The Indigenous Perspective

The indigenous peoples across the world are diverse and cannot be identified homogenously. However, many indigenous nations find they share significant commonalities associated with the philosophy of ‘being-more-than-human’. 1 and a science based upon ‘natural laws of interdependence’ Indigenous people in the Amazon, such as Tukanos and Shipibo tribes, are not the exception. Their culture, traditions and understanding of their existence are built upon their relationship with the rainforest and the awareness of the intrinsic connection that exist with it. Within their traditions, the ritual of Ayawáskha is a manifestation of their philosophy of being-more-than-humans, referring to be part of nature as one entity. This approach enables indigenous people to self-reflect, expand their knowledge and perception of nature, and acknowledge their role as part of the ecology.

What is Ayawáskha?

Ayawáskha is a psychotropic decoction prepared from the combination of a jungle vines of the same name and other complementary plants. It has been traditionally used as a spiritual medicine in ceremonies among different indigenous communities of the Amazon basin. Ayawáskha comes from two words in Kichwa language, Aya: Soul/Spirit and Wáskha: Vine/Liana. Generally, it refers to both to the plant Banisteriopsis Caapi and most importantly to the decoction prepared with it, also known as Yajé in other indigenous cultures.2 The word Ayawáskha has been variously translated as the ‘Vine of the soul’ or ‘Spirit liana’. The vine represents the means of connection with the ethereal, for indigenous people, a state multidirectional interaction in the cosmos, from a macroscale to a microscale, where there is an interconnectivity of the ‘self’ in relation with all ‘spirits’ that exists. Based on Prof David Skrbina theory of Panpsychism, the concept of ‘Spirit’ is problematic in the academic context, instead he proposed to replace it with the concept of consciousness, what he describes as a homolog state of being. In the thesis, when referring to the word ‘spirit’, ‘spiritual’ and any equivalent variant is to be interpreted in the context of consciousness.

Therefore, the Ayawáskha is a vehicle of connection with the consciousness of nature, the brew is consumed not for sensory gratification, but for immersion in a collective mental and ‘spiritual’ world in which the participants become something more than humans.3 The ritual is an empirical process that cleans body and mind in order to expand the understanding of the ecology they are part of and their role within it. Within this thesis, the used of the word visions is preferred instead of hallucinations due to the erroneous cultural connotation of the latter. Both are products of the imagination; however, the latter is more connected with craziness as a disease. By restoring indigenous philosophy, Ayawáskha is understood as medicine in this context and the plant is not the one that gives the visions, instead it is the one that removes the obstacles that prevents from the visionary capacity of the individuals opening up paranormal and intuitive abilities that, for indigenous people, are innate in the human-being.

The ceremony is conducted during the night under the guidance of the Taita through a sequence of stages that enables to transform the personalities of the participants, going through their feelings to stimulate on understanding the links that exist in its ecology. The ritual starts with the cleansing of the body, a sequence of acts that represents the goodwill and protection as a preparation for receiving Ayawáskha. Following the ingestion of the brew, the self-identity is deconstructed in sequence of feeling that starts with fear, goes through self-recognition, repentance, determination to change. The purge is the final act that marks the end of the purification process where body and mind, of selfreflection state where it is release what is not need for the self. Consequently, the visions enter in an ecstasy state where there are not limitations of the perceptions and reinforces the lessons learnt during the ritual process, a praxis left for each individual to exercise in their daily life after awakenings from the vision.

Misinterpretation of the traditional use

There is archaeological evidence of Ayawáskha use as early as 1000 BCE. A leather ritual bag, likely belonged to a shaman, was founded in a cave used as a tomb in what is now southwestern Bolivia, the bag contained what archaeologist described as the earliest artefacts of the Ayawáskha ritual and remaining psychoactive substance.4 The use of psychedelics is common across different cultures, according to anthropologist Donald E. Brown the impulse of consciousness alteration is one of the essential components of human culture. Its use has significantly influenced the way society and culture are structured by providing a different perception of the way the world is viewed. However, this is not exclusive of human, there are evidence on the origin of these impulses to exist likely long before we became ‘humans’.5

In the 15th century, when Europe acknowledged the existence of Abya Yala, 6 known today as continent of The Americas, this resulted in the colonisation and omission of indigenous culture and their intellectual authority and philosophies of being human. According to Simone Bignall and Daryle Rigney, the legacy of colonialist systems on philosophical thinking after the Enlightenment is a problematic issue that remains part of the current approach in most European philosophy.

