O n Christmas Eve, in the small city of Rio Branco in western Brazil, the cosmopolitan fashion and homewares designer JJ Martin meditated for five hours straight, not moving once from her plastic chair through the warm, muggy night.

The LA-raised Milan-based creative director of La DoubleJ was taking part in an 11-hour Velada vigil held in a tiny church, a ceremony that incorporated elements of Christianity with shamanic practitioners, elaborate altars, mediums and Santo Daime: the drinking of ayahuasca (a tea that results in psychedelic experiences).