Alex K. Gearin

I’m a cultural anthropologist studying psychedelic medicine in neo-shamanic, clinical, and other contexts.

Fieldwork photos and images

Ceremony maloca. Pachamama Temple, near Yarinacocha, Peru, winter 2019. (Photo: Alex Gearin)
Shipibo healers utensils, including 4 different sized cups for administering ayahuasca to guests, thick raw mapacho tobacco, aromatic perfumes, quartz crystals, Tibetan prayer bowl, and bucket and tissue. Pachamama Temple, Peru, 2019 (Photo: Alex Gearin)
Inside the ceremony maloca. Pachamama Temple, Peru, 2019 (Photo: Alex Gearin)
Cross-species communication with maestro Gilberto Picota Lopez and me. Pachamama Temple, Peru, 2019 (Photo: Alex Gearin)
Maestro Feliciano Marquez Pinedo with a big bottle. Pachamama Temple, Peru, 2019 (Photo: Alex Gearin)
Dried ayahuasca vine in the psilocybin dosing room, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Centre, 2024. (Photo: Alex Gearin)
Possible early depiction of ayahuasca in Europe. Watercolor illustration by Spanish bishop Martínez Compañón (1782-1785) called “Omeca Machacuai”, (Berquist, The Bishop’s Utopia).
“New Drvg: Death, Vine, Water is Coming!”, as written next to the skeleton hands.
Ayahuasca infographic produced by the “Beijing safe” police account on Weibo, 2021.
Image in American fashion magazine Elle in 2014, part of a 7-page article celebrating ayahuasca as a spiritual, healing, and beauty tonic.
Brewing chacruna leaves and caapi vine at
Pachamama Temple, 2019 (Photo: Alex Gearin)
Ayahuasca integration session, the night after a ceremony, northern NSW, Australia 2011 (Photo: Darpan)
Magic mushroom simulation station on the social VR platform Altspace, 2021 (Photo: Alex Gearin)
Avatars sharing cannabis on social VR platform Altspace, 2021 (Photo: Alex Gearin)