This study on the effect of perfumes and smells on brain activity is a development of a larger research on “perfumeros healers”, initiated in 2019. The research aim is to better understand the impact of perfumes and smells on patients during the healing process of Takiwasi center. For this phase of the experimental research, the researcher will undergo a series of perfume related rituals within the pedagogical context of Takiwasi, wearing a special equipment called “EEG” helmet, which is a tool that captures brain activity and codes it into raw data. This data will later be analysed and interpreted into visualisations. It is important to keep in mind that this research is situated in between the academic world and the artistic world. The goal of the PhD program SACRe is to allow artist researchers to work on the creation of knowledge via creative processes, within a frame recognized by academic institutions. Since the beginning of the research on perfumeros, one problematic aspect is to define how the perfumes and smells generate the healing effect, until now the focus has been placed on the sensitive, intellectual and emotional perception of the perfume, the present research sets the aim to access neural data generated by the brain itself, as proof of efficiency of the healing process.

The general theme of the research project is the effect of personal experiences of crisis and dissolution of the Ego, spiritual combat and mystical experience in the therapeutic process of drug addict patients at the Takiwasi Center. We want to investigate, through the analysis of the clinical database of the Takiwasi Center, which contains the texts of the interviews carried out by the therapists with the patients, the testimonies of the effects of experiences of crisis/dissolution of the Ego in the therapeutic process of drug addicts and significant categories of differentiations between these experiences, with a specific focus on those that have had a spiritual/mystical/religious/sacred nature. The methodology is based on the detailed analysis, elaboration and interpretation of the contents of the clinical database of the Takiwasi Center that collects the texts of the interviews carried out by the therapists with drug addict patients during the therapeutic journey. The method of elaboration of the contents will depend on the specific characteristics of the significant elements identified in the analysis phase. Expected results: Identification of significant processes of crisis/dissolution of the Ego for the success of the therapy; identification of testimonies of most significant experiences in relation to the subject; identification of the most significant categories of differentiation among the testimonies collected; identification of categories of significant differentiation between the testimonies that are related to the different ritual contexts to which the interviews refer; identification of evidence of relationships between the testimonies and the success of the therapeutic process.

The main objective of the present investigation will be to bring to light the ethnic roots of the plants used in the dieta process by the therapists of the Takiwasi Center and to reconstruct the process of buying and selling or self-production of the same, investigating the related biotrade practices. In general, a qualitative approach will be chosen, using the tools of ethnography: participant observation, semi-structured interviews and writing a field diary. Once the data will been collected, it will be analyzed using the conceptual tools provided mainly by disciplines such as medical anthropology, ethnobotany and ethnopharmacology; however, given the interdisciplinary nature of the research, political, social and economic issues will also be addressed. What is expected from the results of the research is the possibility of reconstructing a chronology relative to the implantation of the various medicinal plants used in the therapeutic process of the dieta with information on who taught their use, traditional knowledge, inherent practices and other data of an anthropological/ethnobotanical nature that will emerge from the fieldwork. Another expected result is to demonstrate the biotrado mechanisms of plants used for therapeutic purposes, the focus on the production chain and their self-production as strategies adopted by Takiwasi to enhance the agency and self-determination capacities of indigenous (and not) social actors of the area and to demonstrate how these practices are aimed at promoting health.