Banisteriopsis caapi / Ayahuasca / Malpighiaceae (Malpighia family)

Information

This product is not sold or intended for the purpose of human consumption or cosmetic use. Any information provided about this product on this website, including any links to external websites, are solely intended for historical, scientific and educational purposes and must not be interpreted as a recommendation for a specific use of the product. The statements contained herein have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and the product is not intended to "diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease." The use and application of this product, based on the historical and scientific context provided in the product descriptions and articles, is solely at the customer's risk. This product is a botanical specimen of ethnographic value and interest only and is delivered with no express or implied fitness for any purpose. The product descriptions are compiled from sources we deemed to be reliable up to the date it was written but may contain omissions or errors in fact, or become outdated. It outlines the documented history of uses but should no way be construed to make any medical claims about the ability or efficacy of any of these plants to treat, prevent or mitigate any disease or condition. Although a plant may have a long history of being used for a particular purpose, scientific evidence proving its efficacy for that purpose may be lacking.

Other Names

Ayahuasca, Caapi, Yage, Yaje, Natem, Datem, Pinde, Dapa, Vine of the Soul, Vine of the Dead, Spirit of the Dead, Spirit Vine.

Description

The Ayahuasca brew is considered by the Amazon's tribes as one of the masters "teacher plants". It has been used by shamans of the Peruvian Andes and Amazon jungle for centuries as an essential part of their traditional medicine, their cultural identity, and as a way of expanding consciousness. In Quechua, the term "Aya" means "Spirit" or "Soul", while "Huasca" means "rope" (the soul's rope). Banisteriopsis caapi is a vine, connecting the earth with the heavens. The plant and the usage has first been described by the botanist Richard Spruce who came across it in the Amazon in 1851 and 1853. The working-mechanisms of Ayahuasca, however, have been unclear until the 1980's.

Contents

Telepathine was originally thought to be the active chemical constituent of Banisteriopsis caapi. This isolated chemical was so named because of the reported effects of Ayahuasca among the indigenous users, including: collective contact with and/or visions of jaguars, snakes, and jeweled birds, and ancestral spirits; the ability to see future events; and as the name suggests, telepathic communication among tribal members. It was assumed to be a newly discovered chemical at the time, however, it was soon realized that Telepathine was already more widely known as "harmine" from its previous discovery in Peganum harmala (Syrian Rue).

Constituents:
Harmine: 7-methoxy,1-methyl-bC, Harmaline: 3,4-dihydroharmine, Harmine-N-oxide, Harmine acid: methylester: Methyl-7-methoxy-b-carboline-1-carboxylate, Harmilinic acid: 7-methoxy-3,4-dihydro-b-carboline1-carboxylic acid
Harmanamide: 1-carbamoyl-7-methoxy-b-carboline, Acethylnorharnine: 1-acethyl-7-methoxy-b-carboline, Keto-tetrahydronorharmine: 7-methoxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-1-oxo-b-carboline.
Principal active biochemicals: the beta-carbolines harmine, harmaline, and tetrahydroharmine are present in the bark, stems, and trunk of B. caapi (B. inebrians), and other species of Banisteriopsis. Tetrahydroharmine occurs in greater concentration in B. caapi than in other plants bearing harmala alkaloids such as Peganum harmala (Syrian rue). This may account for the more profound and lasting effects produced by genuine Ayahuasca compared to "analogue" preparations.

Additional Remarks

When the Ayahuasca is used for healing purposes, the shaman is the person to take the drink, not the patient. Sometimes the patient has already tried conventional medicine. If that fails, they will turn to the shaman for treatment believing that the source of the illness may be magical. During this treatment the shaman will imbibe in the drink and translate the visions he sees while under the influence. He interprets these visions so he can discern what caused the illness and fight it symbolically. The shaman will sing to the patient about the fight and in the process is freeing him from the evil (Rivier and Lindgren 1972). This is not the only way the drinks are used medicinally. In some cultures, the shaman and the patient will ingest the drink (Bennett 1992).
Shamans, as the tribes medicinemen are sometimes called, take the Ayahuasca, Natem, or Pinde, which ever name their tribe uses, for religious and spiritual reasons and healing purposes. The shamans "drink hallucinogenic beverages to communicate with the spirit world, diagnose illnesses, determine guilt, and see the future" (Bennett 1992).

Historical

The use of Ayahuasca for visionary experiences appears to be primeval, to judge from the richness of associated mythology. Pre-Columbian rock drawings are similar to contemporary Ayahuasqueros paintings, which are said to represent Yage visions. (See page 127 of "Plants of the Gods" by Richard Evans Schultes and Albert Hofmann for a fine example of such a drawing on granite). However, the earliest known record of the practices associated with this botanical wasn't set down until the middle of the nineteenth century.
The author was Richard Spruce, a one time British schoolteacher, who was among the early explorers to make the perilous journey into the Amazon. Spruce almost died of dysentery and malaria but survived to become one of botany's greatest collectors. In 1851, while exploring the upper Rio Negro of the Brazilian Amazon, he observed the use of Yage. He came upon it twice in Peru in 1853. In his "Notes of a Botanist on the Amazon and Andes", he described its sources, its preparation and its effects upon himself. Unfortunately, Spruce's experience was characterized mainly by his getting sick.

Spruce's Notes didn't appear in print until 1908. Alfred Russel Wallace, who simultaneously with Darwin conceived the theory of evolution, edited them. Spruce suspected that additives were responsible for the psychoactivity of this beverage, although he noted that Banisteriopsis by itself was considered mentally active. The samples he sent to England for chemical analysis weren't located and assayed until more than a century later. They were still psychoactive when examined in 1966.

The first widely read description of Yage practices was published in 1858 by Manuel Villavicencio, an Ecuadorian geographer. The experience made him feel he was "flying" to most marvelous places. Describing how natives responded, he reported that natives using this drink were able to foresee and answer accurately in difficult cases, be it to reply opportunely to ambassadors from other tribes in a question of war; to decipher plans of the enemy through the medium of this magic drink and take proper steps for attack and defense; to ascertain, when a relative is sick, what sorcerer has put on the hex to carry out a friendly visit to other tribes to welcome foreign travelers or, at least to make sure of the love of their womenfolk.

Several early explorers of northwestern South America -Martius, Crevaux, Orton, Koch-Grunberg and others- also referred to Ayahuasca, Yage and Caapi. They all cited a forest liana but offered little detail. In the early twentieth century, it was learned that the use of Banisteriopsis vines for healing, initiatory and shamanic rites extended from Peru to Bolivia.

In 1923, a film of Indian Yage ceremonies was shown at the annual meeting of the American Pharmaceutical Association. Other noteworthy publications drawing attention to the effects of this drink came from Rusby and White, who observed Yage practices in Bolivia in 1922, from the Russians Varnoff and Jezepezuk, who did Colombian fieldwork in 1925-1926, and from Morton, who in 1931 published "Klug's southern Colombian notes about Banisteriopsis inebrians".

Untill the middle of the eighteenth century, the use of Ayahuasca was only known by the indigenous populations on the south-American continent. But around that time, the knowledge of Ayahuasca and it's use spread. Probably rubber-tappers, increasingly penetrated the dense jungle, learned about Ayahuasca. The use of Ayahuasca as an important folkmedicine appeared also in urbanised areas of the Amazon. This use has extensively been studied by Dobkin de Rios.

