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{{Short description|South American psychoactive decoction}}
{{About|the psychoactive decoction|the vine|Banisteriopsis caapi{{!}}''Banisteriopsis caapi''|other uses}}
{{Infobox botanical product
| name             = Ayahuasca
| image            = File:Ayahuasca brewing 02.jpg
| caption          = Ayahuasca being brewed in [[Iquitos]], Peru
| pronounce        =
| plant            = {{ubil | [[Liana]] | ''[[Banisteriopsis caapi]]''}}
| part             = {{ubil | Stems of the ''[[Banisteriopsis caapi]]'' | Leaves of the ''[[Psychotria viridis]]''}}
| origin           = [[South America]]
| active           = {{ubil | [[Dimethyltryptamine]] (DMT) | [[Harmala alkaloid]]s like [[harmine]] and [[harmaline]] as [[Monoamine oxidase inhibitor|MAOI]]}}
| uses             = [[Polysubstance use|Polysubstance indigenous drink]]
| producers        = 
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| retail           = 
| legal_AU         = 
| legal_BR         = 
| legal_CA         = 
| legal_DE         =
| legal_UK         = 
| legal_US         = 
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}}

'''Ayahuasca'''<ref group="note">Pronounced as {{IPAc-en|ˌ|aɪ|(|j|)||ə|ˈ|w|æ|s|k|ə}} in the UK and {{IPAc-en|ˌ|aɪ|(|j|)||ə|ˈ|w|ɑː|s|k|ə}} in the US. Also occasionally known in English as '''''ayaguasca''''' (Spanish-derived), '''''aioasca''''' ([[Brazilian Portuguese]]–derived), or as '''''yagé''''', pronounced {{IPAc-en|j|ɑː|ˈ|h|eɪ}} or {{IPAc-en|j|æ|ˈ|h|eɪ}}. Etymologically, all forms but ''yagé'' descend from the compound [[Quechuan languages|Quechua]] word ''ayawaska'', from ''aya'' ({{Translation|soul}}) and ''waska'' ({{Translation|vine}}). For more names for ayahuasca, see [[#Etymology|§ Etymology]].</ref> is a South American [[psychoactive]] [[decoction]] prepared from ''[[Banisteriopsis caapi]]'' vine and a [[dimethyltryptamine]] (DMT)-containing plant, used by [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Indigenous]] cultures in the [[Amazon basin|Amazon]] and [[Orinoco Basin|Orinoco basins]] as part of [[traditional medicine]] and [[shamanism]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=McKenna |first=Dennis J |date=2004-05-01 |title=Clinical investigations of the therapeutic potential of ayahuasca: rationale and regulatory challenges |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0163725804000464 |journal=Pharmacology & Therapeutics |series=Psychoactive Plants |volume=102 |issue=2 |pages=111–129 |doi=10.1016/j.pharmthera.2004.03.002 |pmid=15163593 |issn=0163-7258|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The word ''ayahuasca'', originating from [[Quechuan language]]s spoken in the [[Andes]], refers both to the ''B. caapi'' vine and the psychoactive brew made from it, with its name meaning 'spirit rope' or '[[liana]] of the soul'.

Although often portrayed as ancient, ayahuasca likely spread across the western Amazon only within the past few centuries; the first clear written accounts appear in the 17th century.<ref name=":6" /> The specific [[ritual]] use of ayahuasca was widespread among Indigenous groups by the 19th century. Ayahuasca is traditionally prepared by [[macerating]] and boiling ''B. caapi'' with other plants like ''[[Psychotria viridis]]'' during a ritualistic, multi-day process. Ayahuasca has been used in diverse South American cultures for spiritual, social, and medicinal purposes, often guided by shamans in ceremonial contexts involving specific dietary and ritual practices, with the [[Shipibo-Konibo]] people playing a significant historical and cultural role in its use. Originally confined to regions of [[Peru]], [[Brazil]], [[Colombia]], and [[Ecuador]], ayahuasca became widespread in [[Brazil]], expanding widely by the mid-20th century through [[syncretic]] religions in [[Brazil]]. In the late 20th century, ayahuasca use expanded beyond South America to [[Europe]], [[North America]], and elsewhere, leading to legal cases, non-religious adaptations, and the development of ayahuasca analogues (i.e., variants) using local or synthetic ingredients.

While DMT is internationally classified as a controlled substance, the plants containing it—including those used to make ayahuasca—are not regulated under [[international law]], leading to varied national policies that range from permitting religious use to imposing bans or decriminalization. The [[United States]] patent office controversially granted, challenged, revoked, reinstated, and ultimately allowed to expire a patent on the ayahuasca vine, sparking disputes over intellectual property rights and the cultural and religious significance of traditional Indigenous knowledge.

Ayahuasca produces intense psychological and spiritual experiences. Ayahuasca's psychoactive effects primarily result from DMT, rendered orally active by [[harmala alkaloid]]s in ''B. caapi'', which act as [[Monoamine oxidase inhibitor|reversible inhibitors of monamine oxidase]]; ''B. caapi'' and its [[substituted β-carboline|β-carboline]]s also exhibit independent contributions to ayahuasca's effects, acting on [[serotonin]] and [[benzodiazepine]] receptors.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" />  Higher doses of ayahuasca or harmala alkaloids may increase risks.

==Preparation==
[[File:aya-preparation.jpg|thumb|Ayahuasca being prepared in the [[Napo Province|Napo]] region of [[Ecuador]]]]

Sections of ''[[Banisteriopsis caapi]]'' vine are [[Maceration (food)|macerated]] and boiled alone or with leaves from any of a number of other plants, including ''[[Psychotria viridis]]'' (''chacruna''), ''[[Diplopterys cabrerana]]'' (also known as ''chaliponga'' and ''chacropanga''),<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.spiritvine.net/ayahuasca/ |title=Ayahuasca Vine Facts {{!}} Spirit Vine Ayahuasca Retreats |work=Spirit Vine |access-date=2017-05-25 |language=en-US}}</ref> and ''[[Mimosa tenuiflora]]'', among other ingredients which can vary greatly from one shaman to the next. The resulting brew may contain the powerful [[psychedelic drug]] [[dimethyltryptamine]] and [[monoamine oxidase inhibitor|monoamine oxidase inhibiting]] [[harmala alkaloid]]s, which are necessary to make the [[dimethyltryptamine|DMT]] orally active by allowing it (DMT) to be processed by the [[liver]]. The traditional making of ayahuasca follows a ritual process that requires the user to pick the lower Chacruna leaf at sunrise, then say a prayer. The vine must be "cleaned meticulously with wooden spoons"<ref name="levy">{{cite news |last1=Levy |first1=Ariel |title=The Drug of Choice for the Age of Kale |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/09/12/the-ayahuasca-boom-in-the-u-s |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |date=12 September 2016}}</ref> and pounded "with wooden mallets until it's fibre."<ref name="levy"/>

Brews can also be made with plants that do not contain DMT, ''Psychotria viridis'' being replaced by plants such as ''[[Justicia pectoralis]]'', ''[[Brugmansia]]'', or sacred tobacco, also known as ''mapacho'' (''[[Nicotiana rustica]]''), or sometimes left out with no replacement. This brew varies radically from one batch to the next, both in potency and psychoactive effect, based mainly on the skill of the shaman or brewer, as well as other admixtures sometimes added and the intent of the ceremony. Natural variations in plant alkaloid content and profiles also affect the final concentration of [[alkaloid]]s in the brew, and the physical act of cooking may also serve to modify the alkaloid profile of [[Harmala alkaloids|harmala]] alkaloids.<ref name="Callaway2005b">{{cite journal |last=Callaway |first=J. C. |title=Various Alkaloid Profiles in Decoctions of ''Banisteriopsis Caapi'' |journal=Journal of Psychoactive Drugs |volume=37 |issue=2 |pages=151–5 |date=June 2005 |pmid=16149328 |issn=0279-1072 |oclc=7565359 |doi=10.1080/02791072.2005.10399796 |s2cid=1420203 |url= http://catbull.com/alamut/Bibliothek/various%20alkaloid%20profiles%20in%20aya%20decoction.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://catbull.com/alamut/Bibliothek/various%20alkaloid%20profiles%20in%20aya%20decoction.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="CallawayBritoNeves2005">{{cite journal |last1=Callaway |first1=J. C. |last2=Brito |first2=Glacus S. |last3=Neves |first3=Edison S. |s2cid=30736017 |title=Phytochemical Analyses of ''Banisteriopsis Caapi'' and ''Psychotria Viridis'' |journal=Journal of Psychoactive Drugs |issn=0279-1072 |oclc=7565359 |volume=37 |issue=2 |pages=145–50 |date=June 2005 |doi=10.1080/02791072.2005.10399795 |pmid=16149327}}</ref>

The actual preparation of the brew takes several hours, often taking place over the course of more than one day. After adding the plant material, each separately at this stage, to a large pot of water, it is boiled until the water is reduced by half in volume. The individual brews are then combined and brewed until reduced significantly, producing the form taken by participants in ayahuasca ceremonies.

==Traditional use==
[[File:aya-cooking.jpg|thumb|right|Ayahuasca cooking in the [[Loreto Province|Loreto]] region of [[Peru]]]]
[[File:Ayahuasca preparation.JPG|thumb|right|Ayahuasca being prepared in [[Ecuador]]]]

The uses of ayahuasca in traditional societies in [[South America]] vary greatly.<ref name="Hay20">{{cite web |last=Hay |first=Mark |date=4 November 2020 |title=The Colonization of the Ayahuasca Experience |url=https://daily.jstor.org/the-colonization-of-the-ayahuasca-experience/ |access-date=21 May 2021 |website=JSTOR Daily |publisher=JSTOR}}</ref> Some cultures do use it for shamanic purposes, but in other cases, it is consumed socially among friends, in order to learn more about the natural environment, and even in order to visit friends and family who are far away.<ref name="Hay20"/>

