Relational Processes in Ayahuasca Groups of Palestinians and Israelis

Roseman and colleagues frame the study within the longstanding Israeli–Palestinian conflict, emphasising how entrenched group identities and competing narratives perpetuate hostility, asymmetry and a zero-sum perception of the other. They note that intergroup contact and reconciliation efforts in this setting face a paradox: they aim to foster equality and dialogue while occurring inside a context of persistent conflict and structural inequality. The introduction argues that classic psychedelics are context-sensitive agents that can produce experiences such as ego‑dissolution, mystical‑type states, emotional breakthroughs and heightened social connection, and that these properties suggest a potential role in shifting relational and group processes relevant to peacebuilding. This paper therefore investigates how ayahuasca ceremonies that mix Palestinians and Israelis affect intersubjective and intercultural relational processes. The authors aim to (1) examine how psychedelics can influence group‑level and participatory processes, and (2) expand understanding of dynamics between Jewish Israelis and Arab Palestinians within a psychedelic group context. They situate the investigation in debates about ‘‘inner‑spirituality’’ versus a participatory, multilocal conception of spiritual events, proposing that attention to relational and communal elements (not only individual experiences) is essential for assessing psychedelics’ potential contribution to peacebuilding and social change.

This qualitative study used in‑depth, semi‑structured interviews and limited participant observation, analysed using a grounded theory approach. Thirty‑one interviewees were recruited on the basis that they had taken part in ayahuasca ceremonies attended by both Israelis and Palestinians; interviews were conducted in Hebrew, Arabic or English, recorded, transcribed and (where applicable) translated into English for team analysis. Interviews lasted about one to two and a half hours and followed four parts: background, general ayahuasca use, questions specific to the Israeli–Palestinian context, and a reflective dialogue. LR conducted 20 interviews, AS seven and NG four. The sample comprised 13 Arab Palestinians (five women, eight men; seven Christian, six Muslim; nine with Israeli citizenship and four living in the West Bank) and 18 Jewish Israelis (eight women, nine men, one non‑binary), aged 28–59. Participants belonged to five different local ‘‘neoshamanic’’ ayahuasca groups; most were reasonably experienced with ayahuasca and had joined for psychospiritual growth rather than explicit peacebuilding. Ceremonies typically ran 4–8 hours, involved two to three cups of ayahuasca, and ranged from about 6 to 40 participants (most circa 20). Groups formed by friend‑referral, included sharing circles, were musically eclectic, and often used Hebrew as the dominant language. Facilitators across the five groups included two Jewish‑Israeli men, one Jewish‑Israeli woman, one Arab‑Palestinian man and one European man. Two participant observations were carried out by LR to contextualise the interviews: one ceremony with mainly Palestinian participants (including next‑day integration) and two consecutive ceremonies with mainly Jewish participants (with field notes taken during the latter). For analysis, the team applied grounded theory procedures: iterative thematic coding, consolidation of categories by centrality across transcripts, and examination of connections between themes. Narralizer software was used to organise and code transcripts; no automated text analysis was performed. The extracted text notes supplementary material for additional methodological detail (e.g. coding, sampling, facilitators) but the main paper presents the thematic analysis and its emergent categories.