One of the persons who travelled the Amazon and came across Ayahuasca was Raimundo Irineu Serra. In an Ayahuasca vision, Irineu claims he was visited by a woman whom he called both "Our Lady of Conception" and the "Forest Queen". She told him to found a spiritual doctrine in which the drinking of Ayahuasca would be central to the ritualistic worship. The Forest Queen also gave the drink a new name, "Daime". The name in Portuguese means "give me," which has been interpreted to mean both a gift and a prayer to "give me love, give me light, and give me strength." His experience appeared to be a religious revelation, and he decided to found a new religion in Rio Branco in 1930: the "Santo Daime". Along with the ritual use of Ayahuasca, the doctrine of the Santo Daime includes worship of nature, Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary and other icons of the Christian faith. This combination of Christianity and nature religions is common in South America, and creates a unifying belief system where all can find comfort and healing.

More churches came into existence that combine a shamanic use of Ayahuasca with the Christian faith. Today, the "Uniao do Vegetal" is the largest church. Both the Santo Daime and the Uniao do Vegetal, using Ayahuasca as a sacrament, are official churches under the Brazilian law and can be found in most Brazilian cities. Especially the Santo Daime spread around the world.

Ayahuasca might be the last traditional hallucinogenic drug increasingly becomming popular in the west. Ayahuasca is a complex brew of which Banisteriopsis is only the most important ingredient. In the past decennia, more and more research has been done, and our understanding of this complex tea slowly becomes bigger.

Plant Description

Banisteriopsis caapi (Spruce ex Griseb.) Morton. Malpighiaceae, Pyramidotorea, Tribus Banisteriae. One hundred species of plants in tropical America. Three of these are known for their hallucinogenic effects in Ayahuasca. These three plants are B. inebriens, B. caapi (Schultes 1970) and B. quitensis (Schultes 1995). The best known of these three species and the main component of Ayahuasca is Banisteriopsis caapi. The geographical origin is not known because the plant is cultivated throughout the entire Amazonion region. The plant grows in Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, Equador etc.
It is a shrub or extensive liana in tropical forests. Bark usually chocolate-brown, smooth. Leaves opposite, oval-shaped, green, marginally entire, 8-18 cm long, 3.5-8 cm wide, upper surface glaborous. Inflorescence axillary or terminal cymose panicles. Flowers 12-14 mm in diameter 2.5-3 mm long, 1.5 mm wide. Petals pink, 5-7 mm long, 4-5 mm wide. This liana is mainly propagated vegetatively because it rarely blossoms and sets seed. The fan-like shaped seeds are green when fresh, but turn brown with age.

Legal Remarks

Ayahuasca is not controlled by international conventions.
In the criminal procedure against the Santo Daime churches in the Netherlands, the District Attorney delivered an official letter from Mr. Herbert Schaepe, Secretary of the United Nations International Narcotics Control Board. The letter answered some questions from the Dutch Ministry of Public Health about the use of a preparation called "Ayahuasca" by religious groups in the Netherlands.
The letter says: "The above-mentioned issue was consulted by the INCB Secretariat with the Scientific Section and the Legal Advisory Section of the United National International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP). It is our understanding that "Ayahuasca" is the common name for a liquid decoction prepared from plants indigenous to the Amazon basin of South America, essentially the stem bank of different species of a jungle vine (Banisteriopsis sp.) and the tryptamine-rich plant Psychotria viridis. According to the scientific literature, Ayahuasca commonly contains a number of psychoactive alkaloids, including N,N dimethyltryptamine which is a substance included in Schedule I of the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances.
The letter concludes with the statement: No plants (natural materials) containing N,N dimethyltryptamine are at present controlled under the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances. Consequently, preparations (e.g. decoctions) made of these plants, including Ayahuasca are not under international control and, therefore, not subject to any of the articles of the 1971 Convention.

This product is illegal or somehow problematic to send to the following countries. Click on the country link for further information.

• Reunion
• Lithuania
• Ukraine
• France

Articles

Any information provided about products on this website, including any links to external websites, is purely intended for historical, scientific and educational purposes and should never be interpreted as a recommendation for a specific use of the products.

1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances
Ayahuasca Dreams
Ayahuasca Homepage
Ayahuasca to Pharmahuasca to Anahuasca - Jonathan Ott
Banisteriopsis caapi - Vine of the Soul - taken from “Plants of the gods, their sacred, healing and hallucinogenic powers”
Harmaline
Harmine
MAO Inhibiters - Foods to Avoid
Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitor
Pharmahuasca, Anahuasca and Vinho da Jurema - Jonathan Ott
Santo Daime - Wikipedia
Telepathine
Tetrahydroharmine
Uniao do Vegetal
Uniao do Vegetal - Wikipedia

Related Products

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Chiricaspi (Brunfelsia chiricaspi)
Palo Santo (Bursera graveolens)
Piri Piri (Cyperus articulatus)
Chaliponga (Diplopterys cabrerana)
Guayusa (Ilex guayusa)
Kajuyali Tsamani (Kajuyali Tsamani)
Jurema (Mimosa hostilis)
Mucuna (Mucuna pruriens)
Syrian Rue (Peganum harmala)
Ph indicators (Ph indicators)
Chacruna (Psychotria viridis)
Sahumerios Incense (Sahumerios Incense)
Virola (Virola peruviana)

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Rare and exotic, recently harvested and dried *red* Hawaiian Ayahuasca vines, shredded. Sustainably harvested from Terence McKenna's ethnobotanical garden in a private Ohia forest in Hawaii. The original specimen was first collected in a forest reserve at Puerto Almendres, Peru, in 1981, and brought to Hawaii and planted by Terence himself. Terence has used the very same vines for many years for his famous potent brews. A Peruvian shaman came and took some samples recently and later said it was the most potent and *sacred* vine he has found. The variety is locally called *red* and *black*. The vines have an approximate diameter of 2-5 cm, and were dried and shredded in July 2011. Highly reccommended. View all Ayahuasca products.

			Amount/Price *	Quantity
	*Hawai* vine (37) shredded Hawaii, excellent quality [details] [ view ]		100 g - $ 23.50  250 g - $ 52.00  500 g - $ 96.00  1000 g - $ 176.00  5 kg - $ 790.00	x
	Back to Top		* You are viewing prices in US Dollars ($).

Banisteriopsis caapi / Ayahuasca / Malpighiaceae (Malpighia family)

Information

This product is not sold or intended for the purpose of human consumption or cosmetic use. Any information provided about this product on this website, including any links to external websites, are solely intended for historical, scientific and educational purposes and must not be interpreted as a recommendation for a specific use of the product. The statements contained herein have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and the product is not intended to "diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease." The use and application of this product, based on the historical and scientific context provided in the product descriptions and articles, is solely at the customer's risk. This product is a botanical specimen of ethnographic value and interest only and is delivered with no express or implied fitness for any purpose. The product descriptions are compiled from sources we deemed to be reliable up to the date it was written but may contain omissions or errors in fact, or become outdated. It outlines the documented history of uses but should no way be construed to make any medical claims about the ability or efficacy of any of these plants to treat, prevent or mitigate any disease or condition. Although a plant may have a long history of being used for a particular purpose, scientific evidence proving its efficacy for that purpose may be lacking.

Other Names

Ayahuasca, Caapi, Yage, Yaje, Natem, Datem, Pinde, Dapa, Vine of the Soul, Vine of the Dead, Spirit of the Dead, Spirit Vine.

