Ayahuasca: The Magical Brew of Amazonian Shamans

An extremely rare giant specimen of black ayahuasca (Suni/Solimán ayahuasca, or ayahuasca negra), one of the most powerful varieties known, believed to be over 400 years old, growing wild in the jungle of our retreat centre, near Iquitos (Peruvian Amazon rainforest).

 

“Happy is he among men upon earth who has seen these mysteries…”

Homeric Hymn to Demeter

There are many local designations for the visionary and healing brew that goes under the common name of Ayahuasca. Yajé, Yagé, Remedio, or Purihuasca (in Colombia), Caapi, Hoasca or Daime (among Brazilian religious adepts), among the Shipibos it’s Oni, among the “Amawaka” (Yora) Indians it’s Oni xuma, the Ashaninka natives call it Kamarampi, whilst the Jibaros call it Natema. Its most widespread nickname in Peru it’s medicina (medicine), or la purga (the purge).

Cielo Ayahuasca vine cuts ready to be prepared

In Peru it is generally known as Ayahuasca – simplified Spanish rendering of the Quechua neologism Ayawaska or Ayawaskha. The word can be translated as “Rope-of-the-Soul”, “Vine-of-the-Spirit”, “Vine-of-the-Ancestor”, or “Vine-of-the-Dead”. It is – at once – the name given to the Banisteriopsis caapi vine and to the magic, mysterious and visionary concoction which has been used ritually – from immemorial time – by the indigenous people of the Amazon basin, specifically for prophecy, divination, telepathy, shape-shifting, cleansing, diagnosis of an illness, and also for healing. A shamanic healer specialized in the use of Ayahuasca is known in Peru as Ayahuasquero (or Ayahuascero), or Medico Ayahuasquero (Ayahuasca doctor) and in Colombia as Taita (spiritual leader, father), or Medico Tradicional Yagesero (Traditional Yagé Doctor).

Trueno Ayahuasca vine (Upper Peruvian Amazon). Photo © El Mundo Magico

We shall use here the word ”ayahuasca” (in lower cases) to refer to the actual vine specimen-s, and the word ”Ayahuasca” (in upper cases) when referring to the homonymous brew or concoction prepared by the shamans. Over one hundred different specimens of ayahuasca have been scientifically identified so far, but the most commonly used in the Northern Peruvian Amazon is the Cielo ayahuasca, which is reputed to be the most suitable for initiations, can deliver profound visions (and purging) and is safe to use. Among the other varieties known – which are for more specialized uses and normally only for very experienced users altogether – we have:

– Trueno ayahuasca (Spanish for “Thunder ayahuasca”);
– Yana ayahuasca (Quechua for “black ayahuasca”), also known as Suni ayahuasca, Soliman ayahuasca, or ayahuasca negra in Spanish; it is believed the be one of the most potent varieties  of ayahuasca known.
– Puka ayahuasca (Quechua for “Red ayahuasca”);

Allpa ayahuasca vine growing on a Chonta Quiro tree. Photo © P. Garavaglia

In Colombia, Ayahuasca is best known as Yagé. Taita Juan, a Taita Mayor of Putumayo, during an interview with us, recognized up to 30 different varieties of Yagé. Among them:

– Yagé gente (“Ancestors’ yagé”, used to connect with the spirit of the ancestors);
– Yagé tigre – also known by the Ingas as Tigrihuasca, e.g. vine of the jaguar (“Jaguar yagé”,  used by the shamans to shape-shift into a jaguar, or a tiger);
– Yagé oro (“Gold yagé”, which reveals the shaman the treasures of knowledge and healing of the rainforest);
– Yagé guacamayo (“Macaw yagé);
– Yagé cacería (“Hunting yagé”). Employed for the specific purpose of magically “calling”/attracting game animals to be hunted.

The Ayahuasca brew – which has powerful consciousness-expanding properties – has strong antihelmintic (kills parasites) effects too and is prepared by boiling for several hours (6-14 hours in Peru, and – in extreme cases – up to four days in a row, in Colombia, depending on where, why and by whom it is made) the pounded, scraped stems of the ayahuasca (Banisteriopsis sp.) vine, together with the leaves of the chacruna (Psychotria viridis) green shrub.

