title: Drug tourism or spiritual healing? Ayahuasca seekers in Amazonia.
abstract: This research addresses the question of whether Westerners who seek traditional spiritual medicine known as ayahuasca can be best characterized as "drug tourists" or as people pursuing spiritual and therapeutic opportunities. Participants in an ayahuasca retreat in Amazonia were interviewed regarding their motivations for participation and the benefits they felt that they received. These findings from the interviews were organized to reveal common motivations and benefits. Contrary to the characterization as "drug tourists", the principal motivations can be characterized as: seeking spiritual relations and personal spiritual development; emotional healing; and the development of personal self-awareness, including contact with a sacred nature, God, spirits and plant and natural energies produced by the ayahuasca. The motivation and perceived benefits both point to transpersonal concerns, with the principal perceived benefits involving increased self awareness, insights and access to deeper levels of the self that enhanced personal development and the higher self, providing personal direction in life.
authors.affiliation: School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Box 872402, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287, USA.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Winkelman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D031581:Banisteriopsis / Q000737:chemistry*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D008517:Phytotherapy; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012068:Religion and Medicine; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D026443:Spiritual Therapies; D029181:Spirituality
chemical_list: D010936:Plant Extracts