Ayahuasca often yields transformative experiences that merge such familiar categories as the sacred and the secular, transcendence and immanence, subject and object, and the human and the nonhuman. However, such experiences are interpreted differently by Western and indigenous discourses. Using the work of French philosopher Bruno Latour, Andre van der Braak asks fundamental ontological questions in order to reimagine ayahuasca as liquid divinity, shifting the focus from ayahuasca experiences to ayahuasca-based ritual practices that aim to cultivate relationships with more-than-human powers, described by Latour as "beings of transformation and religion." Ayahuasca as Liquid Divinity: An Ontological Approach describes Santo Daime practices as a contemporary form of "theurgy" (god-work), as defined by the third-century Platonic philosopher and mystagogue Iamblichus. Theurgical practices aim at drawing down divine action through ritual procedures, using the imagination as an active faculty. Van der Braak argues that ayahuasca religiosity is ultimately not about individual recreation or healing, or even personal visions, but rather about engaging in communal transformative ecodelic practices that let us work as companions of the gods in order to practice solidarity with all sentient beings.
Industry Reviews
This compelling book delves into the still underexplored territory of what ayahuasca can mean for human beings and the challenge this beverage poses for interfaith religious studies. Throughout this lucid and thoughtful text, Andre van der Braak analyses the ontology of ayahuasca as a liquid object/subject relative to social contexts of ayahuasca traditions like Santo Daime, expertly integrating his philosophical observations with references to the anthropological literature. The result is a text that is a pure joy to read while at the same time offering new questions upon which future scholars can build. -- Marc Blainey, author of Christ Returns from the Jungle: Ayahuasca Religion as Mystical Healing (2021) In this clear-headed, thoughtful, and groundbreaking text, the comparative philosopher Andre van der Braak grapples with the "ontological shock" that can emerge in those who engage, in an ongoing and overtly religious way, with ayahuasca - a mind-altering brew originally found in indigenous contexts in the Amazonian rainforest, and which is now the sacramental center of a variety of religious traditions found across the globe. Van der Braak, drawing upon the "experimental metaphysics" of the French thinker Bruno Latour, argues that the often earth-shattering experiences and transformative practices linked to ayahuasca religiosity should encourage us to create a more "fluid" ontology that makes room for "more than human" entities or powers, even while he refuses to endorse any particular substantive ontology. This wide-ranging, courageous, and self-reflexive text not only directly addresses the philosophical ramifications of the relatively recent encounter between Amazonian ayahuasca religiosity with the secular assumptions of the modern Western worldview, but also underscores the societal relevance of this newly emerging contemplative tradition for a "Gaian" religiosity in which human beings become interconnected participants with the natural world. Read this text and emerge with your own ontological assumptions profoundly shaken. -- G. William Barnard, Southern Methodist University