Cooking of the Ayahuasca brew in the Amazon. Photo © El Mundo Magico

At times, many other plant ingredients too are added, the most common of which are usually the black jungle tobacco called Mapacho (Nicotiana tabacum/Nicotiana rustica), the leaves of the Chagropanga vine (Diplopterys cabrerana), along with few leaves of the powerful Toè plant (Brugmansia suavolens). Chagropanga – also known by the names of Chagro, Chaliponga, Ojo Yajé, or Huambisa chacruna – may be combined with, as as well as being a substitute of, the Chacruna plant in the making of the Ayahuasca concoction and, in Colombia, it is much preferred to Chacruna as main admixture to the brew. The use of the more powerful Chagropanga (over Chacruna) is also favoured by our Peruvian Maestro Palero shaman, Don Armando who prepares different batches of Ayahuasca using different varieties of the vine as well as different plant admixtures, including Coca leaves, Cacao bark and the leaves of the extremely powerful Puma chacruna plant.

Ayahuasca cooking over traditional wood-fire. Photo © El Mundo Magico

Toè (Brugmansia suavolens), a powerful plant additive to the Ayahuasca brew. Photo © El Mundo Magico

Toè (Brugmansia sp.) – a tropical plant of the Solanaceae family, somehow affiliated to the Datura – has beautiful bell-shaped flowers and is always used very sparingly by indigenous and mestizo shamans (Vegetalistas) alike. It’s a toxic plant which demands utmost care and experience to be properly prepared. Actual quantities employed may vary from shaman to shaman.

Each Maestro has his or her own (often jealously and secretly kept) recipe, and hardly exist two which can be considered the same, for ingredients used, and time and way of cooking and preparing the brew. Don Mariano, for instance, interviewed by us on the topic, maintains that Ayahuasca can be prepared also with sugar (!!) or with honey, but that this will make the brew much stronger and more concentrated than normal, will deliver a strong intoxication, and therefore the quantity one would need to drink has to be very very little, almost tiny.

The Chemistry

Shipibo shaman Don Mariano pounding Ayahuasca vine cuts. Photo © El Mundo Magico

The Banisteriopsis caapi vine is a source of various harmala alkaloids (like harmine, harmaline, and others) once called Telepathine and Banisterine – and all of which are monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOI). The low percentage (0.3% to 1.2%) of harmala alkaloids present in the Banisteriopsis vine is not enough – taken on its own – to trigger psychotropic effects, which may otherwise be slightly experienced with the intake of an higher concentration.

The Psychotria viridis – on the other hand – is a botanical source of Dimethyltryptamine (known as well as DMT and N,N-dimethyltryptamine), and is found and produced in small quantities also by our own brain. DMT alone would not work – taken orally – without the intervention of the MAO inhibitors. The power of the medicine – “el poder de la medicina” – according to some Shipibo shamans, resides in the bubble formations that are produced and may be seen during the boiling of the brew.

The Brew: Plant Alchemy of the Amazon Basin

Of all identified species of Banisteriopsis in the entire Amazon basin, the most common one used by the shamans and vegetalistas in Peru, is the Cielo ayahuasca variety, believed to induce heavenly visions (cielo means “heaven” in Spanish). It also goes under the name of Ayahuasca amarilla (“yellow ayahuasca”, in Spanish). There is also an immense variety of recipes for the preparation of the brew, which have the purpose of enhancing the experience of taking the Ayahuasca, boosting the mareación (status of inebriation and intoxication following the drinking of the brew), in either length or quality/intensity, or both. Specifically, the Chagropanga (Diplopterys cabrerana), used more widely in the Colombian Amazon – is a powerful source of 5-MeO-DMT.

Chacruna leaves layer. Photo: © El Mundo Magico

The most common ingredients of the Ayahuasca concoction in the Peruvian Amazon remain the Cielo ayahuasca vine cuts and the leaves of the Chacruna shrub. That is also the traditional Shipibo way of making the brew. Shipibo shaman Don Mariano, for instance, maintained that using too many plant additives in the making of the concoction may not be the correct thing to do, as one would first need to properly diet with each and every one of these other plants, instead than taking them directly through the Ayahuasca brew (without previous preparation). Doing otherwise – i.e. taking the short-cut of adding too many plants without “knowing” them first through a proper dieta – could only make the potential side effects of the brew stronger, and may only increase the mareación (intoxication).

