Case file · Sacred site
Harner's ayahuasca vision on the Ucayali
In 1961, among the Conibo on the Ucayali river in Peru, Harner drank ayahuasca and had visions of dragon-like beings and a journey of the soul, which he described in The Way of the Shaman (1980).
1961 CE · -8.38, -74.55 · status: account
The account
The experience led him to develop 'core shamanism', a widely influential and controversial Western adaptation. Position approximate.
The sceptical view
Indigenous critics argue that removing practices from their cultures distorts them.