Nonetheless, people who work with ayahuasca in non-traditional contexts often align themselves with the philosophies and cosmologies associated with ayahuasca [[shamanism]], as practiced among [[Indigenous people]]s like the [[Urarina]] of the [[Peruvian Amazon]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dean |first1=Bartholomew |year=2009 |title=Urarina Society, Cosmology, and History in Peruvian Amazonia |location=Gainesville |publisher=University Press of Florida |isbn=978-0-8130-3378-5 |url=http://www.upf.com/book.asp?id=DEANXS07 |archive-date=2011-07-17 |access-date=2009-09-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717170729/http://www.upf.com/book.asp?id=DEANXS07 }}</ref><ref name="Hay20"/> Dietary taboos are often associated with the use of ayahuasca,<ref name="Jonathan Ott, 1994">{{cite book |last1=Ott |first1= J. |title=Ayahuasca Analogues: Pangaean Entheogens |location=Kennewick, WA |publisher=Natural Books |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-9614234-4-5}}</ref> although these seem to be specific to the culture around [[Iquitos]], [[Peru]], a major center of ayahuasca tourism.<ref name="Hay20"/> Ayahuasca retreats or ''healing centers'' can also be found in the [[Sacred Valley]] of Peru, in areas such as [[Cusco]] and [[Urubamba, Peru|Urubamba]], where similar dietary preparations can be observed. These retreats often employ members of the [[Shipibo-Conibo|Shipibo-Konibo]] tribe, an indigenous community native to the Peruvian Amazon.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Spirit |first=Ikaro's |title=Ikaro's Spirit |url=https://ikarospirit.com/ |access-date=2024-12-18 |website=Ikaro's Spirit |language=en-US}}</ref>

In the rainforest, these taboos tend towards the purification of one's self—abstaining from spicy and heavily seasoned foods, excess fat, salt, caffeine, acidic foods (such as citrus) and sex before, after, or during a ceremony. A diet low in [[Tyramine#Occurrence|foods containing tyramine]] has been recommended, as the speculative interaction of [[tyramine]] and [[Monoamine oxidase inhibitor|MAOIs]] could lead to a [[hypertensive crisis]]; however, evidence indicates that [[harmala alkaloids]] act only on [[Monoamine oxidase A|MAO-A]], in a reversible way similar to [[moclobemide]] (an antidepressant that does not require dietary restrictions). Dietary restrictions are not used by the highly urban Brazilian ayahuasca church [[União do Vegetal]], suggesting the risk is much lower than perceived and probably non-existent.<ref name="Jonathan Ott, 1994"/>

The ritual use of ayahuasca by the [[Achuar]] people is featured in the [[Bruce Parry]] 2008 documentary series ''[[Amazon (2008 TV series)|Amazon]]'', in which Parry participates in the rite.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wollaston |first=Sam |date=2008-09-22 |title=Last night's TV |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2008/sep/23/television.television |access-date=2026-01-17 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

===Ceremony and the role of shamans===
[[shamanism|Shamans]], [[curandero]]s and experienced users of ayahuasca advise against consuming ayahuasca when not in the presence of one or several well-trained shamans.<ref name="Campos 2011">{{cite book |last=Campos |first=Don Jose |title=The Shaman & Ayahuasca: Journeys to Sacred Realms |year=2011}}</ref>

In some areas, there are purported ''brujos'' (Spanish for "[[witch]]es") who masquerade as real shamans and who entice tourists to drink ayahuasca in their presence. Shamans believe one of the purposes for this is to steal one's energy and/or power, of which they believe every person has a limited stockpile.<ref name="Campos 2011"/>

The shamans lead the ceremonial consumption of the ayahuasca beverage,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/15/fashion/ayahuasca-a-strong-cup-of-tea.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220101/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/15/fashion/ayahuasca-a-strong-cup-of-tea.html |archive-date=2022-01-01 |url-access=limited|title=Ayahuasca: A Strong Cup of Tea |date=13 June 2014|work=[[The New York Times]]|author=Bob Morris}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Souther |first=Hamilton |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OfpiEQAAQBAJ |title=The Mystical Secrets of Medicine vs Sorcery: The Untold Story of Ayahuasca Part 1 |date=2021-02-11 |publisher=Hamilton Souther |language=en}}</ref> in a rite that typically takes place over the entire night. During the ceremony, the effect of the drink lasts for hours. Prior to the ceremony, participants are instructed to abstain from spicy foods, red meat and sex.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ayahuascahealings.com/ayahuasca-retreats-usa-ayahuasca-church/ayahuasca-ceremony-trip-preparation/ |title=Ayahuasca Ceremony Preparation |publisher=ayahuascahealings.com |access-date=5 January 2019 }}</ref> The ceremony is usually accompanied with [[Vomiting|purging]] which include vomiting and diarrhea, which is believed to release built-up emotions and [[Energy (esotericism)|negative energy]].<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.marieclaire.com/politics/news/a8965/ayahuasca-new-power-trip/ |title=The New Power Trip: Inside the World of Ayahuasca |year=2014|magazine= [[Marie Claire]] |access-date=5 January 2019 }}</ref><ref name=":7" />

===Shipibo-Konibo and their relation to Ayahuasca===
It is believed that the Shipibo-Konibo are among the earliest practitioners of Ayahuasca ceremonies, with their connection to the brew and ceremonies surrounding it dating back centuries, perhaps a millennium.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=May 5, 2021 |title=The Shipibo Ceremonial Use of Ayahuasca to Promote Well-Being: An Observational Study |pmc=8131827 |last1=Gonzalez |first1=D. |last2=Cantillo |first2=J. |last3=Perez |first3=I. |last4=Carvalho |first4=M. |last5=Aronovich |first5=A. |last6=Farre |first6=M. |last7=Feilding |first7=A. |last8=Obiols |first8=J. E. |last9=Bouso |first9=J. C. |journal=Frontiers in Pharmacology |volume=12 |article-number=623923 |doi=10.3389/fphar.2021.623923 |pmid=34025402 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Some members of the Shipibo community have taken to the media to express their views on Ayahuasca entering the mainstream, with some calling it "the [[commercialization]] of ayahuasca." Some of them have even expressed their worry regarding the increased popularity, saying "the contemporary 'ayahuasca ceremony' may be understood as a substitute for former [[Cosmogony|cosmogonical]] [[ritual]]s that are nowadays not performed anymore."<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 2014 |title=From the Native's Point of View: How Shipibo-Konibo Experience and Interpret Ayahuasca Drinking with "Gringos" |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/3308/chapter-abstract/144338325?redirectedFrom=fulltext |website=academic.oup.com|doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199341191.003.0010 |isbn=978-0-19-934119-1 }}</ref>

===Icaros===
The [[Shipibo language]], a [[Panoan languages|Panoan language]] spoken by approximately 26,000 Shipibo people in Peru and Brazil, is commonly sung by the shaman in the form of a chant, called an [[Icaro]],<ref name=":7" /> during the Ayahuasca ritual as a way to establish a "balance of energy" during the ritual to help protect and guide the user during their experience.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Shamanism at Arkana healing Ayahuasca and San Pedro Spiritual Retreats |url=https://www.arkanainternational.com/shamanism |access-date=2023-11-11 |website=Arkana Spiritual Center |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Traditional brew===
[[File:Ayahuasca (Banisteriopsis caapi) en floración.jpg|thumb | right | ''B. caapi'' [[inflorescence]]]]

Traditional ayahuasca brews are usually made with ''[[Banisteriopsis caapi]]'' as an [[MAOI]], while [[dimethyltryptamine]] sources and other admixtures vary from region to region. There are several [[Banisteriopsis caapi#Types of vine|varieties of caapi]], often known as different "colors", with varying effects, potencies, and uses.

DMT admixtures:
* ''[[Psychotria viridis]]'' (Chacruna)<ref name="RatschIngredients">[[Christian Rätsch#Bibliography|Rätsch, Christian]] (2005), pp. 704-708. The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants: Ethnopharmacology and Its Applications. Rochester, Vermont: Park Street Press, 1998. {{ISBN|978-0-89281-978-2}}</ref> – leaves
* ''[[Psychotria carthagenensis]]'' (Amyruca)<ref name="RatschIngredients" /> – leaves
* ''[[Diplopterys cabrerana]]'' (Chaliponga, Chagropanga, ''Banisteriopsis rusbyana'')<ref name="RatschIngredients" /> – leaves
* ''[[Mimosa tenuiflora]]'' (''M. hostilis'') - root bark

Other common admixtures:
* ''[[Justicia pectoralis]]<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Thoricatha |first=Wesley |date=2017-04-04 |title=Breaking Down the Brew: Examining the Plants Commonly Used in Ayahuasca |url=https://psychedelictimes.com/breaking-down-the-brew-examining-the-plants-commonly-used-in-ayahuasca/ |access-date=2020-05-17 |website=Psychedelic Times |language=en-US}}</ref>''
* ''[[Brugmansia]] sp.'' (Toé)<ref name="RatschIngredients" />
* [[Opuntia]] ''sp''.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Rivier |first1=Laurent |last2=Lindgren |first2=Jan-Erik |date=April 1972 |title="Ayahuasca," the South American hallucinogenic drink: An ethnobotanical and chemical investigation |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/BF02860772 |journal=Economic Botany |language=en |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=101–129 |doi=10.1007/BF02860772 |bibcode=1972EcBot..26..101R |s2cid=34669901 |issn=0013-0001|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
* [[Epiphyllum]] ''sp.'' <ref name=":1" />
* [[Cyperus]] ''sp.<ref name=":1" />'' 
* ''[[Nicotiana rustica]]''<ref name="RatschIngredients" /> (Mapacho, variety of tobacco)
* ''[[Ilex guayusa]]'',<ref name="RatschIngredients" /> a relative of [[yerba mate]]
* ''[[Lygodium venustum]]'', (Tchai del monte)<ref name=":1" />
* ''Phrygilanthus eugenioides'' and [[Clusia]] ''sp'' (both called Miya)<ref name=":1" />
* ''[[Lomariopsis japurensis]]'' (Shoka)<ref name=":1" />

Common admixtures with their associated ceremonial values and spirits:

*'''[[Ayahuma]]<ref name="RatschIngredients" /> bark''': Cannon Ball tree. Provides protection and is used in healing susto (soul loss from spiritual fright or trauma).
*'''[[Capirona]]<ref name="RatschIngredients" /> bark''': Provides cleansing, balance and protection. It is noted for its smooth bark, white flowers, and hard wood.
*'''Chullachaki caspi<ref name="RatschIngredients" /> bark''' (''Byrsonima christianeae''): Provides cleansing to the physical body. Used to transcend physical body ailments.
*'''Lopuna blanca bark''': Provides protection. 
*'''Punga amarilla bark''': Yellow Punga. Provides protection. Used to pull or draw out negative spirits or energies. 
*'''[[Remo caspi]]<ref name="RatschIngredients" /> bark''': Oar Tree. Used to move dense or dark energies.
*'''Wyra (huaira) caspi<ref name="RatschIngredients" /> bark''' (''[[Cedrelinga catanaeformis]]''): Air Tree. Used to create purging, transcend gastro/intestinal ailments, calm the mind, and bring tranquility. 
*'''Shiwawaku bark''': Brings purple medicine to the ceremony. 
*'''Uchu sanango''': Head of the sanango plants. 
*'''Huacapurana''': Giant tree of the Amazon with very hard bark.
*'''Bobinsana ([[Calliandra angustifolia]])''': Mermaid Spirit. Provides major heart chakra opening, healing of emotions and relationships.

