WHAT IS AYAHUASCA? Ayahuasca is a sacred medicine of the Amazon that has been used since time immemorial by more than 70 ethnic groups that inhabit the Amazon basin and constitutes the core of their traditional medicine and cosmovision. In Quechua, ayahuasca means “vine of the spirits”. It is prepared by mixing and cooking two plants: a vine, ayahuasca (Banisteriopsis caapi) and the leaves of a bush, chacruna (Psychotria viridis). The result is a thick and bitter, earth-colored beverage, with enteogenous and emetic effects. Each ethnic group, including each individual ayahuasquero, may add ingredients (or substitutes) to increase the potency of the beverage and its medicinal effects. The beverage is attributed different names according to its geographical location: for the Shuar in Ecuador it is known as “natema”; in Brasil as “jurema” or “daime”; and for the Cashinahua, “nixi pae”. In the Peruvian jungle, it is better known as “Ayahuasca” and is commonly called purga due to its emetic and cleansing effects. Chemical composition of Ayahuasca: In simple words, the presence of both plants is needed in the ayahuasca beverage in order for the enteogenous effects to take place. The active component responsible for the visions is DMT, which is naturally found in the leaves of the chacruna bush. However, the DMT is destroyed by the enzymes of the stomach. On the other hand, the ayahuasca vine essentially provides iMAOs, which inhibit the stomach’s enzymes and allow the temporary assimilation of the DMT into the blood stream.
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THE CEREMONY The ancestral Ayahuasca ceremony is a rite of purification, healing and knowledge. It takes place at night and lasts about five to six hours. The participants sit in a circle, in silence, and take the ayahuasca beverage one by one. The effects (dizziness) start 15 to 30 minutes later (depending on each individual). The ceremony is guided through chants (icaros) by the “ayahuasquero”, who must have gained expertise in the channeling of modified states of consciousness produced by the beverage. Its use only reached the West a few decades ago; yet thousands of individuals have as of today come to the Amazon to undertake a deep process of healing and learning with this ancestral medicine without there being a single report of physical or psychological dependency. Thus, it has been employed in diverse detoxification treatments for drugs as well as other addictions. Overdose is difficult because of the beverage’s uncomfortable physical effects. Nevertheless, when one may experience a “bad trip”, there is no danger of succumbing to lethal consequences under the guidance of an experienced ayahuasquero. The ayahuasca experience means in the majority of cases going through a spiritual opening that is hard to describe as well as a new vision of life, relationships, and nature. It can reveal a rupture between an unconscious state of being in the world and a new, more responsible and aware one: within ourselves and what we bring to others, in our relationship with Mother Earth and in a more fulfilling way of experiencing life. Requirements to participate in the Ayahuasca ceremony:
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