Then (1979), Plants of the Gods
Ayahuasca Goes Global: Traditional Knowledge Under Pressure
Schultes documented ayahuasca as a strictly regional practice embedded in Amazonian indigenous communities. The knowledge required formal apprenticeship with experienced curanderos and was fundamentally communal.
confirmed
Ayahuasca has undergone global diffusion since 1979 at a pace Schultes could not have imagined. As of 2024, there are an estimated 1,000+ ayahuasca retreat centers globally, the majority operating outside any regulatory framework. Peru alone hosts hundreds of retreat centers catering primarily to Western tourists, a phenomenon generating $100M+ annually. This diffusion has produced documented harms (exploitation, sexual abuse, unqualified facilitators) alongside therapeutic benefit. ICEERS, MAPS, and the Chacruna Institute have been established to address the decontextualization. Schultes's model of embedded, apprenticed, communal practice is increasingly rare.
Sources
- Schultes & Hofmann, Plants of the Gods (1979)
- Holman, Anthropology of Consciousness (2021) [Source not found; under review]
- Tupper, Drug Alcohol Rev. (2014) [Source not found; under review]