Ayahuasca
Ayahuasca is a traditional South American brew made from the Banisteriopsis caapi vine and other plants, primarily known for its psychoactive effects. Often referred to as the "vine of the soul," ayahuasca has been utilized for centuries by shamans in the Amazon for spiritual healing and rituals, aimed at reaching altered states of consciousness. The tea induces vivid visions but also has a strong purgative effect, leading to vomiting and intense physical reactions. While many participants report transformative, enlightening experiences, some have faced distressing visions or physical harm, and there have been instances of fatalities linked to its consumption.
Typically consumed in retreat settings, ayahuasca is often accompanied by ceremonial practices led by a shaman, such as chanting and smudging. Despite its growing popularity in ayahuasca tourism, the brew is classified as a Schedule I substance in many countries, including the United States, limiting its legal use primarily to recognized religious contexts. Research into ayahuasca's potential therapeutic benefits is ongoing, particularly for conditions like PTSD and depression, although caution is advised due to its interactions with certain medications and health conditions.
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Ayahuasca
Ayahuasca (eye-ye-wah-ska) refers to a South American plant or a tea-like concoction made from the plant. The tea contains a mind-altering substance that has been used in religious rituals for many years by shamans in the Amazon region. It is touted for its ability to help those who ingest it reach higher levels of consciousness, but it also has a strong purgative effect on the body, causing the user to vomit. Many claim that the experience of ingesting the tea is enlightening. However, some have suffered emotional trauma and physical injuries after drinking the tea. A few individuals have even died. Because of this, ayahuasca is generally restricted from use in most Western countries except for those able to obtain a religious exemption.
Background
Also known as Daime, Yaje, Vegetal, Natema, caapi, or hoasca, ayahuasca is the name of both the hallucinogenic tea and the plant from which it is made. The name "ayahuasca" means "vine of the soul" in the native Quechua language. The botanical name of the plant is Banisteriopsis caapi. It is a large vine that grows as tall as 1,500 feet in the Amazonian forests of Peru, Brazil and Columbia.
The plant contains N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT). This is a short-acting psychotropic, or mind-altering, substance. It does not affect the human body when taken orally because it is broken down in the digestive system before it has an opportunity to act. However, many years ago, Amazonian shamans, or medicine men, learned to break down the plant's thin vines and combine them with the mashed leaves of another plant, Diplopterys cabrerana. They brewed the resulting pulp into a thick, rust-colored, foul-smelling tea, a process that took hours or even days. The shamans discovered that ingesting this tea created an altered state of mind and produced visions that they believed were glimpses into the spirit world.
Ayahuasca was used in many religious and healing ceremonies. The shaman alone would ingest the tea and use the resulting visions to provide guidance to the village or learn how to heal a sick person. Until the early twentieth century, the world outside the Amazon region knew little or nothing about ayahuasca.
Ayahuasca was first described in the Western world in 1908, when a book on Amazon plant life by British botanist Richard Spruce was published posthumously. Another fifty years passed before ayahuasca was mentioned in several works, including an academic account by Harvard botanist Richard Evan Schultes and a 1963 compilation known as The Yage Letters by author William S. Burroughs. Dennis McKenna, a botanist who experimented with other mind-altering substances during the 1960s, traveled to South America in the early 1970s and had his first experience with ayahuasca. He dedicated much of his career to understanding how it affects the human mind.
Overview
Many of the people who take ayahuasca do so at some form of retreat. Peru and other countries in the area where the plant grows naturally have developed a thriving ayahuasca tourism market. People travel to these areas to spend days and even weeks experiencing the effects of the drug.
Participants in the retreats generally gather in a room full of mats and blankets. The shaman often chants over participants and blows scented smoke on them, a practice known as smudging. Buckets are also provided because the tea has a strong purgative effect and can induce violent bouts of vomiting and diarrhea. The participants then drink small cups of the tea and wait to see how it affects them.
Many ayahuasca drinkers claim to see visions. Some have said that although the experience can be intense and even terrifying, they feel a sense of peace afterwards. Some have claimed to have confronted problems that had been troubling them for years. They claim that the experience of taking ayahuasca was like undergoing a year of psychological therapy in one night.
For others, though, the experience was extremely troubling. Some have had visions that caused them to claw at their body or run out of the room and into situations where they were exposed to danger. At least one person reportedly experienced a sort of psychotic break and used a knife to stab another participant to death. Several people have died after ingesting ayahuasca.
Researchers have determined that the DMT in ayahuasca acts as a powerful monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI), a naturally occurring enzyme that causes the brain to release large amounts of neurotransmitters such as serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine. These neurotransmitters are responsible for mood; MAOIs are used to treat depression and related conditions. Therefore, people who are already under pharmacological treatment for depression may experience a type of overdose known as a serotonin flood. This can cause lingering effects from drinking ayahuasca, including permanent brain trauma. Some patients with high blood pressure or heart disease have also died because the tea stimulates the heart to beat faster.
Ayahuasca is illegal in many countries. It has been classified as a Schedule I drug in the United States, which means it has no known medicinal use and is considered a risk for abuse or overuse. Despite this, some people think it has the potential to treat mental conditions that are difficult to treat with known medications. Some veterans' groups arrange ayahuasca retreats for former military personnel suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) because they believe it alleviates their suffering. Others are looking into the possibility that ayahuasca may be useful in treating Parkinson's disease.
While ayahuasca is considered a Schedule 1 substance, it is illegal to possess or use the tea in the United States. Some Native American religions have successfully petitioned for the legal right to use ayahuasca in religious ceremonies, citing freedom of religion acts. As a result, it is possible to find ayahuasca retreats in the United States.
Bibliography
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