Anthropology of Consciousness
February 27, 2023
Christian Frenopoulo
4 citations
The articles in this issue present a paradox: consciousness is formed socially and is fluid and malleable, yet participants report strong feelings of relief when unburdened of certain components, suggesting intrinsic boundaries. Cathartic purging—vomiting, crying—provides emotional relief and mental clarity, linking consciousness to the body. A phenomenological approach reveals how participants experience modulations of consciousness, but risks treating the embodied experience as an ontological fact. Consciousness develops intersubjectively, through interactions with others, including disembodied beings. The authors suggest consciousness may be a property of bodies emerging in interactions, not a given precondition. Intentionality may be a trained effect of interactions rather than a spontaneous introjection. The key insight is to decenter the ego-centric focus on individual selves as seats of awareness.
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
June 1, 2005
Christian Frenopoulo
4 citations
Ayahuasca, a traditional medicine hallucinogen, shows significant potential in enhancing psychological well-being. In a sample of 150 participants, 70% reported improved emotional health after engaging in ayahuasca ceremonies. Additionally, 65% experienced increased creativity, influencing their artistic expression. Psychotherapists noted that those who used psychedelics like ayahuasca demonstrated greater openness and emotional resilience. The findings suggest that integrating such substances into therapeutic practices could enrich psychological interventions, highlighting the intersection of traditional medicine and modern psychology in promoting mental health.
Anthropology of Consciousness
February 7, 2025
Christian Frenopoulo
1 citation
Consciousness is not an innate, self-sustaining faculty but is instead a circumstantially cultivated aspect of the self, shaped by societal, personal, and historical contexts. This collection of articles challenges the widespread assumption, held by many scholars and religious doctrines, that consciousness exists independently and is always experienced as a whole, unoriginated given. The work argues against the view that consciousness operates in a state of independence from external circumstances.
April 8, 2016
Domingos Bernardo Gialluisi Da Silva Sá, Christian Frenopoulo, Matthew J. Meyer
1 citation
The chapter reviews a decade of non-policing government monitoring of ayahuasca use in Brazil, where the brew is known as Daime, Santo Daime, or Vegetal. It argues that cost-benefit analysis of drug policy is fundamentally resolved on the cultural level, rejecting a simple mechanistic view like pharmacological determinism. The Uniao do Vegetal (UDV) sees ayahuasca not as an end in itself but as a vehicle in a path of sacrifice and austerity, while it remains an important instrument for achieving spiritual goals for the communities that use it. The chapter advocates for adopting or modifying just public policies directed to drugs, based on this pioneer experience.
Fieldwork in Religion
November 27, 2008
Christian Frenopoulo
1 citation
The article examines healing services in Barquinha churches, an Amazonian Christian religion with syncretic elements. It reviews three common anthropological approaches to healing in this tradition: focusing on participants' subjective and symbolic processes tied to the ayahuasca experience (called Santo Daime), analyzing ritual settings and bodily changes, and considering social relations in therapy. The author contributes ethnographic research, suggesting that healing encounters—where healer-spirits are incorporated in mediums—may echo symbolic motifs from participants' historical experiences of migration and rapid social change.