[Three forms of Dionysus: recreational, medical and religious use of ayahuasca]

Ayahuasca is a psychoactive tea that is rapidly gaining in popularity. Its effects are, however, widely different in various sets and settings, leading to various imaginings.
AIM: To distinguish between the recreational, medical and religious use of ayahuasca, and further investigate its religious use.
METHOD: Nietzsche's three forms of the Greek God Dionysus are used in order to describe and analyze the three contexts for ayahuasca use.
RESULTS: The religious use of ayahuasca, for example in the Santo Daime church, can be understood as a contemporary form of Gnosticism.
CONCLUSION: Research needs to take the various sets and settings of ayahuasca use into account. More research into the religious use of ayahuasca is needed.