Shipibo Shamanism Put to the Test of Modernity
Shipibo shamanism (Peruvian Amazon) now has a particular appeal to a Western New Age clientele in search of hallucinogenic experiences, which, at first glance, would be the origin of some form of acculturation of the “traditional” institution. However, the analysis of the therapeutic cure reserved for Western tourists, as well as the mechanisms of translation and appropriation of modern components such as allopathic medicine, would seem to rather appear to emphasize a certain form of resilience, on the part of shipibo shamans, through the promotion of the vegetable kingdom within therapies. Indeed, the plants used would be able to “indigenize” the body of the Western patient for a curative purpose, but also to make the tourist undergo a form of socialization by plants. Such action would be a response to the upheavals that shipibo society is experiencing today in the context of globalization.