"Vegetalismo is a Peruvian Spanish term denoting the folk healing traditions of mestizo curanderos, or healers of mixed indigenous and non-indigenous ancestry who use ayahuasca and other 'master' plants for diagnosis and treatment of illnesses (Beyer, 2009; Dobkin de Rios, 1972; Luna, 1986). Known as ayahuasqueros, such folk healers undergo a rigorous process of initiation and training, requiring adherence to strict dietary and sexual abstinence protocols, and sometimes prolonged isolation in the jungle."
Source
Tupper, Kenneth William, "Ayahuasca, Entheogenic Education & Public Policy," PhD Thesis, University of British Columbia Faculty of Graduate Studies (Educational Studies), Vancouver, BC: April 2011, pp. 14-15.
