AYAHUASCA AND CAAPI
Chapter: Entheogens
AKA: Banisteriopsis caapi (caapi, oco-yaje, yage, yaje, yaje-uco), Banisteriopsis inebrians, Banisteriopsis martiniana, Banisteriopsis muricata (mii, sacha ayahuasca), Banisteriopsis quitensis, bejuco de oro, cadana, dapa, Diplopterys cabrerana (Banisteriopsis rusbyana, chagropanga, chacruna), kahi, mihi, natema, pilde, pinde, tiger drug, yake.
Ayahuasca and caapi are two species (of approximately 100) of a South American liana, or jungle vine.
Effects: Causes a pleasurable intoxication and colorful visual hallucinations lasting six to twelve hours, reportedly without the subsequent hangover, followed by a deep sleep. It also increases visual acuity and sensory awareness, and acts as an aphrodisiac. It is said to endow the user with telepathic abilities, but there is no scientific evidence to support this claim. The main psychoactive ingredient is the alkaloid harmine.
There is another type of caapi made from the vine Tetrapteris methystica, popularly known as caapipinima (painted caapi). The drink, made from the bark by the Maku Indians on the Amazon in northwestern Brazil, has an odd yellowish color and tastes very bitter.
Precautions: The initial effects are nausea, dizziness, intense vomiting and diarrhea. An overdose can result in nightmarish visions, violent intoxication, recklessness, and subsequent feelings of sickness.
It is an MAO inhibitor, and so should not be combined with any substances contraindicated for this type of drug, as it could cause headaches, heart problems, and death. It should not be combined with avocados, ripe bananas, broad beans, aged cheeses, chicken liver, excess amounts of chocolate, cocoa, dill oil, canned figs, pickled herring, excess amounts of licorice, milk or milk products, nutmeg, parsley oil, sauerkraut, wild fennel oil, yeast extract; amphetamines, antihistamines, ephedrine, sedatives, tranquilizers; or alcohol, excess amounts of caffeine, mescaline, or narcotics.
Combinations of tropical plants containing DMT and beta-carbolines may produce similar effects to ayahuasca, and are occasionally passed off as such on the underground drug market. These are sometimes referred to by ethnobotanists as ayahuasca analogues or ayahuasca borealis.
Dosage: The bark can be made into a drink, the bark and stems can be chewed, or the plant can be made into a snuff. Various other plants are often added to the drink depending on the region, some of which, like Diplopterys cabrerana (a third species, called oco-yaje by Colombian and Ecuadorian Indians along the Amazon) and various species of Psychotria, may be psychoactive themselves. Diplopterys cabrerana contains DMT (N,N-dimethyltrypta-mine) as well, producing higher, clearer visions, as the yage inactivates the stomach enzyme that usually destroys DMT.
An average cup of the native decoction can contain 400 mg of psychoactive alkaloids. The fact that it is prepared with other plants could present additional problems.
William Burroughs describes his experiences with yage in The Yage Letters.
Questions and Answers
Why doesn't Yagé, or Ayahuasca, or Banisteriopsis Caapi, work every time?, I need answers from real connoisseurs, not kids.
My guess is dosage.
Does anyone know the exact mixture for an ayahuasca tea?, Ayahuasca (aya-soul/dead, wasca-vine/rope) or Yage (ya-hey) are native Amazonian names for the jungle vine Banisteriopsis Caapi, and the medicinal tea prepared from it.
Ayahuasca tea is treated with respect and considered sacred among the Peruvian people. Here are a few recipes
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There are many permutations of the classic shamanic formula for the magical healing brew in the upper Amazon. Virtually every shaman and curandero has his or her personal recipe, often incorporating secret components. The nature and spirit of the various admixture plants brings undeniable healing versatility to the medicine, often enriching one's visionary communion with the plants.
Here are the "recipes" of some ayahuasqueros we know here in the Iquitos region of Perú.
Jose Padilla, Iquitos, Perú (52 years an ayahuasquero)
1 kilogram of fresh ayahuasca vine (Banisteriopsis caapi) combined with 50 chacruna leaves (Psychotria viridis). These are boiled in 25-30 liters of water for 2 hours. The water is then poured into another container and more water is added to the original plant material for another extraction lasting 2 ½ hours. This process is repeated a third time then all the extracts are combined and evaporated on a low fire until 1 ½ liters of Ayahuasca tea remain. The entire process takes 12 hours.
Norma Panduro, Iquitos, Perú (38 years a vegetalista curandera)
3 ½ kilograms of fresh ayahuasca vine, ½ kilogram of chacruna leaves, 3 leaves of toé (Brugmansia suaveolens), 4 flowers of bobinzana (Calliandra angustifolia), 10-20 cigarros of mapacho tobacco (Nicotiana rustica). She also adds 5-10 drops of perfume. The preparation is boiled for 12 hours.
Jhomber Davila, Requena, Perú (12 years an ayahuasquero)
8 pieces of ayahuasca vine approximately 30 cm long and 10 cm in diameter , 1 ½ chacruna leaves, 12 leaves of chiric sanango (Brunfelsia grandiflora). Everything is combined and boiled n 40 liters of water for the entire day, reducing the liquid n to 1 ½ liters of Ayahuasca tea.
Luis Culquiton, Manacamari, Nanay river, Perú (20 years palero curandero)
3 kilograms of fresh ayahuasca vine, 1 kilogram of fresh chacruna leaves, 200 grams of fresh tahuari bark (Tabebuia sp.). The plants are boiled together for approximately 8 hours and then reduced to obtain 1 liter of Ayahuasca tea.
Francisco Montes Shuña, Carretera Iquitos-Nauta, Perú (25 years an ayahuasquero)
12 pieces of fresh ayahuasca vine are macerated and boiled together with 200 leaves of oco yagé aka huambisa, chaliponga, chagrapanga (Diplopterys cabrerana) for around 12 hours to produce 750ml of Ayahuasca tea.
Ruperto Peña, Road Iquitos-Nauta, Perú (35 years an ayahuasquero)
12 pieces of fresh ayahuasca vine are macerated and combined with 200 leaves of oco yagé , 4-5 leaves of Piñon colorado (Jatropha curcas) and 3 leaves of petaquina (Dieffenbachia sp). These ingredients are boiled together for 12 hours and then reduced to 750 ml of Ayahuasca tea.
Solom Tello, Iquitos, Perú (50 years an ayahuasquero)
30-40 pieces of ayahuasca vine, 200-300 chacruna leaves, a few leaves of ajo sacha (Mansoa alliasea), mucura (Petiveria alliacea) and guayusa (Ilex sp.). Three extractions are done which are reduced to 1 ½ liters of Ayahuasca tea.