Description

The Ayahuasca brew is considered by the Amazon's tribes as one of the masters "teacher plants". It has been used by shamans of the Peruvian Andes and Amazon jungle for centuries as an essential part of their traditional medicine, their cultural identity, and as a way of expanding consciousness. In Quechua, the term "Aya" means "Spirit" or "Soul", while "Huasca" means "rope" (the soul's rope). Banisteriopsis caapi is a vine, connecting the earth with the heavens. The plant and the usage has first been described by the botanist Richard Spruce who came across it in the Amazon in 1851 and 1853. The working-mechanisms of Ayahuasca, however, have been unclear until the 1980's.

Contents

Telepathine was originally thought to be the active chemical constituent of Banisteriopsis caapi. This isolated chemical was so named because of the reported effects of Ayahuasca among the indigenous users, including: collective contact with and/or visions of jaguars, snakes, and jeweled birds, and ancestral spirits; the ability to see future events; and as the name suggests, telepathic communication among tribal members. It was assumed to be a newly discovered chemical at the time, however, it was soon realized that Telepathine was already more widely known as "harmine" from its previous discovery in Peganum harmala (Syrian Rue).

Constituents:
Harmine: 7-methoxy,1-methyl-bC, Harmaline: 3,4-dihydroharmine, Harmine-N-oxide, Harmine acid: methylester: Methyl-7-methoxy-b-carboline-1-carboxylate, Harmilinic acid: 7-methoxy-3,4-dihydro-b-carboline1-carboxylic acid
Harmanamide: 1-carbamoyl-7-methoxy-b-carboline, Acethylnorharnine: 1-acethyl-7-methoxy-b-carboline, Keto-tetrahydronorharmine: 7-methoxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-1-oxo-b-carboline.
Principal active biochemicals: the beta-carbolines harmine, harmaline, and tetrahydroharmine are present in the bark, stems, and trunk of B. caapi (B. inebrians), and other species of Banisteriopsis. Tetrahydroharmine occurs in greater concentration in B. caapi than in other plants bearing harmala alkaloids such as Peganum harmala (Syrian rue). This may account for the more profound and lasting effects produced by genuine Ayahuasca compared to "analogue" preparations.

Additional Remarks

When the Ayahuasca is used for healing purposes, the shaman is the person to take the drink, not the patient. Sometimes the patient has already tried conventional medicine. If that fails, they will turn to the shaman for treatment believing that the source of the illness may be magical. During this treatment the shaman will imbibe in the drink and translate the visions he sees while under the influence. He interprets these visions so he can discern what caused the illness and fight it symbolically. The shaman will sing to the patient about the fight and in the process is freeing him from the evil (Rivier and Lindgren 1972). This is not the only way the drinks are used medicinally. In some cultures, the shaman and the patient will ingest the drink (Bennett 1992).
Shamans, as the tribes medicinemen are sometimes called, take the Ayahuasca, Natem, or Pinde, which ever name their tribe uses, for religious and spiritual reasons and healing purposes. The shamans "drink hallucinogenic beverages to communicate with the spirit world, diagnose illnesses, determine guilt, and see the future" (Bennett 1992).

Historical

The use of Ayahuasca for visionary experiences appears to be primeval, to judge from the richness of associated mythology. Pre-Columbian rock drawings are similar to contemporary Ayahuasqueros paintings, which are said to represent Yage visions. (See page 127 of "Plants of the Gods" by Richard Evans Schultes and Albert Hofmann for a fine example of such a drawing on granite). However, the earliest known record of the practices associated with this botanical wasn't set down until the middle of the nineteenth century.
The author was Richard Spruce, a one time British schoolteacher, who was among the early explorers to make the perilous journey into the Amazon. Spruce almost died of dysentery and malaria but survived to become one of botany's greatest collectors. In 1851, while exploring the upper Rio Negro of the Brazilian Amazon, he observed the use of Yage. He came upon it twice in Peru in 1853. In his "Notes of a Botanist on the Amazon and Andes", he described its sources, its preparation and its effects upon himself. Unfortunately, Spruce's experience was characterized mainly by his getting sick.

Spruce's Notes didn't appear in print until 1908. Alfred Russel Wallace, who simultaneously with Darwin conceived the theory of evolution, edited them. Spruce suspected that additives were responsible for the psychoactivity of this beverage, although he noted that Banisteriopsis by itself was considered mentally active. The samples he sent to England for chemical analysis weren't located and assayed until more than a century later. They were still psychoactive when examined in 1966.

The first widely read description of Yage practices was published in 1858 by Manuel Villavicencio, an Ecuadorian geographer. The experience made him feel he was "flying" to most marvelous places. Describing how natives responded, he reported that natives using this drink were able to foresee and answer accurately in difficult cases, be it to reply opportunely to ambassadors from other tribes in a question of war; to decipher plans of the enemy through the medium of this magic drink and take proper steps for attack and defense; to ascertain, when a relative is sick, what sorcerer has put on the hex to carry out a friendly visit to other tribes to welcome foreign travelers or, at least to make sure of the love of their womenfolk.

Several early explorers of northwestern South America -Martius, Crevaux, Orton, Koch-Grunberg and others- also referred to Ayahuasca, Yage and Caapi. They all cited a forest liana but offered little detail. In the early twentieth century, it was learned that the use of Banisteriopsis vines for healing, initiatory and shamanic rites extended from Peru to Bolivia.

In 1923, a film of Indian Yage ceremonies was shown at the annual meeting of the American Pharmaceutical Association. Other noteworthy publications drawing attention to the effects of this drink came from Rusby and White, who observed Yage practices in Bolivia in 1922, from the Russians Varnoff and Jezepezuk, who did Colombian fieldwork in 1925-1926, and from Morton, who in 1931 published "Klug's southern Colombian notes about Banisteriopsis inebrians".

Untill the middle of the eighteenth century, the use of Ayahuasca was only known by the indigenous populations on the south-American continent. But around that time, the knowledge of Ayahuasca and it's use spread. Probably rubber-tappers, increasingly penetrated the dense jungle, learned about Ayahuasca. The use of Ayahuasca as an important folkmedicine appeared also in urbanised areas of the Amazon. This use has extensively been studied by Dobkin de Rios.

One of the persons who travelled the Amazon and came across Ayahuasca was Raimundo Irineu Serra. In an Ayahuasca vision, Irineu claims he was visited by a woman whom he called both "Our Lady of Conception" and the "Forest Queen". She told him to found a spiritual doctrine in which the drinking of Ayahuasca would be central to the ritualistic worship. The Forest Queen also gave the drink a new name, "Daime". The name in Portuguese means "give me," which has been interpreted to mean both a gift and a prayer to "give me love, give me light, and give me strength." His experience appeared to be a religious revelation, and he decided to found a new religion in Rio Branco in 1930: the "Santo Daime". Along with the ritual use of Ayahuasca, the doctrine of the Santo Daime includes worship of nature, Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary and other icons of the Christian faith. This combination of Christianity and nature religions is common in South America, and creates a unifying belief system where all can find comfort and healing.

More churches came into existence that combine a shamanic use of Ayahuasca with the Christian faith. Today, the "Uniao do Vegetal" is the largest church. Both the Santo Daime and the Uniao do Vegetal, using Ayahuasca as a sacrament, are official churches under the Brazilian law and can be found in most Brazilian cities. Especially the Santo Daime spread around the world.

