Changes in Spirituality Among Ayahuasca Ceremony Novice Participants

This observational, survey, and interview-based field study (n=49) investigated the spiritual effects of ayahuasca on first-time ceremony participants compared to people who did not participate (n=5). Results did not exhibit any overall increase in spiritual well-being or mysticism compared before and after the ceremony, but they found that increases of these variables were dependent on peak experiences and other qualitative differences amongst participants.

Abstract

“Introduction: Ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic plant brew from the Amazon basin used as part of healing ceremonies by the local indigenous people of the region for centuries, is now being consumed by growing numbers of people throughout the world. Anecdotal evidence and previous research suggest that there are spiritual effects experienced among participants who take part in ayahuasca ceremonies. The current study examined whether novice participants’ spirituality was affected through participation in an ayahuasca ceremony, and if so, how.

Methods: A mixed-design method was used, comparing those participating in an ayahuasca ceremony to those who did not participate. This investigation used the Peak Experience Profile, the Spiritual Well-being Scale, and the Mysticism Scale as quantitative measures. Participant interviews and written accounts of ceremony experiences were analyzed.

Results: Results showed that neither the SWB score nor the M-Scale score increased significantly after participating in an ayahuasca ceremony. However, it was found that the higher the PEP score, the greater the positive change in SWB and MScale scores. Qualitative data revealed common spiritual themes in many of the participants’ interviews and written accounts.

Discussion: Experiential differences were displayed within the ayahuasca ceremony group, warranting continued investigation into, and identification of, various confounding variables that prompt reported changes in spirituality within some participants while not in others.”

Authors: Stephen Trichter, Jon Klimo & Stanley Krippne

Summary

One group of compounds, entheogens, has shown promise in increasing an individual’s spirituality and strengthening their sense of well-being. Ayahuasca is one such compound, and has been used in sacred healing rituals in indigenous cultures for centuries.

SPIRITUALITY AND MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE

James’ statement that “there are potential forms of consciousness entirely different” gives an indication of the scope and nature of the kind of experiences being studied here.

The experience of being spiritual is a human experience that exists at least potentially in all persons. It is not the same as religiosity.

Vaughan stated that the differences between spirituality and religion are very important.

The primary difference between spiritual and mystical experiences is that mystical experiences involve a conscious recognition of, and experiential union with, ultimate reality or God. A religious experience is a particular kind of spiritual experience tied to a particular doctrine or dogma of a religion.

Huxley and Otto described the mystic path as being entirely unlike our everyday consciousness and wholly incommensurable with it. Stace described two types of mystical experience: extravertive and introvertive.

The value of mysticism is yet to breach fully the realms of conventional therapeutic models, yet there is growing interest in examining the impact of spirituality on the psychological, social, and somatic dimensions of life. Higher levels of spirituality are related to better physical health, fewer medical and psychiatric problems, and higher levels of psychosocial functioning. Such individuals also report less anxiety, less fear of death, worry and neurotic guilt, and less likelihood of committing suicide.

The loss of a spiritual perspective in Western culture has been noted by many influential present-day thinkers. If existential psychologists are correct in their assessment that the loss of a spiritual perspective produces an array of psychological problems, then the recovery of a spiritual perspective is an obvious treatment methodology.

PSYClllATRY, ENTHEOGENS AND SPIRITUALITY

There is little empirical research on the effects of ayahuasca on subjective spiritual experience, despite this being its traditional value. However, notable advancements were made in understanding these compounds and their effects during the era before the imposition of research restrictions and laws limiting human subject research with these compounds.

In this study, Pahnke measured the effects of psychedelic drugs on nine categories of the human experience. The experimental group achieved a higher score in each category than did the controls.

HALLUCINOGENS, ENTHEOGENS AND AYAHUASCA

Hallucinogens are psychoactive substances that induce altered states of perception, thought, and feeling without a concomitant lapse of memory or loss of consciousness.

