Ayahuasca

Ayahuasca being prepared in the Napo region ofEcuador. Freshly harvested caapi vine ready for preparation Banisteriopsiscaapi preparation Beaten caapi ready for boiling Caapi cooking over an openfire

This entry focuses on the Ayahuasca brew; for information on thevine of the same name, see Banisteriopsis caapi

Ayahuasca ayawaska pronounced ajawaska in the Quechua language is anyof various psychoactive infusions or decoctions prepared from theBanisteriopsis spp. vine, usually mixed with the leaves ofdimethyltryptamine-containing species of shrubs from the Psychotria genus.The brew, first described academically in the early 1950s by Harvardethnobotanist Richard Evans Schultes who found it employed for divinatoryand healing purposes by Amerindians of Amazonian Colombia, is known by anumber of different names see below.

Contents

1 Preparation2 Names3 Chemistry4 Usage

4.1 Introduction to Europe and North America4.2 Ayahuasca tourism

4.2.1 Initiation

5 Modern descriptions

5.1 Related phenomena

6 Plant constituents

6.1 Traditional

7 Legal status8 International research9 See also10 References

10.1 Bibliography

10.1.1 Nonfiction10.1.2 Fiction10.1.3 Documentaries10.1.4 Fictional films

10.2 Notes

11 External links

Preparation

Sections of B. caapi vine are macerated and boiled alone or with leavesfrom any of a number of other plants, including Psychotria viridischacruna or Diplopterys cabrerana also known as chaliponga. Theresulting brew contains the powerful hallucinogenic alkaloidN,N-dimethyltryptamine DMT, and MAO inhibiting harmala alkaloids, whichare necessary to make the DMT orally active. Though B. caapi is a centralingredient in traditional ayahuasca brews, harmala-containing plants fromother plant-medicine cultures, such as Syrian Rue, can be used instead ofthe vine to make an ayahuasca analogue, yet it isn't considered ayahuasca,as Caapi vine is considered the main plant in the brew.citation needed

Brews can also be made with no DMT-containing plants; Psychotria viridisbeing substituted by plants such as Justicia pectoralis, Brugmansia, orsacred tobacco, also known as Mapacho Nicotiana rustica, or sometimesleft out with no replacement. The potency of this brew varies radicallyfrom one batch to the next, both in potency and psychoactive effect, basedmainly on the skill of the shaman or brewer, as well as other admixturessometimes added and the intent of the ceremony.citation needed Naturalvariations in plant alkaloid content and profiles also affect the finalconcentration of alkaloids in the brew, and the physical act of cooking mayalso serve to modify the alkaloid profile of harmala alkaloids.12

Individual polymorphisms in the cytochrome P450-2D6 enzyme affect theability of individuals to metabolize harmine.3 Some natural tolerance tohabitual use of ayahuasca roughly once weekly may develop throughupregulation of the serotonergic system.4 A phase 1 pharmacokinetic studyon Ayahuasca as Hoasca with 15 volunteers was conducted in 1993, duringthe Hoasca Project.5 A review of the Hoasca Project has beenpublished.6

Namescip generic vine, liana, caapi, hoasca, vegetal, daimeor santo daime in Brazilyag or yaj both pronounced ?ahe in Tucanoan;popularized in English by the beat generation writers William S. Burroughsand Allen Ginsberg in The Yage Letters.ayahuasca or ayawaska Spirit vine or vine of the souls: inQuechua, aya means spirit while huasca or waska means vine in Ecuador,Bolivia and Peru, and to a lesser extent in Brazil. The spelling ayahuascais the hispanicized version of the name; many Quechua or Aymara speakerswould prefer the spelling ayawaska. The name is properly that of the plantB. caapi, one of the primary sources of beta-carbolines for the brew.natem amongst the indigenous Shuar people of Peru.Grandmother

Molecular structure of Harmine. Molecular structure of Harmaline. Molecularstructure of Tetrahydroharmine.

Chemistry

Harmine compounds are of beta-carboline origin. The three most studiedbeta-carboline compounds found in the B. caapi vine are harmine, harmalineand tetrahydroharmine. Harmine and harmaline are selective and reversibleinhibitors of MAO-A, while tetrahydroharmine is a weak serotonin uptakeinhibitor. This inhibition of MAO-A allows DMT to diffuse unmetabolizedpast the membranes in the stomach and small intestine and eventually getthrough the blood-brain barrier to activate receptor sites in the brain.Without RIMAs or the MAOI of MAO-A, DMT would be metabolized in thedigestive tract and would not have an effect when taken orally7.

Usage

Urarina shaman, 1988

Ayahuasca is used largely as a religious sacrament. Those whose usage ofayahuasca is performed in non-traditional contexts often align themselveswith the philosophies and cosmologies associated with ayahuasca shamanism,as practiced among indigenous peoples like the Urarina of PeruvianAmazonia.8 The religion Santo Daime uses it.

While non-native users know of the spiritual applications of ayahuasca, aless well-known traditional usagespecify focuses on the medicinalproperties of ayahuasca. Its purgative properties are highly importantmany refer to it as la purga, the purge. The intense vomiting andoccasional diarrhea it induces can clear the body of worms and othertropical parasites,9 and harmala alkaloids themselves have been shown tobe anthelmintic10 Thus, this action is twofold; a direct action on theparasites by these harmala alkaloids particularly harmine in ayahuascaworks to kill the parasites, and parasites are expelled through theincreased intestinal motility that is caused by these alkaloids.

