We believe that subsequent investigations about the adequate use of hallucinogenic substances (visionaries), such as ayahuasca, should be oriented towards the treatment of addictions, increasing neuro-pharmacological analysis in the clinical field, and with special consideration of the operative symbolic or religious dimensionv . This requires the necessary deconstruction of the modern taboo that excludes spirituality from investigative work. It calls for us to dare to consider the subjective experiences of the individual as a departure point for research, to appreciate subjectivity through the rigor of symbolic laws, and to value subjectivity as real in its totality.
It is this path that was followed by the wise Indigenous peoples, and to which we are invited in order to escape our reductionism. Our participation requires a qualitative leap that involves admitting the true existence of the other world (or at least considering this hypothesis) and thus opening up to a transcendental dimension that is also inhabited by forms of autonomous consciousness related to the human being. Some rumors say that C. G. Jung was, in the end, asking himself if his Archetypes were not simply spirits. Many testimonies have already served as the basis for this type of study (Clavo C., 1995, Plotkin M.J.,1993). For this reason, we believe it is necessary to take into account:
• The special difficulties in the training of therapists destined to direct sessions with ayahuasca, who require a solid vocation to help, the disposition to make personal commitments by passing through the initiatory route themselves for the acquisition of knowledge of the symbolic language.
• Incorporation of the use of ayahuasca under the natural form of a beverage, its oral ingestion within a non-improvised ritual framework, and the complementary structure of interpretation, integration and contention of the experiences of ASC.
• The necessary association of a group of complementary perspectives with the purgative plants, the plant teachers, psychotherapeutic accompaniment with initiated therapists, community life and perspectives of spiritual opening.
• The necessity for Westerners, in order to open themselves to other cultures, to reconnect and reconcile themselves with their Judeo-Christian affiliations that nurture and provide structure, and who’s mysticism encompasses the symbolic tools that they need for their search into other cultural forms.
In this context, and in accordance with the ethical values for the treatment of addicted persons, we do not propose to merely achieve abstinence as an end in itself. Rather, more importantly, we strive to prepare and empower the person so that they can enjoy a life aware of themselves: recognizing their own objectives and limitations in total freedom.