If someone I knew was to ask me what advice I could give them about life or what to do, I probably would tell them that the most effective and most transformative experience they can have to give them a completely different viewpoint in life is to go to the jungles of South America and go through a hallucigenic experience of using Ayahuasca and Chacruna.

I have seen so many people have their lives completely changed over for the better from using the Ayahuasca drink. This is why I wanted to add this Mind Hack to the list, because I believe in the power of hallucinegens in giving people a better, more fulfilling life.

From Resource site, I copy and pasted the complete article below for easy reading.

BOTANY

In ayahuasca botany 3 groups of plants can be distinguished: MAO inhibitors, DMT carriers and additives. Without the MAOI, the visionary properties of DMT are not present, as it would be broken down in the body before reaching the DMT sensitive parts in the brain. In other words, a DMT-only brew would be inactive. An additive can be any kind of plant, some of the more wellknown ones being tobacco, san pedro and coca.

Ayahuasca can be made from any combination of an MAOI plant and a DMT plant, although strictly speaking there has to be the Banisteriopsis caapi vine (pic. 1) in it, an MAOI plant which is also called ayahuasca.

Although many plants produce DMT, traditional ayahuasca is made from the leaves of either Psychotria viridis (chacruna) or Diplopterys cabrerana (chagropanga or chaliponga) (pic. 3). The first is used in the Amazon basin and the second in the foothills of the regions where ayahuasca is used. Once you’re not using using the B. caapi vine as the MAOI or you’re employing plants other than chacruna or chagropanga for the DMT, we speak of an ayahuasca analogue, or anahuasca.

BANISTERIOPSIS CAAPI A.K.A. AYAHUASCA

‘Ayahuasca’ is Quechua, the language of the Inca empire, for ‘vine of the soul’, ‘vine with a soul’ or ‘vine of the dead’. Ayahuasca, a member of the Malpighiaceae family, is considered to be the most important ‘plant teacher’. According to most of the native ayahuasqueros (frequent drinkers of ayahuasca) the effects of B. caapi are their main source of botanical knowledge.

Indigenous shamans distinguish over 40 varieties of ayahuasca vines, for example tucunacá and caupurí. The plant is cultivated, typically using cuttings, throughout the Amazon basin of Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Brazil. A young shoot or the end of a branch is put in water. After forming roots it is put in soil and watered thoroughly.

The woody stems of the giant B. caapi are very long and branch repeatedly. The leaves can be between 8 to 18 cm long, 3.5 to 8 cm wide. They are green, round-ovate and pointed at the end. Flowering only rarely and exclusively in moist, tropical climates, the infloresences grow from axillary panicles and four umbels. The flowers are between 12 and 14 mm in size and have five white or pale pink sepals.

PSYCHOTRIA VIRIDIS A.K.A. CHACRUNA

Chacruna, like coffee, family of the Rubiaceae, is also known in different varieties, such as cabocla and chacroninha. It is a tropical bush that grows in the Amazon lowlands and through cultivation in Colombia, Bolivia and eastern Brazil. This evergreen can grow into a little tree, though most cultivated plants are between 2 and 3 meters in height. The long, narrow, ovate leaves are light green to dark green in color and the side facing the sky is glossy.

The flowers are attached to long stalks and have greenish white petals. Cultivation by means of seeds has shown to be a lot less fruitful than using cuttings. With P. viridis one only needs to put a small part of the plant directly in the soil and give it a lot of water. Even a branch with only two leaves can be used for this.

DIPLOPTERYS CABRERANA A.K.A. CHAGROPANGA

Also known as chaliponga, this plant was called Banisteria rusbyana when it was discovered. It has also been calledBanisteriopsis rusbyana and Banisteriopsis cabrerana, and, like Banisteriopsis caapi, is a member of the Malpighiaceaefamily. This tropical vine is found only in the Amazon basin (Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Colombia). It grows wild in the forests but is most often found in cultivation.

The plant is cultivated in house gardens using cuttings. A young shoot or the tip of a branch is allowed to sit in water until it develops roots. It can also be placed directly into the moist jungle soil. This very long vine has opposite leaves that are oblong-oval and retuse-attenuate in shape. The inflorescences, each of which bears four tiny flowers, grow from the petiolar axils. However, the plant only rarely develops flowers, and almost never under cultivation.

OTHER MAOI PLANTS

The most common MAOI after B. caapi is Peganum harmala (pic. 2), a member of the Nitrariaceae, and is also known as Syrian rue or Harmal. This is an Eastern plant, the seeds of which are highly potent in MAOI substances. P. harmala has been fully adopted into the western anahuasca scene, primarily because it is a lot cheaper and also easier to prepare than the MAOI component of the original brew, which is of course the ayahuasca vine. There are many other plants that are known to be MAOIs as well, like passionflower and cocoa. None of them seem potent enough, however, to make them very suitable for usage in an ayahuasca analogue.

