The central theme of this selection of articles is a phenomenon that involves the emergence of religious groups in the Brazilian Amazon that build their systems of ritual, myth and principles around the use of a psychoactive brew known by several different names, one of which is the Quechua term ‘ayahuasca’. These religions – Santo Daime (in its Alto Santo and CEFLURIS branches), Barquinha and the União do Vegetal – are generically labelled as ‘Brazilian ayahuasca religions’ in anthropological writings. Although the field of studies of these religious movements has seen much development in recent decades, there are still very few publications in English, especially in the area of anthropology. This collection seeks to address this absence and offer visibility to the research conducted in Brazil, most of which has been carried out by Brazilian researchers. The current collection has attempted to select a representative sample of the main types of approaches that have been used. It also offers a view of the historical development of this field of research in Brazil, especially from the perspective of the human sciences, particularly anthropology.