When reading this week, I noticed a connection between the Belasco reading (from Week 2) and Roger Rumrrill’s interview with Sr. Arrévalo. In the interview, Arrévalo said that he sees people from the West seeking ayahuasca treatment because of “profound spiritual problems,” depression, anxiety, psychosis, and a sense of “loss”; and he also mentioned that a lot of his patients have suffered trauma (the example he used was rape). Essentially he agreed with Rumrrill that there was a “spiritual crisis, and also a psychological one in European and North American communities” (204). This reminded me of a line from Belasco that said that food studies is “a fertile base for activists’ analysis of hunger, inequality, neo-colonialism, corporate accountability…” (6). I think that in the case of Arrévalo and his perspective on ayahuasca, the same idea can be applied. The increase of ayahuasca tourism, and the reasons for this increase, point to a larger global problem (in this case, perhaps a problem surrounding mental health), and ayahuasca tourism is a good lens through which to study these broader issues.
I also really enjoyed the podcast lecture with Professor Smith, and her comment on how people seeking “authentic” ayahuasca experiences might be doing so to “ignore their participation in the hierarchies of global capital” really resonated with me. She suggested that people want to have an “authentic” experience with Indigenous practices and cultures in order to absolve themselves of the guilt that comes along when you really think about the history of colonialism that has made these practices accessible. Something similar that I see here in the Yukon is white (settler) people exclaiming that they have lots of Indigenous friends, in order to disassociate themselves with the previous oppression/subjugation of Indigenous peoples, which I think relates to this idea. I’ve certainly been guilty of this myself and it made me stop and rethink my intentions – am I virtue signalling? Am I not holding myself accountable for the colonial past? Just some food for thought (lol).
katerina vyskotova
October 3, 2020 — 5:38 pm
Hello Aves I really liked the connection that you made in your post with mental health and the increase of ayahuasca tourism. As you suggested studying this phenomenon could help us get a better insight into this new problem that arises in North America and Europe. This correlation has never occurred to me and I found it very innovative. As you mentioned one thing correlates with the other. As ayahuasca tourism rises on the basis of mental health problems. Thus, I wonder if ayahuasca can actually help with mental health conditions? Has there been research done that confirms ayahuasca’s positive effects on mental health? I know that in one of the articles there was mentioned that it can sometimes lead to madness but the positive effects of ayahuasca’s treatment were not in particular emphasized.
Thank you for your reflection! Very nice made me think about the article from a different perspective! 🙂
KhushiMalhotra
October 4, 2020 — 10:52 am
Hi Avery!
I thought the angle you used to look at Unit 2 Readings was super intriguing! I agree with you on the fact that those who were looking into trying ayahuasca were really trying to look for a solution to the stress they possessed emotionally and mentally. Despite that, it did make me question whether the globalized, neoliberal, “modern” world has reached the point where individuality and independence being the key to success is such a trend to the point where people forget to take care of themselves hence look for something strong to guide them spiritually, in this case being ayahuasca. I think it would be interesting to discuss this further!