Ayahuasca ceremony with Shipibo shamans. Photo © El Mundo Magico

Don Mariano contended that there is no intrinsic advantage in using other plants for the making of the brew, without having gone through a proper apprenticeship first, via the shamanic plant diet. However, in special cases, the brew can be made adding Sacha piña (Aechmea sp.) and Azucar huayo (Hymenaea sp.), among other plants. Most Vegetalistas in the Peruvian Amazon, however – especially those who do not belong to the Shipibo ethnic group – will nevertheless much prefer to prepare Ayahuasca using a variety of plant admixtures, which may vary from Maestro to Maestro, depending on their background, on the master plants and trees that they have dieted with, their knowledge, level of experience and predilection.

Pounded ayahuasca vine cuts layer. Photo © El Mundo Magico

A beverage prepared with the Ayahuasca vine cuts alone wouldn’t normally produce visions (just purging), and the same would happen if one was to take a concoction prepared with the chacruna plant on its own. By means of an apparent very simple process – which reveals, however, at close range examination, an utterly sophisticated research and knowledge on side of the indigenous people who made first this discovery – the two plants prepared together work wonderfully in synergy and each one maximise the benefit of the other.

Ayahuasca and Chacruna work synergistically not only on the biochemical plane – making possible the assimilation of the alkaloids otherwise attacked by the enzymes present in our digestive system – they are also believed to be, respectively, a “grandfather” and a “grandmother” plant spirit.

The power of the Ayahuasca medicine. Photo © El Mundo Magico

One may be blessed by wonderful visions and/or amazing revelations, without ever having hoped to see or know anything, whilst others yet may see nothing at all. Nothing is granted with Ayahuasca. Many factors – visible and invisible, ranging from one’s own attitude, psycho-physical conditions and sensitivity, to the respect of the dietary prescriptions, to climatic conditions, to the icaros sang by the shamans, to changes in the electromagnetic field and even the moon, to quote a few – may contribute in different degrees to the depth of the visionary experience given by the Ayahuasca medicine.

Ayahuasca & Health Precautions:

 Learn more about Ayahuasca and potential health hazards.

The Ayahuasca Diet

Preparing the Ayahuasca medicine. Photo © El Mundo Magico

The avoiding of sexual intercourse and any form of sexual activity – roughly from three days before, until three to five days after each Ayahuasca ceremony is of paramount importance, especially in light to preserve one’s “distilled” sexual energy during the challenging, magical encounter with the Ayahuasca spirit. Don Mariano – interviewed by us on this matter – maintained a rather “provocative” position: “la Ayahuasca no se dieta antes, si no despues”, that is: the Ayahuasca medicine is not to be dieted before [taking it], but after! Equally important is refraining from pork meat and derivatives (ham, bacon, pepperoni, salami, etc), for 15 days before your first ceremony until at least 15 days after your last ceremony (indications vary greatly from shaman to shaman, with some shamans recommending up to 6 months of continuous avoidance of pork meat, especially when one is also dieting the plants). You need to arrive at the ceremony in the most possible energetically pure conditions, in order to benefit the most from this experience.

Food to Avoid

Ayahuasca brew being filtered. Photo © El Mundo Magico

Avoid altogether – for at least 12 hours before the Ayahuasca ceremony – any food containing stimulants, caffeine, spices, chilli, fats, oil, salt and sugar. And please refrain from having any fermented stuff like Soya sauce/Tamari, Soya beans paste/curd (like Miso or Tofu), beer, vermouth wine, aged/mouldy cheese (cheddar, Parmesan, Swiss cheese, blue cheese), yeast and all other food which is a potential source of tyramine, like mature avocados, eggplants, figs, grapes, pineapples, plums, raisins, prunes, broad beans, fava beans (broad beans), lentils, peanuts, dried milk, sour cream, yogurt, buttermilk, chocolate, Vegemite and sauerkraut. Taking foods containing tyramine in conjunction with monoamine oxidase inhibitors, can trigger hypertensive crisis and migraines.

We recommend to fast on the day of taking Ayahuasca, or else, to only have a light breakfast and a very light lunch, and – by all means – no dinner. It will be also much beneficial to drink plenty of water, on the day of drinking the purge, up until one hour before the ceremony begins. However, no water must be drunk during the Ayahuasca ceremony: doing so will only make the side effects of the medicine last longer, with no visionary effects. Remember that whatever food you may take on the day of the ceremony, will most certainly come out of your body via the “lower” or “upper” ways, after drinking the medicine.