The book is titled «Shamans, Ayahuasca, and Healing» and is 328 pages long. It was written by Santiago López Pavillard, who holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from the Complutense University.
Far from limiting itself to a historical or anthropological description of the phenomenon, the book devotes a specific section to «Ayahuasca Ceremonies,» with subsections such as «Participating in an Ayahuasca Ceremony,» «Preparing for the First Intake,» «The Shaman’s Explanations About the Ceremony,» and «The Work,» which explains how these sessions unfold and what preparation is required of those who attend them, as well as a section titled «Therapeutic Results,» which discusses the psychological and spiritual benefits, describing experiences of emotional liberation and mystical connection.
The work also normalizes the induced vomiting that occurs during the sessions by describing it as a phase of purification. In one passage, it states that «the purgative path precedes […] the illuminative path.»
The author of the book is anthropologist Santiago López-Pavillard, a researcher specializing in Amazonian shamanism and states of consciousness. According to CSIC Publishing itself, the book aims to offer a «reconceptualization of the figure of the shaman» based on the ceremonial use of ayahuasca and tobacco, as well as to open a debate on «the nature and scope of scientific knowledge.» The publication, however, includes a disclaimer in which Editorial CSIC states that «the information, assertions, and opinions contained in this work are the sole responsibility of the author or authors,» while the publisher asserts that it is responsible only for the scientific merit of the publication. Even so, the book is part of Editorial CSIC’s official catalog and has been published as part of one of its academic series.
