Wherever we see a group of humans gathered in some kind of community, there is a high probability that these people share a common religion. We see many different religions, amongst a variety of people, that all have their own beliefs. Through religion, we strive for the answers to difficult questions through acts of faith and worship. After watching “Shamans of the Amazon, ” one will discover another way to find these answers, using the Ayahuasca. In this film review, I will give a brief explanation of the film and then discuss the use of psychedelic drugs in religion. I will then compare and contrast the use of psychedelic drugs in the Shaman’s religion with the recreational use of psychedelic drugs today.
The “Shamans of the Amazon” is …show more content…
The Ayahuasca is the hallucinogenic drink made from two separate plants in the Amazon. In the Ayahuasca, is the psychoactive drug DMT, which is the reason for the psychedelic effects. The shaman is an important presence within the ritual and is someone, “who mediate between people and supernatural beings and forces” (201). In the case of the natives from the amazon, their shaman is the one who can both make, and administer the Ayahuasca. These shamans drink the Ayahuasca with others and have many profound visions that can help with many things. It can show the shamans and the natives important messages about how to be, how to live, and what rules to live by, and it connects them to the past so that they can learn from their ancestors. It can provide strength and power, and it also helps the shamans lead their people through visions that help make decisions, like the ongoing battle with the oil companies in the film.
The religious ritual of drinking Ayahuasca may have started as a remote ritual, but has undergone cultural appropriation by Europeans. Cultural appropriation is when one culture takes bits of another culture and change it a little to make it their own and accept it. Now, there are many people who wish to drink their version of the Ayahuasca in different parts of the world and also use this ritual to learn love and connect to other sources of wisdom, but cannot because of the war on drugs. This is beyond the scope of my paper, but I felt inclined to mention it because of its
The “Shamans of the Amazon” is …show more content…
The Ayahuasca is the hallucinogenic drink made from two separate plants in the Amazon. In the Ayahuasca, is the psychoactive drug DMT, which is the reason for the psychedelic effects. The shaman is an important presence within the ritual and is someone, “who mediate between people and supernatural beings and forces” (201). In the case of the natives from the amazon, their shaman is the one who can both make, and administer the Ayahuasca. These shamans drink the Ayahuasca with others and have many profound visions that can help with many things. It can show the shamans and the natives important messages about how to be, how to live, and what rules to live by, and it connects them to the past so that they can learn from their ancestors. It can provide strength and power, and it also helps the shamans lead their people through visions that help make decisions, like the ongoing battle with the oil companies in the film.
The religious ritual of drinking Ayahuasca may have started as a remote ritual, but has undergone cultural appropriation by Europeans. Cultural appropriation is when one culture takes bits of another culture and change it a little to make it their own and accept it. Now, there are many people who wish to drink their version of the Ayahuasca in different parts of the world and also use this ritual to learn love and connect to other sources of wisdom, but cannot because of the war on drugs. This is beyond the scope of my paper, but I felt inclined to mention it because of its