Natema Recipe of the Shuar

Ecuadorian Recipe

Preparation of the União do Vegetal (UDV), Brasil

Recipe of the Shipibo of San Francisco/Yarinachocha

Traditional Ayahausca Admixtures



Botanical Name Common Name Active Constituents ACANTHACEAE



Teliostachys lanceolata var. Crispa Nees toé negro AMARANTHACAEA



Alternantha lehmannii Hieronymus picurullana quina, borrachera Irisene sp.



Pfaffa iresinoides marosa APOCYNACEAE



Himatanthus sucuuba (Spruce) Woodson bellaco-caspi, sucuuba, platanote fulvoplumieron Malouetia tamaquarina (Aubl.) DC. cuchura-caspi, chicle indole alkaloids conessine, dihydrokurchessine, kurchessine, tetramethylholarhimine Mandevilla scabra Schumann Prestonia amazonica (Benth.) Macbride [syn. Haemadyction amazonicum] yajé; Older texts claim that Prestonia contains N,N-DMT; this information is unfortunately incorrect. The common name yajé; probably refers solely to the fact that the plant is used as an ayahuasca admixture (Schultes and Raffauf 1960). Tabernaemontana sananho Ruíz et Pav. tzicta Tabernaemontana sp. uchu-sanango alkaloids Thevetia sp. cabalonga blanca cardiac glycosides AQUIFOLIACEAE



lex guayusa Loes, guayusa, wais caffeine ARACEAE



Montrichardia aborescens Schott ryay balsa, camotillo BIGNONIACEAE



Mansoa alliacea (Lam.) A. Gentry



ajo sacha Tabebuia heteropoda (DC.) Sandwith Tabebuia incana A. Gentry clavohuasca Tabebuia sp. Tynanthas panurensis (Burman) Sandwith clavohuasca BOMBACACEAE



Cavanillesia hylogeiton Ulbrich puca lupuna, embirana Cavanillesia umbellate Ruíz et Pav. lupuna, kapok, ceiba Ceiba pentandra (L.) Gaertn. Chorisia insignis H.B.K. lopuna, yuchán, palo borracho resin Chorisia speciosa St.-Hil samohú, ceiba Quararibea sp. ishpingo (see espingo) BORAGINACEAE



Tournefortia angustiflora Ruíz et Pav. CACATACEAE



Epiphyllum sp. pokere, wamapanako Opuntia sp. thai mescaline CARYOCARACEAE



Anthodiscus pilosus Ducke CELASTRACEAE



Maytenus ebenifolia Reiss. chuchuhuasi Maytenus laevis Reiss. chuchuasca caffeine (?) CLUSIACEAE



Tovomita sp. chullachaqui caspi CONVOLVULACEAE



Ipomoea carnea (cf. Ipomoea spp.) oé; ergot alkaloids CYCLANTHACEA



Carludovia divergens Ducke tamshi CYPERACEAE



Cyperus digitus Roxb. chicorro yperus prolixus H.B.K. Cyperus spp. piripiri ergot alkaloids DRYOPTERIDACEAE



Lomariopsis japurensis (Martius) J. Sm. shoka, dsuiitetetseperi ERYTHROXYLACEAE



Erythroxylum coca var. ipadú Plowman ipadú cocaine EUPHORBIACEAE



Alchornea castaneifolia (Wild.) Just. (cf. Alchornea spp.) hiporuru alkaloids (?) Croton sp. (?) tipu, tipuru morphine Euphorbia sp. ai curo Hura crepitans L. catahua, assacu piscidides, lectins GNETACEAE



Gnetum nodiflorum Brongn. tap-kam', hoo-roo', itua GRAMINEAE



Arundo donax carrizo tryptamines, DMT GUTTIFERAE



Clusia sp. miya, tara HELICONIACEAE



Heliconia stricta Huber Heliconia sp. winchu LABIATAE



Ocimum micranthum Willd. pichana, abaca essential oil LECYTHIDACEAE



Couroupita guianensis Aubl. ayahuma indole alkaloids (couroupitine A, B), stigmasterol, campesterol LEGUMINOSAE



