The Ghosts of Ayahuasca

Conceptual Limits and Spectral Residues

Dados Bibliográficos

ID3677026
AutoresJacob W Glazier (0000-0002-1036-4022, School of Social Sciences University of West Georgia Carrollton Georgia USA, autor correspondente), Jo O''Donnell, Sean O’donnell (0000-0002-6338-7148, University of West Georgia), Jo O'Donnell, S Jo O'Donnell (School of Social Sciences University of West Georgia Carrollton Georgia USA)
Ano2025
Data de publicação2025-09-25
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoAnthropology of Consciousness (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1053-4202 • E-ISSN: 1556-3537
EditoraWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/anoc.70013
OpenAlexW4414554064
IdiomaEN
Referências citadas49

This essay explores the conceptual and philosophical complexities surrounding ayahuasca use, focusing on its ability to reveal ghosts through the lens of hauntology. Ayahuasca, a psychoactive brew traditionally used in shamanic rituals, is known to evoke profound experiences involving spirits, mystical entities, and transformative states of consciousness. The brew's active compound, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), is notable for its dual nature as both an endogenous neurotransmitter and an exogenous psychedelic. This duality unsettles the boundary between what is natural to the human body and what is external, inviting a reconsideration of anthropocentric and biomedical assumptions. Furthermore, encounters with discarnate beings during ayahuasca journeys blur the lines between corporeality and incorporeality, suggesting that these entities-while phenomenologically real-defy categorization within traditional ontological frameworks. Ultimately, we argue that ayahuasca's spectral residues disrupt materialist understandings of reality, leaving traces that haunt these models and invite broader reflections on consciousness, interconnection, death, and metaphysical limits. By listening to these ghosts, both as conceptual provocations and as subjective experiences, we can challenge and expand our understanding of reality while embracing the transformative and scary possibilities ayahuasca presents

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