By Martin Caparrotta — 2020
Dr Gabor Maté is a renowned expert in addiction, childhood trauma and mind-body health.
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CLEAR ALL
“When I started my undergraduate degree in psychology, my grandmother said she was afraid I would become pagal (“crazy”) because of it.
In 1995 I published a book called The Cosmic Serpent that dealt with ayahuasca and other subjects. The enthusiasm of many readers took me by surprise. In the book I describe ayahuasca as foul-tasting and my experience drinking it as an ordeal involving vomiting and frightening visions of serpents.
The growing popularity of "authentic" ayahuasca rituals in Western circles can present multiple problems, including indigenous fetishization, a lack of cultural context for traditional ceremonies, and potential abuse from untrustworthy shamans, all of which can be problematic or sometimes even...