Ayahuasca is a psychoactive brew made by boiling the stems of the Banisteriopsis caapi vine together with the leaves of the Psychotria viridis plant. It contains the beta-carbolines harmine, harmaline, and tetrahydroharmine, as well as DMT, a potent hallucinogen enhancing the activation of the neurotransmitter serotonin.

Ayahuasca, or “vine of the spirits”, has been used in South America since prehistoric times as a healing tool and purportedly to communicate with plant and animal spirits. It has also been adapted into contexts that are not affi liated with any particular religion.

Ayahuasca is used in rituals, by psychiatrists, psychologists, and anthropologists in Tarapoto, Peru, to treat drug addicts, and in the treatment of alcoholism.

There are different types of ayahuasca ceremonies, from South America to Europe and North America, which use techniques borrowed from both traditional and con temporary expressions of ayahuasca usage.

LEGALITY

The use of ayahuasca in the Amazon Basin countries is fundamentally legal, but in the Western world it is not yet clear whether this makes the consumption of the ayahuasca brew illegal. The United States Supreme Court ruled that a small congregation that is part of the Uniao do Vegetal (UDV) may use ayahuasca in their religious ceremonies, and that the burden of proof was on the government to show that the use of ayahuasca would not substantially burden the congregation’s exercise of religion.

IMPLICATIONS OF ENTHEOGENS IN THERAPY

The research thus far suggests that entheogens can be used in psychotherapy. By incorporating an entheogen into a psychotherapeutic regimen, an individual can access and process conscious and unconscious material from a different angle, potentially leading to radical and effective solutions.

Chilean psychiatrist Claudio Naranjo (1979) used ayahuasca and harmaline in short-term analytic psychotherapy and found that 10 out of 30 psychoneurotic patients exhibited positive changes that would otherwise be expected only after intensive psychotherapy.

METHODOLOGY

Anecdotal evidence suggests that ayahuasca increases spirituality and well-being. The present study investigated how ayahuasca affects spirituality.

Initially, it was hypothesized that participating in an ayahuasca ceremony would increase one’s focus on, reverence, openness, and connectedness to something beyond one’s full understanding and individual existence.

Participants and Location

A total of 54 participants took part in this research study, of which 49 self-assigned to four different ayahuasca ceremony groups. All participants were first-time ayahuasca ceremony participants, and their primary and first language was English. Participants had to pass the Mini Mental Status Exam and never take ayahuasca before.

The researcher conducted interviews and survey instruments in a sensitive manner, taking into consideration that subjects could potentially find some of the topics in the interviews uncomfortable and/or upsetting due to memories or psychologically sensitive areas that might have been uncovered during the research.

This study took place in two locations, one in the San Francisco Bay Area and one in British Columbia, Canada. It involved 49 participants and was conducted by two different ceremony leaders.

Quantitative Portion

Researchers used scaled surveys on spiritual experience and a qualitative interview instrument to collect data from participants prior to, six hours after, one week after, and in one- and three-month follow-ups.

Three quantitative instruments were chosen for this study: The Peak Experience Profile (PEP), The Spiritual Well-Being (SWB) Scale, and The Mysticism Scale.

The Peak Experience Profile is a 1 84-question survey looking specifically at the participant’s experience of the altered state of consciousness during the ceremony.

The Spiritual Well-Being (SWB) Scale is a holistic measure of spiritual q uality of life that includes scales of religious well-being and existential well-being.

The Mysticism Scale was created to assess an individual’s intense experiences, characterized by a sense of unity with the outside world and/or with “nothingness”.

Analysis

The quantitative portion of the research analyzed data from the administered questionnaires to examine changes in SWB and M-Scale scores in relationship to PEP scores.

To deal with missing data and the large inequality in comparison sample size, the researcher used a combination of scores at time 2 and time 3.

Demographic Profile

The average age of the ayahuasca ceremony participants was 33 years, and the average age of the control group was 31 years. There were three females and two males in the control group.

