The Spiritual Dimension of Yage Shamanism in Colombia

Bibliographic Data

ID3338889
AuthorsCarlos Miguel Gómez Rincón (0000-0001-6806-7058, Universidad del Rosario, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume11
Issue7
Pages375
Publication date2020-07-21
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueReligions (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/rel11070375
OpenAlexW3044462665
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited13

This article offers an intercultural interpretation of the sense of the sacred in the practice of yage shamanism in Colombia. This practice is based on the ritual use of a plant medicine which for centuries has been the basis of the medical, spiritual and cultural systems of indigenous peoples of the Amazon piedmont in Colombia, Ecuador and Perú. Since the 1990s, this practice has expanded to urban areas of Colombia and other countries. After a short introduction, I develop my interpretation of yage shamanism in three stages: first, I explore some narratives of the origin of yage, showing how it is lived and understood as a source of knowledge and the foundational element of indigenous cultures. Second, I attempt a phenomenological analysis of yage shamanic experience, presenting it as a form of spiritual experience. Finally, I briefly address the issue of whether or not this form of experience is valid

Aesthetics · Alternative medicine · Amazon rainforest · Archaeology · Art · Ethnology · Indigenous · Indigenous culture · Literature · Narrative · Shamanism · Sociology · Spirituality · Anthropology · History · Literary and Cultural Studies · Medicine · Philosophy · Psychedelics and Drug Studies · Social Representations and Identity · Ecology

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access