Welcome to Ayahuasca Info
This website is dedicated to a magical potion from the Amazon basin which is known as ayahuasca. Here you can find information on the different ingredients that are used to make this brew, the way it's used by indigenous people, and what you can expect when you take it yourself.
Traditionally this beverage contains a combination of the Banisteriopsis caapi vine and the leaves of the Psychotria viridis (or alternatively the Diplopterys cabrerana). It has now been determined what the active components of these ingredients are, and some people have used plants from other parts of the world to make similar herbal potions. You can read about this in the botany and chemistry pages.
The most important active component in ayahuasca as far as its visionary qualities are concerned is a substance called DMT (dimethyltryptamine). DMT has a powerful effect on consciousness that is difficult to describe in words. It's described by many as "spiritual", and is characterized by detailed, very bright and colourful visions. Indigenous people say that during their trance, which lasts approximately four hours, they enter the world of the spirits and communicate with them, while psychologists consider DMT to be one of the hallucinogens, or psychedelics: "substances which make the soul visible."
We invite you to explore this site, read the interviews and prepare yourself well before you decide to try this powerful potion yourself. In case you are completely new to ayahuasca, we recommend you start by reading the introduction.
News
May 7, 2013 - Article on UDV in the USA
An article in NPR discusses the use of Ayahuasca in the UDV (União do Vegetal) church in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA and some of the controversy attached to it. The legal battles surrounding this church remain, as for years neighbors have been trying to block the construction of a permanent UDV temple.
It also addresses the raise of Ayahuasca tourism in South America, and how UDV differs from this. An excerpt from the article:
Peter Gorman is a journalist, former editor of High Times magazine and a veteran ayahuasca practitioner who lives south of Fort Worth. He says the UDV church couldn't be more different than ayahuasca tourism.
"UDV is private," Gorman says. "If you knocked on their door, you wouldn't get in. That's different than someone who says, 'I'll charge everybody $500, I'll get 15 people Friday, 15 people Saturday, and I'll get 30 people at $500, $15,000."
And with many already wanting to experience the drug, UDV has refrained from advertising.
Find the full article here: Controversy Brews Over Church's Hallucinogenic Tea Ritual
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To read previous articles on ayahuasca go to the news page.
New experiences
September 22, 2011The fiery borderland between realms
"Several years after first hearing of the legendary vine of the soul, it was finally time for me to travel far beyond the regular frame of mind. Alone in the dark of my apartment, the winter wind howling outside, a brew was made. It's vile and bitter taste was a small price to pay, considering the reward that was now slowly approaching."
Read more
To read this and other reports, visit our experience section. We would like to expand our experience database. For this we need your help! Please share your ayahuasca experience(s) by writing a report. Contact us here. Thanks!