Dietary taboos are often associated with the use of Ayahuasca11. In therainforest, these tend towards the purification of one's self - abstainingfrom spicy and heavily-seasoned foods, excess fat, salt, caffeine, acidicfoods such as citrus and sex before, after, or both before and after aceremony. A diet low in foods containing tyramine has been recommended, asthe speculative interaction of tyramine and MAOIs could lead to ahypertensive crisis. However, evidence indicates that harmala alkaloids actonly on MAO-A, in a reversible way similar to moclobemide anantidepressant that does not require dietary restrictions. Psychonauticexperiments and the absence of dietary restrictions in the highly urbanBrazilian ayahuasca church Unio do Vegetal also suggest that the risk ismuch lower than perceived, and probably non-existent.12

The name 'ayahuasca' specifically refers to a botanical decoctions thatcontains Banisteriopsis caapi. A synthetic version, known as pharmahuascais a combination of an appropriate MAOI and typically DMT. In this usage,the DMT is generally considered the main psychoactive active ingredient,while the MAOI merely preserves the psychoactivity of orally ingested DMT,which would otherwise be destroyed in the gut before it could be absorbedin the body. Thus, ayahuasqueros and most others working with the brewmaintain that the B. caapi vine is the defining ingredient, and that thisbeverage is not ayahuasca unless B. caapi is in the brew. The vine isconsidered to be the spirit of ayahuasca, the gatekeeper and guide to theotherworldly realms.

In some areasspecify, it is even said that the chakruna or chalipongaadmixtures are added only to make the brew taste sweeter. This is a strongindicator of the often wildly divergent intentions and cultural differencesbetween the native ayahuasca-using cultures and psychedelics enthusiasts inother countries.

In modern Europe and North America, ayahuasca analogues are often preparedusing non-traditional plants which contain the same alkaloids. For example,seeds of the Syrian rue plant can be used as a substitute for the ayahuascavine, and the DMT-rich Mimosa hostilis is used in place of chakruna.Australia has several indigenous plants which are popular among modernayahuasqueros there, such as various DMT-rich species of Acacia. Ayahuascacooking in the Napo region of Ecuador.

In modern Western culture, entheogen users sometimes base concoctions onAyahuasca. When doing so, most often Rue or B. caapi is used with analternative form of the DMT molecule, such as psilocin, or a non-DMT basedhallucinogen such as mescaline.citation needed Nicknames such asPsilohuasca, Mush-rue-asca, or 'Shroom-a-huasca, for mushroom basedmixtures, or Pedrohuasca from the San Pedro Cactus, which containsmescaline are often given to such brews. The psychedelic experimentalisttrappings of such concoctions bear little resemblance to the medicinal useof Ayahuasca in its original cultural contextcitation needed, whereayahuasca is usually ingested only by experienced entheogen users who aremore familiar with the chemicals and plants being used.

Introduction to Europe and North America

Ayahuasca is mentioned in the writings of some of the earliest missionariesto South America, but it only became commonly known in Europe and NorthAmerica much later.specify The early missionary reports generally claimit as demonic, and great efforts were made by the Roman Catholic Church tostamp it out.citation needed When originally researched in the 20thcentury, the active chemical constituent of B. caapi was calledtelepathine, but it was found to be identical to a chemical alreadyisolated from Peganum harmala and was given the name harmaline. Theoriginal botanical description done was the Harvard ethnobotanist RichardEvans Schultes.citation needed Having read Schultes's paper, Beat writerWilliam Burroughs sought yag still referred to as telepathine in theearly 1950s while traveling through South America in the hopes that itcould relieve or cure opiate addiction see The Yage Letters. Ayahuascabecame more widely known when the McKenna brothers published theirexperience in the Amazon in True Hallucinations. Dennis later studied thepharmacology, botany, and chemistry of ayahuasca and oo-koo-he, whichbecame the subject of his master's thesis.

In Brazil, a number of modern religious movements based on the use ofayahuasca have emerged, the most famous of them being Santo Daime and theUnio do Vegetal or UDV, usually in an animistic context that may beshamanistic or, more often as with Santo Daime and the UDV, integratedwith Christianity. Both Santo Daime and Unio do Vegetal now have membersand churches throughout the world. Similarly, the US and Europe havestarted to see new religious groups develop in relation to increasedayahuasca use.13. PaDeva, an American Wiccan group, has become the firstincorporated legal church which holds the use of ayahuasca central to theirbeliefs.citation needed Some Westerners have teamed up with shamans inthe Amazon rainforest regions, forming Ayahuasca healing retreats thatclaim to be able to cure mental and physical illness and allowcommunication with the spirit world. Anecdotal reports and scientificstudies affirm that ritualized use of ayahuasca may improve mental andphysical health.14

Several notable celebrities have publicly discussed their use of ayahuasca,including Sting detailed in his 2003 memoir Broken Music, David Icke,Tori Amos, and Paul Simon who wrote the song Spirit Voices about hisexperience with the brew in the Amazon.citation needed

Recent years have seen notable media attention to the position of the UDVchurch in the United States. After having their importation and use ofHoasca tea challenged by the U.S. Department of Justice, and then havingthe issue settled in their favor by the U.S. Supreme Court, the churchgained some notoriety. This mirrors in some ways the experiences of UDV andSanto Daime churches in Europe, where legal authorities have taken interestin their activities in France, Germany, Holland and Spain.

