Western interest in ayahuasca is creating challenges for local Indigenous communities and raising issues of cultural appropriation

While worries about cultural appropriation are not necessarily misplaced, scholars such as Mark Hay note that none of this means that Westerners need to avoid the plant medicine altogether.

Hay and others note that the mental health benefits of the plant are many and can be combined with Western approaches to illnesses such as treatment-resistant depression. Similarly, the healing powers of ayahuasca can be harmonized with Western approaches to mental health treatment and spirituality.

This harmonization is not unlike the many urban Catholic Brazilians who combined Indigenous rituals with Christianity. In the early 20th century, at least three new and distinct ayahuasca religions were born in Brazil: The Santo Daime, the Barquinha and the Uniao do Vegetal came to areas where shamans had been practicing ayahuasca rituals for hundreds of years before Christianity arrived. These religions fused Christianity with earth-based spirituality as they emphasized the role of the Holy Trinity in giving humans healing plants.

Church leaders also emphasized that the plants allowed them to get closer to God, noting that Christ spoke to them through the psychedelic brew. As a result, the practices took root with Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities living in South America.

These adaptations can provide a road map to approach ayahuasca with the appropriate reverence for its cultural and spiritual grounding.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and analysis to help you make sense of our complex world.

Pardis Mahdavi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.