Ayahuasca might be the last traditional hallucinogenic drug increasingly becomming popular in the west. Ayahuasca is a complex brew of which Banisteriopsis is only the most important ingredient. In the past decennia, more and more research has been done, and our understanding of this complex tea slowly becomes bigger.

Plant Description

Banisteriopsis caapi (Spruce ex Griseb.) Morton. Malpighiaceae, Pyramidotorea, Tribus Banisteriae. One hundred species of plants in tropical America. Three of these are known for their hallucinogenic effects in Ayahuasca. These three plants are B. inebriens, B. caapi (Schultes 1970) and B. quitensis (Schultes 1995). The best known of these three species and the main component of Ayahuasca is Banisteriopsis caapi. The geographical origin is not known because the plant is cultivated throughout the entire Amazonion region. The plant grows in Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, Equador etc.
It is a shrub or extensive liana in tropical forests. Bark usually chocolate-brown, smooth. Leaves opposite, oval-shaped, green, marginally entire, 8-18 cm long, 3.5-8 cm wide, upper surface glaborous. Inflorescence axillary or terminal cymose panicles. Flowers 12-14 mm in diameter 2.5-3 mm long, 1.5 mm wide. Petals pink, 5-7 mm long, 4-5 mm wide. This liana is mainly propagated vegetatively because it rarely blossoms and sets seed. The fan-like shaped seeds are green when fresh, but turn brown with age.

Legal Remarks

Ayahuasca is not controlled by international conventions.
In the criminal procedure against the Santo Daime churches in the Netherlands, the District Attorney delivered an official letter from Mr. Herbert Schaepe, Secretary of the United Nations International Narcotics Control Board. The letter answered some questions from the Dutch Ministry of Public Health about the use of a preparation called "Ayahuasca" by religious groups in the Netherlands.
The letter says: "The above-mentioned issue was consulted by the INCB Secretariat with the Scientific Section and the Legal Advisory Section of the United National International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP). It is our understanding that "Ayahuasca" is the common name for a liquid decoction prepared from plants indigenous to the Amazon basin of South America, essentially the stem bank of different species of a jungle vine (Banisteriopsis sp.) and the tryptamine-rich plant Psychotria viridis. According to the scientific literature, Ayahuasca commonly contains a number of psychoactive alkaloids, including N,N dimethyltryptamine which is a substance included in Schedule I of the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances.
The letter concludes with the statement: No plants (natural materials) containing N,N dimethyltryptamine are at present controlled under the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances. Consequently, preparations (e.g. decoctions) made of these plants, including Ayahuasca are not under international control and, therefore, not subject to any of the articles of the 1971 Convention.

This product is illegal or somehow problematic to send to the following countries. Click on the country link for further information.

• Reunion
• Lithuania
• Ukraine
• France

Articles

Any information provided about products on this website, including any links to external websites, is purely intended for historical, scientific and educational purposes and should never be interpreted as a recommendation for a specific use of the products.

1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances
Ayahuasca Dreams
Ayahuasca Homepage
Ayahuasca to Pharmahuasca to Anahuasca - Jonathan Ott
Banisteriopsis caapi - Vine of the Soul - taken from “Plants of the gods, their sacred, healing and hallucinogenic powers”
Harmaline
Harmine
MAO Inhibiters - Foods to Avoid
Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitor
Pharmahuasca, Anahuasca and Vinho da Jurema - Jonathan Ott
Santo Daime - Wikipedia
Telepathine
Tetrahydroharmine
Uniao do Vegetal
Uniao do Vegetal - Wikipedia

Related Products

Yopo (Anadenanthera colubrina)
Chiricaspi (Brunfelsia chiricaspi)
Palo Santo (Bursera graveolens)
Piri Piri (Cyperus articulatus)
Chaliponga (Diplopterys cabrerana)
Guayusa (Ilex guayusa)
Kajuyali Tsamani (Kajuyali Tsamani)
Jurema (Mimosa hostilis)
Mucuna (Mucuna pruriens)
Syrian Rue (Peganum harmala)
Ph indicators (Ph indicators)
Chacruna (Psychotria viridis)
Sahumerios Incense (Sahumerios Incense)
Virola (Virola peruviana)

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Liquid Ayahuasca 5:1 extract, made from freshly harvested *Red* Hawaiian Ayahuasca vines. 50 kilos vine was used to produce 10 liters of this brew. 20 ml brew contains 100 gram vine. (10% alcohol was added for preservation purposes) This is Terence McKenna's famous sweet and potent brew, prepared from sustainably harvested vines from his ethnobotanical garden in a private Ohia forest in Hawaii. The original specimen was first collected in a forest reserve at Puerto Almendres, Peru, in 1981, and brought to Hawaii and planted by Terence himself. Terence has used the very same vines for many years for his famous potent brews. A Peruvian shaman came and took some samples recently and later said it was the most potent and *sacred* vine he has found. The variety is locally called *red* and *black*. Highly reccommended. We have a limited and infrequent supply of this unique brew. View all Ayahuasca products.

			Amount/Price *	Quantity
	*Hawai* vine (37) liquid extract 5:1 Hawaii, excellent quality [details] [ view ]		20 ml - $ 24.75  50 ml - $ 55.00  100 ml - $ 102.00  200 ml - $ 192.00  500 ml - $ 410.00  1000 ml - $ 740.00	x
	Back to Top		* You are viewing prices in US Dollars ($).

Banisteriopsis caapi / Ayahuasca / Malpighiaceae (Malpighia family)

Information

This product is not sold or intended for the purpose of human consumption or cosmetic use. Any information provided about this product on this website, including any links to external websites, are solely intended for historical, scientific and educational purposes and must not be interpreted as a recommendation for a specific use of the product. The statements contained herein have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and the product is not intended to "diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease." The use and application of this product, based on the historical and scientific context provided in the product descriptions and articles, is solely at the customer's risk. This product is a botanical specimen of ethnographic value and interest only and is delivered with no express or implied fitness for any purpose. The product descriptions are compiled from sources we deemed to be reliable up to the date it was written but may contain omissions or errors in fact, or become outdated. It outlines the documented history of uses but should no way be construed to make any medical claims about the ability or efficacy of any of these plants to treat, prevent or mitigate any disease or condition. Although a plant may have a long history of being used for a particular purpose, scientific evidence proving its efficacy for that purpose may be lacking.

Other Names

Ayahuasca, Caapi, Yage, Yaje, Natem, Datem, Pinde, Dapa, Vine of the Soul, Vine of the Dead, Spirit of the Dead, Spirit Vine.

Description

The Ayahuasca brew is considered by the Amazon's tribes as one of the masters "teacher plants". It has been used by shamans of the Peruvian Andes and Amazon jungle for centuries as an essential part of their traditional medicine, their cultural identity, and as a way of expanding consciousness. In Quechua, the term "Aya" means "Spirit" or "Soul", while "Huasca" means "rope" (the soul's rope). Banisteriopsis caapi is a vine, connecting the earth with the heavens. The plant and the usage has first been described by the botanist Richard Spruce who came across it in the Amazon in 1851 and 1853. The working-mechanisms of Ayahuasca, however, have been unclear until the 1980's.

