Luis Eduardo Luna is an

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

and noted

ayahuasca AyahuascaPronounced as in the UK and in the US. Also occasionally known in English as ''ayaguasca'' (Spanish-derived), ''aioasca'' (Brazilian Portuguese-derived), or as ''yagé'', pronounced or . Etymologically, all forms but ''yagé'' descen ...

researcher.

Biography

Luna was born in 1947, in Florencia,

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

. He received his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

in 1989 from the Institute of

Comparative Religion Comparative religion is the branch of the study of religions with the systematic comparison of the doctrines and practices, themes and impacts (including migration) of the world's religions. In general the comparative study of religion yie ...

Stockholm University Stockholm University ( sv, Stockholms universitet) is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, so ...

, as well as an honorary doctorate in 2000 from

Saint Lawrence University St. Lawrence University is a private liberal arts college in the village of Canton in St. Lawrence County, New York. It has roughly 2,400 undergraduate and 100 graduate students. Though St. Lawrence today is non-denominational, it was founded ...

, New York. He currently is a language teacher at the

Hanken School of Economics Hanken School of Economics (Swedish: ''Svenska handelshögskolan,'' also known as Hanken) is a business school in Finland with two locations, Helsinki and Vaasa. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest business school in Finland, and one of the oldest i ...

in Helsinki, Finland.

Research

Luna is best known for his research of the entheogenic tea

. His research has focused on traditional indigenous usage as well as the newer syncretic ayahuasca churches such as

Santo Daime Santo Daime () is a Syncretism, syncretic religion founded in the 1930s in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest, Amazonian States of Brazil, state of Acre State, Acre by Raimundo Irineu Serra, known as Mestre Irineu. Santo Daime incorporates elements ...

and the

União do Vegetal The Beneficent Spiritist Center ''União do Vegetal'' ( pt, Centro Espírita Beneficente União do Vegetal, links=no ; or UDV) is a religious society founded on July 22, 1961 in Porto Velho (Rondônia) by José Gabriel da Costa, known as Mestr ...

. He is the director o
Wasiwaska
Research Centre for the Study of Psychointegrator Plants, Visionary Arts, and Consciousness, located in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

; currently, they are studying the neurological aspects of ayahuasca inebriation on the

central nervous system The central nervous system (CNS) is the part of the nervous system consisting primarily of the brain and spinal cord. The CNS is so named because the brain integrates the received information and coordinates and influences the activity of all par ...

Writings

* ''Vegetalismo: Shamanism Among the Mestizo Population of the Peruvian Amazon'', 1986, * ''Ayahuasca Visions: The Religious Iconography of a Peruvian Shaman'' with

Pablo Amaringo Pablo Cesar Amaringo Shuña (January 21, 1938 – November 16, 2009) was a Peruvian artist, renowned for his intricate, colourful depictions of his visions from drinking the entheogenic plant brew ayahuasca. He was first brought to the West ...

, 1991, * ''Inner Paths to Outer Space: Journeys to Alien Worlds through Psychedelics and Other Spiritual Technologies'' with

Rick Strassman Rick Strassman is an American clinical associate professor of psychiatry at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine. He has held a fellowship in clinical psychopharmacology research at the University of California San Diego and was Profess ...

, Slawek Wojtowicz M.D Ede Frecska M.D, 2008, Colombian anthropologists Ayahuasca Living people Psychedelic drug advocates Psychedelic drug researchers Stockholm University alumni Year of birth missing (living people) {{anthropologist-stub