Ayahuasca basics

Ayahuasca Sacred Spirits Vine

Banisteriopsis caapi is the scientific name for the ayahuasca vine, used by countless numbers of the amazonian native people in holy rituals, ceremonies for psychological, spiritual and physical healing, and as a component of indigenous religious rites.

For thousands and thousands of years, Ayahuasca has been a sacred medicine, the primary ingredient for which is Banisteriopsis caapi. The indigenous residents of the amazonian rainforests in Ecuador and Peru utilize Ayahuasca so they may go into its sacred dimensions for worship, wellness and to gain insights. The traditional way to make ayahuasca tea involved boiling segments of Banisteriopsis caapi vines along with other ethnobotanicals such as Diplopterys cabrerana and Psychotria viridis (Chacruna).

How this particular combination of plants was first discovered has been the subject of much debate among ethnobotanists as well as lay people with an interest in hallucinogenic substances and psychedelic adventures. It has been suggested that the vine posesses inherant intelligence and knowledge, as well as the ability to reveal guidance for healing both physiological and emotional difficulties.

It has been noted that the Witoto people smoke the hallucinogenic powdered leaves of the Ayahuasca vine.

Ayahuasca has been written about in great detail by such authors as Terence McKenna, Wade Davis and Mark J. Plotkin.