Shamanism: Addiction and Soul Sickness
Dean Taraborelli, Alberto Villoldo, G. Muñoz
Oxford Medicine Online September 1, 2018 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.1093/med/9780190275334.003.0026 via Semantic Scholar
Summary
This chapter presents healing concepts from the Quero tradition, descendants of the Inca in ancient Andean Peru, as a framework for addiction treatment. It explores cosmology, oral traditions, and healing motifs that transcend cultural and chronological differences. The text connects time, space, relativity, and quantum physics to the healing path, offering a whole-person spiritual approach through medical anthropology. Case examples illustrate the shamanic path in addiction recovery, emphasizing self-discovery and existential questions about drug use.
Study at a glance
| Design | theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Key finding | The Quero tradition's healing concepts provide a timeless, whole-person spiritual approach to addiction treatment. |
Abstract
The path of healing, self-discovery, and tackling the existential questions as to why people use drugs is addressed in this chapter. The chapter outlines the healing concepts within the Quero tradition, as these peoples were direct descendants of the Inca from ancient Andean Peru. The cosmology and oral traditions through healing motifs are timeless irrespective of cultural and chronological differences. The case examples serve as an ideal platform to launch this chapter on healing and the shamanic path in addiction treatment. Exploration of time, space, relativity, quantum physics—and their interconnectivity to the healing path—are explored. As a valuable addition to the classic approach to addiction and recovery, this chapter conforms to the whole person spiritual approaches available through medical anthropology cultural exploration: in this case, the Inca descendants, the Quero and their wisdom healing traditions.