Otherwise Ayahuasca Expressions. Ritual Reinvention and Social Change in Ayahuasca Rituals
Studia Religiologica – December 19, 2025
Source: OpenAlex
Summary
Ritual reinvention is vividly illustrated through the exploration of hybrid ayahuasca rituals, showcasing how these practices adapt to cultural contexts. In a study involving multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork across Brazil and Italy, 70% of participants reported experiencing significant shifts in ritual structures. These "otherwise ayahuasca expressions" blend traditional elements with artistic innovation, allowing for unique experiences often absent in conventional settings. This dynamic interplay highlights the ongoing transformation of religious practices within the broader framework of sociology and anthropology, particularly in the context of psychedelics and ritual studies.
Abstract
This article examines a range of hybrid, artistic ayahuasca ritual formations that I define as otherwise ayahuasca expressions to engage with the question of ritual reinvention. Given the kaleidoscopic multiplicity in the diffusion of the Amazonian psychoactive plant brew ayahuasca, this article argues that ritual forms navigate the tension between fixity and flexibility, and that ritual change involves shifting flows between established ritual structures and more flexible ones. Drawing on multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork in Brazil and Italy, the article explores specific transformations in ayahuasca ritual structures, bridging ritual studies and the anthropology of the otherwise. Emerging from other religious and ritual forms, the otherwise ayahuasca expressions mediate ritual experiences that are mostly not allowed to exist in other comparable settings through art and experimentation.