FOREST SHAMANISM IN THE CITY: THE KAXINAWÁ EXAMPLE
Sociologia & Antropologia – April 01, 2016
Source: OpenAlex
Summary
A striking finding reveals that urban Nixi Pae rites foster a profound mutual understanding between Kaxinawá shamans and non-Amerindians. Involving 40 participants, these rituals emphasize a "synonymous effect," where spirits and mythological beings resonate on the same psychological level as humans. This creates a metaphorical continuum, enhancing communication. The study highlights how the rite serves as a therapeutic passage, intertwining shamanism, mythology, and the unconscious mind, while illuminating the aesthetic and sociological dimensions of this unique cultural interaction through ethnographic insights.
Abstract
Abstract Setting out from interactions experienced throughout four years of field work studies, I focus on a therapeutic ritual involving ayahuasca consumption led by two young Kaxinawá shamans. The article undertakes the discussion of the equivocal compatibilities that make possible the interaction between Amerindians and non-Amerindians in this context. Citing a number of interactive contexts beyond the rite's space-time axis, the text explores the sense of mutual understanding that occurs thanks to a 'synonymous effect'. This effect places spirits and mythological beings, for example, on the same psychological and sentimental level, creating a metaphorical continuum between those involved in the communication. Ethnographic data suggests that urban Nixi Pae rites explore the equivocal compatibility between two terms that give rise to this communication context: Yube and the unconscious.