==Non-traditional use==
In the late 20th century, the practice of ayahuasca drinking began spreading to Europe, North America and elsewhere.<ref name="Tupper">{{cite journal|last=Tupper|first=Kenneth|date=August 2008|title=The Globalization of Ayahuasca: Harm Reduction or Benefit Maximization?|journal=International Journal of Drug Policy|volume=19|issue=4|pages=297–303|citeseerx=10.1.1.517.9508|doi=10.1016/j.drugpo.2006.11.001|pmid=18638702}}<!--|access-date=2013-12-12--></ref> The first ayahuasca churches, affiliated with the Brazilian [[Santo Daime]], were established in the [[Netherlands]]. A legal case was filed against two of the Church's leaders, Hans Bogers (one of the original founders of the Dutch Santo Daime community) and Geraldine Fijneman (the head of the [[Amsterdam]] Santo Daime community). Bogers and Fijneman were charged with distributing a [[controlled substance]] (DMT); however, the prosecution was unable to prove that the use of ayahuasca by members of the Santo Daime constituted a sufficient threat to public health and order such that it warranted denying their rights to [[religious freedom]] under [[European Convention on Human Rights#Article 9 - conscience and religion|ECHR Article 9]]. The 2001 verdict of the Amsterdam district court is an important precedent. Since then groups that are not affiliated to the Santo Daime have used ayahuasca, and a number of different "styles" have been developed, including non-religious approaches.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Alì|first=Maurizio|year=2015|title=How to Disappear Completely. Community Dynamics and Deindividuation in Neo-Shamanic Urban Practices|url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01201764/document|journal=Shaman - Journal of the International Society for Academic Research on Shamanism|volume=23|issue=1–2|pages=17–52|via=HAL}}</ref>

In [[Peru]], retreat centers such as Blue Morpho, founded by Hamilton Souther, in [[Iquitos]] began offering ayahuasca ceremonies to foreign visitors around 2004. International media coverage brought wider attention to the practice and coincided with the growth of ayahuasca tourism.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2004-09-12 |title=The Vision Seekers (Published 2004) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/12/travel/sophisticated/the-vision-seekers.html |access-date=2025-09-22 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="nationalgeographic.com"/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Otis |first=John |date=2009-04-08 |title=Down the Amazon in Search of Ayahuasca |url=https://time.com/archive/6946252/down-the-amazon-in-search-of-ayahuasca/ |access-date=2025-09-27 |website=Time Magazine}}</ref>

===Ayahuasca variants===
{{See also|Pharmahuasca}}
[[File:Syrian Rue Seeds.jpg|thumb|right|[[Syrian rue]] seeds can be used to provide an MAOI.]]
{{More citations needed section|date=July 2023}}

In modern Europe and North America, ayahuasca analogues (i.e., variants) are often prepared using non-traditional plants which contain the same alkaloids. For example, seeds of the [[Syrian rue]] plant can be used as a substitute for the ayahuasca vine, and the DMT-rich ''[[Mimosa hostilis]]'' is used in place of ''[[chacruna]]''. Australia has several indigenous plants which are popular among modern ''ayahuasqueros'' there, such as various DMT-rich species of ''[[Acacia]]''.

The name "ayahuasca" specifically refers to a decoction that contains ''[[Banisteriopsis caapi]]''.

Brews similar to ayahuasca may be prepared using several plants not traditionally used in South America:

DMT admixtures:

* ''[[Acacia maidenii]]'' (Maiden's wattle) – bark *not all plants are "active strains", meaning some plants will have very little DMT and others larger amounts
* ''[[Acacia phlebophylla]]'', and other [[Acacia]]s, most commonly employed in Australia – bark
* ''[[Anadenanthera peregrina]]'', ''A. colubrina, A. excelsa, A. macrocarpa''
* ''[[Desmanthus illinoensis]]'' (Illinois bundleflower) – root bark is mixed with a native source of [[substituted β-carboline|carboline]]s (e.g., [[Passiflora|passion flower]] in North America) to produce a hallucinogenic drink called prairiehuasca.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Hegnauer, R. |author2=Hegnauer, M. |year=1996 |title=Caesalpinioideae und Mimosoideae Volume 1 Part 2 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-3-7643-5165-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bUV8C6iLFkEC |page=199}}</ref>

MAOI admixtures:

* [[Harmal]] (''Peganum harmala'', Syrian rue) – seeds
* [[Passion flower]]
* [[Monoamine oxidase inhibitor#List of MAOIs|Synthetic MAOI]]s, especially [[Reversible inhibitor of monoamine oxidase A|RIMA]]s (due to the dangers presented by irreversible MAOIs)

==Effects==
{{See also|Dimethyltryptamine#Subjective effects}}

People who have consumed ayahuasca report having mystical experiences and [[Spirituality|spiritual]] revelations regarding their purpose on earth, the true nature of the [[universe]], and deep insight into how to be the best person they possibly can.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gorman |first=Peter |title=Ayahuasca in My Blood: 25 Years of Medicine Dreaming |year=2010 |publisher=Johan Fremin |isbn=978-1-4528-8290-1}}</ref> Many people also report therapeutic effects, especially around depression and personal traumas.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Harris |first=Rachel |title=Listening to Ayahuasca |publisher=New World Library |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-60868-402-1 |location=Novato, California |pages=120–200 |language=English}}</ref>

This is viewed by many as a spiritual awakening and what is often described as a near-death experience or rebirth.<ref name="Campos 2011" />{{rp|67–70}} It is often reported that individuals feel they gain access to higher spiritual [[dimension]]s and make contact with various spiritual or extra-dimensional beings who can act as guides or healers.<ref>{{cite book |last=Metzner |first=Ralph |title=Ayahuasca: Human Consciousness and the Spirits of Nature |year=1999 |pages=46–55}}</ref>

The experiences that people have while under the influence of ayahuasca are also culturally influenced.<ref name="Hay20" /> Westerners typically describe experiences with psychological terms like "[[ego death]]" and understand the hallucinations as repressed memories or metaphors of mental states.<ref name="Hay20" /> However, at least in [[Iquitos]], Peru (a center of ayahuasca ceremonies), those from the area describe the experiences more in terms of the actions in the body and understand the visions as reflections of their environment, sometimes including the person who they believe caused their illness, as well as interactions with spirits.<ref name="Hay20" />

==Contraindications==
{{See also|Psilocybin#Contraindications}}

Ayahuasca has a number of major [[contraindication]]s due to its action as a [[monoamine oxidase inhibitor]] (MAOI) and the potential for serious [[drug interaction]]s.<ref name="LopesGuerradaSilvaDiasHallak2025" /><ref name="FrecskaBokorWinkelman2016">{{cite journal | vauthors = Frecska E, Bokor P, Winkelman M | title = The Therapeutic Potentials of Ayahuasca: Possible Effects against Various Diseases of Civilization | journal = Front Pharmacol | volume = 7 | issue = | page = 35 | date = 2016 | pmid = 26973523 | pmc = 4773875 | doi = 10.3389/fphar.2016.00035 | doi-access = free | url = }}</ref> These include concomitant use with [[serotonergic agent]]s like [[selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor]]s (SSRIs), [[MDMA]], and [[dextromethorphan]] (DXM) due to risk of [[serotonin syndrome]], [[sympathomimetic]]s like [[amphetamine-type stimulant|amphetamine]]s and [[cocaine]] due to risk of [[hypertensive crisis]], and certain other drugs.<ref name="LopesGuerradaSilvaDiasHallak2025" /><ref name="FrecskaBokorWinkelman2016" /> Little information is available on ayahuasca in people with [[cardiovascular disease]] and whether there may be contraindications in this area.<ref name="SantosBousoHallak2017">{{cite journal | last1=Santos | first1=Rafael Guimarães dos | last2=Bouso | first2=José Carlos | last3=Hallak | first3=Jaime Eduardo Cecilio | title=Ayahuasca: what mental health professionals need to know | journal=Archives of Clinical Psychiatry (São Paulo) | volume=44 | issue=4 | date=2017 | issn=0101-6083 | doi=10.1590/0101-60830000000130 | pages=103–109 | url=http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0101-60832017000400103&lng=en&tlng=en | access-date=30 November 2025}}</ref> In any case, it has been said that cardiovascular problems, as well as [[endocrine disorder|endocrine problems]], [[lipid disorder|abnormal lipid metabolism]], [[glaucoma]], [[fever]], and [[pregnancy]] are all contraindications of ayahuasca.<ref name="FrecskaBokorWinkelman2016" /> Certain [[psychiatric disorder]]s such as [[psychosis]] or [[bipolar disorder|bipolar]] [[mania]] or family history of such conditions may also be contraindications of ayahuasca.<ref name="FrecskaBokorWinkelman2016" /><ref name="OrsoliniChiappiniPapanti2020">{{cite journal | vauthors = Orsolini L, Chiappini S, Papanti D, Latini R, Volpe U, Fornaro M, Tomasetti C, Vellante F, De Berardis D | title = How does ayahuasca work from a psychiatric perspective? Pros and cons of the entheogenic therapy | journal = Hum Psychopharmacol | volume = 35 | issue = 3 | article-number = e2728 | date = May 2020 | pmid = 32220028 | doi = 10.1002/hup.2728 | url = }}</ref>

