Ayahuasqueros
(This is an excerpt from a University Of Metaphysical Sciences course at www.umsonline.org,
please feel free to visit the school website)
Throughout Central and South America there can be found many villages in which the people partake of a special drink, commonly called Ayahuasca, but also known as Yage,’ Caapi, Grandmother, El remidio, “the remedy” or simply “The Teacher.” Evidence of this medicine’s use goes back over 2,500 years, though the practice is likely much older. Ayahuasca is a Qechuan word, aya meaning spirit or ancestor, and huasca meaning vine, and so this magical plant is called vine of the souls. It is so named because those who drink it are said to have the ability to communicate with spirits, and many believe that the plant itself communicates and can teach many things, and reveal things which are hidden.
Ayahuasqueros are shamans who use the ayahuasca medicine to help others. The Shaman drinks the ayahuasca, and receives teachings and visions which help in the diagnosis of illness, as well as in obtaining information which helps the patient in other ways. The Aayahuasca is considered to help the Shaman connect with the plant teachers who give this information. Often these plant teachers teach power songs, or icaros, either during the ayahuasca session, or in dreams following the ingestion of the ayahuasca, and these icaros are later used by the shaman to access powers which aid in diagnosing illness and prescribing herbs for healing. These plant teachers are said to obtain their power from a “Spirit-Mother.”
Charles Kidder, in his article, Vine Of The Souls, found at www.biopark.org/peru/kidder-vine.html, talks about what happens during a shamanic healing with ayahuasca: “When a person becomes sick, their energy pattern becomes distorted. Under the influence of ayahuasca, the shaman can see the distortion in the patient's energy pattern and attempt to restore a healthy pattern using suction, massage, medicinal plants, hydrotherapy, and restoration of the patient's soul. The similarities between these shamanic methods and techniques used in traditional Chinese chi-gong, or "energy directed" medicine, should be noted. Interestingly, a shaman usually chooses medicinal plants based on visible characteristics, like shape or color. For example, a plant which produces flowers shaped like an ear may be used to treat ear diseases. Part of the novice shaman's training involves scrutinizing nature to learn about the properties or ‘hidden virtues’ within the surrounding plants and animals.”
Ayahuasca acts as a powerful hallucinogen, and the native healers who use it say that it is in the altered state of consciousness caused by the drinking of the ayahuasca, that the plant teachers are able to communicate their wisdom. A fascinating aspect of the use of ayahuasca is that two or more plants with different chemical makeups are brought together to create the medicine. Any one of the plants alone do not provide the experience, and the different blends are used in different villages, depending on the knowledge and experience of the shaman. Martin A. Lee, in his article entitled “Shamanism versus Capitalism: The Politics of Ayahuasca,” found at www.biopark.org/peru/vision-quest-metzner.html, describes the complexities of the chemical interactions involved: “Ayahuasca is unique in that its powerful psychopharmacological effect is dependent on a synergistic combination of active alkaloids from at least two plants—the Banisteriopsis caapi vine containing the crucial harmala alkaloids, along with the leafy plant psychotria viridis or some other hallucinogenic admixture that contains dimethyltryptamine (DMT) alkaloids. Most curious is the fact that when taken orally, DMT is metabolized and deactivated by a particular gastric enzyme. But certain chemicals in the yagé vine counter the action of this stomach enzyme, thereby allowing the DMT to circulate through the bloodstream and into the brain, where it triggers intense visions and supernatural experiences. Contemporary researchers marvel at what chemist J. C. Callaway describes as ‘one of the most sophisticated drug delivery systems in existence.’ Just how the Amazon Indians managed to figure out this amazing bit of synergistic alchemy is one of the many mysteries of yagé.”