OTHER DMT PLANTS

The list of DMT plants is evergrowing. As mentioned before, traditionally the brew is made using chacruna or chagropanga. Many people use the rootbark of jurema, or Mimosa hostilis, to replace the traditional leaves. Another more recent addition gaining familiarity is Desmanthus illinoensis like jurema a descendant of the Fabaceae family, of which the rootbark is used.

The leaves of some species of Acacia (also family of the Fabaceae)are useful when preparing ayahuasca analogues, like Acacia maidenii. Certain Virola trees, which are family of the Myristicaceae, produce DMT in the bark, but this is typically snorted after processing rather than taken orally in conjunction with an MAOI. In the west people are also experimenting with reed canary grass, or Phalaris arundinacea of the Poaceae family, which is potent enough to make an ayahuasca analogue.

ADDITIVES

An additive is basically any plant the ayahuasca brewer decides to mix in. The leaves of coca (Erythroxylum coca of the Erythroxylaceae family), tobacco (Nicotiana tabacumand N. rustica of the Solanaceae family), and mescaline bearing cacti such as peyote (Lophophora williamsii) and san pedro (Trichocereus pachanoi syn. Echinopsis pachanoiand Trichocereus peruvianus, syn. Echinopsis peruviana), and various nightshades, of the Solanaceae family, (e.g. Brugmansia spp.) can be added for various psychopharmacological and spiritual reasons.

The Urarina, for example, are an indigenous people from the northeastern Peruvian Amazon who practice a form of ayahuasca shamanism that is largely based on the ritualized use of Brugmansia suaveolens (pic. 4), which contains hyoscyamine, atropine and scopolamine. The Kofan from northeast Ecuador and southern Colombia make regular use of scopoletin rich Brunfelsia grandiflora (pic. 5), another member of the Solanaceae. Other known common additives are Ilex guayusa of the Aquifoliaceae andPaullinia yoco, like guarana a member of the Sapindaceae family, probably for their high caffeine content, and Brugmansia ignensis.

From Resource 1 website,

 

CHEMISTRY AND PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY

Ayahuasca is as complex as both chemistry and psychopharmacology can get. There’s a uniquely vast array of botanical sources, and an infinite amount of preparation methods, usually involving psychoactive compounds that we’re only beginning to comprehend scientifically, such as DMT and 5-MeO-DMT. The plant sources, the chemical processes and psychopharmacological actions described below are the ones that are generally considered to be the most remarkable ones.

BANISTERIOPSIS CAAPI

The primary active compounds in B. caapi are the alkaloids harmine, harmaline and tetrahydroharmine. They all belong to the β-carbolines group, which implies they are MAO-inhibitors. Harmine was first called ‘telepathine’. Later scientists discovered they had already come across the same compound in P. harmala seeds, so ‘telepathine’ has become obsolete.

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 401mg of β-carbolines per dose. Other alkaloids found in B. caapi are harmine-N-oxide, harmic acid methylester, harmalinic acid, harmic amide, acethylnorharmine and ketotetrahydronorharmine.

Harmine and other MAO-inhibitors prevent the breakdown of monoamine neurotransmitters by inhibiting the action of monoamine oxidase enzymes. Apart from creating a path for otherwise orally inactive tryptamines, this renders certain substances harmful, most notably tyramine and tryptophan. These compounds are present in many kinds of food, like cheese and ripe fruit.

PSYCHOTRIA VIRIDIS AND DIPLOPTERYS CABRERANA

The primary active compound in P. viridis and D. cabrerana leaves is the indole ethylamine alkaloid n,n-dimethyltryptamine. Tests of different samples of Amazonian brews have found 25 to 36 mg of N,N-DMT per dose. It has a similar structure to serotonine and thus has affinity for several serotonergic 5-HT₂ receptors. DMT is, like LSD, a partial-agonist on the receptor subtype 5-HT_2A. When humans take DMT by itself orally, it is converted into inactive aldehydes by the endogenous enzyme monoamine oxidase.

The β-carbolines in the vine temporarily inhibit the production of this enzyme, allowing the DMT to reach the sensitive parts while still active. Inside the nervous system these are located near most of the serotoninergic terminal rich areas, including the neocortex (mainly the prefrontal, parietal, and somatosensory cortex) and the olfactory tubercle. Outside the nervous system 5-HT_2A receptors are present in platelets (cell fragments, circulating in the blood, that are involved with clotting) and some muscles.

