Skip to content

Cahiers d anthropologie sociale

ISSN 1951-5030

1 paper in the library · 8 citations · publishing 2019

Papers

Apprendre à voir l’invisible. Pédagogie visionnaire et socialisation des hallucinations dans un centre chamanique d’Amazonie péruvienne

Cahiers d anthropologie sociale February 13, 2019 David Dupuis 8 citations

In the debate with the Wassons, Claude Lévi-Strauss argued that the hallucinogenic experience is strictly shaped by culture. Although anthropologists widely share this view, they have said little about how a social group's shared representations structure the effect of hallucinogens. This article outlines ways to understand this process, termed the "socialization of hallucinations," using ethnographic data from Takiwasi, a major shamanic center in Peruvian Amazonia that offers international clients practices inspired by local mestizo shamanism (curanderismo), notably the ritualized use of the psychedelic brew ayahuasca. The stereotyped visual hallucinations reported by participants result from progressive learning.