Bruno Latour's Beings of Religion

Latour constructs a plurality of ontologies by distinguishing various
modes of existence with their own type of existent. One of these modes of
existence is religion, which involves invisible “beings of religion.” Latour
criticizes both psychological and (onto)theological interpretations of such
beings. He distinguishes between psychogenic beings that constitute the
self, and beings of religion that transform the self. Whereas psychogenic
beings can be addressed through therapeutic or ritual procedures that
can provide cure, beings of religion can be addressed through contempla-
tive practices of prayer, meditation, or ceremony that can transform. This
article argues that Latour’s beings of religion may have much potential for
religious studies and presents a Latourian description of ayahuasca cere-
monies as a case study