5) Transcendence: Is It Culturally Shaped or Is "Their Something" Universal?

Abstract "Transcendental Experiences With Ayahuasca Among Western Users" Evgenia Fotiou, M.A., PhD Candidate University of Wisconsin-Madison

When I discuss my research, I am often asked whether I think visionary experiences with hallucinogens are culturally constructed or universal across cultures. In my paper, based on fieldwork with westerners participating in ayahuasca ceremonies, I will discuss the ways that transcendental experiences are perceived by them. I will particularly focus on the example of sorcery to illustrate the differences in the ways it is perceived by westerners and Peruvians. I argue that even though it is quite possible that Peruvians and westerners have the same or very similar experiences with ayahuasca, their interpretations of them are quite different due to the very different cultural backgrounds of the users.

As Peruvian culture is more socially oriented, Peruvian users tend to interpret any negative or dark experiences as attacks from other members of the community or malevolent shamans. The more individualistic western cultural framework causes westerners to interpret similar experiences as their own psychic processes. I will discuss cases of Western apprentices who have come to accept the concept of sorcery as well as shamanic warfare and will show that in many ways a shamanic apprenticeship for a westerner involves a very radical shift in their interpretations of shamanic experience.