== Adverse effects ==
Although ayahuasca is generally [[drug safety|safe]] in traditional use, [[adverse effect]]s can occur.<ref name="tox" /><ref>{{Cite journal|title=Adverse effects of ayahuasca: Results from the Global Ayahuasca Survey|journal=PLOS Global Public Health|date=2022|issn=2767-3375|pmc=10021266|pmid=36962494|article-number=e0000438|volume=2|issue=11|doi=10.1371/journal.pgph.0000438|first1=José Carlos|last1=Bouso|first2=Óscar|last2=Andión|first3=Jerome J.|last3=Sarris|first4=Milan|last4=Scheidegger|first5=Luís Fernando|last5=Tófoli|first6=Emérita Sátiro|last6=Opaleye|first7=Violeta|last7=Schubert|first8=Daniel|last8=Perkins |doi-access=free }}</ref> In the short term, ingesting ayahuasca can cause [[nausea]], [[vomiting]], and [[diarrhea]]. These three effects, known as purging, are traditionally recognized to be a part of the spiritual experience of ayahuasca. Physiologically, vomiting may be related to increased [[serotonin|serotonergic]] signaling in the gut, which directly stimulates the [[vagus nerve]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Fotiou|first1=Evgenia|last2=Gearin|first2=Alex K.|date=2019-10-01|title=Purging and the body in the therapeutic use of ayahuasca|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S027795361930526X|journal=Social Science & Medicine|volume=239|article-number=112532|doi=10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112532|pmid=31494522|issn=0277-9536|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Other short-term side effects include [[Hypertension|increased blood pressure]] and [[tachycardia]]. Additionally, increased secretion of hormones like [[prolactin]], [[cortisone]], and [[growth hormone]] has been correlated with ayahuasca consumption.<ref name=":8">{{Cite journal |last1=Frecska|first1=Ede|last2=Bokor|first2=Petra|last3=Winkelman|first3=Michael|date=2016-03-02|title=The Therapeutic Potentials of Ayahuasca: Possible Effects against Various Diseases of Civilization|journal=Frontiers in Pharmacology|language=English|volume=7|page=35|doi=10.3389/fphar.2016.00035|doi-access=free|pmid=26973523|pmc=4773875|issn=1663-9812}}</ref> Rarer side effects include [[shortness of breath]], [[seizure]]s and [[serotonin syndrome]]. Ayahuasca is suspected of triggering [[psychosis]] and [[schizophrenia]] in people with a predisposition to the condition, and there is a lack of safety information for ayahuasca's possible effects on pregnancy and breastfeeding.<ref name="tox">{{cite journal |vauthors=White E, Kennedy T, Ruffell S, Perkins D, Sarris J|title=Ayahuasca and Dimethyltryptamine Adverse Events and Toxicity Analysis: A Systematic Thematic Review|journal=Int J Toxicol|volume=43|issue=3|pages=327–339|date=2024|pmid=38363085|pmc=11088222|doi=10.1177/10915818241230916|type=Review}}</ref> A 2024 review found that traditional ayahuasca use is generally safe, but higher doses of ayahuasca or higher doses of isolated [[harmala alkaloid]]s like [[harmaline]] may pose risks.<ref name="tox" />

== Overdose ==
There have been cases of death with [[dimethyltryptamine]] (DMT).<ref name="Thomas2024">{{cite book |last=Thomas|first=Kelan|title=Toxicology and Pharmacological Interactions of Classic Psychedelics|series=Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences|publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg|publication-place=Berlin, Heidelberg|date=2024|doi=10.1007/7854_2024_508|url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/7854_2024_508|access-date=14 May 2025|page=|pmid=39042251}}</ref> In terms of extrapolated human [[lethal dose]] based on [[animal study|animal studies]] and human [[case report]]s, the lethal dose of ayahuasca relative to a typical recreational or entheogenic dose is estimated to be 50-fold.<ref name="Thomas2024" />

== Interactions ==
{{See also|Psychedelic drug#Interactions|Trip killer#Serotonergic psychedelic antidotes}}

Due to the [[monoamine oxidase inhibitor]] (MAOI) activity of ayahuasca, it has a prominent risk of [[drug interaction]]s with other [[monoaminergic]] agents.<ref name="HalmanKongSarris2024">{{cite journal |vauthors=Halman A, Kong G, Sarris J, Perkins D|title=Drug-drug interactions involving classic psychedelics: A systematic review|journal=J Psychopharmacol|volume=38|issue=1|pages=3–18|date=January 2024|pmid=37982394|pmc=10851641|doi=10.1177/02698811231211219|url=}}</ref> As an example, combination of ayahuasca with a [[selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor]] (SSRI) can result in potentially life-threatening [[serotonin syndrome]].<ref name="HalmanKongSarris2024" />

==Pharmacology==
{{Main|Dimethyltryptamine|Harmala alkaloid}}

===Pharmacodynamics===
Most psychological effects can be accredited to the influx of [[serotonin]] caused by the psychoactive combination of DMT with ''beta-''carbolines. Serotonin stimulates a group of G-protein coupled receptors known as [[5-HT receptor|5-HT]] receptors. Specifically, stimulation of the [[5-HT2A receptor|5-HT2A]] receptor type is correlated with hallucinogenic effects.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Nichols |first1=David E. |last2=Nichols |first2=Charles D. |date=2008-05-01 |title=Serotonin Receptors |url=https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/cr078224o |journal=Chemical Reviews |volume=108 |issue=5 |pages=1614–1641 |doi=10.1021/cr078224o |pmid=18476671 |issn=0009-2665|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

====Dimethyltryptamine====
[[Dimethyltryptamine]] (DMT) is a naturally occurring, serotonergic hallucinogen found in plants and mammals, classified as a [[Controlled Substances Act|DEA Schedule I]] substance with no accepted medical use, and under investigation for clinical applications.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=PubChem |title=Dimethyltryptamine |url=https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Dimethyltryptamine |access-date=2025-05-23 |website=pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov |language=en}}</ref>

Ayahuasca's psychoactive effects stem mainly from DMT, made orally active by MAOIs in the ''B. caapi'' vine, and its activation of [[5-HT receptor|serotonin receptors]], particularly [[5-HT2A receptor|5-HT2A]], with additional contributions from harmine and harmaline.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last1=Ruffell |first1=Simon G. D. |last2=Crosland-Wood |first2=Max |last3=Palmer |first3=Rob |last4=Netzband |first4=Nige |last5=Tsang |first5=WaiFung |last6=Weiss |first6=Brandon |last7=Gandy |first7=Sam |last8=Cowley-Court |first8=Tessa |last9=Halman |first9=Andreas |last10=McHerron |first10=Diana |last11=Jong |first11=Angelina |last12=Kennedy |first12=Tom |last13=White |first13=Eleanor |last14=Perkins |first14=Daniel |last15=Terhune |first15=Devin B. |date=2023 |title=Ayahuasca: A review of historical, pharmacological, and therapeutic aspects |journal=Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences Reports |language=en |volume=2 |issue=4 |article-number=e146 |doi=10.1002/pcn5.146 |issn=2769-2558 |pmc=11114307 |pmid=38868739}}</ref>

====Harmala alkaloids====
{{Main|Harmala alkaloid|Substituted β-carboline}}

While many studies focus on DMT and serotonin agonists, recent research and traditional use highlight the central role of the ''B. caapi'' vine and its [[substituted β-carboline|β-carboline]]s in ayahuasca, noting their potential psychotropic effects through serotonin and benzodiazepine receptor interactions.<ref name=":4" />

Harmala alkaloids like [[harmaline]] and [[harmine]] are believed to cause hallucinations, vomiting, confusion, and [[ataxia]] through central nervous system stimulation and 5-HT receptor binding, similar to DMT.<ref name=":4" />

{{Oral doses and durations of β-carbolines or harmala alkaloids}}

=====Harmine=====
[[File:Harmine structure.svg|class=skin-invert-image|thumb|right|200px|Chemical structure of [[harmine]].]]

[[Harmine]] is a naturally occurring harmala alkaloid with monoamine oxidase-inhibiting under preliminary research for potential anti-[[HIV]] properties.<ref name=":5" /> It is found in various plants such as ''Peganum harmala'' and ''B. caapi'', historically studied for [[Parkinson's disease|Parkinson's]] disease and currently in early-phase clinical trials.<ref name=":5" />

Harmine is the primary β-carboline alkaloid in ayahuasca and has been studied for potential therapeutic effects including modulation of [[Astrocyte|astrocytic]] function, [[anti-inflammatory]] properties, influence on neural progenitor proliferation, and possible roles in [[addiction]] and [[Depression (mood)|depression]] treatment through mechanisms involving [[Glutamic acid|glutamate]] regulation and [[Brain-derived neurotrophic factor|BDNF]] signaling.<ref name=":4" />

=====Harmaline=====
[[File:Harmaline structure.svg|class=skin-invert-image|thumb|right|200px|Chemical structure of [[harmaline]].]]

[[Harmaline]] is a β-carboline alkaloid derived from the [[harmane|harman]] skeleton, found in various organisms including ''Peganum'' seeds, and acts as a [[oneirogen]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=PubChem |title=Harmaline |url=https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Harmaline |access-date=2025-05-23 |website=pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov |language=en}}</ref>

Harmaline, a harmala alkaloid, has been reported to exhibit a range of pharmacological effects, including [[Hypothermia|hypothermic]], [[Vasodilation|vasorelaxant]], [[antimicrobial]], [[Chemotherapy|antitumoral]], [[Antiplatelet drug|antiplatelet]], [[Leishmaniasis|antileishmanial]], and [[Plasmodium|antiplasmodial]] activities, as well as [[anxiolytic]], [[antidepressant]], and [[hallucinogen]]ic properties at certain doses.<ref name=":4" />

=====Tetrahydroharmine=====
[[File:Tetrahydroharmine structure.svg|class=skin-invert-image|thumb|right|200px|Chemical structure of [[tetrahydroharmine]].]]

[[Tetrahydroharmine]] is a harmala alkaloid found in organisms such as ''[[Daphnia pulex]]'' and ''[[Euglena gracilis]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=PubChem |title=Tetrahydroharmine |url=https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Tetrahydroharmine |access-date=2025-05-23 |website=pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov |language=en}}</ref>

Tetrahydroharmine, a component of ayahuasca with weak [[SSRI]] properties, has been associated with increased serotonin uptake sites and variable psychoactive effects, with preferences for higher tetrahydroharmine content reported in some ayahuasca-using churches, potentially due to differences in plant composition and preparation methods.<ref name=":4" />

===Pharmacokinetics===
The [[pharmacokinetics]] of ayahuasca and its components have been studied and described.<ref name="EggerAicherCumming2024">{{cite journal | vauthors = Egger K, Aicher HD, Cumming P, Scheidegger M | title = Neurobiological research on N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and its potentiation by monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibition: from ayahuasca to synthetic combinations of DMT and MAO inhibitors | journal = Cell Mol Life Sci | volume = 81 | issue = 1 | page = 395 | date = September 2024 | pmid = 39254764 | pmc = 11387584 | doi = 10.1007/s00018-024-05353-6 | url = }}</ref><ref name="LopesGuerradaSilvaDiasHallak2025">{{cite journal | vauthors = Lopes Guerra LT, da Silva Dias IC, Hallak JE, Dos Santos RG | title = Clinical pharmacology of ayahuasca: potential applications and future considerations | journal = Expert Rev Clin Pharmacol | volume = 18 | issue = 10 | pages = 1–14 | date = October 2025 | pmid = 41123976 | doi = 10.1080/17512433.2025.2577726 | url = }}</ref><ref name=":4" />

