The Santo Daime without Daime
Tactics, Agency, and Ritual Change in Ayahuasca Religions under Prohibition in Italy
Abstract
This article examines how ayahuasca religions in Italy have reconfigured their ritual practices following the 2022 legal ban on ayahuasca, including replacing the brew with water and creating new forms of religious travel. The Amazonian psychoactive brew ayahuasca, traditionally used in Indigenous rituals and healing, is at the centre of transnational religions that have spread globally. Drawing on anthropology, lived religion, and ritual studies, the article explores the interplay between lived religion, ritual change, and law in the use of controlled substances, and therefore how prohibition reshapes ritual practice and everyday life.
Presentato: 11 Aprile 2025 | Accettato: 12 Agosto 2025 | Pubblicato 17 Dicembre 2025 | Lingua: en
Keywords Italy • Lived religion • Agency • Ritual change • Ayahuasca • Practice
Copyright © 2025 Piera Talin. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/QU/0122-2244/2025/01/004