Ayahuasca
Ayahuasca is an entheogenic drink prepared from segments of the vine Banisteriopsis caapi. Sections of vine are boiled with leaves from any of a large number of other plants (such as Psychotria viridis or Diplopterys cabrerana) yielding a brew containing the powerful hallucinogenic alkaloid N,N-dimethyltryptamine, combined with an MAOI, such as harmaline, harmine, d-tetrahydroharmine from the Banisteriopsis caapi vine. The potency of this brew varys radicaly from one batch to the next, both in strength and phsychoactive effect, based mainly on the skill of the shaman producing it, as well as other admixtures sometimes added.
Other names:
- "caapi" (or more usually "Daime") in Brazil, where it has religious use
- "yage" or "yaje" in Colombia
- "ayahuasca" in Ecuador and Peru ("vine of the dead" or "vine of souls": in Quechua aya means "spirit," "ancestor," or "dead person," while huasca means "vine" or "rope")
Nowadays, the term ayahuasca also means analogous concoctions made with other plants that contain the two main components, an MAOI and a DMT. The DMT is the main "active ingredient", causing the desired effects. The MAOI is necessary for DMT to be taken orally.
Some plant sources of MAOI:
- Peganum harmala (Syrian Rue) - seeds
- Banisteriopsis caapi
In Brazil there are a number of religious movements based on the use of Ayahuasca, usually in a animistic context that may be Shamanistic or, more often, mixed with Christian imagery.
Brazilian Ayahuasca Churches (external links)
Referenced By
5-MeO-DMT | Dimethyltryptamine | Entheogen | Hallucinogen | Hallucinogenic | Hallucinogenic drug | Hallucinogenic drugs | Hallucinogens | MAOI | MAO inhibitor | MOA Inhibitor | Monoamine oxidase inhibitor | N,N-dimethyltryptamine | Psychedelic drug | Spiritism | Spiritist
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