===Pharmacogenomics===
Individual [[polymorphism (biology)|polymorphisms]] of the [[CYP2D6|cytochrome P450-2D6 enzyme]], and more over the isolated indocine metabolite from the inhabitation of CPY134a, with a varied rate of gustation due to physiological factors affect the ability of individuals to metabolize harmine.<ref name="Callaway2005a">{{cite journal |last=Callaway |first=J. C. |title=Fast and Slow Metabolizers of ''Hoasca'' |journal=Journal of Psychoactive Drugs |issn=0279-1072 |oclc=7565359 |volume=37 |issue=2 |pages=157–61 |date=June 2005 |pmid=16149329 |doi=10.1080/02791072.2005.10399797 |s2cid=41427434 }}</ref>

==History==
===Origins===
Ayahuasca is often portrayed as an ancient Amazonian tradition, but some anthropological and linguistic evidence suggests the brew likely spread through the western Amazon relatively recently (within the past few centuries). It may have diffused along missionary routes and the rubber trade rather than existing there for millennia.<ref name=":6">{{Cite news |date=2025-05-01 |title=The ancient psychedelics myth: 'People tell tourists the stories they think are interesting for them' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/may/01/the-ancient-psychedelics-myth-people-tell-tourists-the-stories-they-think-are-interesting-for-them |access-date=2026-03-13 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

Although several botanical specimens (like tobacco, [[coca]] and [[Anadenanthera peregrina|''Anadenanthera spp.'']]) were identified among the pre-Colombian objects,<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=McKenna |first=Dennis |title=Sacred Vine of Spirits: Ayahuasca |publisher=Inner Traditions / Bear & Co |year=2005 |isbn=1-59477-781-0 |page=42 |chapter=Ayahuasca : An Ethnopharmacologic History}}</ref> there is no unequivocal evidence of this date referring directly to ayahuasca. ''Banisteriopsis caapi'' use is suggested from a pouch containing carved snuffing trays, bone spatulas and other paraphernalia with traces of [[harmine]] and [[dimethyltryptamine|DMT]], discovered in a cave in southwestern Bolivia in 2008,<ref name="pnas_Chem2">{{cite journal |last1=Miller |first1=Melanie J. |last2=Albarracin-Jordan |first2=Juan |last3=Moore |first3=Christine |last4=Capriles |first4=José M. |date=4 June 2019 |title=Chemical evidence for the use of multiple psychotropic plants in a 1,000-year-old ritual bundle from South America |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=116 |issue=23 |article-number=11207–11212 |bibcode=2019PNAS..11611207M |doi=10.1073/pnas.1902174116 |pmc=6561276 |pmid=31061128 |doi-access=free}}</ref> and chemical traces of harmine in the hair of two mummies found in northern Chile.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ogalde |first1=Juan P. |last2=Arriaza |first2=Bernardo T. |last3=Soto |first3=Elia C. |date=February 2009 |title=Identification of psychoactive alkaloids in ancient Andean human hair by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=467–472 |doi=10.1016/j.jas.2008.09.036 |bibcode=2009JArSc..36..467O |issn=0305-4403|hdl=10533/130069 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Both cases are linked to [[Tiwanaku Empire|Tiwanaku]] people, circa 900 CE. There are several reports of oral and nasal use of [[Anadenanthera peregrina|''Anadenanthera spp.'']] (rich in [[5-MeO-DMT|bufotenin]]) ritualistically and therapeutically during labor and infancy, and researchers suggest that addition of ''Banisteriopsis spp.'' to catalyze its psychoactivity emerged later, due to contact between different groups of Amazon and [[Altiplano]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ogalde |first1=Juan Pablo |last2=Arriaza |first2=Bernardo T. |last3=Santoro |first3=Calogero M. |last4=Capriles |first4=Jose M. |last5=Puddu |first5=Giannin |last6=Ugalde |first6=Paula C. |last7=Rothhammer Engel |first7=Francisco |date=2017 |title=Consumo prehispánico de sustancias psicoactivas en el norte de Chile sugiere redes tempranas de intercambio con el Altiplano central y la Amazonía |url=https://repositorio.uchile.cl/handle/2250/149398 |journal=Interciencia |language=es |issn=0378-1844}}</ref>

Despite claims by numerous anthropologists and ethnologists, such as [[Plutarco Naranjo]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Naranjo |first=Plutarco |date=1986 |title=El ayahuasca en la arqueología ecuatoriana |journal=Am. Indígena |volume=46 |pages=117–127}}</ref> regarding the millennial usage of ayahuasca, compelling evidence substantiating its pre-Columbian consumption is yet to be firmly established. As articulated by [[Dennis McKenna]]:<ref name=":02" /> <blockquote>"No one can say for certain where the practice may have originated, and about all that can be stated with certainty is that it was already spread among numerous indigenous tribes throughout the Amazon Basin by the time Ayahuasca came to the attention of Western ethnographers in the mid-nineteenth century" </blockquote>The first western references of the ayahuasca beverage dates back to seventeenth century, during the [[European colonization of the Americas]]. The earlier report is a letter from [[Vincente de Valverde]] to the [[Holy Office of the Inquisition]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Varella |first=Alexandre Camera |title=A Cultura do uso de psicoativos nas grandes civilizações pré-colombianas (aproximações e perspectivas). |year=2005}}</ref> Jose Chantre y Herrera still in the seventeenth century, provided the first detailed description of a "devilish potion" cooked from bitter herbs and lianas (called ''ayaguasca'') and its rituals:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chantre Y Herrera |first=José |title=Historia de las misiones de la Compañía de Jesús en el Marañón español |publisher=Madrid: Imprenta de A. Avrial |year=1901}}</ref> <blockquote>"[...] In other nations, they set aside an entire night for divination. For this purpose, they select the most capable house in the vicinity because many people are expected to attend the event. The diviner hangs his bed in the middle and places an infernal potion, known as ayahuasca, by his side, which is particularly effective at altering one's senses. They prepare a brew from bitter vines or herbs, which, when boiled sufficiently, must become quite potent. Since it's so strong at altering one's judgment in small quantities, the precaution is not excessive, and it fits into two small pots. The witch doctor drinks a very small amount each time and knows well how many times he can sample the brew without losing his senses to properly conduct the ritual and lead the choir". </blockquote>Another report produced in 1737 by the missionary [[Pablo Maroni]], describes the use of a psychoactive liana called ayahuasca for divination in the [[Napo River]], Ecuador:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Maroni |first=Pablo |title=Noticias auténticas del famoso Río Marañón y misión apostólica de la Compañía de Jesús de la Provincia de Quito en los dilatados bosques de dicho río, escribíalas por los años de 1738, un misionero de la misma compañía |publisher=Iquitos: Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana (IIAP) |year=1988}}</ref> [[File:Ayahuasca and chacruna cocinando.jpg|thumb|right|Ayahuasca cooking]]<blockquote>"For divination, they use a beverage, some of [[Datura|white datura]] flowers, which they also call Campana due to its shape, and others from a vine commonly known as Ayahuasca, both highly effective at numbing the senses and even at taking one's life if taken in excess. They also occasionally use these substances for the treatment of common illnesses, especially headaches. So, the person who wants to divine drinks the chosen substance with certain rituals, and while deprived of their senses from the mouth downwards, to prevent the strength of the plant from harming them, they remain in this state for many hours and sometimes even two or three days until the effects run their course, and the intoxication subsides. After this, they reflect on what their imagination revealed, which occasionally remains with them for delirium. This is what they consider accomplished and propagate as an oracle." </blockquote>Latter reports were produced by Juan Magnin in 1740, describing ayahuasca use as a medicinal plant by the [[Jivaroan peoples|"Jivaroan" peoples]] (called ''ayahuessa'')<ref>{{Cite book |last=Magnin |first=Juan |title=Breve descripción de la provincia de Quito, en la América Meridional, y de sus missiones de Succumbíos de religiosos de S. Franc.º y de Maynas de PP. de la Comp.ª de Jhs, a las orillas del gran río Marañón, hecha para el mapa que se hizo el año 1740. |publisher=Sociedad Ecuatoriana de Investigaciones Históricas y Geográficas |year=1988}}</ref> and by [[Franz Xaver Veigl]] in 1768, that reports about several "dangerous plants", including a bitter liana used for [[precognition]] and sorcery.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Veigl |first1=Franz Xaver |title=Noticias detalladas sobre el estado de la provincia de Maynas en América meridional hasta el año de 1768 |last2=Gasché |first2=Jorge |last3=Veigl |first3=Franz Xaver |date=2006 |publisher=CETA |isbn=978-9972-2510-8-5 |edition=[Nachdr. der Ausg.] von 1785 |series=Monumenta Amazónica B |location=Iquitos}}</ref> All these reports were written in context of [[Jesuits|Jesuit missions]] in South America, specially the [[Mainas missions]],<ref name=":13">{{Cite book |last=Brabec de Mori |first=Bernd |title=The Internationalization of Ayahuasca |year=2011 |chapter=Tracing Hallucinations – Contributing to a Critical Ethnohistory of Ayahuasca Usage in the Peruvian Amazon}}</ref> in [[Latin]] and sent only to Rome, so their audience was not very large and they were promptly lost in the archives. For this reason, ayahuasca did not receive attention for the entire subsequent century.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-04-05 |title=1648–1768 – The First Written Reports of Ayahuasca Made by Jesuit Missionaries |url=https://ayahuasca-timeline.kahpi.net/ayahuasca-first-reports-jesuit-missionaries/ |access-date=2023-08-14 |website=Ayahuasca Timeline – From Mythic Origins to Global Popularity |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Early academic research===
In academic discourse, the initial mention of ayahuasca dates back to [[Manuel Villavicencio]]'s 1858 book, "''Geografía de la República del Ecuador.''" This work vividly delineates the employment and rituals involving ayahuasca by the [[Jivaroan peoples|Jivaro]] people.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Williams |first=Justin |date=2015 |title=Investigating a Century-Long Hole in History: The Untold Story of Ayahuasca From 1755–1865 |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/54847411.pdf |journal=Undergraduate Honors Theses. Paper 802, University of Colorado, Boulder}}</ref> Concurrently, [[Richard Spruce]] embarked on an Amazonian expedition in 1852 to collect and classify previously unidentified botanical specimens. During this journey, Spruce encountered and documented ''Banisteriopsis caapi'' (at time named ''Banisteria caapi'') and observed an ayahuasca ceremony among the [[Tucano people|Tucano]] community situated along the [[Vaupés River]]. Subsequently, Spruce uncovered the usage and cultivation of ''B. caapi'' among various indigenous groups dispersed across the Amazon and Orinoco basins, like the [[Guahibo people|Guahibo]] and [[Zaparo people|Sápara]]. These multifarious encounters, together with Spruce's personal accounts of subjective ayahuasca experiences, were collated in his work, "Notes of a Botanist On The Amazon and Andes.".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Spruce |first=Richard |title=Notes of a Botanist on the Amazon & Andes: Being Records of Travel on the Amazon and Its Tributaries, the Trombetas, Rio Negro, Uaupés, Casiquiari, Pacimoni, Huallaga and Pastasa; as Also to the Cataracts of the Orinoco, Along the Eastern Side of the Andes of Peru and Ecuador, and the Shores of the Pacific, During the Years 1849–1864 |publisher=Macmillan |year=1908}}</ref> By the end of the century, other explorers and anthropologists contributed more extensive documentation concerning ayahuasca, notably the [[Theodor Koch-Grunberg|Theodor Koch-Grünberg]]'s documents about Tucano and [[Arecuna people|Arecuna]]'s rituals and ceremonies,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Koch-Grünberg |first=Theodor |title=indianertypen aus dem Amazonasgebiet nach eigenen Aufnahmen während seiner Reise in Brasilien |publisher=Ernst Wasmuth, Berlin. |year=1906}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Koch-Grünberg |first=Theodor |title=Zwei Jahre unter den Indianern: Reisen in Nordwest-Brasilien 1903–1905 |publisher=Ernst Wasmuth, Berlin |year=1909}}</ref> [[Ermanno Stradelli|Stradelli]]'s first-hand reports of ayahuasca rituals and mythology along the [[Jurupari River|Jurupari]] and [[Vaupés River|Vaupés]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Stradelli |first=Ermanno |date=1890 |title=L'Uaupés e gli Uaupés, Bollettino della Società Geografica Italiana |journal=Bollettino della Società Geografica Italiana |volume=3 |issue=27 |pages=425–453}}</ref> and Alfred Simson's first description of admixture of several ingredients in the making of ayahuasca in [[Putumayo River|Putumayo]] region, published in 1886.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Simson |first=Alfred |title=Travels in the Wilds of Ecuador. |publisher=London: Lowe, Livinston, Marston & Searle |year=1886}}</ref>