Contents

Telepathine was originally thought to be the active chemical constituent of Banisteriopsis caapi. This isolated chemical was so named because of the reported effects of Ayahuasca among the indigenous users, including: collective contact with and/or visions of jaguars, snakes, and jeweled birds, and ancestral spirits; the ability to see future events; and as the name suggests, telepathic communication among tribal members. It was assumed to be a newly discovered chemical at the time, however, it was soon realized that Telepathine was already more widely known as "harmine" from its previous discovery in Peganum harmala (Syrian Rue).

Constituents:
Harmine: 7-methoxy,1-methyl-bC, Harmaline: 3,4-dihydroharmine, Harmine-N-oxide, Harmine acid: methylester: Methyl-7-methoxy-b-carboline-1-carboxylate, Harmilinic acid: 7-methoxy-3,4-dihydro-b-carboline1-carboxylic acid
Harmanamide: 1-carbamoyl-7-methoxy-b-carboline, Acethylnorharnine: 1-acethyl-7-methoxy-b-carboline, Keto-tetrahydronorharmine: 7-methoxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-1-oxo-b-carboline.
Principal active biochemicals: the beta-carbolines harmine, harmaline, and tetrahydroharmine are present in the bark, stems, and trunk of B. caapi (B. inebrians), and other species of Banisteriopsis. Tetrahydroharmine occurs in greater concentration in B. caapi than in other plants bearing harmala alkaloids such as Peganum harmala (Syrian rue). This may account for the more profound and lasting effects produced by genuine Ayahuasca compared to "analogue" preparations.

Additional Remarks

When the Ayahuasca is used for healing purposes, the shaman is the person to take the drink, not the patient. Sometimes the patient has already tried conventional medicine. If that fails, they will turn to the shaman for treatment believing that the source of the illness may be magical. During this treatment the shaman will imbibe in the drink and translate the visions he sees while under the influence. He interprets these visions so he can discern what caused the illness and fight it symbolically. The shaman will sing to the patient about the fight and in the process is freeing him from the evil (Rivier and Lindgren 1972). This is not the only way the drinks are used medicinally. In some cultures, the shaman and the patient will ingest the drink (Bennett 1992).
Shamans, as the tribes medicinemen are sometimes called, take the Ayahuasca, Natem, or Pinde, which ever name their tribe uses, for religious and spiritual reasons and healing purposes. The shamans "drink hallucinogenic beverages to communicate with the spirit world, diagnose illnesses, determine guilt, and see the future" (Bennett 1992).

Historical

The use of Ayahuasca for visionary experiences appears to be primeval, to judge from the richness of associated mythology. Pre-Columbian rock drawings are similar to contemporary Ayahuasqueros paintings, which are said to represent Yage visions. (See page 127 of "Plants of the Gods" by Richard Evans Schultes and Albert Hofmann for a fine example of such a drawing on granite). However, the earliest known record of the practices associated with this botanical wasn't set down until the middle of the nineteenth century.
The author was Richard Spruce, a one time British schoolteacher, who was among the early explorers to make the perilous journey into the Amazon. Spruce almost died of dysentery and malaria but survived to become one of botany's greatest collectors. In 1851, while exploring the upper Rio Negro of the Brazilian Amazon, he observed the use of Yage. He came upon it twice in Peru in 1853. In his "Notes of a Botanist on the Amazon and Andes", he described its sources, its preparation and its effects upon himself. Unfortunately, Spruce's experience was characterized mainly by his getting sick.

Spruce's Notes didn't appear in print until 1908. Alfred Russel Wallace, who simultaneously with Darwin conceived the theory of evolution, edited them. Spruce suspected that additives were responsible for the psychoactivity of this beverage, although he noted that Banisteriopsis by itself was considered mentally active. The samples he sent to England for chemical analysis weren't located and assayed until more than a century later. They were still psychoactive when examined in 1966.

The first widely read description of Yage practices was published in 1858 by Manuel Villavicencio, an Ecuadorian geographer. The experience made him feel he was "flying" to most marvelous places. Describing how natives responded, he reported that natives using this drink were able to foresee and answer accurately in difficult cases, be it to reply opportunely to ambassadors from other tribes in a question of war; to decipher plans of the enemy through the medium of this magic drink and take proper steps for attack and defense; to ascertain, when a relative is sick, what sorcerer has put on the hex to carry out a friendly visit to other tribes to welcome foreign travelers or, at least to make sure of the love of their womenfolk.

Several early explorers of northwestern South America -Martius, Crevaux, Orton, Koch-Grunberg and others- also referred to Ayahuasca, Yage and Caapi. They all cited a forest liana but offered little detail. In the early twentieth century, it was learned that the use of Banisteriopsis vines for healing, initiatory and shamanic rites extended from Peru to Bolivia.

In 1923, a film of Indian Yage ceremonies was shown at the annual meeting of the American Pharmaceutical Association. Other noteworthy publications drawing attention to the effects of this drink came from Rusby and White, who observed Yage practices in Bolivia in 1922, from the Russians Varnoff and Jezepezuk, who did Colombian fieldwork in 1925-1926, and from Morton, who in 1931 published "Klug's southern Colombian notes about Banisteriopsis inebrians".

Untill the middle of the eighteenth century, the use of Ayahuasca was only known by the indigenous populations on the south-American continent. But around that time, the knowledge of Ayahuasca and it's use spread. Probably rubber-tappers, increasingly penetrated the dense jungle, learned about Ayahuasca. The use of Ayahuasca as an important folkmedicine appeared also in urbanised areas of the Amazon. This use has extensively been studied by Dobkin de Rios.

One of the persons who travelled the Amazon and came across Ayahuasca was Raimundo Irineu Serra. In an Ayahuasca vision, Irineu claims he was visited by a woman whom he called both "Our Lady of Conception" and the "Forest Queen". She told him to found a spiritual doctrine in which the drinking of Ayahuasca would be central to the ritualistic worship. The Forest Queen also gave the drink a new name, "Daime". The name in Portuguese means "give me," which has been interpreted to mean both a gift and a prayer to "give me love, give me light, and give me strength." His experience appeared to be a religious revelation, and he decided to found a new religion in Rio Branco in 1930: the "Santo Daime". Along with the ritual use of Ayahuasca, the doctrine of the Santo Daime includes worship of nature, Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary and other icons of the Christian faith. This combination of Christianity and nature religions is common in South America, and creates a unifying belief system where all can find comfort and healing.

More churches came into existence that combine a shamanic use of Ayahuasca with the Christian faith. Today, the "Uniao do Vegetal" is the largest church. Both the Santo Daime and the Uniao do Vegetal, using Ayahuasca as a sacrament, are official churches under the Brazilian law and can be found in most Brazilian cities. Especially the Santo Daime spread around the world.

Ayahuasca might be the last traditional hallucinogenic drug increasingly becomming popular in the west. Ayahuasca is a complex brew of which Banisteriopsis is only the most important ingredient. In the past decennia, more and more research has been done, and our understanding of this complex tea slowly becomes bigger.