When inhaled through a vaporizer or bong, DMT gives pronounced effects without the intervention of an MAOI. The same goes for parenteral administration (injecting). Inhalation causes effects that last up to 30 minutes. Nasal insufflation, which is an important tradition of the Yanomamo tribe (see Wikipedia’s Yopo page) of DMT causes an experience that lasts up to 60 minutes. Oral administration of DMT after a corresponding amount of MAOIs causes an experience of at least 3 hours. Intra-muscular and intravenous administration is effective without an MAOI.

Unlike P. viridis, D. cabrerana doesn’t only contain DMT (between 0.17 and 1.75% of the leaves), but also N-methyltryptamine, 5-MeO-DMT, bufotenine and N-methyltetrahydro-β-carboline. The stems contain roughly the same set, excluding bufotenine. 5-MeO-DMT (5-methoxy-dimethyltryptamine) is, like DMT, a psychedelic agent.

DMT

The status quo of DMT in prevailing science, despite the compound’s visionary properties, is that DMT is a by-product of metabolism. In the light of an ayahuasca experience, this conclusion obviously calls for more scientific research. Since DMT is every bit as illegal as LSD and heroin, however, it is a tough process for interested parties to actually get to research DMT.

Dr. Rick Strassman, a professor at the University of New Mexico medical school, has managed to survive the bureaucratic jungle of the FDA, DEA and other authorities. In 1991 he commenced the first official psychedelic research program in the U.S. since 1970. In 2001, Strassman published his findings in ‘DMT: The Spirit Molecule’.

DMT is being produced in the body all the time, and it is probably involved in the process of dreaming. DMT is also one of the few substances which can cross the blood-brain barrier. Hardly anything is known about how the extreme psychedelic activity of DMT really works.

DMT is used more and more these days by psychonauts, also in its smokable form. They use hard to obtain botanical extracts made from Acacia spp. or Mimosa hostilis, which are pure enough for one draw to contain enough DMT to be active through inhalation. If one smokes the unpurified leaf or other DMT carrying plant material, typically many lungfulls are required to achieve even the lightest kinds of effects. This leaves one exhausted before the effects start.

An example DMT extraction is shown below. Please note that DMT extraction, besides being a potentially dangerous chemistry procedure, is illegal in most countries.

 

SIMPLE MIMOSA HOSTILIS DMT EXTRACTION

1. Before you start, make sure you have all the materials needed:
   – 100 gram of Mimosa Hostilis rootbark powder (MHRB)
   – 250 ml naphtha
   – 150 gram of lye (NaOH, caustic soda)
   – 2 litre mason jar (a glass pickle jar will work also) or wide mouth HDPE jug
   – 2 small glass (mason) jars (~0.5L)
   – Guard
   – Metal spoon
   – Sheet of A4 paper
   – Eye dropper/pipette
   – Freezer
2. Dissolve 150 grams of lye in 1.5 litre of (tap) water in a large glass jar. It is advised to wear safety goggles and gloves, as lye is a very aggressive substance that can cause burns and blindness. Add the lye in two or three steps, and allow the liquid to cool down in between.
3. When the water with added lye has cooled down and is clear again, it is time to add the powdered mimosa bark. Add the powder slowly while stirring all the time. After adding the 100 grams of mimosa, leave the brew to stand for about an hour.
4. Add 100 ml of naphta and put the lid on the jar.
5. Gently turn the jar end over end for about 5 minutes. It is important not to shake or splash. After 5 minutes, put the jar down for some minutes and repeat the agitating process two more times.
6. After a short period two separate layers will be distinguishable. Separate the upper layer (naphta) using a pipette or eyedropper. It is important that none of the dark solution is collected.
7. Again, add 100 to 150 ml naphta to the large jar, and repeat the previous two steps two more times. Separate the upper layer in a new jar
8. Put the collection jars in the freezer.
9. After 24 hour the jars can be taken from the freezer. Carefully drain the naphta, making sure any floating crystals remain in the jar. Scoop out the white crystals from the side of the jar using a spoon, and leave them to dry on a folded piece of A4 paper.
10. After drying, crush any lumps up. The three pulls combined will result in 500-1000 mg pure DMT crystals.

