Ayahuasca

From doktorsleepless

Ayahuasca is psychoactive preparation created from the Banisteriopsis Cappi vine, amd Psychotria viridis leaves, native to the Amazon Rainforest. It contains high amounts of DMT and an MAOI - though the DMT is contained in the viridis leaves, not the 'ayahuasca vine'. When the preparation is smoked, sniffed, injected or ingested, it can produce powerful psychoactive experiences including intense visual hallucinations, euphoria, even true hallucinations (perceived extensions of reality). Less pleasant side effects include severe nausea and diarrhoea.

Users of high doses of Ayahuasca have reported experiences with "Alien" life forms (taking many shapes and guises, most notably the Self Transforming Machine Elf). These encounters have run the gamut from pleasant to erotic to invasive.

There have also been multiple reports of users visiting a city. What is unique to the ayahuasca trip is that multiple users have reported similar architecture, landmarks, and layouts of this city, indicating they have all visited the same place during their trip.

Although ayahuasca contains DMT, the experiences of users appear to be significantly different to DMT trips. This may depend on the set-and-setting of the ceremony - the Christianised Santa Daime Church rites producing very different effects from the non-Christian and older tribal forms. In the latter, aya' is primarily used in healing.

DMT was also the subject of Warren Ellis' book Dark Blue.

Reinhardt's journey to South America may have been inspired by William S. Burroughs' journey of the same purpose. His letters to Allen Ginsberg detailing the excursion were published in book format as The Yage Letters.

Return to Science.