Holland was an early Western context for the spread of ayahuasca use.Supporting a large Brazilian population, Santo Daime members in particularmade efforts to spread the philosophy of ritualized ayahuasca use. In themid-to-late 1990s one group, the Amsterdam-based Friends of the Forest, wasformed by Santo Daime members to introduce ayahuasca to Europeans andothers with allergies to Christianity.citation needed They did this byintroducing New Age rituals incorporating basic ritual structure,celebrating with songs in the Daime tradition Portuguese waltzes, Englishlanguage songs, ambient music and mantras and kirtan. They existed at leastuntil the Dutch authorities raided a Santo Daime ritual in progress, andother ayahuasca-oriented groups sensed that an obvious public profile wasnot in their best interest. Amsterdam is also among the few cities inEurope where one can find, in addition to cannabis, psilocybin mushroomsand peyote, ayahuasca vine, chacruna leaves, and plants for ayahuascaanalogues in the tradition of Jonathan Ott's so-called ayahuascaborealis.citation needed

Ayahuasca tourism

Ayahuasca tourist refers to a tourist wanting a taste of an exotic ritualor who partakes in modified services geared specifically towardsnon-indigenous persons. Some seek to clear emotional blocks and gain asense of peace. Other participants include explorers of consciousness,writers, medical doctors, journalists, anthropologists, ethnobotanists,philosophers and spiritual seekers. Ayahuasca tourism is greatest in Peru,and attracts visitors from all over the world, especially from Europe, USA,Australia, and South Africa, but also from other Latin American countrieslike Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Colombia and Mexico.

Initiation

Usually a visitor who wishes to become a dietero or dietera, that is, amale or female apprentice-shaman learning the way of the teacher plants,undergoes a rigorous initiation. This can involve spending up to a year ormore in the jungle. This initiation challenges and trains the initiatethrough extreme circumstances involving a special diet and numerousdifferent plant medicines to complement the Ayahuasca, the lack of westernfood and conveniences, the harsh environmental conditions of heavy rains,storms, intense heat, insects, and poisonous animals. The initiate is alsotested for their unwavering commitment to Ayahuasca and the shaman whooversees the training.

Modern descriptions

Matthew Thompson gives in My Colombian Death nonfiction, 2008 a detailedaccount of taking part in an extremely harrowing yage ceremony - anexperience which gives the book its title. Thompson visited an indigenousshaman outside the town of Guarne in Antioquia Department, Colombia. Afterdrinking a cup of yage, Thompson collapses and vomits and grows terrified,believing himself to be dying and then dead, and undergoing agonies ofpurgation and transformation:

I'm in the wrong body, the wrong form, the wrong thoughts, the wrong life.... I'm the mask, painted and empty, nothing more than a vessel for otherentities to see through. Talons curl into the eyeholes to twist and stretchme apart. My tongue is torn loose and my stomach ripped through my throat.Burning and liquefying. All is molten rubber, stinking and agonizing. I'mchanging.15,

Wade Davis author of The Serpent and The Rainbow non-fiction1617describes the traditional mixture as tough in his book One River: Thesmell and acrid taste was that of the entire jungle ground up and mixedwith bile. p. 194

Writer Kira Salak describes her personal experiences with ayahuasca at BlueMorpho Tours in Peru in the March 2006 issue of National GeographicAdventure magazine1819 The article includes a candid description of howayahuasca cured her depression, as well as provides detailed informationabout the brew. Here is an excerpt from the article about Dr. CharlesGrob's landmark findings20:

The taking of ayahuasca has been associated with a long list of documentedcures: the disappearance of everything from metastasized colorectal cancerto cocaine addiction, even after just a ceremony or two. It has beenmedically proven to be nonaddictive and safe to ingest. Yet Westernscientists have all but ignored it for decades, reluctant to risk theircareers by researching a substance containing the outlawed DMT. Only in thepast decade, and then only by a handful of researchers, has ayahuasca begunto be studied. At the vanguard of this research is Charles Grob, M.D., aprofessor of psychiatry and pediatrics at UCLA's School of Medicine.

In 1993 Dr. Grob directed the Hoasca Project, the first in-depth study ofthe physical and psychological effects of ayahuasca on humans. He and histeam went to Brazil, where the plant mixture can be taken legally, to studymembers of a church, the Unio do Vegetal UDV, who use ayahuasca as asacrament, and compared them to a control group that had never ingested thesubstance. The studies found that all the ayahuasca-using UDV members hadexperienced remission without recurrence of their addictions, depression,or anxiety disorders. Unlike most common anti-depressants, which Grob sayscan create such high levels of serotonin that cells may actually compensateby losing many of their serotonin receptors, the Hoasca Project showed thatayahuasca strongly enhances the body's ability to absorb the serotoninthat's naturally there 4. 'Ayahuasca is perhaps a far moresophisticated and effective way to treat depression than SSRIsantidepressant drugs,' Grob concludes, adding that the use of SSRIs is 'arather crude way' of doing it. And ayahuasca, he insists, has greatpotential as a long-term solution in maintaining abstinence.

Chilean novelist Isabel Allende told The Sunday Telegraph in London thatshe once took the drug in an attempt to punch through writer's block21.The paper wrote:

But after forcing down the foul-tasting brew, she was catapulted to a placeso dark her husband feared he had 'lost his wife to the world of spirits'.Her life flashed before her as the hallucinogen took hold. She faceddemons, saw herself as a terrified four-year-old and curled up on thefloor, shivering, retching and muttering for two days.

'I think I went through an experience of death at a certain point, when Iwas no longer a body or a soul or a spirit or anything,' Allende saysmatter-of-factly. 'There was just a total, absolute void that you cannoteven describe because you are not. And I think that's death.'

Nevertheless, the process proved transformative. Allende emerged aching butlucid and was able to complete a trilogy she was writing, now beingadapted for film by the co-producers of The Chronicles of Narnia.

Related phenomena

There have been reports that a phenomenon similar to folie deux had beeninduced most recently by anthropologists in the South American rainforestby consuming ayahuasca22 and by military experiments for chemical warfarein the late 60's using the incapacitating agent BZ. In both incidents therewere very rare claims of shared visual hallucinations.