Qualitative Portion

The qualitative portion of the study was performed using half-hour semistructured interviews and written subjective accounts of the participants’ experience of the ayahuasca ceremony. The data was compiled, analyzed and used to supplement the quantitative findings.

Researcher’s Observations

The researcher observed the ayahuasca ceremonies and wrote down his observations. He did not analyze his observations, but selected items are reflected upon with regards to the other results.

Limitations and Delimitations

This study has several limitations, including the self-selection of participants and the fact that the ceremony was highly spiritual in nature. Additionally, the preceremony data collection may have influenced the effects of the ceremony on the participants.

The researcher found that most participants who lived in Canada did not participate in the follow-up sessions beyond the one-week mark, while those who lived near the researcher in the United States consistently participated.

Although ethnicity and age were not significantly different between the groups, other potential differences could have played a part in the results.

RESULTS

The results of this research are divided into three sections: the researcher’s observations, the quantitative data, and the qualitative data. These three sections examine the initial hypothesis via several specific subhypotheses.

Quantitative Data

The ayahuasca group reported feeling a variety of peak experiences during the ceremonies, including connection with the divine and spirit world, healing relationships with nature and people, and being grateful for the experience.

The total peak experience scores did not differ between the two ayahuasca ceremony groups, but the total peak experience minus nadir score did differ between the two groups, with the Canada group having a more positive peak experience.

The Spiritual Well-being and Mysticism Scale scores are correlated to the Peak Experience Profi le scores. The difference between the two groups may have led to greater changes in the Spiritual Well-being score, but not in the Mysticism Scale score.

Participants reported that their spiritual beliefs had deepened and become more a part of their everyday lives after taking ayahuasca. Many expressed the desire to engage in more regular spiritual practices.

The Spiritual Well-Being (SWB) instrument provides an overall measure of spiritual quality of life. The post-session SWB scores were not predicted by baseline spirituality scores, but were predicted to some degree by taking part in an ayahuasca session versus being in the control group.

There was no significant difference in scores between the entire ayahuasca group and the control group, but there was a significant difference in the change of scores over time. This difference may have been caused by differences in the groups’ peak experiences.

The results of this study showed that equal portions of participants in both ayahuasca groups reflected a deepening of spiritual experience and incorporation of spiritual ideas in their lives.

The best predictor of the post-ayahuasca Mysticism Scale score is the baseline Mysticism score, and the novel mystical experience is either less likely or is even trait-like as compared to the spirituality score.

The above finding may be related to many participants reporting having had mystical experiences before the ayahuasca ceremony. The M-Scale may not have accurately measured new mystical experience, but rather whether or not one has ever had a mystical experience in one’s life.

The current study had few participants and a large difference in number between the ayahuasca group and the control group, which affects the statistical analysis.

The controls did not differ significantly from the ayahuasca participants prior to the ayahuasca ceremonies. This is important because it means that the participants were not more spiritual or mystical beforehand.

The researcher’s observations of the ayahuasca ceremonies indicate that the Canada group’s ceremonies were held in a rural location in the forest, which may have been more conducive to having a stronger peak experience and greater effect on spiritual well-being.

Setting appears to be one of several factors that caused differences in experience between the Canada and California groups.

Two different Peruvian shamans led the ceremonies in Canada and California. The one in Canada spent more time talking to the participants both before and after the ceremony, and his English was superior, which may have affected the participant’s experience.

The different ayahuasca brews may have affected the results of the study. The Canada group may have experienced more positive experiences and greater positive changes in spiritual well-being.

The results may have been different because the participants in the two groups were from different cultures, or because the Canadian group was more open to more profound spiritual experiences.

Qualitative Data

Participants in the study reported several common themes during their ceremony experiences, including presence of light, sense of honor, sense of gratitude and/or awe, sense of connection, self reflection, supernatural experiences, sense of peace and/or calm, healing, and death/near-death experiences.