Reconstructing Indigenous Epistemologies and Philosophies

Posthumanism is strongly influenced by the philosophy of Deleuze and Guattari, the ‘posthuman turn’ is defined as a convergence of posthumanism with postanthropocentrism by the philosophers Rosi Baidotti and Simone Bignall.7 It is a complex and multidirectional set of discourses and material events. By the radical criticism of how humanism developed in the western society, it encourages to build upon the potential epistemologies of becoming-human by the practice of a more inclusive approach to ontology of ‘human’. Additionally, it is an opening to the potentials of thinking beyond the established frames of anthropocentrism for the imagination and redefinition of concepts towards a world focused direction. Bignall and Rigney enquire about the role of their philosophy in the continuing exclusion of Indigenous ontologies in the emerging posthumanities.

On the one side, posthumanism describes that indigenous people share internationally similar views on the features that constitute humanity, the conceptualisation of being human is stablished in inextricable relations with the nonhuman world. Such philosophies include the refusal of anthropocentrism and human exceptionalism; a genealogical and constructivist account of identity; and an acknowledgement of species interdependence and consubstantial intersubjectivity in interactive ecologies shared by human and non-human beings.8 On the other side, the exclusion of indigenous ontologies allows Continental European Philosophy to claim the ‘new humanities’ as its current ‘discovery’ after modern humanism.9 However, under close scrutiny, this apparently ‘new’ intellectual frontier in fact traces an ancient philosophical terrain already occupied by indigenous epistemologies and associated modes of human experience.10

Ayawáskha as a case of study for Architecture

This inquiry into the Ayawáskha Ritual in this thesis takes in consideration Rosi Bradotti and Jodi Byrd’s suggestion that ‘Indigenous critical theory could be said to exist in its best form when it centres itself within indigenous epistemologies and in specificities on the communities and cultures from where it emerges, and looks outward to engage European philosophical, legal and cultural traditions in order to build upon all the allied tools available’.11 Therefore, the Ayawáskha ritual becomes the case study for this thesis to research on the indigenous perspective, it is used as a metaphor to discuss broader issues of the contemporary philosophy in regards to the redefinition of human and the relationship with nature.

The ritual is deconstructed together with the Maloka (the indigenous hut where the ritual takes place) as a set of elements, objects and spaces that are used as stimulations for consciousness to maintain a balanced relation with nature. Based on what Marcel Mauss and Pierre Bourdieu have called ‘habitus’12, the ritual and the Maloka are approached as a network of habits, beliefs, and expectations held by the person who experiences and use it. By the understanding of their meanings, these can be used as mnemonics for architectural design to engage with the way peoples relate with nature, and to create life experiences that could shape awareness unconsciously, what Andrej Radman define as the ‘psychotropic practice’ of architecture.13

A journey to the Amazon

This thesis is structured in similar manner to the ayawáskha ritual, it is divided in three parts to emphasize a methodology of studying the ritual across different narratives that existed during the investigation, and that could lead to different focus of interpretations. The main narrative is the journey to the ayawáskha ceremony, a timeline of the preritual, during-ritual and post-ritual. While the journey happens, the intention is to take the readers’ imagination to a closer focus in relation to the ceremony, the first part being the preparation to the ceremony, the second as the cleansing process during the ritual, and the third as the visionary state of connections. Alternatively, it looks to the indigenous culture in the first part, the western culture in the second, and the intersection between them in the third. Similarly, it is a view to the past, present and future; to the body, mind and ethereal; the Participant, the Taita, and the Brew; to description, meaning and purpose; to thinking, feeling, acting; so on and so forward. More specifically each part looks at the following:

Part one – The Ritual, Entheogenic Praxis of Being –expands on what is Ayawáskha within the cultures of indigenous people and provides a view from the perspective of an outsider of the culture. It describes the composition and effects of the brew as well as their meaning from the perspective of indigenous philosophy. It provides a view of the importance of the ritual as a social mechanism to remain in balance with nature. It defines how the ritual is performed, the role of the Taita, the elements, objects that are involved, acts, meanings, the spaces of interaction and feelings. It ends with the reconstruction Ayawáskha as an indigenous praxis of being in the form of ritual.