Plant Description

Banisteriopsis caapi (Spruce ex Griseb.) Morton. Malpighiaceae, Pyramidotorea, Tribus Banisteriae. One hundred species of plants in tropical America. Three of these are known for their hallucinogenic effects in Ayahuasca. These three plants are B. inebriens, B. caapi (Schultes 1970) and B. quitensis (Schultes 1995). The best known of these three species and the main component of Ayahuasca is Banisteriopsis caapi. The geographical origin is not known because the plant is cultivated throughout the entire Amazonion region. The plant grows in Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, Equador etc.
It is a shrub or extensive liana in tropical forests. Bark usually chocolate-brown, smooth. Leaves opposite, oval-shaped, green, marginally entire, 8-18 cm long, 3.5-8 cm wide, upper surface glaborous. Inflorescence axillary or terminal cymose panicles. Flowers 12-14 mm in diameter 2.5-3 mm long, 1.5 mm wide. Petals pink, 5-7 mm long, 4-5 mm wide. This liana is mainly propagated vegetatively because it rarely blossoms and sets seed. The fan-like shaped seeds are green when fresh, but turn brown with age.

Legal Remarks

Ayahuasca is not controlled by international conventions.
In the criminal procedure against the Santo Daime churches in the Netherlands, the District Attorney delivered an official letter from Mr. Herbert Schaepe, Secretary of the United Nations International Narcotics Control Board. The letter answered some questions from the Dutch Ministry of Public Health about the use of a preparation called "Ayahuasca" by religious groups in the Netherlands.
The letter says: "The above-mentioned issue was consulted by the INCB Secretariat with the Scientific Section and the Legal Advisory Section of the United National International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP). It is our understanding that "Ayahuasca" is the common name for a liquid decoction prepared from plants indigenous to the Amazon basin of South America, essentially the stem bank of different species of a jungle vine (Banisteriopsis sp.) and the tryptamine-rich plant Psychotria viridis. According to the scientific literature, Ayahuasca commonly contains a number of psychoactive alkaloids, including N,N dimethyltryptamine which is a substance included in Schedule I of the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances.
The letter concludes with the statement: No plants (natural materials) containing N,N dimethyltryptamine are at present controlled under the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances. Consequently, preparations (e.g. decoctions) made of these plants, including Ayahuasca are not under international control and, therefore, not subject to any of the articles of the 1971 Convention.

This product is illegal or somehow problematic to send to the following countries. Click on the country link for further information.

• Reunion
• Lithuania
• Ukraine
• France

Articles

Any information provided about products on this website, including any links to external websites, is purely intended for historical, scientific and educational purposes and should never be interpreted as a recommendation for a specific use of the products.

1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances
Ayahuasca Dreams
Ayahuasca Homepage
Ayahuasca to Pharmahuasca to Anahuasca - Jonathan Ott
Banisteriopsis caapi - Vine of the Soul - taken from “Plants of the gods, their sacred, healing and hallucinogenic powers”
Harmaline
Harmine
MAO Inhibiters - Foods to Avoid
Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitor
Pharmahuasca, Anahuasca and Vinho da Jurema - Jonathan Ott
Santo Daime - Wikipedia
Telepathine
Tetrahydroharmine
Uniao do Vegetal
Uniao do Vegetal - Wikipedia

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Chiricaspi (Brunfelsia chiricaspi)
Palo Santo (Bursera graveolens)
Piri Piri (Cyperus articulatus)
Chaliponga (Diplopterys cabrerana)
Guayusa (Ilex guayusa)
Kajuyali Tsamani (Kajuyali Tsamani)
Jurema (Mimosa hostilis)
Mucuna (Mucuna pruriens)
Syrian Rue (Peganum harmala)
Ph indicators (Ph indicators)
Chacruna (Psychotria viridis)
Sahumerios Incense (Sahumerios Incense)
Virola (Virola peruviana)

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Whole leaves from the *Cielo* Ayahuasca vine, cultivated in Hawaii. New Stock, harvested September 2010. New stock ! View all Ayahuasca products.

			Amount/Price *	Quantity
	*Hawaii* leaves (2) whole Hawaii, excellent quality [details] [ view ]		50 g - $ 11.50  100 g - $ 21.25  250 g - $ 48.50	x
	Back to Top		* You are viewing prices in US Dollars ($).

Banisteriopsis caapi / Ayahuasca / Malpighiaceae (Malpighia family)

Information

This product is not sold or intended for the purpose of human consumption or cosmetic use. Any information provided about this product on this website, including any links to external websites, are solely intended for historical, scientific and educational purposes and must not be interpreted as a recommendation for a specific use of the product. The statements contained herein have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and the product is not intended to "diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease." The use and application of this product, based on the historical and scientific context provided in the product descriptions and articles, is solely at the customer's risk. This product is a botanical specimen of ethnographic value and interest only and is delivered with no express or implied fitness for any purpose. The product descriptions are compiled from sources we deemed to be reliable up to the date it was written but may contain omissions or errors in fact, or become outdated. It outlines the documented history of uses but should no way be construed to make any medical claims about the ability or efficacy of any of these plants to treat, prevent or mitigate any disease or condition. Although a plant may have a long history of being used for a particular purpose, scientific evidence proving its efficacy for that purpose may be lacking.

Other Names

Ayahuasca, Caapi, Yage, Yaje, Natem, Datem, Pinde, Dapa, Vine of the Soul, Vine of the Dead, Spirit of the Dead, Spirit Vine.

Description

The Ayahuasca brew is considered by the Amazon's tribes as one of the masters "teacher plants". It has been used by shamans of the Peruvian Andes and Amazon jungle for centuries as an essential part of their traditional medicine, their cultural identity, and as a way of expanding consciousness. In Quechua, the term "Aya" means "Spirit" or "Soul", while "Huasca" means "rope" (the soul's rope). Banisteriopsis caapi is a vine, connecting the earth with the heavens. The plant and the usage has first been described by the botanist Richard Spruce who came across it in the Amazon in 1851 and 1853. The working-mechanisms of Ayahuasca, however, have been unclear until the 1980's.

Contents

Telepathine was originally thought to be the active chemical constituent of Banisteriopsis caapi. This isolated chemical was so named because of the reported effects of Ayahuasca among the indigenous users, including: collective contact with and/or visions of jaguars, snakes, and jeweled birds, and ancestral spirits; the ability to see future events; and as the name suggests, telepathic communication among tribal members. It was assumed to be a newly discovered chemical at the time, however, it was soon realized that Telepathine was already more widely known as "harmine" from its previous discovery in Peganum harmala (Syrian Rue).

Constituents:
Harmine: 7-methoxy,1-methyl-bC, Harmaline: 3,4-dihydroharmine, Harmine-N-oxide, Harmine acid: methylester: Methyl-7-methoxy-b-carboline-1-carboxylate, Harmilinic acid: 7-methoxy-3,4-dihydro-b-carboline1-carboxylic acid
Harmanamide: 1-carbamoyl-7-methoxy-b-carboline, Acethylnorharnine: 1-acethyl-7-methoxy-b-carboline, Keto-tetrahydronorharmine: 7-methoxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-1-oxo-b-carboline.
Principal active biochemicals: the beta-carbolines harmine, harmaline, and tetrahydroharmine are present in the bark, stems, and trunk of B. caapi (B. inebrians), and other species of Banisteriopsis. Tetrahydroharmine occurs in greater concentration in B. caapi than in other plants bearing harmala alkaloids such as Peganum harmala (Syrian rue). This may account for the more profound and lasting effects produced by genuine Ayahuasca compared to "analogue" preparations.