PHALARIS ARUNDINACEA

This plant is also called reed canary grass and is one of the few DMT sources that you can find growing outside in the Netherlands. Little research has been done as to how exactly this plant can be used as the botanical DMT source for an ayahuasca analogue. Jim DeKorne, author of “Psychedelic Shamanism”, is currently one of the few people who has published information on how

P. arundinacea

 can be processed into an administrable substance. His idea of canary grass extraction is this:

1. Pulverize the grass clippings
2. Add water, “enough to make a pourable soup”
3. Acidify to pH 5 or so
4. (Optional) Simmer the acidified soup in a slow cooker overnight, not allowing the liquid to evaporate. (“It may take two or three such operations to get all of the alkaloids into solution”)
5. Strain the plant matter through cheesecloth, then through a paper coffee filter
6. Add 10 to 15% of the mass of the solution in a “defatting solvent” such as methylene chloride, ether, chloroform, or naphtha.
7. Shake vigorously
8. The crap will go into the solvent, leaving the good stuff in the water.
9. Separate the water from the solvent.
10. Add a base to the aqueous solution in small increments until the pH gets to about 9 or 10. This converts the alkaloids into their free base.
11. Extract with 10% of the mass of the solution of an organic solvent four times, at one 24-hour and then three weekly intervals. The solvent layer will take on a darker tint, usually yellowish or reddish-brown. It will take almost a month to extract all of the alkaloids, and the solution should be shaken at least twice a day between extractions.
12. Evaporate the solvent off from the combined extract fractions. You now have the alkaloids.

In a later publication, “The Entheogen Review”, DeKorne has more information on Phalaris extraction:

“The latest scoop is that you don’t even have to use chemical extractions anymore – run several handfuls of grass through a wheatgrass juicer (sold in most health food stores) and you’ll wind up with a glass or so of incredibly potent liquid. One teaspoon (with MAO inhibition, of course), is a standard dose with strong grass. Only two teaspoons proved very challenging to one of my correspondents – an OD! The juice can be dried and smoked in a bong – two tokes will usually do it.”

From Resource 2

BE PREPARED

The ayahuasca experience has proven to be an extraordinary one. It has positively changed the lives of many people. It has cured various forms of depression and addiction. Ayahuasca has shown people the immense beauty of the cosmos and ourselves through overwhelmingly enchanting and emotional visions and visualizations. An experience capable of phenomena with such magnitude needs to be valued and respected for what it is.

 

This means that part of drinking ayahuasca is the preparation. Everyone should find out what his or her preparation is, but in general it is recommended to read some of the common literature on ayahuasca and the psychedelic experience in general. Another thing it should involve for most people is discussing the topic with various experienced drinkers. You can also find a lot of information by taking

Erowid

, the best psychoactive substances website, as a starting point. Their

ayahuasca page

  can be found

here

 . Googling for ‘ayahuasca’ also gives good results for general orientation on the topic.

 

Furthermore we are not in the position to do any more recommendations. Nevertheless we disrecommend to take ayahuasca without any preparation. It is also strongly disrecommended to take ayahuasca without the presence of an experienced ayahuasca drinker who has experience with guiding too. You can get an idea of the risks involved by reading the

experience reports

 on this site.

From Resource 3 website,

RECIPES

Making an ayahuasca brew is a task by itself that usually involves a lot of time, patience and care. For those who are nevertheless considering the option, here are some of the preparation methods to give an idea of what it involves to make ayahuasca. The required ingredients can easily be purchased online at places such as

Botanical Spirit

NATEMA RECIPE OF THE SHUAR

The Shuar shamans (uwishin) split a 1- to 2-meter-long piece of

Banisteriopsis caapi stem into small strips. They place the strips in a pot along with several liters of water. They then add leaves of Diplopterys cabrerana, a Herrania species, Ilex guayusa, Heliconia stricta, and an unidentified Malpighiaceae known as mukuyasku. The resulting mixture is boiled until most of the water has evaporated and a syrupy fluid remains. The Kamsá, Inga, and Secoya make similar preparations.

B. CAAPI & M. HOSTILIS RECIPE – BY AN ANONYMOUS MEMBER OF THE EROWID FORUM

The use of

Banisteriopsis caapi in this recipe is based on the premise that a) a brew of B. caapi and (usually) P. viridis  is the traditional South American brew, b) the caapi is particularly important as traditionally the caapi itself is considered to be “ayahuasca” while the DMT-containing plants are simply helpers, and c) the caapi and the experience it provides are smoother, safer, and “wiser” than that produced by Peganum harmala (syrian rue). B. caapi is less unpredictable and more controlled, a more reliable and learned teacher.