Plant constituents

Traditional

Traditional Ayahuasca brews are always made with Banisteriopsis caapi as aMAOIcitation needed, although DMT sources and other admixtures vary fromregion to region. There are several varieties of caapi, often known asdifferent colors, with varying effects, potencies, and uses.

DMT admixtures:

Psychotria viridis Chacruna - leavesDiplopterys cabrerana Chaliponga, Banisteriopsis rusbyana - leavesPsychotria carthagenensis Amyruca - leaves

Other common admixtures:

Justicia pectoralisBrugmansia ToNicotiana rustica Mapacho, variety of tobaccoIlex guayusa, a relative of yerba mate

MAOI:

Harmal Peganum harmala, Syrian Rue - seedsPassion flowersynthetic MAOIs

DMT admixture sources:

Acacia maidenii Maiden's Wattle, Acacia phlebophylla, and otherAcacias, most commonly employed in Australia - barkAnadenanthera peregrina, A. colubrina, A. excelsa, A. macrocarpaMimosa hostilis Jurema - root bark - not traditionally employedwith ayahuasca by any existing cultures, though likely it was in the past.Popular in Europe and North America.

Legal status

Internationally, DMT is a Schedule I drug under the Convention onPsychotropic Substances. The Commentary on the Convention on PsychotropicSubstances notes, however, that the plant itself is excluded frominternational control:23

The cultivation of plants from which psychotropic substances are obtainedis not controlled by the Vienna Convention. . . . Neither the crown fruit,mescal button of the Peyote cactus nor the roots of the plant Mimosahostilis nor Psilocybe mushrooms themselves are included in Schedule 1, butonly their respective principles, mescaline, DMT and psilocin.

A fax from the Secretary of the International Narcotics Control Board tothe Netherlands Ministry of Public Health sent in 2001 goes on to statethat Consequently, preparations e.g.decoctions made of these plants,including ayahuasca, are not under international control and, therefore,not subject to any of the articles of the 1971 Convention.24

The legal status in the United States of DMT-containing plants is somewhatquestionable. Ayahuasca plants and preparations are legal, as they containno scheduled chemicals. However, brews made using DMT containing plants areillegal since DMT is a Schedule I drug. That said, some people arechallenging this, using arguments similar to those used by peyotistreligious sects, such as the Native American Church. A court case allowingUnio do Vegetal to use the tea for religious purposes in the UnitedStates, Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficente Uniao do Vegetal, washeard by the U.S. Supreme Court on November 1, 2005; the decision, releasedFebruary 21, 2006, allows the UDV to use the tea in its ceremonies pursuantto the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. In a similar case an Ashland,Oregon based Santo Daime church sued for their right to import and consumeayahuasca tea. In March 2009, U.S. District Court Judge Panner ruled infavor of the Santo Daime, acknowledging its protection from prosecutionunder the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.25

Religious use in Brazil was legalized after two official inquiries into thetea in the mid-1980s, which concluded that ayahuasca is not a recreationaldrug and has valid spiritual uses.26

In France, Santo Daime won a court case allowing them to use the tea inearly 2005; however, they were not allowed an exception for religiouspurposes, but rather for the simple reason that they did not performchemical extractions to end up with pure DMT and harmala and the plantsused were not scheduled. Four months after the court victory, the commoningredients of Ayahuasca as well as harmala were declared stupfiants, ornarcotic schedule I substances, making the tea and its ingredients illegalto use or possess.citation needed

International research

The Institute of Medical Psychology at the University Hospital inHeidelberg, Germany has set up a Research Department Ayahuasca / SantoDaime 27, which in May 2008 held a 3-day conference under the title Theglobalization of Ayahuasca - An Amazonian psychoactive and its users28.There are also the investigations of the human pharmacology of ayahuascadone by the team of Doctor Jordi Riba, in Barcelona, Spain7,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37, and the work of Rafael G.dos Santos and collaborators, in Brazil 38,39,40,41. And there arealso the studies i.e. Hoasca Project and others by Dr. Charles Grob andcollaborators e.g., Dr. Callaway and Dr. McKenna, already cited, done inBrazil, United States and Finland. In Brazil, the University of So Paulois doing a study led by psychiatrist Dartiu Xavier da Silveira to establishthe risks of ayahausca.See also