Additional Remarks

When the Ayahuasca is used for healing purposes, the shaman is the person to take the drink, not the patient. Sometimes the patient has already tried conventional medicine. If that fails, they will turn to the shaman for treatment believing that the source of the illness may be magical. During this treatment the shaman will imbibe in the drink and translate the visions he sees while under the influence. He interprets these visions so he can discern what caused the illness and fight it symbolically. The shaman will sing to the patient about the fight and in the process is freeing him from the evil (Rivier and Lindgren 1972). This is not the only way the drinks are used medicinally. In some cultures, the shaman and the patient will ingest the drink (Bennett 1992).
Shamans, as the tribes medicinemen are sometimes called, take the Ayahuasca, Natem, or Pinde, which ever name their tribe uses, for religious and spiritual reasons and healing purposes. The shamans "drink hallucinogenic beverages to communicate with the spirit world, diagnose illnesses, determine guilt, and see the future" (Bennett 1992).

Historical

The use of Ayahuasca for visionary experiences appears to be primeval, to judge from the richness of associated mythology. Pre-Columbian rock drawings are similar to contemporary Ayahuasqueros paintings, which are said to represent Yage visions. (See page 127 of "Plants of the Gods" by Richard Evans Schultes and Albert Hofmann for a fine example of such a drawing on granite). However, the earliest known record of the practices associated with this botanical wasn't set down until the middle of the nineteenth century.
The author was Richard Spruce, a one time British schoolteacher, who was among the early explorers to make the perilous journey into the Amazon. Spruce almost died of dysentery and malaria but survived to become one of botany's greatest collectors. In 1851, while exploring the upper Rio Negro of the Brazilian Amazon, he observed the use of Yage. He came upon it twice in Peru in 1853. In his "Notes of a Botanist on the Amazon and Andes", he described its sources, its preparation and its effects upon himself. Unfortunately, Spruce's experience was characterized mainly by his getting sick.

Spruce's Notes didn't appear in print until 1908. Alfred Russel Wallace, who simultaneously with Darwin conceived the theory of evolution, edited them. Spruce suspected that additives were responsible for the psychoactivity of this beverage, although he noted that Banisteriopsis by itself was considered mentally active. The samples he sent to England for chemical analysis weren't located and assayed until more than a century later. They were still psychoactive when examined in 1966.

The first widely read description of Yage practices was published in 1858 by Manuel Villavicencio, an Ecuadorian geographer. The experience made him feel he was "flying" to most marvelous places. Describing how natives responded, he reported that natives using this drink were able to foresee and answer accurately in difficult cases, be it to reply opportunely to ambassadors from other tribes in a question of war; to decipher plans of the enemy through the medium of this magic drink and take proper steps for attack and defense; to ascertain, when a relative is sick, what sorcerer has put on the hex to carry out a friendly visit to other tribes to welcome foreign travelers or, at least to make sure of the love of their womenfolk.

Several early explorers of northwestern South America -Martius, Crevaux, Orton, Koch-Grunberg and others- also referred to Ayahuasca, Yage and Caapi. They all cited a forest liana but offered little detail. In the early twentieth century, it was learned that the use of Banisteriopsis vines for healing, initiatory and shamanic rites extended from Peru to Bolivia.

In 1923, a film of Indian Yage ceremonies was shown at the annual meeting of the American Pharmaceutical Association. Other noteworthy publications drawing attention to the effects of this drink came from Rusby and White, who observed Yage practices in Bolivia in 1922, from the Russians Varnoff and Jezepezuk, who did Colombian fieldwork in 1925-1926, and from Morton, who in 1931 published "Klug's southern Colombian notes about Banisteriopsis inebrians".

Untill the middle of the eighteenth century, the use of Ayahuasca was only known by the indigenous populations on the south-American continent. But around that time, the knowledge of Ayahuasca and it's use spread. Probably rubber-tappers, increasingly penetrated the dense jungle, learned about Ayahuasca. The use of Ayahuasca as an important folkmedicine appeared also in urbanised areas of the Amazon. This use has extensively been studied by Dobkin de Rios.

One of the persons who travelled the Amazon and came across Ayahuasca was Raimundo Irineu Serra. In an Ayahuasca vision, Irineu claims he was visited by a woman whom he called both "Our Lady of Conception" and the "Forest Queen". She told him to found a spiritual doctrine in which the drinking of Ayahuasca would be central to the ritualistic worship. The Forest Queen also gave the drink a new name, "Daime". The name in Portuguese means "give me," which has been interpreted to mean both a gift and a prayer to "give me love, give me light, and give me strength." His experience appeared to be a religious revelation, and he decided to found a new religion in Rio Branco in 1930: the "Santo Daime". Along with the ritual use of Ayahuasca, the doctrine of the Santo Daime includes worship of nature, Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary and other icons of the Christian faith. This combination of Christianity and nature religions is common in South America, and creates a unifying belief system where all can find comfort and healing.

More churches came into existence that combine a shamanic use of Ayahuasca with the Christian faith. Today, the "Uniao do Vegetal" is the largest church. Both the Santo Daime and the Uniao do Vegetal, using Ayahuasca as a sacrament, are official churches under the Brazilian law and can be found in most Brazilian cities. Especially the Santo Daime spread around the world.

Ayahuasca might be the last traditional hallucinogenic drug increasingly becomming popular in the west. Ayahuasca is a complex brew of which Banisteriopsis is only the most important ingredient. In the past decennia, more and more research has been done, and our understanding of this complex tea slowly becomes bigger.

Plant Description

Banisteriopsis caapi (Spruce ex Griseb.) Morton. Malpighiaceae, Pyramidotorea, Tribus Banisteriae. One hundred species of plants in tropical America. Three of these are known for their hallucinogenic effects in Ayahuasca. These three plants are B. inebriens, B. caapi (Schultes 1970) and B. quitensis (Schultes 1995). The best known of these three species and the main component of Ayahuasca is Banisteriopsis caapi. The geographical origin is not known because the plant is cultivated throughout the entire Amazonion region. The plant grows in Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, Equador etc.
It is a shrub or extensive liana in tropical forests. Bark usually chocolate-brown, smooth. Leaves opposite, oval-shaped, green, marginally entire, 8-18 cm long, 3.5-8 cm wide, upper surface glaborous. Inflorescence axillary or terminal cymose panicles. Flowers 12-14 mm in diameter 2.5-3 mm long, 1.5 mm wide. Petals pink, 5-7 mm long, 4-5 mm wide. This liana is mainly propagated vegetatively because it rarely blossoms and sets seed. The fan-like shaped seeds are green when fresh, but turn brown with age.

Legal Remarks

Ayahuasca is not controlled by international conventions.
In the criminal procedure against the Santo Daime churches in the Netherlands, the District Attorney delivered an official letter from Mr. Herbert Schaepe, Secretary of the United Nations International Narcotics Control Board. The letter answered some questions from the Dutch Ministry of Public Health about the use of a preparation called "Ayahuasca" by religious groups in the Netherlands.
The letter says: "The above-mentioned issue was consulted by the INCB Secretariat with the Scientific Section and the Legal Advisory Section of the United National International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP). It is our understanding that "Ayahuasca" is the common name for a liquid decoction prepared from plants indigenous to the Amazon basin of South America, essentially the stem bank of different species of a jungle vine (Banisteriopsis sp.) and the tryptamine-rich plant Psychotria viridis. According to the scientific literature, Ayahuasca commonly contains a number of psychoactive alkaloids, including N,N dimethyltryptamine which is a substance included in Schedule I of the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances.
The letter concludes with the statement: No plants (natural materials) containing N,N dimethyltryptamine are at present controlled under the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances. Consequently, preparations (e.g. decoctions) made of these plants, including Ayahuasca are not under international control and, therefore, not subject to any of the articles of the 1971 Convention.

