The supernatural salesman: unpacking shaman ‘witch doctor’ identity work

Five indigenous South American shamans who sell and lead ayahuasca ceremonies engage in magico-spiritual identity work to counter stigma from their local communities, who view them as demonic witch doctors, and from Westerners, who see them as drug dealers. Their supernatural identity is well suited to mitigating this stigma and helps them dominate the spiritual marketplace. The otherworldly foundation of the shaman identity allows them to be seen as arbiters of all knowledge, unchallengeable by other knowledge systems.

Study at a glance

Abstract

This ethnographic study examines the magico-spiritual identity work and sensegiving, carried out by five indigenous South American shamans engaged in selling and delivering ayahuasca ceremonies. Although ayahuasca tourism is the most popular and pervasive form of psychoactive tourism, shamans are routinely stigmatised from selling indigenous knowledge, either as demonic witch doctors from their local communities, or as drug dealers from the West. Unpacking the shaman identity, this study contributes to our understanding of how this hegemonic supernatural identity is well suited to mitigating stigma, and geared towards dominating the spiritual marketplace. Key findings indicate how the otherworldly is the foundation of the shaman identity, sensegiving, and shamans being viewed as the arbiters of all knowledge, unchallengeable by any other system of knowledge.