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Ayahuasca
Published in Mahendra Rai, Shandesh Bhattarai, Chistiane M. Feitosa, Wild Plants, 2020
Raquel Consul, Flávia Lucas, Maria Graça Campos
Ayahuasca is a drink made by the decoction of Psychotria viridis Ruiz and Pav leaves, with the woody parts of the Banisteriopsis caapi (Spruce ex Griseb) Morton vine. It has been used by indigenous people to communicate with their ancestors, for prophetic purposes, divination, witchcraft, and healing. This state of soul liberation, which makes it possible to “travel to the world of the dead”, is at the root of the term “Ayahuasca”, which in Quechua means “wine of souls”, and may also be called “Yagê”, “Hoasca”, “Caapi”, “Dápa”, “Mihi”, “Kahí”, “Natema”, or “Pindé” (Schultes et al. 1992).
Missed Opportunities? Beneficial Uses of Illicit Drugs
Published in Ross Coomber, The Control of Drugs and Drug Users, 2020
Lester Grinspoon, James B. Bakalar
The natural hallucinogens have long been used by preindustrial cultures, especially in Mexico and South America, for magical, religious, and healing purposes. Religious use of ayahuasca, a substance containing harmine, is common and legal in the Brazilian Amazon. Today the peyote cactus is the sacrament of the Native American Church, a religious organization with branches in all western states of the United States (La Barre, 1964; Marriott, 1971). Peyote became known in industrial society toward the end of the nineteenth century, and many other plant hallucinogens have been discovered since. LSD was first synthesized in 1938 and its psychoactive properties were discovered in 1943; since then many other synthetic psychedelic drugs have been developed.
Plant Species from the Atlantic Forest Biome and Their Bioactive Constituents
Published in Luzia Valentina Modolo, Mary Ann Foglio, Brazilian Medicinal Plants, 2019
Rebeca Previate Medina, Carolina Rabal Biasetto, Lidiane Gaspareto Felippe, Lilian Cherubin Correia, Marília Valli, Afif Felix Monteiro, Alberto José Cavalheiro, Ângela Regina Araújo, Ian Castro-Gamboa, Maysa Furlan, Vanderlan da Silva Bolzani, Dulce Helena Siqueira Silva
Tetrapterys mucronata Cav. (Malpighiaceae) is one of the plants used in the preparation of ayahuasca in some regions of Brazil. Ayahuasca is a psychotropic plant decoction with a long cultural history of uses (Carlini, 2003), especially by devotees of some religions.
Ayahuasca Ritual, Personality and Sociality: Observational Research Conducted in a Substance Use Disorder Rehabilitation Center in Uruguay
Published in Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 2023
Ismael Apud, Juan Scuro, Ignacio Carrera, Andrés Oliveri
We recruited participants of ayahuasca ceremonies from a Uruguayan psychotherapeutic center specialized in treatment of SUDs in the years 2019–2020. First, we interviewed the director, who gave us essential information about the center, and the style of direction during ayahuasca ceremonies. The director is a licensed psychologist, trained in ayahuasca rituals under the vegetalismo, a Peruvian shamanic tradition immersed in the general cosmology of the Amazon rainforest (Beyer 2009; Dobkin de Rios 1973; Luna 1986). In the center, ayahuasca ceremonies are a therapeutic strategy that is combined, not always, with other forms of psychotherapy. Patients at the center are treated for SUDs, but other therapeutic demands are also addressed. Ceremonies are performed monthly, at night, with participants sitting in a circle, in a dark room. Live music is played, with string and percussion instruments. Songs from Peruvian shamanism (the famous icaros), and modern songs from Latin America are played by the staff, as well as their own musical production. The ceremonies last about six hours. Once the ceremony is finished, the participants sleep in the same room. In the morning, an integration activity takes place. There, participants feel free to express their emotions and talk about the experiences lived during the night.
Ayahuasca Lyophilization (Freeze-drying) Protocol with Pre- and Post-procedure Alkaloids Quantification
Published in Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 2022
Dimitri Daldegan-Bueno, Vanessa Manchim Favaro, Luís Fernando Tófoli, Alessandra Sussulini, Fernando Cassas, Maria Gabriela Menezes Oliveira
Ayahuasca is an ancient psychedelic concoction of different Amazonian plants, and is an important facet of many practices, including therapeutic, of South American native people. Ayahuasca’s most common preparation consists of the decoction of the Banisteriopsis caapi vine and the Psychotria viridis leaves (Anderson et al. 2012; Luna 2011). The vine possesses several β-carboline alkaloids, from which the most studied are harmine (HME), harmaline (HML), and tetrahydroharmine (THH). The main compound of the leaves is the N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a tryptamine with no psychoactive effect if orally ingested given the deamination process performed by the monoamine oxidases (MAO) present in the liver and the gut. Therefore, the psychoactive effect of ayahuasca occurs mainly due to the synergy between the β-carbolines, which act as competitive inhibitors of the MAO-A enzyme, and DMT (Domínguez-Clavé et al. 2016).
The ritual use of ayahuasca during treatment of severe physical illnesses: a qualitative study
Published in Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 2021
Lucas Oliveira Maia, Dimitri Daldegan-Bueno, Luís Fernando Tófoli
An increasing number of studies support the hypothesis that ayahuasca has therapeutic properties for some psychiatric disorders, especially depression (Dos Santos et al. 2016; Galvão et al. 2018; Galvão-Coelho et al. 2020; Palhano-Fontes et al. 2019) and substance use disorders (Argento et al. 2019; Berlowitz et al. 2019; Cruz and Nappo 2018; Loizaga-Velder and Pazzi 2014; Thomas et al. 2013). Preliminary studies also suggest that ayahuasca ritual experience could promote therapeutic effects during the treatment of physical illnesses by improving coping strategies and enhancing well-being (Schenberg 2013; Schmid, Jungaberle, and Verres 2010). There is an increase in people seeking ayahuasca after the diagnosis of SPI to obtain psychological and physical benefits that could help mitigate adversities from the illness (Weiss 2018). The possible psychological mechanisms implicated in the reported therapeutic effects are poorly understood. This study explored how the ritual use of ayahuasca during SPI treatment may influence the way people understand and relate to their illness using qualitative methods.