The influence of ceremonial settings on mystical and challenging experiences occasioned by ayahuasca: A survey among ritualistic and religious ayahuasca users

This survey (n=2751) found a correlation between positive elements of setting (e.g. leadership, comfort) and fewer challenging experiences in ceremonial ayahuasca use (União do Vegetal, Santo Daime and neo-shamanic groups). The correlation between the mystical experience and setting was relatively weak.

Abstract

“Recent studies have recognized the importance of non-pharmacological factors such as setting to induce or promote mystical experiences or challenging experiences among ayahuasca users. This study aimed to evaluate the association between the setting in which ayahuasca is consumed and the intensity of mystical and challenging experiences considering three ayahuasca using traditions (União do Vegetal, Santo Daime and neo-shamanic groups). A cross-sectional analysis was performed on survey data collected online from 2,751 participants. The Setting Questionnaire for the Ayahuasca Experience (SQAE) was used to evaluate six dimensions of the setting characteristics. The Mystical Experience Questionnaire (MEQ) and the Challenging Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) were used to quantify the psychedelic experience. Ratings on every SQAE setting dimension were negatively correlated with ratings of the CEQ (r values between 0.21 and 0.36) for all ayahuasca using traditions. Regression analysis revealed that ratings on four SQAE dimensions (Social, Comfort, Infrastructure and Decoration) explained 41% of the variance in CEQ ratings. Associations between SQAE and MEQ ratings were relatively weak and confined to the dimensions Leadership and Comfort, explaining 14% of the variance in MEQ ratings. Ratings of Social context were higher among members of União do Vegetal compared to Santo Daime and neo-shamanic members. Ratings of Infrastructure, Comfort and Decoration were more consistently correlated with MEQ in the neoshamanic tradition compared to the other traditions. This study shows that the setting is an important moderator of a challenging experience under ayahuasca. Maximizing the quality of the setting in which ayahuasca is taken will reduce the chance of a challenging experience while contributing positively to a mystical experience. The present findings can be considered when designing rituals and the (social) environment of ayahuasca ceremonies, and indicate that the SQAE questionnaire can be employed to monitor the influence of ceremonial settings on the ayahuasca experience.”

Authors: Alexandre Augusto de Deus Pontual, Luís Fernando Tófoli, Clarissa Mendonça Corradi-Webster, Kim van Oorsouw, Alicia Raquel Osuna Delgado, Johannes G. Ramaekers

Summary

Introduction

Ayahuasca is a psychedelic substance made from the Banisteriopsis caapi vine and Psychotria viridis leaves. It causes intense alterations in perception and sensory integration and the induction of an altered state of consciousness.

Ayahuasca consumption expanded to syncretic religious groups in Brazil and Europe from the 1930s on, and neoshamanic rituals were also spread through Europe and North America.

Within the UDV, Santo Daime and neoshamanic practices, concepts of healing and spiritual growth can be observed. Doctrines are taught during the ayahuasca ceremony, and include Christian symbolism, with influences of other religious groups.

Traditional shamanism is a set of beliefs and ancestral rites present in different cultures, which promotes altered states of consciousness in support of physical and emotional healing. Neo-shamanism includes elements from Eastern, Pagan, and Christian religions, among others.

During religious rituals, participants sing religious music, choose the space decoration and colors, and undergo practices aiming to facilitate the occurrence of mystical experiences. These experiences may also include negative experiences such as paranoia, sadness, anger, delirium, depersonalization, dissociation and confusion.

Studies have found that non-pharmacological factors, such as set and setting, can modulate the behavioral and psychological effects of psychedelics. These factors include the psychological state, intentions and expectations of individuals in psychedelic ceremonies, as well as the social environment in which a ceremony occurs.

A tool was recently developed to assess an individual’s perception of the setting during an ayahuasca ritual. It allows the qualification of six major setting parameters.

The present study applied the SQAE to evaluate the association between setting parameters during ayahuasca ceremonies and the occurrence of mystical and challenging experiences across three ayahuasca using traditions.

Participants and procedure

An online questionnaire was developed using Qualtrics, and data were collected in Brazil and the Netherlands. Participants were recruited through email and by visiting ayahuasca churches.

Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire while thinking about their most recent ayahuasca experiences. They were classified in one of three traditions: shamanic, UDV, or Santo Daime.

Mystical experience questionnaire

The Mystical Experience Scale is a self-report instrument that was developed by Pahnke (1969) and validated by Barrett et al. (2015). It contains 30 items and has been widely used internationally to assess unique mystical experiences from the ingestion of psychedelics.