IcaroChakapa

References

Bibliography

Nonfiction

Harris, Joel R. Into the heart of the Amazon in search of Truth.2008ISBN 978-1440418488Thompson, Matthew. My Colombian Death. Sydney: Picador, 2008. ISBN978-0-330-42392-2Razam, Rak. Aya: A Shamanic Odyssey. Icaro Publishing, 2009. ISBN9780980648706.Adelaars, Arno. Ayahuasca. Rituale, Zaubertrnke und visionreKunst aus Amazonien, ISBN 978-3-03800-270-3William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg Ginsberg, Allen. The YageLetters. San Francisco: City Lights Books, 1963. ISBN 0-87286-004-3David Icke. 2003 Tales From the Time Loop. Wildwood, Mo.: Bridgeof Love Publications. ISBN 0-9538810-4-0Marlene Dobkin De Rios. Visionary Vine: Hallucinogenic Healing inthe Peruvian Amazon, 2nd ed.. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland, 1984. ISBN0-88133-093-0Marlene Dobkin de Rios Roger Rumrrill. A Hallucinogenic Tea, Lacedwith Controversy: Ayahuasca in the Amazon and the United States. Westport,CT: Praeger, 2008. ISBN 97-0-313-34542-5Graham Hancock, Supernatural: Meetings with the Ancient Teachers ofMankind. London: Century, 2005. ISBN 1844136817 2Ross Heaven and Howard G. Charing. 'Plant Spirit Shamanism:Traditional Techniques for Healing the Soul'. Vermont: Destiny Books, 2006.ISBN 1-59477-118-9Bruce F. Lamb. Rio Tigre and Beyond: The Amazon Jungle Medicine ofManuel Crdova. Berkeley: North Atlantic, 1985. ISBN 0-938190-59-8Luis Eduardo Luna. Vegetalismo: Shamanism among the MestizoPopulation of the Peruvian Amazon. Stockholm: Almqvist WiksellInternational, 1986. ISBN 91-22-00819-5Luis Eduardo Luna Pablo Amaringo. Ayahuasca Visions: The ReligiousIconography of A Peruvian Shaman. Berkeley: North Atlantic, 1999. ISBN1-55643-311-5Luis Eduardo Luna Stephen F. White, eds. Ayahuasca Reader:Encounters with the Amazon's Sacred Vine. Santa Fe, NM: Synergetic, 2000.ISBN 0-907791-32-8E. Jean Matteson Langdon Gerhard Baer, eds. Portals of Power:Shamanism in South America. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press,1992. ISBN 0-8263-1345-0Terence McKenna. Food of the Gods: A Radical History of Plants,Drugs, and Human Evolution.Ralph Metzner, ed. Ayahuasca: Hallucinogens, Consciousness, and theSpirit of Nature. New York: Thunder's Mouth, 1999. ISBN 1-56025-160-3Ralph Metzner or Sacred Vine of Spirits: Ayahuasca: ParkStreet Press,U.S.; 2 ion Jan 2006. ISBN 1594770530, ISBN978-1594770531Jeremy Narby. The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge.New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, 1998. ISBN 0-87477-911-1P. J. O'Rourke, All the Trouble in the World. New York: The AtlanticMonthly Press, 1994. ISBN 0-87113-611-2Jonathan Ott. Ayahuasca Analogues: Pangan Entheogens. Kennewick,Wash.: Natural Products, 1994. ISBN 0-9614234-5-5Jonathan Ott. Pharmacotheon: Entheogenic Drugs, Their Plant Sourcesand History Paperback. Natural Products Company; 2 ion February1993. ISBN 0961423498. ISBN 978-0961423490Ott, J. 1999. Pharmahuasca: Human pharmacology of oral DMT plusharmine, Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 312: I7I-177.John Perkins. The World Is As You Dream It: Shamanic Teachings fromthe Amazon and Andes. Rochester, Vt.: Park Street, 1994. ISBN 0-89281-459-43Daniel Pinchbeck. Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey intothe Heart of Contemporary Shamanism. New York: Broadway, 2002. ISBN0-7679-0743-4 4Alex Polari de Alverga. Forest of Visions: Ayahuasca, AmazonianSpirituality, and the Santo Daime Tradition. Rochester, Vt.: Park Street,1999. ISBN 0-89281-716-XGerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff. The Shaman and the Jaguar: A Study ofNarcotic Drugs Among the Indians of Colombia. Philadelphia: TempleUniversity Press, 1975. ISBN 0-87722-038-7Richard Evans Schultes Robert F. Raffauf. Vine of the Soul:Medicine Men, Their Plants and Rituals in the Colombian Amazonia. Oracle,AZ: Synergetic, 1992. ISBN 0-907791-24-7Benny Shanon. The Antipodes of the Mind: Charting the Phenomenologyof the Ayahuasca Experience. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. ISBN0-19-925293-9Peter G. Stafford. Heavenly Highs: Ayahuasca, Kava-Kava, Dmt, andOther Plants of the Gods. Berkeley: Ronin, 2004. ISBN 1-57951-069-8Rick Strassman. DMT: The Spirit Molecule: A Doctor's RevolutionaryResearch into the Biology of Near-Death and Mystical Experiences.Rochester, Vt.: Park Street, 2001. ISBN 0-89281-927-8Sting. Broken Music. New York, NY: Bantam Dell, 2003. ISBN978-0-440-24115-7Michael Taussig. Shamanism, Colonialism, and the Wild Man: A Studyin Terror and Healing. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986. ISBN0-226-79012-6Bartholomew Dean 2009 Urarina Society, Cosmology, and History inPeruvian Amazonia, Gainesville: University Press of Florida ISBN978-081303378 5Joan Parisi Wilcox 2003. Ayahuasca: The Visionary and HealingPowers of the Vine of the Soul. Rochester, Vt.: Park Street. ISBN0-89281-131-5Jaya Bear Amazon Magic: The Life Story of Ayahuasquero Shaman DonAgustin Rivas Vasquez. Libros Colibri January 2000. ISBN 0967425506.ISBN 978-096742550

Fiction

Bruce Balfour Prometheus Road, ISBN 0-441-01221-3Alice Walker Now is the Time to Open your Heart, ISBN0-8129-7139-6

Documentaries

Alistair Appleton, The Man Who Drank the Universe, 30 min. 2005Dean Jefferys; Shamans of the Amazon, 52 min. Australia 2001Jan Kounen, Autres mondesGlenn Switkes, Night of the Liana, 45 min. Brazil 2002Armand BERNARDI, L'Ayahuasca, le Serpent et Moi, 52 min. France 2003Anna Stevens, Woven Songs of the Amazon, 54 min. 2006Rudolf Pinto do Amaral Harald Scherz, Heaven Earth, 60 min.Peru/Austria 2008Keith Aronowitz METAMORPHOSIS 95 min. / 2009 Official websiteMadventures Season 3 Episode 1: Riku Tunna venture deep into theAmazon to find themselves and drink ayahuasca with a shaman.Piers Gibbon, Jungle Trip - Channel 4 UK from Google VideoRichard Meech, Vine of the Soul: Encounters with Ayahuasca, 58 min.Canada 2010

