I found the Arrevalo article to be particularly interesting. When I studied Spanish in Ecuador for two months I heard about the shaminism rituals that were within the amazon(I wasn’t in the amazon area). I then learned from my mom after telling her about shamanism that a friend of hers from a long time ago went to the amazon for this specific therapy and came out of the experience with a new identity. What I found interesting specifically within the article was why people want an experience with plant medicine . I feel truly fortunate that I haven’t had some of the problems that some people have had that go for medicinal therapy. What also struck me about the people who go for medical treatment is they are mostly from Europe or America. Outside of the problems listed by Arrevalo, I wonder to a degree whether some people go for the experience because they are tourists and want to try something totally different or because they just have certain problems that may only be in the developed world. Im not sure what Arrevalo meant by Americans being “enslaved with their work” but I think to a degree many people in developed countries are constantly worrying about money and their financial status more than people who truly don’t have much money in developing areas such as Latin America. At least from my travels to a few countries in Latin America, I noticed that a lot of people are relatively happy with their lives as long as they have sufficient food, water and shelter.
I appreciate your closing observations on the different mentalities surrounding work and money. Your reflection relates really well to the notions of “epistemology / ontology” that we will discuss with the Keyword 2 assignment. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on those terms!
I also found the Arévalo interview to be incredibly interesting! It certainly made me think about what the subconscious reasons might be behind so many people heading to the Amazon in search of some spiritual healing experience. I wonder how many individuals that go to these lodges and participate in these experiences are there because they are actively seeking healing for something, or are simply seeking an experience (likely because they know that they need something, they’re just unaware that it is healing). As Arévalo mentioned in the interview, the patient’s perception of what they need has to be attended to just as much as what they actually need. I believe this is why he gives ayahuasca to patients that come to him, knowing that that is what they seek, and then afterwards he is able to start the actual healing process. I wonder how many people walk away with that same new identity that you mention? Especially when considering the idea that ayahuasca might not have the same effect on a tourist who doesn’t understand its meaning, as it would on an indigenous person who is trained to learn from the plants.
Hello! I enjoyed your blog! I resonated with the comment you made about how the majority of the people seeking treatment with ayahuasca are from America and Europe. I wonder why this is. Perhaps these are the people who have the financial means and privilege to go to remote destinations to try to solve their problems. Or perhaps their problems are unique to other continents/countries? Or perhaps other cultures deal with their problems more efficiently and therefore don’t need to go to amazon? To be honest I believe it may be a combination of all these factors and even more.
Further more I have been asking myself is this a good or bad thing that the majority of people coming to receive plant medicine in the amazon are from these specific regions? Would things have been different if the demographic was different?