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Seeking shamanic spirit - Healing and spirituality in the discourse of an ayahuasca Facebook group

Abstract

This thesis explores the beliefs about connections between healing and spirituality as expressed in the Western discourse of an ayahuasca Facebook group (AFG). Two objectives were met: firstly, to identify how AFG members connect beliefs about healing and spirituality and secondly, to demonstrate what these connections reveal about the spiritual health desires of Westerners interested in ayahuasca healing. A qualitative thematic analysis of the AFG discourse identified seven key themes that members used to connect beliefs about healing and spirituality: 1) The power to heal is within the self; 2) The right environment is essential for healing; 3) Individual healing is community healing; 4) Healing is a self-transformative journey; 5) Healing creates oneness; 6) Individual beliefs shape the healing experience; and 7) Healing practices can be sourced from indigenous cultures. An interpretive analysis of these themes revealed that the spiritual healing desires of Westerners interested in ayahuasca are demonstrated through three core concepts: selectively appropriated (neo)enchantment, a ‘qualified’ individualism, and therapeutic connection through community. A tension was highlighted between the group’s adherence to rationalist Western cultural understandings and their countercultural enchanted notions of spiritual healing. The online community is shown to provide a space to explore and resolve these seemingly conflicting understandings through the co-creation of acceptable discursive norms. These findings add to the research that explores how spirituality is changing in the West, opening up possibilities in the inquiry into how healthcare can accommodate the changing spiritual healing needs of Westerners who seek healing outside the Western medical model.