This product is illegal or somehow problematic to send to the following countries. Click on the country link for further information.

• Reunion
• Lithuania
• Ukraine
• France

Articles

Any information provided about products on this website, including any links to external websites, is purely intended for historical, scientific and educational purposes and should never be interpreted as a recommendation for a specific use of the products.

1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances
Ayahuasca Dreams
Ayahuasca Homepage
Ayahuasca to Pharmahuasca to Anahuasca - Jonathan Ott
Banisteriopsis caapi - Vine of the Soul - taken from “Plants of the gods, their sacred, healing and hallucinogenic powers”
Harmaline
Harmine
MAO Inhibiters - Foods to Avoid
Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitor
Pharmahuasca, Anahuasca and Vinho da Jurema - Jonathan Ott
Santo Daime - Wikipedia
Telepathine
Tetrahydroharmine
Uniao do Vegetal
Uniao do Vegetal - Wikipedia

Related Products

Yopo (Anadenanthera colubrina)
Chiricaspi (Brunfelsia chiricaspi)
Palo Santo (Bursera graveolens)
Piri Piri (Cyperus articulatus)
Chaliponga (Diplopterys cabrerana)
Guayusa (Ilex guayusa)
Kajuyali Tsamani (Kajuyali Tsamani)
Jurema (Mimosa hostilis)
Mucuna (Mucuna pruriens)
Syrian Rue (Peganum harmala)
Ph indicators (Ph indicators)
Chacruna (Psychotria viridis)
Sahumerios Incense (Sahumerios Incense)
Virola (Virola peruviana)

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Whole roots from the *Cielo* Ayahuasca vine, cultivated in Hawaii. Harvested December 2010. The vines had to make way for the vegetables, which was the reason to harvest this small quantity of roots. Limited stock ! View all Ayahuasca products.

			Amount/Price *	Quantity
	*Hawaii* root (2) whole Hawaii, excellent quality [details] [ view ]		50 g - $ 13.75  100 g - $ 24.75  250 g - $ 56.00  500 g - $ 104.00	x
	Back to Top		* You are viewing prices in US Dollars ($).

Psychotria viridis / Chacruna / Rubiaceae (Coffee family)

Information

This product is not sold or intended for the purpose of human consumption or cosmetic use. Any information provided about this product on this website, including any links to external websites, are solely intended for historical, scientific and educational purposes and must not be interpreted as a recommendation for a specific use of the product. The statements contained herein have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and the product is not intended to "diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease." The use and application of this product, based on the historical and scientific context provided in the product descriptions and articles, is solely at the customer's risk. This product is a botanical specimen of ethnographic value and interest only and is delivered with no express or implied fitness for any purpose. The product descriptions are compiled from sources we deemed to be reliable up to the date it was written but may contain omissions or errors in fact, or become outdated. It outlines the documented history of uses but should no way be construed to make any medical claims about the ability or efficacy of any of these plants to treat, prevent or mitigate any disease or condition. Although a plant may have a long history of being used for a particular purpose, scientific evidence proving its efficacy for that purpose may be lacking.

Other Names

Kawa-kui (Sharanahua), Rami-Appani (Kulina), Chacruna (Peru).

Description

Psychotria viridis is a shrub from the Coffee family. It is the most common admixture to the Ayahuasca brew used in South and Central America. It has many local names, including Chacruna and Chacrona (from Quechua "chaqruy", "to mix"). The Brazilian Ayahuasca church, Santo Daime, holds that Banisteriopsis caapi, the primary component of Ayahuasca, provides "force" to the tea, whereas Chacruna provides "light". Psychotria viridis contains N,N dimethyltryptamine, which is orally acitve only if taken with monoamine oxidase inhibitors, such as the beta-carbolines found in the Banisteriopsis caapi vine.

Contents

The leaves of Pychotria viridis contain N,N dimethyltryptamine and small quantities of other alkaloids. The reported concentration of N,N dimethyltryptamine varies between 1mg/g and 17mg/g of dried leaf. The time of the day when the leaves are picked seems to play a role as well. (4)

Historical

Chacrunas' use has been documented by the Sharanahua and Culina Indian tribes of the southwestern Amazon basin, the Kofan Indians of Amazonian Colombia and Ecuador, the Kashinahua of eastern Peru and western Brazil plus in Tarauaca in the Acre of Brazil amongst others. Although the sacred brew Ayahuasca can be prepared from various plants Psychotria viridis is the second most important ingredient after Banisteriopsis caapi. In 1858 Manual Villavicencio, an Ecuadorian geographer, wrote that natives using this drink were able "to foresee and answer accurately in difficult cases, be it to reply opportunely to ambassadors from other tribes in a question of war; to decipher plans of the enemy through the medium of this magic drink and take proper steps for attack and defense; to ascertain, when a relative is sick, what sorcerer has put on the hex; to carry out a friendly visit to other tribes; to welcome foreign travelers or, at least to make sure of the love of their womenfolk."(3)

Plant Description

Psychotria viridis grows naturally in wet lowland tropical forests in Cuba and northern Central America through western and central South America; it appears to be most common in Amazonian Peru and Bolivia. It is an evergreen shrub, that grows to a height of up to 5m with a spread of 2m. The leaves are generally 5-15 x 2-6 cm, in outline generally elliptic or often widest above the middle, usually sharply angled at base. When dry, the leaves of Psychotria viridis usually are grey or reddish brown. (6)

Legal Remarks

In France (as of May, 2005) Psychotria viridis is in the list of controlled substances. In many other countries the legal status of Psychotria viridis is abiguous, because the plant is not controlled but N,N dimethyltryptamine is. In most cases this would mean that the plant is legal to possess unless there is intent to use it as a psychoactive drug or to extract N,N dimethyltryptamine from it. (5)

This product is illegal or somehow problematic to send to the following countries. Click on the country link for further information.

• Reunion
• Bulgaria
• France

References

(1) Psychotria viridis, Wikipedia article
(2) "The healing forest, medicinal and toxic plants of the northwest Amazonia", by Richard Evans Schultes and Robert F. Raffauf. Discordia Press.
(3) Psychedelics Encyclopedia, 3rd expanded edition, by Peter Stafford
(4) Psychotria viridis: DMT Contents and Dosages, Erowid
(5) Psychotria legal status, Erowid
(6) Psychotria Viridis - A Botanical Source of Dimethyltryptamine (DMT), DEA Microgram Journal
(7) Plants of the Gods, by Schultes, Hoffmann

Articles

Any information provided about products on this website, including any links to external websites, is purely intended for historical, scientific and educational purposes and should never be interpreted as a recommendation for a specific use of the products.

1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances
Ayahuasca Homepage
Ayahuasca to Pharmahuasca to Anahuasca - Jonathan Ott
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Whole green Chacruna leaves, cultivated in Hawaii. Harvested in July 2011. Top quality, highly reccommended! View all Chacruna products.

			Amount/Price *	Quantity
	leaves (10) whole Hawaii, excellent quality, limited stock ! [details] [ view ]		25 g - $ 9.60  50 g - $ 17.75  100 g - $ 32.00	x
	Back to Top		* You are viewing prices in US Dollars ($).