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Ayahuasca's Ritual Use _ From the Amazonian Forest to Urban Centres.

Abstract

Ayahuasca is a millennial psychoactive drink ritualistically used by several cultures over time. It is a bitter ocre liquid prepared from the scrap of a cypo, named Banisteriopsis caapi, commonly known as Mariri or Jagube and the leaves of a bush whose scientific name is Psychotria viridis and which is commonly known as Chacrona or Queen; plants these natural from the Amazon Forest. Its ritual use goes back to prehistory and is currently spread across various parts of Brazil and the world. The present study seeks to study the origins and dissemination of Ayahuasca's ritual use through space and time, analysing how this essentially Amazon cultural element has come to break the boundaries of the forest and reaching the Brazilian and world urban centres. It also aims to specify the current area of the phenomenon of the ritualistic use of Ayahuasca, which are the forms of ritual use currently carried out. From bibliographical and field studies, the origins and means by which this phenomenon remained throughout time and spreading and transforming to the current reality. It has identified that the forms of ritual use of Ayahuasca, currently practically practically applied are: Indigenous use in its various forms, broadcast virtually throughout the Amazon region, where around 72 tribes use the ritualistically Ayahuasca. The use of Ayahuasca by vegetarians in their healing rituals, and this practice is spread across the Amazon Plain, mainly in rural border areas with the Amazon Forest in Peru and Colombia. And the third and most disseminated form of the ritualistic use of Ayahuasca, developed in Brazil, the third and most disseminated form of religion and groups spread across many urban centres in almost all Brazilian states and various parts of the world.