Sacred Plants

AYAHUASCA

WHAT IS AYAHUASCA?

Ayahuasca (Banisteriopsis caapi and B. inebriens) is a liana that is native to Amazonian rainforests. Most of the indigenous and mestizo inhabitants of the Amazon consider it a “plant teacher” that is capable of transmitting knowledge to man.

Although scientific taxonomy recognizes only a couple of species that are used to prepare the beverage of the same name, “maestros ayahuasqueros” express that there are many “varieties” of Ayahuasca, each one for a specific purpose and a different use.

The name Ayahuasca is derived from the Quechua language. “Aya” means “dead” and “huasca” means “vine”. Together it translates as “vine of the dead or spirits”.

Sections of the vine are boiled together with the leaves of the Chacruna bush (Psychotria viridis) in order to obtain a psychoactive potion that is ingested in healing and cleansing ceremonies.

Due to archeological finds, we know that this potion has been used for millennia by Amazonian healers. Most Amazonian indigenous people and mestizo groups consider it the base of their magical-spiritual and medicinal knowledge and the “Mother” of all other plants.

In the Peruvian rainforest it is also called “purge” because it induces a physical, mental and emotional cleansing, or “medicine”, referring to its high healing potential.

Among others, it is used to diagnose and heal illnesses and dysfunctions in general, to make important decisions, to resolve conflicts – personal and individual ones, those between families and ethnic groups -, to communicate with the spirits of nature, to resolve mysteries, theft, disappearances, to know about enemies, etc.

In a traditional context, and if a ceremony is performed for cleansing and healing purposes, the patients do not necessarily ingest Ayahuasca.