The ‘Vines of the Self’: An assessment of entheogenic shamanic tourism in light of modern identity

Abstract

The hallucinogenic brew ayahuasca - „the vines of the soul‟ - has become a coveted commodity for tourists who seek out shamans for spiritual guidance through indigenous rituals. The increase in this type of spirituality tourism seems to be a negating reaction to the malaises of modernity. However, by determining that the particulars of the three mayor components - the entheogen ayahuasca, the ritual and the tourist - are all in support of the individualist search for self-exploration, this paper will show that the use of ayahuasca by tourists in its authentic setting is actually very much in line with modernity and its concept of identity.