Three multilocal relational themes emerged from the interviews: (1) Unity‑Based Connection, (2) Recognition and Difference‑Based Connection, and (3) Conflict‑related Revelations. Unity‑Based Connection was reported by 18 of 31 interviewees and comprised moments in which participants experienced oneness or shared humanity that transcended national, religious or gender identities. These events were described as both intrasubjective and intersubjective: individuals felt ego‑boundaries dissolve while the group experienced communitas‑type togetherness. Interviewees used terms such as ‘‘oneness,’’ ‘‘togetherness’’ and ‘‘the human tribe’’ to characterise these states; descriptions were relatively homogeneous and aligned with established psychedelic themes such as mystical union and ego‑dissolution. Recognition and Difference‑Based Connection was reported by 21 of 31 interviewees and involved connecting to ‘‘the Other’’ via non‑universal, local identities. Music and prayer were the primary vehicles for this theme: when Arab‑Palestinian participants sang or recited prayers, Jewish Israeli participants often reported a felt resonance, awe and reverence. Many accounts emphasised paraverbal qualities of language (described as ‘‘frequency’’ or ‘‘vibration’’) that produced imagery and emotional opening even when listeners did not understand the words. Initial resistance, fear or anger toward the other’s cultural expressions was common, but working through that resistance during the ceremony was reported as transformative. These recognition moments were frequently accompanied by silence and a shared sense of expansion in the group. Conflict‑related Revelations were reported by 15 of 31 interviewees and were rarer, typically occurring only once or twice over many ceremonies. Such events were most often visionary but could also be cognitive or emotional insights tied to autobiographical, collective or intergenerational trauma. Participants described visions triggered by the presence of the Other, by music, by ceremony location or by ritual timing (for example Yom Kippur). Examples included experiencing the pain of the land, intergenerational scenes of displacement, or momentary embodiment of the other side (e.g. ‘‘being in the body of an Israeli soldier’’). In several cases the person having the revelation attempted to ‘‘deliver’’ the insight to the group—often by singing—and this act sometimes reshaped group dynamics. The analysis highlights the multilocal nature of these revelations: they intertwined individual experience, communal emotion, collective identity and place. The results section also notes that moments of recognition sometimes translated into broader role changes within groups, with some Arab‑Palestinian participants later becoming facilitators or helpers.

Roseman and colleagues interpret the three emergent themes as multilocal participatory events that combine intrasubjective, intersubjective, communal and place‑based elements. Unity‑based connection resembles Victor Turner’s notion of communitas, a temporary dissolution of social hierarchies that can create deep interpersonal bonding and a ‘‘tribal’’ sense among group members. The authors note that while these moments are valued by participants and linked to longer‑term well‑being in prior research, communitas can be paradoxical: without attention to power asymmetries it can provide catharsis while leaving structural inequalities untouched. The second theme—recognition through difference, principally enacted via music and prayers—is positioned as complementary to unity. The authors argue that musical and paraverbal exchange enabled ‘‘I–Thou’’ style relations (after Buber), in which difference is preserved and mutually acknowledged rather than dissolved. Such moments were often marked by awe and silence and could produce role inversion and expanded recognition of Palestinian cultural presence. Ethnomusicological processes of cultural diffusion are invoked to explain how musical exchange can both exoticise and heal, and how participation in singing can be a first step toward becoming a cultural agent or facilitator within the group. Conflict‑related revelations are described as distinctive because they foreground historical and collective traumas rather than universalist or purely personal material. The team emphasises the multilocal triggers and effects of these visions: location, music and the presence of the Other frequently precipitated content tied to land, displacement or intergenerational pain, and some participants attempted to communicate those insights back to the group. The authors highlight that addressing trauma relationally—within the group—may have therapeutic and peacebuilding value because trauma is often a relational wound. Across themes, the investigators argue that the observed relational and participatory processes challenge dominant ‘‘inner‑spirituality’’ framings in new‑age and transpersonal traditions, which can encourage spiritual bypassing, spiritual narcissism and intrasubjective reductionism. They suggest that acknowledging and cultivating multilocal, relational elements could improve integration after ceremonies and avoid the tendency to treat psychedelic experiences as purely private events. Regarding peacebuilding, the authors caution that ceremonies in this study were not organised with explicit political aims and tended to be framed apolitically; thus, while psychedelic ceremonies can generate moments of connection and sociopolitical awareness, intentional peacebuilding would require frameworks that combine personal transformation with efforts toward material and political change. The paper concludes with acknowledged limitations: the findings derive from specific neoshamanic, participatory practices and cannot be generalised to all ayahuasca contexts; the groups studied were not formed for peacebuilding and had uneven ethnic composition and power dynamics; the sample was self‑selecting, relatively homogeneous (upper middle class, new‑age milieu) and partly constrained by the illegal status of ayahuasca in some settings; and the study could not capture outcomes in groups intentionally convened for political reconciliation. The authors recommend future research on groups explicitly organised for peacebuilding or with more balanced composition, and call for integrating political liberation considerations into any intentional psychedelic‑assisted peacebuilding endeavours.