Bauhinia guianensis Aubl. Caesalpinia echinata Lam. cumaseba Calliandra angustifolia Spruce ex Benth. bobinsana, quinilla blanca, chipero alkaloids (harmane) Calliandra petandra (cf. Calliandra anomala) harmane, DMT (?) Campsiandra laurifolia Benth. huacapurana Cedrelinga catenaeformis Ducke huairacaspi, cedrorana Erythrina fusca Lour. amasisa, gachica erythraline, erythramine, erythratine Erythrina glauca Willd. amasisa Erythrina poeppigiana (Walpers) Cook (cf. Erythrina spp.) amaciza, oropel alkaloids Pithecellobium laetum Benth. remo caspi, pashaquillo, shimbillo alkaloids Sclerobium setiferum Ducke palisangre, palisanto Vouacapoua americana Aubl. huacapo, hucapù LORANTHACEAE



Phrygilanthus eugenioides (L.) H.B.K. miya, ho-ho-ho Phrygilanthus eugenioides var. robustus Galz. Phtirusa pyrifolia (H.B.K.) Eichler suelda con suelda MALPIGHIACEAE



Banisteriopsis rusbyana (Niedenzu) Morton oco-yagé; DMT, β-carbolines Diplopterys cabrerana (Cuatr.) Gates yaco-ayahuasca, yajé;, yaji DMT Diplopterys involuta (Turcz.) Niedenzu [syn. Mezia includens (Benth.) Cuatr.] Mascagnia psilophylla var. antifebrilis Niedenzu [syn. Cabi paraensis (Juss.) Griseb., syn. Callaeum antifebrile (Grisb.) Johnson] Stygmaphyllon fulgens (Lam.) Jussieu ki-ria, kairia MARANTHACEAE



Calathea veitchiana Veitch ex Hook. Fil. pulma MELIACEAE



Trichilia tocacheana C. DC. lupuna latex MENISPERMACEAE



Abuta grandifolia (Martius) Sandwith abuta, trompetero, sanango palmatine MORACEAE



Coussapoa tessmannii Mildbread renaco Ficus insipida Willd. renaco, hojé;, huito, bamba Ficus ruiziana Standl. Ficus sp. MYRISTICACEAE



Virola surinamensis (Roland) Warb. caupuri, cumala blanca neolignans Virola spp. cumala DMT NYMPHAEACEAE



Cabomba aquatica Aubl. mureru, murere PHYTOLACCACEAE



Petiveria alliacea L. muckra, mucura, chanviro coumarins (nineteen), isoarboriol, trithiolan, trithiolaniacine PIPERACEAE



Peperomia sp. tsemtsem essential oil Piper sp. essential oil POLYGONACEAE



Triplaris surinamensis Chamisso tangarana Triplaris surinamensis var. chamissoana Meissner tangarana PONTEDERIACEAE



Pontederia cordata L. amarrón borrachero RUBIACEAE



Calycophyllum spruceanum (Benth.) Hook. Fil. vapirona negro Capirona decorticans Spruce capirona negro, kashi muna Guetarda ferox Standl. garabata Psychotria carthaginensis Jacq. yagé;-chacruna, rami appani, sameruca DMT Psychotria carthaginensis Jacq. yagé;-chacruna, rami appani, sameruca DMT Psychotria psychotriaefolia (Seem.) Standl. chacruna DMT Psychotria viridis Ruíz et Pav. chacruna Psychotria spp. batsikawa, kawa kui, nai kawa, pishikawa, rami appane Rudgea refifolia Standl. Sabicea amazonensis Wernham chà-dê-kê-na, kana, koti-kana-ma Uncaria guianensis (Aubl.) Gmelin garabata indoles: angustine, isohynchrophylline, rhynchophylline-N-ozide, dihyrocorynantheine hirsutine, hirsutein Uncaria tomentosa (?) una de gato indole alkaloids SAPINDACEAE



Paullinia yoco Schultes et Killip (cf. Paullinia spp.) yoco caffeine SCHIZAEACEAE



Lygodium venustum Swartz tchai del monte, rami SCHROPHULARIACEAE



Scoparia dulcis L. amellin, triterpenes. 6-methoxybenzoxo-zolinone SOLONACEAE



Brugmansia insignis toa-toe, sacha-toe, danta borrachera tropane alkaloids Brugmansia suaveolens (flor de) toe. Tsuak, borrachero, floripondio tropane alkaloids Brunfelsia chiricaspi Plowman chiricaspi, chiricsanango scopoletin Brunfelsia grandiflora d. Don chiricaspi, chiricsanango scopoletin Brunfelsia grandiflora sp. schultesii Plowman (cf. Brunfelsia spp.) sanango, chiricsanango scopoletin Capsicum sp. catsi, aji capsaicin Iochroma fuchsioides (H.B.K.) Miers Borrachero, guatillo, paguando, campanitas alkaloids (tropane derivatives) Juanulloa ochracea Cuatre ayahuasca, bi-ti-ka-oo-k, na-ka-te-pê parquine (?) Markea formicarium Dammer ree-ko-pa scopoletin (?) Nicotiana rustica L. tabaco nicotine Nicotiana tobacum L. mapacho nicotine STERCULIACEAE



