The paper examines how ayahuasca ceremonies have been adopted by a community and therapeutic center in Buenos Aires that emphasizes the healing and psychotherapeutic effects of the brew. Using Pablo Semán's concept of the "psychologization of religion," the author adapts it to "psychologization of spirituality," since the group does not define itself as religious but shows concern for spirituality. These healing effects arise not from mere beliefs or representations but from direct experience in encounters between humans and the ayahuasca plant. Drawing on native theories and the author's fieldwork, the analysis shows how the human-nonhuman relationship constructs a way of thinking about the self through the native category of "feeling."
This paper explores how ayahuasca ceremonies have been appropriated by a Community and Therapeutic Center in Buenos Aires that emphasizes the healing and psychotherapeutic effects of the brew. To account for these effects, the author uses Pablo Seman's concept of the "psychologization of religion" but replaces "religion" with "spirituality." Although the group does not define itself as religious, a concern for spirituality appears. Healing effects emerge not as mere beliefs or representations but from experience, from an encounter between humans and the ayahuasca plant. Drawing on native theories and the author's own fieldwork immersion, the paper shows how the human–non-human relationship constructs a way of thinking about the "self" through the native category of feeling.