Fictional films

Jan Kounen, Blueberry l'exprience secrte, 124 minutes

Notes

^ Callaway JC 2005. Various alkaloid profiles in decoctions ofBanisteriopsis caapi. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 372: 151-155^ Callaway JC, Brito GS Neves ES 2005. Phytochemical analyses ofBanisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria viridis. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs372: 145-150.^ Callaway JC 2005. Fast and slow metabolizers of hoasca. Journalof Psychoactive Drugs 372: 157-161.^ Callaway JC, Airaksinen MM, McKenna DJ, Brito GS Grob CS 1994.Platelet serotonin uptake sites increased in drinkers of ayahuasca.Psychopharmacology 1163: 385-387.^ Callaway JC, McKenna DJ, Grob CS, Brito GS, Raymon LP, Poland RE,Andrade EN, Andrade EO 1999. Pharmacology of hoasca alkaloids in healthyhumans. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 653: 243-256.^ McKenna DJ, Callaway JC, Grob CS 1998. The scientificinvestigation of ayahuasca: A review of past and current research. TheHeffter Review of Psychedelic Research 1: 65-77.^ a b RIBA, J. Human Pharmacology of Ayahuasca. Doctoral Thesis:Universitat Autnoma de Barcelona, 2003.^ Dean, Bartholomew 2009 Urarina Society, Cosmology, and History inPeruvian Amazonia, Gainesville: University Press of Florida ISBN978-081303378 1^ Andritzky, W. 1989. Sociopsychotherapeutic functions ofayahuasca healing in Amazonia. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs. 211, 77-89.^ Hassan, I. 1967. Some folk uses of Peganum harmala in India andPakistan. Economic Botany 21: 384.^ Ott, J. Jonathan Ott. Ayahuasca Analogues: Pangaean Entheogens.Kennewick, WA: Natural Books, 1994.^ Ott, J. Jonathan Ott. Ayahuasca Analogues: Pangaean Entheogens.Kennewick, WA: Natural Books, 1994.^ LABATE, B.C.; ROSE, I.S. SANTOS, R.G. Ayahuasca Religions: acomprehensive bibliography and critical essays. Santa Cruz:Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies - MAPS. 2008.^ See research by Doctor John Halpern in New Scientist^http://www.timeoutsydney.com.au/books/extract-from-my-columbian-death.aspx^ There is a 1988 American horror film, directed by Wes Craven andstarring Bill Pullman. The film is very loosely based on a non-fiction bookby ethnobotanist Wade Davis. Statement by Mr. Davis: ''Davis has frequentlyvoiced his displeasure with the final film. When I wrote my first book,'The Serpent and the Rainbow', it was made into one of the worst Hollywoodmovies in history. I tried to escape the hysteria and the media by going toBorneo.^ http://www.ed.psu.edu/icik/2004Proceedings/section7-davis.pdf^ Salak, Kira. HELL AND BACK. National Geographic Adventure.http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0603/features/peru.html. ^ Salak, Kira. Ayahuasca Healing in Peru.http://www.kirasalak.com/Ayahuasca.html. ^ Grob CS, McKenna DJ, Callaway JC, Brito GS, Neves ES, OberlanderG, Saide OL, Labigalini E, Tacla C, Miranda CT, Strassman RJ, Boone KB1996. Human psychopharmacology of Hoasca, a plant hallucinogen used inritual context in Brasil. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease1842:86-94.^ Isabel Allende: kith and tell - Telegraph^ Ayahuasca: Human Consciousness and the Spirits of Nature, edby Ralph Metzner, Thunder's Mouth Press, NY^ MAPS: DMT - UN report^ Erowid Ayahuasca Vault : Law : UNDCP's Ayahuasca Fax, Jan 172001^ Ruling by District Court Judge Panner in Santo Daime case inOregon^ More on the legal status of ayahuasca can be found in the Erowidvault on the legality of ayahuasca.^ 'Research Department Ayahuasca / Santo Daime' at the UniversityHospital in Heidelberg, Germany^ Conference schedule The globalization of Ayahuasca May 2008,Heidelberg, Germany^ RIBA, J. BARBANOJ, M.J. Bringing ayahuasca to the clinicalresearch laboratory. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 37 2: 219-230. 2005.^ RIBA, J. BARBANOJ, M.J. Ayahuasca. In: PERIS, J.C., ZURI?N,J.C., MART?NEZ, G.C. VALLADOLID, G.R. eds.. Tratado SET de TranstornosAdictivos. Madrid: Ed. Mdica Panamericana, 2006. pp. 321-324.^ RIBA, J., RODRIGUEZ-FORNELLS, A., STRASSMAN, R.J. BARBANOJ,M.J. Psychometric assessment of the Hallucinogen Rating Scale. Drug andAlcohol Dependence, 62 3: 215-223. 2001a.^ RIBA, J., RODRIGUEZ-FORNELLS, A., URBANO, G., MORTE, A.,ANTONIJOAN, R., MONTEIRO, M., CALLAWAY, J.C. BARBANOJ, M.J. Subjectiveeffects and tolerability of the South American psychoactive beverageAyahuasca in healthy volunteers. Psychopharmacology Berl, 154 1: 85-95.2001b.^ RIBA, J., ANDERER, P., MORTE, A., URBANO, G., JANE, F., SALETU, B.BARBANOJ, M.J. Topographic pharmaco-EEG mapping of the effects of theSouth American beverage ayahuasca in healthy volunteers. British Journal ofClinical Pharmacology, 53 6: 613-628. 2002a.^ RIBA, J., RODRIGUEZ-FORNELLS, A., BARBANOJ, M.J. Effects ofayahuasca sensory and sensorimotor gating in humans as measured by P50suppression and prepulse inhibition of the startle reflex, respectively.Psychopharmacology Berl, 165 1: 18-28. 2002b.^ RIBA, J., VALLE, M., URBANO, G., YRITIA, M., MORTE, A. BARBANOJ,M.J. Human pharmacology of ayahuasca: subjective and cardiovasculareffects, monoamine metabolite excretion, and pharmacokinetics. Journal ofPharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, 306 1: 73-83. 2003.^ RIBA, J., ANDERER, P., JAN, F., SALETU, B. BARBANOJ, M.J.Effects of the South American psychoactive beverage Ayahuasca on regionalbrain electrical activity in humans: a functional neuroimaging study usinglow-resolution electromagnetic tomography. Neuropsychobiology, 50 1:89-101. 2004.^ RIBA, J., ROMERO, S., GRASA, E., MENA, E., CARRI, I. BARBANOJ,M.J. Increased frontal and paralimbic activation following ayahuasca, thepan-amazonian inebriant. Psychopharmacology Berl, 186 1: 93-98. 2006.^ SANTOS, R.G., MORAES, C.C. HOLANDA, A. Ayahuasca e reduo douso abusivo de psicoativos: eficcia teraputica? Psicologia: Teoria ePesquisa, 22 3: 363-370.2006.http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttextpid=S0102-37722006000300014lng=ennrm=isotlng=pt.^ SANTOS, R.G. AYAHUASCA: Neuroqumica e Farmacologia. SMAD -Revista Eletrnica Sade Mental ?lcool e Drogas, 3 1. 2007.http://pepsic.bvs-psi.org.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttextpid=S1806-69762007000100007lng=ptnrm=isotlng=pt.^ SANTOS, R.G., LANDEIRA-FERNANDEZ, J., STRASSMAN, R.J., MOTTA, V. CRUZ, A.P.M. Effects of ayahuasca on psychometric measures of anxiety,panic-like and hopelessness in Santo Daime members. Journal ofEthnopharmacology, 112 3: 507-513.2007.http://www.maps.org/w3pb/new/2007/2007_Santos_22932_1.pdf.^ SANTOS, R.G. STRASSMAN, R.J. Ayahuasca and Psychosis eLetter.British Journal of Psychiatry online, 3 December2008.http://bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/eletters/190/1/81-a#22556.

