In regular contact with urban civilization and the market economy, Shipibo-Konibo society today experiences a phenomenon of religious pluralization between, on the one hand, a marketing, in some villages, of vernacular shamanism aimed at a public of Western tourists in search of mystical and hallucinogenic experiences and, on the other, a growing implantation of protestant churches of different denominations. If, at first sight, this evolution can be analyzed as a form of acculturation, in the light of ethnography, the resulting religious cohabitation reactivates on the contrary a certain predation complex specific to the past, through both ontological and statutory rivalries that would be linked to a close proximity of the approaches of the two institutions.

In regular contact with urban civilization and the market economy, Shipibo-Konibo society today experiences a phenomenon of religious pluralization between, on the one hand, a marketing, in some villages, of vernacular shamanism aimed at a public of Western tourists in search of mystical and hallucinogenic experiences and, on the other, a growing implantation of protestant churches of different denominations. If, at first sight, this evolution can be analyzed as a form of acculturation, in the light of ethnography, the resulting religious cohabitation reactivates on the contrary a certain predation complex specific to the past, through both ontological and statutory rivalries that would be linked to a close proximity of the approaches of the two institutions.

The emergence of “shamanic tourism” in some Shipibo-Konibo villages and urban areas has led to a recrudescence of vernacular witchcraft practices, now integrated into the new sociological context of the commercialization of local vegetalist shamanism. This has brought about sorcery attacks both on rival shamans and on tourists seeking a shamanic and hallucinogenic experience, some of whom in turn become the target of sorcery rumors. These occult practices and interpretations can be seen, on the one hand, as forms of resilience adopted by Shipibo shamans in order to cope with and benefit from the current context of transition to capitalism, which is increasingly present within the communities, and, on the other hand, as manifestations of frustration and anxiety about the recuperation of local shamanism by global culture, symptomatic of the traditionally ambiguous links between gringos...

In regular contact with urban civilization and the market economy, Shipibo-Konibo society today experiences a phenomenon of religious pluralization between, on the one hand, a marketing, in some villages, of vernacular shamanism aimed at a public of Western tourists in search of mystical and hallucinogenic experiences and, on the other, a growing implantation of protestant churches of different denominations. If, at first sight, this evolution can be analyzed as a form of acculturation, in the light of ethnography, the resulting religious cohabitation reactivates on the contrary a certain predation complex specific to the past, through both ontological and statutory rivalries that would be linked to a close proximity of the approaches of the two institutions.

The emergence of “shamanic tourism” in some Shipibo-Konibo villages and urban areas has led to a recrudescence of vernacular witchcraft practices, now integrated into the new sociological context of the commercialization of local vegetalist shamanism. This has brought about sorcery attacks both on rival shamans and on tourists seeking a shamanic and hallucinogenic experience, some of whom in turn become the target of sorcery rumors. These occult practices and interpretations can be seen, on the one hand, as forms of resilience adopted by Shipibo shamans in order to cope with and benefit from the current context of transition to capitalism, which is increasingly present within the communities, and, on the other hand, as manifestations of frustration and anxiety about the recuperation of local shamanism by global culture, symptomatic of the traditionally ambiguous links between gringos...