“Changes in Spirituality Among First Time Ayahuasca Ceremony Participants”
by Stephen Trichter, Psy.D, Jon Kilmo Ph.D. and Stanley Krippner, Ph.d.

Ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic plant brew from the Amazon basin, which has been used as part of healing ceremonies by the local indigenous people of the region for centuries, now is being consumed by growing numbers of people throughout the world. Anecdotal evidence and previous research suggest that there are spiritual effects among participants who take part in ayahuasca ceremonies. The current study examined whether novice participants’ spirituality was affected by participating in an ayahuasca ceremony, and if so, how. 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 (PEP), the Spiritual Well Being Scale (SWB), and the Mysticism Scales (M-Scale) as quantitative measures. Participant interviews and written accounts of ceremony experiences were analyzed as part of the qualitative portion of the study. 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 change in SWB and M-Scale scores. Qualitative data resulted in common spiritual themes in many of the participants’ interviews and written accounts, reflecting on the spiritual nature of the ceremony and its impact on participants’ spiritual lives. Experiential difference within the ayahuasca ceremony group warrants continued investigation to examine various confounding variables producing reported changes in spirituality among some participants and not others.