Challenging experience questionnaire

The CEQ is a self-report instrument that asks participants to rate the extent to which they experienced a list of phenomena in their most recent ayahuasca experience.

Setting questionnaire for the ayahuasca experience

The SQAE is a self-report instrument developed based on interviews with ayahuasca drinkers. It consists of 6 dimensions with 28 Likert-type statements and supplementary descriptive information about the ritual. Participants’ feelings about the ceremony included how they felt within the group, how they saw the organizers as experienced leaders, and how they felt in the space. The questionnaire asked about the infrastructure, comfort, instructions, presence of natural elements, noise, insects, and how enjoyable the ritual felt. Scores ranged from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), with higher scores meaning higher agreement on the importance of this element during the ritual.

Data analysis

SPSS was used to perform descriptive and inferential analyses, and one-way ANOVAs and Bonferroni corrected post hoc contrasts were conducted to assess differences between separate traditions. Correlations and regression analyses were used to evaluate SQAE parameters as predictors of MEQ and CEQ ratings.

Participants

All participants had consumed ayahuasca within the last 6 months. Of the 3,070 participants, 1,041 were categorized as (neo)shamanic, 1,413 as UDV, and 296 as SD, and the average ratings of mystical and challenging experiences were reported by participants on the different subscales, across traditions.

Setting questionnaire for the ayahuasca experience

Correlation analyses indicated that setting characteristics were related to reports of mystical and challenging experiences, but only Leadership correlated positively with MEQ total score. All SQAE subscales correlated negatively with the level of self-reported challenging experiences.

A regression analysis was conducted to determine the elements that predicted higher MEQ and CEQ scores. Comfort and leadership were found to be the most predictive elements.

In the three ayahuasca using traditions, ratings of setting elements differed significantly. The largest difference was found for the Social subscale, with UDV rating this as more important than neo-shamanic and SD.

In all traditions, higher ratings of all setting dimensions were inversely related to CEQ ratings, albeit stronger in the religious traditions than in the neo-shamanic groups.

The presence of different music elements differed across traditions, with the highest positive correlations existing between MEQ and music in a foreign language, religious music and icaros. For neo-shamanic groups and Santo Daime, only silence was related to mystical experiences.

The instrument used to study UDV sessions did not detect chamadas, which are traditional a cappella chants performed live. Therefore, data should be interpreted with caution.

Participants in all traditions enjoyed different activities during the ceremonies in which they most recently drank ayahuasca, except for praying and talking. Only the neo-shamanic tradition enjoyed dancing and praying.

Discussion

The present study investigated whether setting parameters during ayahuasca ceremonies were associated with self-reported mystical and challenging experiences. The study found that higher ratings of setting dimensions were associated with a lower incidence of challenging experiences, and a positive correlation was found between ratings of mystical experience and setting dimensions.

The influence of leadership, social integration and decoration on the occurrence of mystical experiences may be related to the feeling of being guided by a more advanced practitioner, and the sense of safety and wholeness provided by decorations that conform to spiritual beliefs.

The second objective of this study was to assess whether the setting dimensions were rated differently between the three traditions. The results showed that the social context of the UDV tradition was the highest, followed by the social context of Santo Daime, and lowest among followers of the neo-shamanic tradition.

Infrastructure, comfort and decoration ratings were more consistently correlated with the MEQ in the neo-shamanic tradition compared to the religious traditions, whereas in the Santo Daime and UDV tradition other factors (i.e., social) were reported to be more important.

Music in foreign languages, religious music and icaros were positively correlated with MEQ ratings across the three traditions, whereas in the neo-shamanic tradition and Santo Daime, correlations with MEQ were specific to icaros and silences, respectively.

The ratings of activities performed during the ayahuasca ceremonies significantly differed among the religious traditions. Only the ratings of neo-shamanic traditions were positively related to the level of mystical experiences.

The current data comes with limitations, such as the fact that most participants were UDV members and visitors of neo-shamanic ceremonies, and that the perception of adverse effects may vary according to the participants’ length of experience.

This study shows that the setting of ayahuasca ceremonies seems to be an important moderator of mystical and challenging experiences. The SQAE questionnaire can be used to monitor the influence of ceremonial settings on the ayahuasca experience.

Author contributions

All authors contributed to the research, design, and analysis of the study.

Publisher’s note

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