Shamans’ gardens: sites of creative equivocation between Indigenous and internationalized ayahuasca shamanism

If ayahuasca shamanism is now well studied, the medicinal plant gardens that form a standard element of ayahuasca centers have received less attention. Based on detailed mapping, recorded commentaries, and an accompanying website (https://yakumamaylivepharmacy.org), this paper provides concise data...

Descrición completa

Gardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:URI:https://journals.openedition.org/jsa,
Auteurs principaux: Barbira-Freedman, Françoise, Hugh-Jones, Stephen
Formato: Article ou chapitre numérique
Idioma:Anglais
Publicado: Journal de la Société des américanistes 2025
Sujets:
Acceso en liña:Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
Descripción
Résumé:If ayahuasca shamanism is now well studied, the medicinal plant gardens that form a standard element of ayahuasca centers have received less attention. Based on detailed mapping, recorded commentaries, and an accompanying website (https://yakumamaylivepharmacy.org), this paper provides concise data about the range of plants found in one such garden. Exploring the medicinal gardens’ relations to home gardens and swiddens, we identify a relatively stable plant set, typical of Amazonian vegetalismo, that defines shamans’ gardens as a genre in centers of ayahuasca shamanism. With visitors developing personal relationships with plants and with shamans adopting the vocabulary of biomedicine and psychotherapy, “ethnobotanical gardens” provide sites of constructive equivocation where contrasting cultural assumptions find partial accommodation.