Herrania sp. kushibiap alkaloids (?) VERBENACEAE



Cornutia odorata (P. et Endlicher) Poeppig Vitex triflora vehl. shunguarana, ulape, tal, tahuari, taruma VIOLACEAE



Rinorea viridiflora Rusby chacruna, amanga, capinuri, ayahuasca

In the past, methods for preparing ayahuasca were well-protected secrets of the shamans. Only they knew the ingenious recipes. Only they knew which plants to use, where to find the lianas and herbs, which protective spirits needed to be invoked, and how to prepare the brew.stems are the basis for all ayahuasca recipes. To prepare ayahuasca, manageable-size stems of this liana must be boiled, after which chacruna leaves () are added. The mixture is allowed to sit on the fire until a black, thick, horrible-tasting liquid results. The drink should never be prepared in aluminum pots, as it will corrode the aluminum and may in some cases produce inedible aluminum salts. Although cold-water extracts ofandwill also produce the desired effects, they are only rarely made.In the recipes of the Amazonian Indians, the liana itself is typically the main ingredient. Tests of different samples have found 20 to 40 mg, 144 to 158 mg, and even 401 mg of β-carbolines as well as 25 to 36 mg of-DMT per dose. The ayahuasca prepared by the urban mestizos contains consistently higher concentrations of alkaloids (especially-DMT) than are found in the Indian preparations. The highest concentrations are said to be found in the preparations of Barquinha Santo Daime church (Luis Eduarda Luna, pers. comm., 1996).The Shuar shamans (uwishin) split a 1- to 2- meter-long piece ofstem into small strips. They place the strips in a pot along with several liters of water. They then add leaves of, aspecies,, and an unidentifiedknown as. The resulting mixture is boiled until most of the water has evaporated and a syrupy fluid remains (Bennett 1992, 486). The Kamsá, Inga, and Secoya make similar preparations (Bristol 1965, 207 ff.).The bark of theliana is peeled off and placed beneath a certain tree in the forest. The bare stems are then split into four to six strips and boiled together with fresh or driedleaves. A piece of liana approximately 180 cm long and fortyleaves represent a single dosage, although a piece of stem just 40 cm long and 3 cm thick is also said to be sufficient. In general, the less vine that is used, the easier the ayahuasca is on the stomach.Pieces fromvine are pounded, mixed with leaves from, and boiled for 10 to 12 hours in rust-free steel pots until all that remains is a thick liquid with globules of fat on the surface that shimmer in all colors of the spectrum.A fresh piece ofbark is boiled together with a fresh handful of chacruna leaves () and a flor de toé (flower) until a thick liquid decoction is produced. This preparation is said to have especially strong effects and to produce many visions.Indigenous ayahuasca preparations exhibit considerable variation. Numerous plant admixtures can be used to induce psychoactive effects, and stimulating or medicinal drinks can also be produced. An Ecuadorian preparation ofandis purported to be a strong purgative. Recipes that cause delirium often contain tobacco and angel's trumpets (). Experienced ayahuasca shamans posses a vast wealth of knowledge about the effects of many plants and may utilize more than one hundred different admixtures in order to achieve the effects they desire.These traditional preparations are often devoid of-DMT. However, it is precisely those drinks that do contain high concentrations of DMT and that do produce visionary effects that have exerted such a powerful attraction on legions of Western ethnobotanists, psychedelic cognoscenti, artists, New Age tourists, and seekers of the esoteric (Leginger 1981; McKenna 1989; McKenna and McKenna 1994; Perkins 1995). For most outsiders, experiences with Amazonian ayahuasca have tended to be rather disappointing (McKenna 1993). Westerners seeking "highs" or healing experiences are often duped by the pranks of curanderos or self-proclaimed shamans. As early as 1953, William Burroughs reported "...I had been conned by medicine men" (Burroughs and Ginsberg 1963, 15). But there are also examples of more positive experiences (Pinkson 1993; Wolf 1992).(from Ayala Flores and Lewis 1978; Bennett 1992; Bianchi and Samorini 1993; Faust and Bianchi 1996, Luna 1984b, 1986; Ott 1993, 269 ff., Ott 1995, Pinkley 1969; Schultes 1972; modified and expanded).