After examining your intentions, researching, and following the requisite dietary regimen, gather together:

• 50 grams of Banisteriopsis caapi (whole vine, not shredded/powdered)
• 12 grams of Mimosa hostilis root bark (not shredded or powdered.) [See Note 1]
• white vinegar
• distilled water
• 4 stainless steel pots [See Note 2]

Steps

1. Wrap the caapi in a towel and break it up with a hammer until it is shredded. Powder the mimosa with a coffee grinder or shred by hand.
2. In one pot, put in the mimosa, a teaspoon of vinegar, and a liter or so of water.
3. In another pot, put in the caapi, and a similar amount of water and vinegar.
4. Simmer for 2-3 hours or until water level gets low. Avoid boiling — it should be just cool enough not to bubble. Speak your intentions to the brew as it is brewing; listen to the sounds it makes. Do not leave it unattended; if you need to do something different, turn off the stove.
5. Keeping the mimosa and the caapi separate, filter each through a cloth (e.g. a t-shirt) until the brew becomes clear, probably 4 or 5 times. (An excellent method for easy filtering is to duct tape a t-shirt over an empty pot, allowing you both hands to pour the brew. The t-shirt will become quickly clogged, so for each filter you must use a fresh section of cloth.) Put the mimosa tea in a pot for mimosa, the caapi in a pot for caapi, and reduce both; remember not to bring to a full boil.
6. Repeat steps 2-5 three times, keeping the mimosa and caapi separate. The plant material is to be boiled a total of three times with fresh water and vinegar each time; the brewed/filtered tea is kept separate and reduced over low heat as you do the second and third washes. This method requires four pots, unless you spread it out over several nights.
7. At this point you will have a pot containing the three washes of mimosa, reduced, and the same for the caapi. Each dose should be no smaller than half a cup and no larger than a cup. (Less concentrated brews taste better, but leave you with more to drink.) Put them in the fridge overnight.
8. The next day, carefully remove the cooled mimosa from the fridge. Through a t-shirt filter, pour off the liquid; avoid disturbing the sludge/sediment on the bottom of the container. You don’t need it. DO NOT do this with the reduced caapi brew; if you’ve filtered properly, your tea should be pretty clean. It should become clear when heated, and have a purplish color, much like red wine.
9. Once you have done this, you have the option of combining the mimosa and the caapi or drinking the mimosa after the caapi. Shake up the caapi to make sure that any sediment is in the tea and not on the bottom of the container. Heat up the tea, drinking it warm.

It is suggested that two doses be brewed for each person. If you cannot keep the tea down and purge prematurely, you will then have another cup to drink.

Be thankful for the experience, no matter what happens. There are always lessons to be learned, whether it “works” or not, whether you have a “good” trip or a “bad” one. This is a bit more complex than some recipes that call for syrian rue, but using real vine instead of syrian rue is worth it. It is a bit more expensive, but worth the money; even with

B. caapi

, a dose will still cost less than many other hallucinogens.

• Note 1 – Fifty grams of P. viridis leaves can be used instead of mimosa. If going this route, the completed washes should be put in a container or pot in the fridge until the next day instead of being reduced immediately.
• Note 2 – Make sure your pots are steel — no aluminum and ABSOLUTELY no Teflon. After finishing a wash (step five), you can reduce the brewed tea while doing the remaining washes; however, if you do not have four pots, it is possible to do it all in one pot. The caapi and mimosa can be combined into one pot throughout the brewing and reduction process. If you are doing it like this, you must spread out the brewing over more than one night; the reduction must be done AFTER the sediment settles overnight in the fridge, as in step eight. You can reduce the mimosa and then pour off the sediment after letting it sit in the fridge without it affecting the quality of your tea; you cannot do this with caapi.
• Note 3 – Storing your ayahuasca brew. After preparing, ayahuasca can be stored for several weeks, if not months. Make sure the brew is stored in well sealed pots/containers and in a dark, cool place. Always boil the ayahuasca again before drinking it.

ANOTHER RECIPE

This recipe circulates on the web and was probably developed from recipes used in Ecuador and northern Peru.

• 500 grams fresh B. caapi vine per person.
• 85 grams fresh P. viridis leaves per person.
1. The ayahuasca vine is thoroughly crushed and placed between alternate layers of P. viridis leaves in a stainless-steel or earthenware pot, and covered with water.
2. The brew is gently boiled for 4 hours.
3. The liquid is poured off and collected.
4. Using the same plant matter, the pot is filled again with fresh water, and gently boiled for a further 4 hours.
5. The liquid is again poured off and collected.
6. The plant matter is now discarded.
7. Both quantities of liquid are combined and boiled gently for to concentrate the ayahuasca, until a managable amount is left for each dose.
8. While the evaporation and concentration is taking place, care should be taken to ensure the ayahuasca is not boiled too vigorously, as this will cause degradation of the active ingredients and will also cause caramelisation of the contained sugars, resulting in a very thick final brew.