Ayahuasca: Spirit Vine
What is Ayahuasca?
Ayahuasca is both the name of the plant, Banisteriopsis caapi, and the powerful medicine brewed from it. Typically prepared by boiling the ayahuasca vine with other plants, the resulting mixture is consumed in healing ceremonies led by traditional Amazonian healers known as curanderos or ayahuasqueros. These ceremonies are deeply transformative and vary in effect depending on the specific plants included and the guidance of the healer. Ayahuasca ceremonies are a collaborative performance of curanderos and plant spirits to achieve healing experiences and improve the health and well being of the ceremony participants.
In Shipibo, ayahuasca is called “oni” (sometimes written as oni xuma), which translates to “vine of the soul” or “vine of wisdom.” The Shipibo people of the Peruvian Amazon regard oni as a sacred plant spirit, central to their healing traditions and spiritual practices. The term reflects both the physical brew and the spiritual entity they believe guides and heals through the ayahuasca experience.
Indigenous Traditions and Ayahuasca
Over 90 indigenous tribes across the Amazon Rainforest have developed unique healing traditions centered on the use of ayahuasca. These tribes, often living thousands of miles apart, share the belief that they learned the sacred science of plant medicine directly from the plants themselves.
Scientific Name : banisteriopsis caapi
Common Names in the Amazon: ayahuasca; yagé; bejuco; caapi; nucnu huasca; shimbaya huasca; nishi; oni; népe; xono; datém; kamarampi; pindé; natema; iona; mii; shillinto; nepi.
Key Ingredients and Geographic Range The brew often contains leaves of chacruna (Psychotria viridis) or yagé (Diplopterys cabrerana) and is traditionally used in Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Bolivia, and western Brazil. The global interest in ayahuasca has grown significantly, spurred by retreat programs and religious movements like Santo Daime and União do Vegetal (UDV), which gained legal recognition for ayahuasca ceremonies in the U.S.
Ancient Roots of Ayahuasca in the Amazon
Ayahuasca has been used in the Peruvian Amazon for millennia, far preceding the Incan Empire. The oldest artifact linked to ayahuasca, a ceremonial cup dated to 50 A.D., was found in Ecuador and is housed at the Ethnological Museum in Quito. This discovery suggests that ayahuasca use in the Amazon goes back thousands of years.
Chemical Composition and Healing Effects Ayahuasca contains powerful compounds: beta-carbolines and tryptamines. Some indigenous Amazonian groups prepare ayahuasca using only the vine, which contains harmine, harmaline, and tetrahydroharmine. These beta-carbolines induce effects ranging from tranquil states to intense visionary experiences. Combined with admixture plants, the brew produces visions that can vary based on plant selection and dosage.
Ayahuasca’s primary tryptamine, DMT (DiMethyltryptamine), is also found in the human brain, potentially playing a role in significant life events. Dr. Rick Strassman, author of DMT: The Spirit Molecule, proposed that DMT production spikes during specific human experiences, such as birth and death, suggesting it may mediate spiritual experiences.
Ayahuasca’s Role in Spiritual Healing While scientists might describe ayahuasca as a DMT experience activated by MAO inhibitors, Amazonian cultures hold a more complex view, seeing it as a spiritual encounter guided by the ayahuasca plant and other plant spirits’ wisdom. Unlike typical substances, ayahuasca interacts dynamically with the participant, the healer’s intention, and the spirit world.
The Chacruna Brightens the Visions
Here is a quote from Richard Evans Shultes, one of the earliest pioneers in ayahuasca research, describing the effects of drinking a brew made only from the vine without any admixture plant:
“To this day, the natives of the north-west Amazon in Brazil and Colombia use the Banisteriopsis drink for prophetic and divinatory purposes and also to fortify the bravery of male adolescents about to undergo the severely painful yurupari ceremony for initiation into manhood. The narcosis amongst these peoples, with whom I have taken caapi on many occasions, is usually pleasant, characterized by visual hallucinations in color, which initially is very often a shade of blue or purple. In excessive doses, it is said to bring on frighteningly nightmarish visions and a feeling of extremely reckless abandon, although consciousness is not lost nor is use of the limbs unduly affected”.