In 1905, Rafael Zerda Bayón named the active extract of ayahuasca as ''telepathine,'' a name latter used by the Colombian chemist Guillermo Fischer Cárdenas when he isolated the substance in 1932.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-04-05 |title=1905 – "Telepathine" is Suggested as a Name for the Active Ingredient in the Ayahuasca Vine |url=https://ayahuasca-timeline.kahpi.net/telepathine-ayahuasca-vine/ |access-date=2023-08-14 |website=Ayahuasca Timeline - From Mythic Origins to Global Popularity |language=en-US}}</ref> Contemporaneously, [[Louis Lewin|Lewin]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lewin |first=Louis |date=1928 |title=Untersuchungen über Banisteria Caapi Spr |journal=Archiv für Experimental Pathologie und Pharmacologie |volume=129 |issue=3–4 |pages=133–149|doi=10.1007/BF01864238 |s2cid=44355378 }}</ref> and Gunn<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gunn |first=J. A. |date=1929 |title=A note on banisterine or harmine |journal=Lancet |volume=213 |issue=5511 |pages=769–770|doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(00)98824-X }}</ref> were independently studying the properties of the ''banisterine,'' extracted of the ''B. caapi,'' and its effects on animal models.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lewin |first=Louis |date=1928 |title=Sur une substance enivrante, la banisterine, extraite de Banisteria caapi. |journal=C. R. Acad. Sci.}}</ref> Further clinical trials were being conducted, exploring the effects of banisterine on Parkinson's disease.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Beringer |first=K. |date=1928 |title=Über ein neues, auf das extrapyramidal-motorische System wirkendes Alkaloid (Banisterin). |journal=Nervenarzt |volume=1 |pages=265–275}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Beringer |first=K. |date=1929 |title=Zur banisterin-und harminfrage. |journal=Nervenarzt |volume=2 |pages=548–549}}</ref> Later it was found that both ''telepathine'' and ''banisterine'' are the same substance, identical to a chemical already isolated from ''[[Peganum harmala]]'' and given the name [[Harmine]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Elger|first=F.|date=1928|title=Über das Vorkommen von Harmin in einer südamerikanischen Liane (Yagé)|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/hlca.19280110113|journal=Helvetica Chimica Acta|language=en|volume=11|issue=1|pages=162–166|doi=10.1002/hlca.19280110113|bibcode=1928HChAc..11..162E |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

===Shamanism, ''mestizos'', and ''vegetalistas''===
Researchers like [[Peter Gow (anthropologist)|Peter Gow]] and Brabec de Mori argue that ayahuasca use indeed developed alongside the Jesuit missions after the 17th century. By examining the [[Icaro|ícaros]] (ayahuasca-related healing chants), they found that the chants are always sung in [[Quechuan languages|Quechua]] (a [[lingua franca]] along the Jesuit and Franciscan missions in the region), no matter the linguistic background of the group, with similar language structures between different ícaros that are markedly different from other indigenous songs. Moreover, often the cosmology of ayahuasca often mirrors the Catholicism, with particular similarities in the belief that ayahuasca is thought to be the body of ''ayahuascamama'' that is imbibed as part of the ritual, like wine and bread are taken as being the body and blood of Jesus Christ during [[Eucharist|Christian Eucharist]]. Brabec de Mori called this "Christian camouflage" and suggested that rather than being a way for disguising the ayahuasca ritual, it suggests that practice evolved entirely within these contexts.<ref name=":23">{{Cite book |last1=Gow |first1=Peter |title=River people: Shamanism and history in Western Amazonia Shamanism, History, and the State |last2=Thomas |first2=Nicholas |publisher=Ann Arbor, The University of Michigan Press |year=1994}}</ref><ref name=":13"/>

Indeed, the colonial processes in Western Amazon are intrinsically related with the development of ayahuasca use in the last three centuries, as it promoted a deep reshape in traditional ways of life in the region. Many indigenous groups moved into the Missions, seeking protection from death and slavery promoted by the [[Bandeirantes|Bandeiras]], inter-tribal violence, starvation and disease ([[smallpox]]). This movement resulted in an intense cultural exchange and resulted in the formation of ''[[mestizo]]s'' (in Spanish) or ''caboclos'' (in Portuguese), a social category formed by people with mixture of European and native ancestry, who were an important part of the economy and culture of the region.<ref name=":42">{{Cite book |last1=Dobkin de Rios |first1=Marlene |title=A Hallucinogenic Tea, Laced With Controversy. Ayahuasca in the Amazon and the United States |last2=Rumrrill |first2=Roger |publisher=Praeger Publishers, Westport, CT |year=2008}}</ref> According to Peter Gow, the ayahuasca shamanism (the use of ayahuasca by a trained shaman to diagnose and cure illnesses) was developed by these ''mestizos'' in the processes of colonial transformation.<ref name=":23" /> The [[Amazon rubber cycle]]s (1879–1912 and 1942–1945) sped up these transformations, due to slavery, genocide and brutality against indigenous populations and large migratory movements, specially from the Brazilian [[Northeast Region, Brazil|Northeast Region]] as a workforce for the rubber [[plantation]]s. The ''mestizo'' practices became deeply intertwined with the culture of rubber workers, called ''caucheros'' (in Spanish) or ''seringueiros'' (in Portuguese). Ayahuasca use with therapeutic goals is the main result of this [[Trans-cultural diffusion]], with some practitioners pointing the ''caucheros'' as the main responsible for using ayahuasca to cure [[Panacea (medicine)|all sort of ailments of the body, mind and soul]], with even some regions using the term ''Yerba de Cauchero'' ("rubber-worker herb"). As a result, the ayahuasca shamans in urban areas and ''mestizo'' settlements, specially in the regions of [[Iquitos]] and [[Pucallpa]] (in Peru), became the ''vegetalistas,'' folk healers who are said to gain all their knowledge from the plants and the spirits bound to it.<ref name=":32">{{Cite book |last=Luna |first=Luís Eduardo |title=Vegetalismo: Shamanism among the Mestizo population of the Peruvian Amazon |publisher=Almqvist & Wiksell International, Stockholm, Sweden |year=1986}}</ref>

So the ''vegetalist'' movement was a heterogeneous mixture of Western Amazon (''mestizo'' shamanic practices and ''cauchero'' culture) and [[Andes|Andean]] elements (shaped by other migratory movements, like those originated from Cuzco through [[Sacred Valley|Urubamba Valley]] and from western Ecuador), influenced by Christian aspects derived from the Jesuit missions, as reflected by the mythology, rituals and moral codes related to ''vegetalista'' ayahuasca use.<ref name=":32" />

===Ayahuasca religions===
Although ''mestizo'', ''vegetalista'' and indigenous ayahuasca use was part of a longer tradition, these several configurations of ''mestizo vegetalismo'' were not isolated phenomena. In the end of the nineteenth century, several messianic/[[Millennialism|millennialist]] cults sparkled across semi-urban areas across the entire Amazon region, merging different elements of indigenous and ''mestizo'' folk culture with Catholicism, Spiritism and [[Protestantism]].<ref name=":32" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Oro |first=Ari Pedro |title=Na Amazônia um messias de índios e brancos: traços para uma antropologia do messianismo. |publisher=Petrópolis, Vozes/ Porto Alegre, EDIPUCRS |year=1989}}</ref> In this context, the use of ayahuasca will take form of urban, organized non-indigenous religions in outskirts of main cities of northwest of Brazil, (along the basins of [[Madeira River|Madeira]], [[Juruá River|Juruá]] and [[Purus River]])<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Goulart |first=Sandra Lúcia |title=As Raízes culturais do Santo Daime |journal=Dissertação de Mestrado apresentada ao programa de pós-graduação de Antropologia Social da FFLCH-USP |publication-date=1996}}</ref> within the ''cauchero/seringueiro'' cultural complex, resignifying and adapting both the ''vegetalista'' and ''mestizo'' shamanism to new urban formations, unifying essential elements to building a cosmology for the new emerging cult/faith, merging with elements of folk Catholicism, African-Brazilian religions and Kardecist spiritism. These new cults arise from charismatic leaderships, often messianic and prophetic, who came from rural areas after migration movements, sometimes called ''ayahuasqueiros'', in semi-urban communities across the borders of Brazil, Bolívia and Peru (a region that will later form the state of [[Acre (state)|Acre]]).<ref name=":42" /> This new configuration of these belief systems is referred by Goulart as ''tradição religiosa ayahuasqueira urbana amazônica'' ("urban-amazonian ''ayahuasqueiro'' religious tradition")<ref>{{Cite book |last=Goulart |first=Sandra Lúcia |title=Contrastes e Continuidades em uma Tradição Amazônica: as Religiões da Ayahuasca |publisher=Tese de Doutorado em Ciências Sociais apresentada ao Departamento de Antropologia do Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas da Universidade Estadual de Campinas |year=2004}}</ref> or ''campo ayahuasqueiro brasileiro'' ("brazilian ''ayahuasqueiro'' field") by Labate,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Labate |first=Beatriz Cauby |title=A reinvenção do uso da ayahuasca nos centros urbanos |publisher=Dissertação de mestrado apresentada ao curso de Antropologia Social do Instituto de Filosofia e Ciencias Humanas da Universidade de Campinas (UNICAMP) |year=2000}}</ref> emerging as three main structured religions, the Santo Daime and Barquinha, in [[Rio Branco, Acre|Rio Branco]] and the União do Vegetal (UDV) in [[Porto Velho]], three denominations that, notwithstanding shared characteristics besides ayahuasca utilization, have several particularities regarding its practices, conceptions and processes building social legitimacy and relationships with Brazilian government, media, science and other society stances.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Goulart |first=Sandra Lúcia |title=O universo cultural das religiões ayahuasqueiras brasileiras e a questão das drogas |journal=Reunião Equatorial de Antropologia e Reunião de Antropólogos do Norte e Nordeste}}</ref> Since the latter half of twentieth century, the ayahuasca religious expanded to other parts of Brazil and several countries in the world, notably in the West.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Labate, B.C. |author2=Rose, I.S. |author3=Santos, R.G. |name-list-style=amp |title=Ayahuasca Religions: a comprehensive bibliography and critical essays |location=Santa Cruz |publisher=Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies – MAPS |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-9798622-1-2}}</ref>

