This month’s Atlantic magazine reports on use of hallucinogenics by indigenous groups in Peru. Ayahuasca, a plant-based medicinal served as a drink, has been used by various peoples for centuries to treat a variety of maladies as well as for ceremonies. By reporter’s account, taking the drink induces a very unpleasant physical reaction—“usually occasions some intense vomiting”—but a redeeming psychological effect. Positive changes in attitude and behavior (presumably after vomiting ceases) are widely reported by those who have experimented with the plant.
Predictably, word of ayahuasca’s effects has lured tourists to the Peruvian Amazon. Shamans point out that setting is extremely important to ensuring healthy outcomes. Noted one advocate: “There was on thing they got right in the 1960s: set and setting are extraordinarily important.