Music and ayahuasca
Oxford University Press eBooks July 28, 2011 DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199553792.003.0077 via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractAyahuasca, a potent Amazonian psychoactive brew known for inducing vivid hallucinations, also produces distinctive musical and auditory effects. This chapter first provides background on ayahuasca and its scientific study, along with the role of music in ayahuasca rituals. It then analyzes the phenomenology of auditory and musical experiences during ayahuasca inebriation, how music shapes the experience and its visions, and musical performance. Finally, it addresses broader psychological implications of music, its relation to consciousness, and how consciousness is altered.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Ayahuasca |
| Keywords | Vision Consciousness Musical Phenomenology philosophy |
| Citations | 3 |
| Key finding | Music plays a central role in shaping the ayahuasca experience, influencing its visions and psychological import, and is intimately linked to the alteration of consciousness. |
Abstract
Abstract This chapter examines the musical facets of the special state of mind induced by ayahuasca, a powerful Amazonian psychoactive brew especially famous for the vivid hallucinations that it induces. The chapter is divided into three parts. The first presents background information concerning ayahuasca and its scientific study, and discusses the use of music in ayahuasca rituals. The second part reviews and analyses the phenomenology of auditory and musical effects encountered in the special state of mind induced by ayahuasca inebriation, the effect of music on the ayahuasca experience and its visions, and musical performance. The third part deals with general issues such as the psychological import of music and its relationship to consciousness and its alteration.