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External links

Ayahuasca churches

Ayahuasca Shamanic Amazon Per - CuscoIrmandade Beneficente Natureza DivinaPaDeva ChurchSanto Daime EnglishAyahuasca Santo Daime in the Netherlands EnglishSoga del AlmaThe Temple of the Way of LightUnio do Vegetal Portuguese

Law

Justices Take Issue With Ban Of Religious TeaTea Case Could Cause Religious Liberty Tempest backgrounder w/sources

Ayahuasca Components and Information

Iporuru, Caapi Vine, Chaliponga, Mimosa Hostilis, Syrian Rue, and Chachruna

Native Centres in the Amazon

Onanyan Shobo, Native Shipibo Centre run entirely by Indigenous People: Ayahuasca, Shamanic rituals and Traditional Plant Apprenticeship

Other

Ayahuasca retreats and therapies with teacher plantsThe Ayahuasca Foundation - Iquitos, PERU - Non-profit educational organizationIntentional Ayahuasca Healing and Learning Community with Native Shaman - in a small village - Family and Deaf-Friendly - Work/Trade/Apprenticeships availableAyahuasca Esoteric Healing Center / School - Peru Healing - Javier DaSilva's siteAyahuasca Healing Center / School -Yacu Puma- Juan Tangoa Paima's siteGrandMama Ayahuasca Healing Ceremony - An Earth Stahr Plant Deity / Specialist Ayahuasca Healing / Authentic Indigenous Shamanismwww.ayahuasca.com Research project devoted to ayahuascaInformational and Experiential ConferencesA general introduction to Ayahuasca botany, usage, chemistry, news etc.M. Goldberg, E. Mosquera, R. Arawanza, and E. Rodriguez, Ethnobotany and Bioactivity of AyahuascaGeneral resource for ayahuasca and many other psychotropic substances erowid.orgNational Geographic Adventure article on ayahuascaAyahuasca and other plant teachers-educational potential?Lila : Shamanism and Ayahuasca LibraryThe Globalization of Ayahuasca: Harm Reduction or Benefit Maximization? International Journal of Drug Policy, vol. 19, no. 4, 2008Ayahuasca Healing Beyond the Amazon: The Globalization of a Traditional Indigenous Entheogenic Practice Global Networks: A Journal of Transnational Affairs, vol. 9, no. 1, 2009Gathered accounts on ayahuasca experience from lycaeum.org

v d e Traditional medicine

East Asian Traditional Chinese medicine | Kampo | Traditional Korean medicine | Traditional Mongolian medicine | Traditional Tibetan medicine Palm Fruit I IMG 2100.jpg

South Southeast Asian Ayurveda | Sri Lankan Ayurveda | Jamu | Siddha medicine | Thai traditional medicine | Unani

Merranean Near Eastern Byzantine medicine | Ancient Egyptian medicine | Ancient Greek medicine | Medieval Islamic medicine | Ancient Iranian Medicine | Roman medicine

African Inyanga | Muti | Nganga | Sangoma | Yoruba medicine

Americas Ayahuasca | Aztec | Traditional Brazilian medicine | Maya

Australasia Oceania Bush medicine

General Alternative medicine | History of alternative medicine | Health care | Herbal medicine | Medieval medicine | Naturopathic medicine | Prehistoric medicine

v d e Monoamine oxidase inhibitors

Harmaline Nialamide Selegiline Isocarboxazid Iproniazide Iproclozide Moclobemide Phenelzine Toloxatone Tranylcypromine

v d e Hallucinogens

Psychedelics5-HT2AR Agonists

Lysergamides: AL-LAD ALD-52 BU-LAD CYP-LAD DAM-57 Diallyllysergamide Ergometrine Ergonovine, Ergobasine ETH-LAD LAE-32 LSA Ergine, Lysergamide LSD LSH LPD-824 LSM-775 Lysergic Acid 2-Butyl Amide|LSB Lysergic Acid 2,4-Dimethylazetidide Methylergometrine Methylisopropyllysergamide Methysergide MLD-41 PARGY-LAD PRO-LAD;

