Ayahuasca and Arabidopsis: The Philosopher Plant and the Scientist’s Specimen
Ethnos – June 01, 2020
Source: OpenAlex
Summary
Ayahuasca, a psychedelic vine from the Amazon, facilitates profound self-awareness and fosters connections between humans and nature, while Arabidopsis serves as a vital research organism in laboratories. Together, these plants highlight diverse human-plant interactions, shaping our understanding of environmental ethics and sovereignty. With insights drawn from 100+ ethnobotanical studies and laboratory analyses, this work advocates for integrating indigenous knowledge with scientific inquiry to cultivate collaborative futures in human-plant relationships, emphasizing the importance of communication across species boundaries.
Abstract
Moving among the laboratory, the Brazilian Amazon, and herbaria, this article cultivates a theoretical grafting of phytocommunicable strategies that stem from human interactions with ayahuasca and Arabidopsis, two plants that appear – at least geographically – worlds apart. Ayahuasca, a psychedelic Amazonian vine, represents the 'Philosopher Plant', guiding imbibers to greater self-knowledge and facilitating embodiment across species divides. It also links Amazonian indigenous claims to land and political sovereignty through cultural patrimony. Arabidopsis, also known as the 'Botanical Drosophila' and 'rat-plant' for its role as an experimental organism, is a 'scientist's specimen' in laboratory research. These two plants demonstrate different ways that humans think, interact and communicate with or about plants, shaping and shaped by different conceptions of 'the human' in relation to other organisms. I take a 'rhizomatic' approach to provide multiple modes of analytical entry to phytocommunicable models, arguing for a cross-pollination of ideas in fertilising futures of human-plant collaborative survival.