Almost 60% of participants wrote about experiences with light and geometric patterns in their written accounts.

Over 50% of participants reported feeling connected to others during the ceremony. Some felt connected to nature, god or the divine, while others felt connected to those most important in their lives.

Personal reflections and insight were the fourth most common theme, and included an understanding of past traumas and insights into physical and emotional challenges.

In their aya huasca visions, nearly half of the participants mentioned the presence of “God”, “the divine” or some intangible force that exists outside of everything else.

Over 40% of participants had supernatural experiences, including becoming invisible, traveling through space/time without the body, and interacting with spirit creatures, spirit guides, or spirit animals.

Many participants felt a strong sense of calm during the ceremony, and many referred to this sense of calm as being a state of the cosmos.

In the written accounts, approximately 10% of participants reported having some experience around death. These experiences varied from feeling that one had died to realizing what death means.

Desolation was the final and least prevalent theme in the ayahuasca ceremony. Some participants experienced traumas from earlier times in their lives, while others experienced “demonic spaces”.

Prior to the ceremony, participants were asked their definition of spirituality. Some stated that spirituality was feeling connection with nature, inanimate objects and people.

Most participants felt that their spiritual beliefs were not changed by participating in the ayahuasca ceremony, but were renewed or strengthened. One month after the ceremony, a participant stated that his spiritual beliefs were not different, but the actualization of his beliefs was taking shape.

Participants reported that their spirituality was more important to them after the ceremony, and no one reported that it was less important to them. Less than 5% of participants stated that they experienced a change in their belief in God or a higher power.

Over 75% of participants grew interested in participating in new spiritual practices, but over half of them expressed sentiments recognizing that the emotional effects of the ceremony were not as strong, and new spiritual practices became less important.

Reflections on the Research

This study looked at the subjective spiritual effects of ayahuasca on novice users. Future research should optimize consideration of certain confounding variables and create better opportunities for communication with research participants.

The researcher’s role in the study is likely to have played a part in the results, as participants were asked to reflect upon their spiritual­ ity and spiritual themes, both before the ceremonies and in the follow-up sessions.

Overall, this research suggests that an ayahuasca ceremony can have a lasting spiritual impact on participants, and that follow-up meetings may be beneficial in helping participants process difficult material that may have arisen during the ceremony.

The greatest challenge facing the study of ayahuasca on humans is the creation of a protocol. With a protocol, studies can be reproducible and standardized, and many of the unknown variables that have influenced the results of this study could be eliminated.

The positive benefits of testing ayahuasca on human subjects are notable, yet there are many challenges to overcome. These include reproducing an authentic spiritual setting, training ayahuasca guides and healers, and standardizing the ayahuasca itself.

A final reflection on this study calls for further study into the differences among ayahuasca ceremony research participants. Such research should likely include examination of personality characteristics, belief inventories, and the use of other psychological instruments.

Based on the initial findings reported here, it is recommended that further research be conducted using a homogenous group of participants, a single setting, a single shaman, and a single batch of ayahuasca.

CONCLUSIONS

Clinical research has begun on the effects of various entheogens on human subjects, with promising results. The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies has assisted researchers in obtaining government approval for clinical research using psychedelics on human subjects.

While some research is being pushed forward in the clinical arena, research continues to grow that examines the spiritual effects of entheogens on human subjects. However, this latter area of study is underinvestigated at present.

In 2006, the United States Supreme Court unanimously agreed to allow ayahuasca users to use the drug as a religious sacrament. This leads this researcher to believe there may be a movement towards accepting a diversity of spiritual practices.

As spirituality becomes increasingly recognized as a valuable aspect of people’s lives, opportunities for personal spiritual growth may increase, with the use of entheogens likely being one of them. Ayahuasca has been shown to help people who apply it in a spiritual setting to lead happier and healthier lives.