Physical, Mental, and Spiritual Healing
Authentic Ayahuasca Experiences in the Amazon Rainforest
For the most profound ayahuasca experience, many seek retreats in the Amazon, where indigenous healers and the presence of powerful plant allies amplify the ceremony’s effects. A truly authentic ayahuasca experience is deeply rooted in the natural and cultural landscape of the Amazon rainforest, where the rich diversity of medicinal plants essential to the healing process can only be found. During ceremonies, curanderos call upon the spirits of these powerful plant allies, whose presence is most potent when surrounded by the vibrant life of the rainforest. While it is possible to achieve meaningful personal insights with ayahuasca outside the Amazon, the deepest transformative benefits are likely to arise when ayahuasca is used alongside the multitude of medicinal plants native to this unique ecosystem. This profound, ancient medicine continues to gain recognition worldwide as a means to achieve deep healing and spiritual growth.
Our Ayahuasca
Our ayahuasca is always prepared by the Shipibo family of curanderos, who bring generations of wisdom and tradition into every step of its creation. Honoring the purity of the original recipe, they use only two ingredients: the ayahuasca vine (Banisteriopsis caapi) and chacruna leaves (Psychotria viridis), avoiding the use of any additional admixture plants. This traditional preparation reflects the Shipibo’s respect for ayahuasca’s healing spirit, allowing it to work in its most authentic and potent form. The brewing takes place either in the homes of the curanderos or at our school for plant medicine, nestled in the heart of the Amazon rainforest and surrounded by gardens of medicinal plants. We do not buy brewed ayahuasca. Our ayahuasca is made with care and filled with potent healing energy, served in an environment of compassion and love.
How Our Ayahuasca is Made
Cleaning the Vines
The preparation of ayahuasca is a sacred, detailed process, beginning with the careful cleaning of the ayahuasca vine (Banisteriopsis caapi). The vine segments are thoroughly cleansed of moss and any non-essential plant matter, ensuring only pure ayahuasca is used in the brew. To honor the sacredness of ayahuasca, those involved often fast during its preparation, maintaining energetic purity for the powerful medicine.
Mashing the Vines
Once cleaned, the vine is then softened by mashing with a wooden mallet. This step breaks the vine into thin strands, but not so hard as to pulverize the segments, increasing the surface area to allow for maximum extraction of its medicinal essence. Curanderos often sing icaros, or say prayers, during this mashing process to instill their intentions, enhancing the spiritual potency of the ayahuasca brew.
Combining Ingredients
After the vine is prepared, it is combined with chacruna leaves in a large pot. The pot is filled with water just enough to cover the plant material, then placed over a fire to boil. The cooking process requires great care and patience, with the fire’s intensity carefully managed to concentrate the medicinal properties. The goal is to slowly reduce the water while drawing out the medicinal essences of the plants.
Cooking the Brew
Once the curandero determines the brew has reached the appropriate potency, the water is removed, leaving the plant material behind. This first batch of liquid, or “first wash,” is set aside. Fresh water is then added to the remaining plant material, and the boiling process is repeated. This process may be repeated several times, allowing each wash to draw more potency from the plants and strengthen the brew.
Refining the Medicine
Finally, after several washes, the collected liquid is placed back over the fire for a final reduction. This step determines the strength of the ayahuasca. Curanderos oversee this final reduction closely to achieve the desired concentration. Once the cooking process is complete, the ayahuasca brew is allowed to cool. Dozens of liters of water are often reduced to just one or two liters of potent medicine. The final cooled brew is filtered through fine cloth to remove any remaining plant material, and a final blessing is offered by the curandero, infusing the ayahuasca with intention and respect. The deep brown liquid is then carefully bottled, ready for use in ceremony.
Ayahuasca Retreats
The Ayahuasca Foundation’s Healing Ayahuasca Retreats offer an opportunity to change your life’s course and start fresh. You’ll take part in ayahuasca ceremonies guided by a Shipibo healer and experienced assistants. Along with these ceremonies, you’ll also receive various plant-based treatments to cleanse your mind, body, and spirit.
Ayahuasca Courses
Ayahuasca courses offer authentic training in the Shipibo plant medicine tradition, focusing on sacred plant dietas and the use of ayahuasca in ceremonies. These informative training courses are a condensed version of an ancestral initiation experience, teaching the core principles of the ayahuasca plant medicine tradition in Peru.