Part two - The Brew, Ego Dissolution and the Ethereal – take the elements of the mind stages of the mind during the vision state as a metaphor to deconstruct and redefine the notion of ‘human’ by engaging the praxis of Ayawáskha with homologous contemporary discourses and theories. Through the feelings of fear, self-recognition, regrets, and determination of change it would expose the conflictive relationship with nature of contemporary society, to end in a rejection of the being ‘human’ as we know it.

Part Three - The Purge, Being after Death – marks the new beginning and the analysis of architecture from the perspective of ayawáskha, identifying design elements create experience that influences the way inhabitants think and perceive the space, and ultimately influence behaviour toward create new connections, respond to it and evolve with it. This chapter also explores the new role of architecture as a psychotropic practice meaning to the capacity of affecting human way of thinking by the design of environment and the importance for architecture to do it. However, it also makes a difference of the Entheogenic practice to be more specific when engages with Ayawáskha and indigenous culture.

The Conclusion - The awakening, Life in the Ethereal – Provides with a description of the implementation of Entheogenic design in a Virtual Reality Environment. It describes the VR experience and the relation with Ayawáskha. It also resembles the closure of the ritual, is a manifesto of what Ayawáskha is. It summarises the views and connections examined in this thesis and narrative that look to engage the reader to find new ones and to define what is Ayawáskha.

The forest is dense, I cannot see anything Everything moves, it doesn’t see safe

Where are we going?

Where are they taking me?

Research Method Statement

Reader cleansing process

Ambitions

The ambition of this thesis is to find new means of strengthening the relationship between humans and nature by the design of architectural environments. It studies the Ritual of Ayawáskha as a mean of connection used by indigenous people in the Amazon to identify design parameters that can be used in architecture. It engages with contemporary discourses to have a broader understanding of the relationship between human and nature in order to find further parameters. It attempts to test the finding of the research by designing a virtual environment based on the connection that Ayawáskha creates with nature and explore further possibilities for architecture as an Entheogenic Practice.

Readership

The content of this thesis is primarily aimed at architectural professionals. Although the content is relevant for philosophy and other disciplines that studies the human such as anthropology, phycology, sociology, etc. The content is also relevant for gaming design and similar as it explores to the creation of a virtual world based on the narrative of the ritual. The content is relevant to indigenous culture to engage their traditions with the contemporary technologies, and for other culture to build a bridge in the understanding of nature through experiencing Ayawáskha. The output of the thesis can be utilised by anyone that wants to understand and relate to nature differently.

Thinking process

Brain Coonections

Areas of research Stimulations

Limitations

This thesis uses a specific case study to discuss a broader argument about humanity, limiting it to the narrative of the ritual which for an analysis of argument by philosophy or similar disciplines may find that ignores other aspects of humanity and nature. The ritual is used as a metaphor and the research should not be taken as such. It aims to expand and open question to other similar arguments to build upon and with them on the matter regarding the relation between human and nature and how it can be used to influence architecture toward a design that enhanced it.

Relevance & Consequences

Predominately, there is an urgent need for this thesis to establish a bridge between culture in regards of the matter of nature and human relationship to expand in the discipline of architecture to design spaces that strengthen them. This is not an isolated investigation and aims to connect to other disciplines to build up on the data for developing cultural, ethics, technology, economy and society towards a balanced relation with nature.

Research Method Statement

Reader cleansing process

Research Methodology Statement

The research methodology of this thesis to investigate into understanding of ayawáskha ritual and the connection it enables with nature. Then, by finding similarities between Contemporary discourses with indigenous philosophy, The ritual used as a metaphor to reinterpreted, artefacts, objects, spaces that are form the ritual. Working on findings during the investigation that the ritual is a sequence of feelings that enables the self-reflection to feel connected with nature, a virtual environment is design to test the research and evaluate on the new findings. In addition it expands in the idea of architecture to be a Psychedelic practise, meaning that it is able to affect the way people behave through the way they perceive therefore it can be research the importance of the focus in that aspect of feeling and behaviour.

Primary Research Methods

Reconstructing the ritual through my own experience, interviews and conversation with people who have participate in it. Designing objects and Environment to test the theories speculative thoughts discussed in this research. This will offer the reader a chance to experience the thesis outputs providing the reader a method to construct conclusions to the validity of the research findings.