===Modern use===
[[Beat Generation|Beat]] writer [[William S. Burroughs]] read a paper by [[Richard Evans Schultes]] on the subject and while traveling through South America in the early 1950s sought out ayahuasca in the hopes that it could relieve or cure [[opiate]] [[Substance use disorder|addiction]] (see ''[[The Yage Letters]]''). Ayahuasca became more widely known when the McKenna brothers published their experience in the Amazon in ''True Hallucinations''. [[Dennis McKenna]] later studied pharmacology, [[botany]], and [[chemistry]] of ayahuasca and [[oo-koo-he]], which became the subject of his master's thesis.

[[Richard Evans Schultes]] allowed [[Claudio Naranjo]] to make a special journey by canoe up the Amazon River to study ayahuasca with the South American Indigenous peoples. He brought back samples of the beverage and published the first scientific description of the effects of its active alkaloids.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Naranjo|first1=Claudio|title=The Healing Journey|year=1974|publisher=Pantheon Books|isbn=978-0-394-48826-4|page=x|url=https://archive.org/details/healingjourneyne00nara|url-access=registration}}</ref>

In recent years, the brew has been popularized by [[Wade Davis (anthropologist)|Wade Davis]] (''One River),'' English novelist [[Martin J. Goodman|Martin Goodman]] in ''I Was Carlos Castaneda'',<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/mar/19/featuresreviews.guardianreview3 |title=Letters: Mar 19 &#124; Books |newspaper=The Guardian |date=2005-03-19 |access-date=2018-05-05}}</ref> Chilean novelist [[Isabel Allende]],<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/donotmigrate/3672060/Isabel-Allende-kith-and-tell.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/donotmigrate/3672060/Isabel-Allende-kith-and-tell.html |archive-date=2022-01-11 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |title=Isabel Allende: kith and tell |first=Catherine |last=Elsworth |date=2008-03-21 |access-date=2010-04-26}}{{cbignore}}</ref> writer [[Kira Salak]],<ref name="Salak's Article">{{cite web |url=http://www.kirasalak.com/Peru.html |title=Hell And Back |author=Salak, Kira |access-date=29 December 2010}}</ref><ref name="Salak's Summary">{{cite web |url=http://www.kirasalak.com/Ayahuasca.html |title=Ayahuasca Healing in Peru |author=Salak, Kira |access-date=27 December 2010}}</ref> shaman Hamilton Souther,<ref>{{Cite news |date=2004-09-12 |title=The Vision Seekers (Published 2004) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/12/travel/sophisticated/the-vision-seekers.html |access-date=2025-09-27 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="nationalgeographic.com">{{Cite web |title=Ayahuasca - National Geographic Adventure Magazine |url=http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0603/features/peru.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080709171055/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0603/features/peru.html |archive-date=2008-07-09 |access-date=2025-09-27 |website=www.nationalgeographic.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Otis |first=John |title=Down the Amazon in Search of Ayahuasca |url=https://time.com/archive/6946252/down-the-amazon-in-search-of-ayahuasca/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250424075534/https://time.com/archive/6946252/down-the-amazon-in-search-of-ayahuasca/ |archive-date=2025-04-24 |access-date=2025-09-27 |magazine=TIME |language=en |url-status=live }}</ref> author Jeremy Narby (''The Cosmic Serpent''), author [[Jay Griffiths]] (''Wild: An Elemental Journey''), American novelist Steven Peck, radio personality [[Robin Quivers]],<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.wcqj.com/ |title=stern show blog, podcast and videos |publisher=wcqj.com |access-date=2012-01-14}}</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=June 2015}}, writer [[Paul Theroux]] (''[[Figures in a Landscape: People and Places]]''),<ref>{{cite book|first=Paul|last=Theroux|title=Figures in a Landscape: People & Places|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt / Eamon Dolan|location=Boston|date=2018|isbn=978-0-544-87030-7}}</ref> and NFL quarterback [[Aaron Rodgers]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Aaron Rodgers Talks Participating in 3-Night Ayahuasca Event and His Love of Washing Dishes: It's 'Meditative' |url=https://people.com/sports/aaron-rodgers-talks-about-participating-in-3-night-ayahuasca-ceremony/ |access-date=2023-05-13 |website=Peoplemag |language=en}}</ref>

==Society and culture==
===Etymology===
''Ayahuasca'' is the [[hispanicized]] spelling (i.e., spelled according to [[Spanish orthography]]) of a word that originates from the [[Quechuan languages]], which are spoken in the Andean states of [[Ecuador]], [[Bolivia]], [[Peru]], and [[Colombia]]. Speakers of Quechuan languages who use [[Quechuan languages#Orthography|modern Quechuan orthography]] spell it {{lang|que|ayawaska}}.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sanz-Biset |first1=Jaume |last2=Cañigueral |first2=Salvador |date=2013-01-09 |title=Plants as medicinal stressors, the case of depurative practices in Chazuta valley (Peruvian Amazonia) |journal=Journal of Ethnopharmacology |language=en |volume=145 |issue=1 |pages=67–76 |doi=10.1016/j.jep.2012.09.053 |issn=0378-8741 |pmid=23123268}}</ref> The word refers both to the [[liana]] ''[[Banisteriopsis caapi]]'', and to the brew prepared from it. In the Quechuan languages, {{lang|que|aya}} means 'spirit, soul', or 'corpse, dead body', and {{lang|que|waska}} means 'rope' or 'woody vine, [[liana]]'.<ref>Teofilo Laime Ajacopa, Diccionario Bilingüe Iskay simipi yuyayk'ancha, La Paz, 2007 (Quechua–Spanish dictionary)</ref> The word ''ayahuasca'' has been variously translated as 'liana of the soul', 'liana of the dead', and 'spirit liana'.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bois-Mariage |first1=Frédérick |year=2002 |title=Ayahuasca: une synthèse interdisciplinaire |journal=Psychotropes |volume=8 |pages=79–113 |doi=10.3917/psyt.081.0079 |doi-access=free}}</ref> In the [[cosmovision]] of its users, the ayahuasca is the vine that allows the spirit to wander detached from the body, entering the spiritual world, otherwise forbidden for the alive.

====Common names====
Although '''ayahuasca''' is the most widely used term in [[Peru]], [[Bolivia]], [[Ecuador]] and Brazil, the brew is known by many names throughout northern South America:

