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“Knowledge Belongs To All, But You Don’T Understand That Because You’Re Nothing But A White”: The Mystical Philosophy Of Embrace Of The Serpent, Rebecca Makas

Journal of Religion & Film

This article explores the implicit theory of mysticism in Ciro Guerra’s 2015 film Embrace of the Serpent (Sp. El abrazo de la serpiente). While many theories of mysticism argue that true mystical experience is unmediated and, therefore, universal, Guerra makes a more provocative statement in the film. He depicts two Westerners’ attempts to have an entheogenic mystical experience in journeys on the Amazon, guided by an indigenous shaman named Karamakate. While the first experience is unsuccessful, the second produces an astonishing mystical vision. The film’s apex transcends culture and suggests the power of the mystical to heal the trauma …

Life In The Multiverse: Bringing Chaos Out Of Order?, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

This paper was given as the opening keynote address at the International Conference on Religion and Film at Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on June 8, 2022, and is here presented in that form.

My thanks go to those who organized the conference for Vrije Universiteit, notably Professor Johan Roeland and Miranda van Holland.