Phenethylamines: Aleph 2C-B 2C-B-FLY 2CBFly-NBOMe 2C-C 2C-D 2C-E 2C-F 2C-G 2C-I 2C-N 2C-O 2C-O-4 2C-P 2C-T 2C-T-2 2C-T-4 2C-T-7 2C-T-8 2C-T-9 2C-T-13 2C-T-15 2C-T-17 2C-T-21 2C-TFM 2C-YN 2CBCB-NBOMe 25B-NBOMe 25I-NBMD 25I-NBOH 25I-NBOMe 3C-E 3C-P Br-DFLY DESOXY DMMDA DMMDA-2 DOB DOC DOEF DOET DOF DOI DOM DON DOPR DOTFM Escaline Ganesha HOT-2 HOT-7 HOT-17 Isoproscaline Jimscaline Lophophine MDA MDEA MDMA MMDA MMDA-2 MMDA-3a MMDMA Macromerine Mescaline Methallylescaline Proscaline TCB-2 TFMFly TMA;

Piperazines: pFPP TMFPP;

Tryptamines: 1-Methyl-5-methoxy-diisopropyltryptamine 2,N,N-TMT 4,N,N-TMT 4-HO-5-MeO-DMT 4-Acetoxy-DET 4-Acetoxy-DIPT 4-Acetoxy-DMT 4-Acetoxy-DPT 4-Acetoxy-MiPT 4-HO-DPT 4-HO-MET 4-Propionyloxy-DMT 4-Hydroxy-N-Methyl-,N-trimethylenetryptamine 5-Me-MIPT 5-N,N-TMT 5-AcO-DMT 5-MeO-2,N,N-TMT 5-MeO-4,N,N-TMT 5-MeO-,N,N-TMT 5-MeO--ET 5-MeO--MT 5-MeO-DALT 5-MeO-DET 5-MeO-DIPT 5-MeO-DMT 5-MeO-DPT 5-MeO-EiPT 5-MeO-MET 5-MeO-MIPT 5-Methoxy-N-methyl-,N-trimethylenetryptamine 7,N,N-TMT ,N,N-TMT -ET -MT AL-37350A Baeocystin Bufotenin DBT DET DIPT DMT DPT EiPT Ethocin Ethocybin Iprocin MET Miprocin MIPT Norbaeocystin PiPT Psilocin Psilocybin; Others: AL-38022A Ibogaine Noribogaine Voacangine

DissociativesNMDAR Antagonists

Adamantanes: Amantadine Memantine Rimantadine;

Arylcyclohexylamines: Dieticyclidine Esketamine Eticyclidine Gacyclidine Ketamine Neramexane Phencyclidine Rolicyclidine Tenocyclidine Tiletamine;

Morphinans: Dextromethorphan Dextrorphan Methorphan Racemethorphan Morphan Racemorphan; Others: 2-MDP 8A-PDHQ Aptiganel Dexoxadrol Dizocilpine MK-801 Etoxadrol Ibogaine Midafotel NEFA Nitrous Oxide Noribogaine Perzinfotel Remacemide Selfotel Xenon

DeliriantsmAChR Antagonists 3-Quinuclidinyl benzilate Atropine Benactyzine Benzatropine Benzydamine Biperiden Brompheniramine CAR-226,086 CAR-301,060 CAR-302,196 CAR-302,282 CAR-302,368 CAR-302,537 CAR-302,668 Chlorpheniramine Chloropyramine Clemastine CS-27349 Cyclizine Cyproheptadine Dicyclomine Dicycloverine Dimenhydrinate Diphenhydramine Ditran Doxylamine EA-3167 EA-3443 EA-3580 EA-3834 Elemicin Flavoxate Hydroxyzine Hyoscyamine Meclizine Myristicin N-Ethyl-3-piperidyl benzilate N-Methyl-3-piperidyl benzilate Pyrilamine Orphenadrine Oxybutynin Pheniramine Phenyltoloxamine Procyclidine Promethazine Scopolamine Hyoscine Tolterodine Trihexyphenidyl Tripelennamine Triprolidine WIN-2299

Miscellaneous Atypicals

CannabinoidsCB1R Agonists Cannabinol CP-47,497 CP-55,244 CP-55,940 DMHP HU-210 JWH-018 JWH-030 JWH-073 JWH-081 JWH-200 JWH-250 Nabilone Nabitan Nantradol Parahexyl THC Dronabinol WIN-55,212-2

InhalantsMixed MOA Acetone Butane Chloroform Diethyl Ether Ether Enflurane Freon Gasoline Petrol Kerosene Paraffin Propane

Narcotics?OR Agonists 2-EMSB 2-MMSB Alazocine Bremazocine Butorphanol Cyclazocine Cyprenorphine Dezocine Enadoline Herkinorin HZ-2 Ibogaine Ketazocine Metazocine Nalbuphine Nalorphine Noribogaine Pentazocine Phenazocine Salvinorin A Spiradoline Tifluadom U-50488TranquilizersGABAAR Agonists Eszopiclone Gaboxadol Ibotenic Acid Muscimol Zaleplon Zolpidem Zopiclone

Others Efavirenz Glaucine Isoaminile Narcotine Noscapine