Secondary Research Methods

Historic, Philosophical, scientific, anthropological research methods are established to provide context to the thesis argument, including; journals, articles, web articles, core books (defined within thesis framework diagram), exhibition and museum visits. A wide range of resources will be applied. A range of relevant case studies are included to support theoretical ideas developed with the thesis and support the critical speculation upon the thesis title.

Description

Doing the ritual in the past and being in relation with indigenous people while living in Colombia.

Interviewing Shamans and people that have done the ritual.

Reconstructing the ritual through the objects and Designing environment..

Advantage

This enables me to have a closer ap-proach to the culture and traditions in comparison to other people that are not as familiar with them.

Provide a different perspective of the experience parallel to my own in order to find connections and common grounds.

It explores forms, textures, colours that can build in the argument of design that stimulates feelings to create connections with nature.

Disadvantage

I have been detached to the culture for the past five year which limits the research to have a more specific and updated understanding of the case of study.Not being indigenous or growing in the community will always limit the interpretation of ayawáskha.

This were not recorded in an academic manner which limits their validity.

Due to the limited time, non-objects were built physically. Although they can be experienced in the virtual reality with the limitations of the technology

Findings

For future investigations, text can be approach in Quechua and Kichwa for a more valid interpretation.

Interviews can be prepared to ask specific question in relation to the finding after the research and look for additional connections.

Objects can be built to test the argument and record data.

The technology allows to be immersed in a virtu-al environment to test the research.

To explore different skills that are not necessari-ly required in architecture studies. It allows test the architecture as well as objects designed in relation with the ritual despite being not build physically.The technology enables to be immersed in the design, and create analog of the ayawáskha effects with the virtual world.

Learning the software’s required much more time than expected. It provided me with a lim-ited level for creating and testing the environ-ment, hence the result is limited. The technology required to ware the headset and hols the controllers, which are not compati-ble with what the participant sees. Despite the technology help to simulation and ayawáskha experience, it does not cause the same results.The circulations on the design are limited to the physical space and the maximum area enable by the device as it losses track of the space.

With a more time and skills, the design environment can be more in detail and add virtual beings such animals, or environmental effects such change of the atmosphere, time, climate while being in the experience. In addition to engage with sound and other ways of affect the participants.The technology brings many opportunities for interaction and gaining a better experience. By building menus Menu, pre-set views, animations etc. the user be directed to analyse specific points of view.

Reconstructing the ritual through the objects and Designing environment..

It explores forms, textures, colours that can build in the argument of design that stimulates feelings to create connections with nature.

Due to the limited time, nonobjects were built physically. Although they can be experienced in the virtual reality with the limitations of the technology

Objects can be built to test the argument and record data.

There is a variety of investigation ins aya-wáskha in different mean despite the culture does not record their knowledge

Language barriers and translation inter-pretations vary the contents meaning of the information when researching aya-wáskha. There may not be books written that investigates the ritual of ayawáskha from an architectural perspective that analysis space through the same aspects of the ritual.The information regarding ayawáskha is limited to the analysis of the psychedelic effects or cultural aspects.

Journal, books, and publications. Watch variety of Media Visit the places

For future investigations, text can be ap-proach in Quechua and Kichwa for a more valid interpretation.

In informs with visual information, interviews and aesthetics that can be used to the form and design of the thesis.

The thesis is structured in similar manner to the ayawáskha ritual. Each section resembles a stage of the ritual and aim to test the aya-wáskha experience by stimulating the reader visually to create different feelings while is reading, feelings that are part of the process of the ritual.

The contrast of the black against the photo creates a cinematographic effect that could engage people to continue reading despite the complexity of the text.

The validity of the information is lim-ited as the approach of the ritual generally is analysed from someone outside the culture.

The information is limited to culture or to analysis of the psychedelic ef-fects

Limitations of the sources for the images. It may have a better effect with a broader source of them. Perhaps create them. The effects are limited to each person interpretation of the text and image. It is also lim-ited whether the person associate the ritual with the reading process.There are difficulties in regards of printing in colour black as it vary depending on the colour and may affect they quality for perceiving the typos. In addition to editing the document to make contrast with it, it requires longer time than expected.

Several test would be required to achieve the effect discussed