner
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1620552639
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
An exploration of the chemical, biological, psychological, and experiential dimensions of ayahuasca • Details the scientific discovery of ayahuasca’s sophisticated psychoactive delivery system in the brain and body and its potential applications in medicine and psychology • Includes contributions from Dennis J. McKenna, Ph.D., J. C. Callaway, Ph.D., and Charles S. Grob, M.D., on the ethnopharmacology, psychology, phytochemistry, and neuropharmacology of ayahuasca • Provides 24 firsthand accounts of ayahuasca experiences and resulting life changes Widely recognized by anthropologists as the most powerful and widespread shamanic hallucinogen, ayahuasca has been used by native Indian and mestizo shamans in Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador for healing and divination for thousands of years. Made from the Amazonian vine Banisteriopsis caapi and the DMT-laden leaf of Psychotria viridis, ayahuasca is regarded as the embodiment of intelligent plant beings who can offer spiritual teachings and healing knowledge to those who respectfully engage with them. Many Western-trained physicians and psychologists now acknowledge that ayahuasca allows access to spiritual dimensions of consciousness, otherworldly realms and beings, and visionary experiences indistinguishable from classic religious mysticism. With contributions from leading psychoactive scholars Dennis J. McKenna, Ph.D., Charles S. Grob, M.D., and J. C. Calloway, Ph.D., on the ethnopharmacology, psychology, phytochemistry, and neuropharmacology of ayahuasca, Ralph Metzner provides a comprehensive exploration of the chemical, biological, psychological, and experiential dimensions of this Amazonian hallucinogen. He includes more than 20 firsthand accounts from people who have participated in ayahuasca rituals and experienced major life changes as a result. He details the scientific discovery of ayahuasca’s sophisticated psychoactive delivery system in the brain and body as well as the deep psychological impact of this potent entheogen. He concludes with his own findings on ayahuasca, including its applications in medicine and psychology, and compares the worldview revealed by ayahuasca visions to that of modern cultures.

Author: Milton Fernando Gonzalez Rodriguez
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1666909505
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
In Ontologies and Natures: Knowledge about Health in Visual Culture, Fernando Gonzalez Rodriguez argues that visual culture offers insights into how societies perceive the role of nature in pursuits to cure and care for the human body. By using a set of visual surfaces and artefacts as entry points the book sheds light on ideas about nature as a healing source.

Author: Benjamin Hebblethwaite
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 1496235738
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 358

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Book Description
Indigenous and African Diaspora Religions in the Americas offers an introduction and nine original perspectives on religious and cultural traditions emanating from communities in several regions across the Americas.

Author: Beatriz Caiuby Labate
Publisher: LIT Verlag Münster
ISBN: 3643901488
Category : Ayahuasca
Languages : en
Pages : 447

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Book Description
This is a fascinating compilation of medical, psychological and sociological papers on the spread of ayahuasca use...in Brazil and in several European countries (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands), as well as the USA....highly recommended for serious students of this subject. - Ralph Metzner, Ph.D, psychologist and author of Sacred Vine of Spirits: Ayahuasca *** ...provides reliable information that has never before appeared in print, ranging from the rain forests of the Amazon to the churches in Western Europe....like it or not, ayahuasca has left the jungle and is here to stay! Read this book and you will understand the importance of its arrival on the global scene. - Dr. Stanley Krippner, Ph.D., Alan Watts Professor of Psychology, Saybrook U. *** ...a detailed consideration of the legal situation of ayahuasca...as well as a multidisciplinary assessment of the health implications of its use...a must-read for anyone attempting to understand the global implications of ayahuasca today. ~ Dr. Michael Winkelman, M.P.H., Ph.D., author of Shamanism: A Biopsychosocial Paradigm of Consciousness and Healing (Series: Performances: Intercultural Studies on Ritual, Play and Theatre - Performanzen: Interkulturelle Studien zu Ritual, Spiel und Theater - Vol. 16)

Author: Christian Funder
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1644112361
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 330

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Book Description
• Examines how ayahuasca affects the brain from a neuroscientific perspective and how its effects on consciousness relate to ancient esoteric texts • Shares interviews with people who have experienced ayahuasca’s powerful “spirit doctor” effects and the author’s own ayahuasca journey from suicidal depression to a soul at peace • Investigates how ayahuasca is interwoven with the ancient practices of Amazonian shamanism Brewed from a combination of two plants--the leaves of Psychotria viridis and the vine stalks of Banisteriopsis caapi--ayahuasca has been used for millennia by indigenous tribes throughout the Upper Amazon for healing and spiritual exploration. The shamans of the Peruvian Amazon call the plant spirit within the vine Abuela Ayahuasca, Grandmother Ayahuasca. Exploring the history, lore, traditional use, psychoactive effects, and current scientific studies, Christian Funder reveals how Grandmother Ayahuasca is a profound healer, wise teacher, and life-changing guide. Examining ayahuasca from a neuroscientific perspective, the author looks at recent research on the effects of DMT--one of the psychoactive compounds in ayahuasca--as well as fMRI studies of brain activity during altered states. He explores these fi ndings as they relate to the teachings on unified states of consciousness in ancient esoteric texts and to Aldous Huxley’s theory of psychedelics inhibiting the “reducing valve” mechanism of the brain. Sharing interviews with people who have experienced ayahuasca’s powerful “spirit doctor” effects, Funder also details his own revolutionary ayahuasca healing journey from suicidal depression to a soul at peace. He explores ayahuasca’s relationship to indigenous Amazonian shamanism, including an inside look at the Shipibo tribe and the healing songs known as icaros. Offering a holistic picture of ayahuasca--from science to spirit--the author shows that this venerated hallucinogenic tea has immense therapeutic potential and just might be the long-lost shamanic connection to the sacred Gaian mind.

Author: Beatriz Caiuby Labate
Publisher: Oxford Ritual Studies
ISBN: 0199341206
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 315

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Book Description
Beatriz Caiuby Labate and Clancy Cavnar offer an in-depth exploration of the spread of indigenous shamanic rituals of the Amazon to Western societies, looking at how indigenous, mestizo, and cosmopolitan cultures have engaged with and transformed these forest traditions.