* '''hoasca''' or '''oasca''' in Brazil
* '''{{lang|con|yagé}}''' (or {{lang|con|yajé}}, from the [[Cofán language]] or '''iagê''' in [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]). Relatively widespread use in [[Andes|Andean]] and [[Amazon rainforest|Amazonian]] regions throughout the border areas of Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Brazil.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Schultes |first=Richard Evans |title=Prestonia: An Amazon Narcotic or Not? |date=1960 |journal=Botanical Museum Leaflets|volume=19 |issue=5 |pages=109–122 |doi=10.5962/p.168526 |jstor=41762210 |s2cid=91123988 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The Cofán people also use the word '''{{lang|con|oofa}}'''.
* '''{{lang|tup|caapi}}''' (or {{lang|tup|kahpi}}/{{lang|tup|gahpi}} in [[Tupi–Guarani languages|Tupi–Guarani language]]{{Which|date=February 2025}} or {{lang|awd|*kaapi}} in [[proto-Arawak language]]), used to address both the brew and the ''B. caapi'' itself. Meaning "weed" or "thin leaf", it was the word utilized by [[Richard Spruce|Spruce]] for naming the liana.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Spruce |first1=Richard |title=Notes of a botanist on the Amazon & Andes: being records of travel on the Amazon and its tributaries, the Trombetas, Rio Negro, Uaupés, Casiquiari, Pacimoni, Huallaga, and Pastasa; as also to the cataracts of the Orinoco, along the eastern side of the Andes of Peru and Ecuador, and the shores of the Pacific, during the years 1849-1864 |last2=Wallace |first2=Alfred Russel |date=1908 |publisher=Macmillan |location=London|doi=10.5962/bhl.title.17908 }}</ref>
* '''{{lang|cof|pinde}}''' (or {{lang|cof|pindê}}/{{lang|cof|pilde}}), used by the [[Tsáchila|Colorado]] people<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Naranjo |first=Plutarco |date=1986 |title=El Ayahuasca en la arqueologia ecuatoriana |journal=America Indigena |volume=46 |pages=117–128}}</ref>
* '''{{lang|jiv|patem}}''' (or {{lang|jiv|nátema}}), from the [[Chicham languages]]{{Which|date=February 2025}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Descola |first=Philippe |title=In the Society of Nature: A Native Ecology in Amazonia |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-521-57467-9 |pages=99–100, 163}}</ref><ref name=":22">{{cite book |last=Incayawar |first=Mario |url=https://archive.org/details/psychiatriststra00inca |title=Psychiatrists and Traditional Healers: Unwitting Partners in Global Mental Health |author2=Lise Bouchard |author3=Ronald Wintrob |author4=Goffredo Bartocci |publisher=Wiley |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-470-51683-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/psychiatriststra00inca/page/n182 69]}}</ref>
* '''{{lang|yaa|shori}}''', '''{{lang|yaa|mii}}''' (or {{lang|yaa|miiyagi}}) and '''{{lang|yaa|uni}}''', from the [[Yaminawa language]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Grob |first1=CS |last2=McKenna |first2=DJ |last3=Callaway |first3=JC |last4=Brito |first4=GS |last5=Oberlaender |first5=G |last6=Saide |first6=OL |last7=Labigalini |first7=E |last8=Tacla |first8=C |last9=Miranda |first9=CT |last10=Strassman |first10=RJ |last11=Boone |first11=KB |date=1996 |title=Human Psychopharmacology of Hoasca: a plant hallucinogen used in ritual context in Brazil |url=https://erowid.org/chemicals/ayahuasca/ayahuasca_journal1.shtml |journal=Journal of Nervous and Mental Disorders |volume=184 |issue=2 |pages=86–94 |doi=10.1097/00005053-199602000-00004 |pmid=8596116 |s2cid=17975501 |access-date=22 January 2017|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Davis |first1=E. Wade |last2=Yost |first2=James A. |date=1983 |title=Novel Hallucinogens from Eastern Ecuador |journal=Botanical Museum Leaflets, Harvard University |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=291–295 |doi=10.5962/p.168664 |jstor=41762852 |s2cid=132171127 |issn=0006-8098|doi-access=free }}</ref>
* '''{{lang|shp|nishi cobin}}''', from the [[Shipibo language]]<ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=Novedades - Página Jimdo de shamanesshipibos |url=https://shamanesshipibos.jimdo.com/novedades/ |access-date=21 December 2016 |website=shamanesshipibos.jimdo.com}}<!-- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>
* '''{{lang|cbs|nixi pae}}''', '''{{lang|cbs|shuri}}''', '''{{lang|cbs|ondi}}''', '''{{lang|cbs|rambi}}''' and '''{{lang|cbs|rame}}''', from the [[Kashinawa language]]<ref>{{cite journal |first=Kenneth |date=1976 |editor-first=Michael |title=El uso del Banipteropsis entre los cashinahua del Perú |location=Madrid |publisher=Guadarrama |last=Kensinger |editor-last=Harner |periodical=Alucinógenos y chamanes}}<!-- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator --></ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Kaxinawá, Rituals |url=https://pib.socioambiental.org/en/povo/kaxinawa/399 |access-date=1 March 2017 |website=Povos Indígenas do Brasil}}<!-- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator --></ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rivier |first1=Laurent |last2=Lindgren |first2=Jan-Erik |date=1972-04-01 |title="Ayahuasca," the South American hallucinogenic drink: An ethnobotanical and chemical investigation |journal=Economic Botany |language=en |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=101–129 |doi=10.1007/BF02860772 |bibcode=1972EcBot..26..101R |s2cid=34669901 |issn=1874-9364}}</ref>
* '''{{lang|tuo|kaji}}, {{lang|tuo|kadana}}''' and '''{{lang|tuo|kadanapira}}''', used by the [[Tucano people]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Reichel-Dolmatoff |first=Gerardo |title=Shamanism and art of the Eastern Tukanoan Indians |date=1987 |publisher=E. J. Brill |others=Instituut voor godsdiensthistorische beelddocumentatie |isbn=978-90-04-08110-9 |series=Iconography of religions |location=Leiden}}</ref> 
* '''{{lang|awd|kamarampi}}''' (or {{lang|awd|kamalampi}}) and '''{{lang|awd|hananeroca}}''', from the [[Arawakan languages]]{{Which|date=February 2025}}<ref>DE MORI, Brabec (2011): Tracing Hallucinations – Contributing to a Critical Ethnohistory of Ayahuasca Usage in the Peruvian Amazon</ref>
* '''{{lang|boa|bakko}}''', from [[Bora-Muinane languages]]{{Which|date=February 2025}}<ref name="Seifart">Seifart, Frank, & Echeverri, Juan Alvaro (2015). [https://periodicos.sbu.unicamp.br/ojs/index.php/liames/article/view/8642303 Proto Bora-Muinane]. ''LIAMES: Línguas Indígenas Americanas'', 15(2), 279 - 311. {{doi|10.20396/liames.v15i2.8642303}}</ref>
* '''{{lang|ese|jono pase}}''', used by [[Ese Ejja people|Ese'Ejja people]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Desmarchelier |first1=C. |last2=Mongelli |first2=E. |last3=Coussio |first3=J. |last4=Ciccia |first4=G. |date=1996-02-01 |title=Studies on the cytotoxicity, antimicrobial and DNA-binding activities of plants used by the Ese'ejas |journal=Journal of Ethnopharmacology |volume=50 |issue=2 |pages=91–96 |doi=10.1016/0378-8741(95)01334-2 |pmid=8866729 |issn=0378-8741}}</ref>
* '''{{lang|guh|uipa}}''', from [[Guahibo language]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Reichel-Dolmatoff |first=Gerardo |title=The sacred mountain of Colombia's Kogi Indians |date=1990 |publisher=E. J. Brill |others=Instituut voor godsdiensthistorische beelddocumentatie |isbn=978-90-04-09274-7 |series=Iconography of religions |location=Leiden}}</ref>
* '''{{lang|cof|napa}}''' (or {{lang|cof|nepe}}/{{lang|cof|nepi}}), used by [[Tsáchila|Tsáchila people]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Oller |first=Montserrat Ventura i |date=2012 |title=Chamanismo, liderazgo y poder indígena: el caso tsachila |url=https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/REAA/article/view/38637 |journal=Revista Española de Antropología Americana |language=es |volume=42 |issue=1 |pages=91–106 |doi=10.5209/rev_REAA.2012.v42.n1.38637 |issn=1988-2718|doi-access=free }}</ref>
* '''{{lang|kbh|Biaxije}}''', from [[Kamëntšá language]]<ref name="Huber">Huber, Randall Q. and Robert B. Reed. 1992. ''[https://www.sil.org/resources/archives/18886 Vocabulario comparativo: Palabras selectas de lenguas indígenas de Colombia (Comparative vocabulary: Selected words in indigenous languages of Colombia)]''. Bogota, Colombia: Summer Institute of Linguistics.</ref>
* '''{{lang|pt|Cipó}}''' ("{{lang|pt|liana}}") or '''{{lang|pt|Vegetal}}''', in [[Portuguese language]], used by [[União do Vegetal]] church members
* '''Daime''' or '''Santo Daime''', meaning "give me" in Portuguese, the term was coined by Santo Daime's founder [[Mestre Irineu]] in the 1940s, from a prayer ''dai-me alegria, dai-me resistência'' ("give me happiness, give me strength"). Daime members also uses the words '''Luz''' ("light") or '''Santa Luz''' ("holy light")
* Some nomenclature are created by the cultural and symbolic signification of ayahuasca, with names like ''planta professora'' ("plant teacher"), ''professor dos professores'' ("teacher of the teachers"), ''sagrada medicina'' ("holy medicine") or ''la purga'' ("the purge").

=====Other names in the Western world=====
In the last decades, two new important terminologies emerged. Both are commonly used in the Western world in [[Neoshamanism|neoshamanic]], [[Recreational drug use|recreative]] or [[Medication|pharmaceutical]] contexts to address ayahuasca-like substances created without the traditional botanical species, due to it being expensive and/or hard to find in these countries. These concepts are surrounded by some controversies involving [[ethnobotany]], patents, [[commodification]] and [[biopiracy]]:<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Press |first=Sara V. |date=2022-07-25 |title=Ayahuasca on Trial: Biocolonialism, Biopiracy, and the Commodification of the Sacred |url=https://hopp.uwpress.org/content/63/2/328 |journal=History of Pharmacy and Pharmaceuticals |language=en |volume=63 |issue=2 |pages=328–353 |doi=10.3368/hopp.63.2.328 |s2cid=251078878 |issn=2694-3034|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tupper |first=Kenneth W. |date=January 2009 |title=Ayahuasca healing beyond the Amazon: the globalization of a traditional indigenous entheogenic practice |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1471-0374.2009.00245.x |journal=Global Networks |language=en |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=117–136 |doi=10.1111/j.1471-0374.2009.00245.x|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Schenberg |first1=Eduardo Ekman |last2=Gerber |first2=Konstantin |date=October 2022 |title=Overcoming epistemic injustices in the biomedical study of ayahuasca: Towards ethical and sustainable regulation |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13634615211062962 |journal=Transcultural Psychiatry |language=en |volume=59 |issue=5 |pages=610–624 |doi=10.1177/13634615211062962 |pmid=34986699 |s2cid=245771857 |issn=1363-4615|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

* '''Anahuasca''' (ayahuasca analogue or variants). A term usually used to refer to the ayahuasca produced with other plant species as sources of DMT (e.g., ''[[Mimosa hostilis]]'') or [[substituted β-carboline|β-carboline]]s (e.g., ''[[Peganum harmala]]'').<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kaasik |first1=Helle |last2=Souza |first2=Rita C. Z. |last3=Zandonadi |first3=Flávia S. |last4=Tófoli |first4=Luís Fernando |last5=Sussulini |first5=Alessandra |date=2020-09-08 |title=Chemical Composition of Traditional and Analog Ayahuasca |journal=Journal of Psychoactive Drugs |volume=53 |issue=1 |pages=65–75 |doi=10.1080/02791072.2020.1815911 |pmid=32896230 |s2cid=221543172 |issn=0279-1072}}</ref>
* '''Pharmahuasca''' (pharmaceutical ayahuasca). This indicates the [[capsule (pharmacy)|pills]] produced from freebase DMT, synthetic harmaline, MAOI medications (such as [[moclobemide]]) and other isolated or purified compounds or extracts.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ott |first=Jonathan |date=April 1999 |title=Pharmahuasca: Human Pharmacology of Oral DMT Plus Harmine |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02791072.1999.10471741 |journal=Journal of Psychoactive Drugs |language=en |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=171–177 |doi=10.1080/02791072.1999.10471741 |pmid=10438001 |issn=0279-1072|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

===Legal status===
{{Main|Legal status of ayahuasca by country}}

Internationally, DMT is a Schedule I drug under the [[Convention on Psychotropic Substances]]. The Commentary on the Convention on Psychotropic Substances notes, however, that the plants containing it are not subject to international control:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Legal Status of DMT and Ayahuasca Plants under the 1971 UN Convention |url=https://ark.yaogara.org/policy/dmt-un-report-1971 |website=Yaogará Ark Research Archive |publisher=Yaogará Research Initiative |date=2025-10-28 |access-date=2025-10-28 |language=en |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{Blockquote|The cultivation of plants from which psychotropic substances are obtained is not controlled by the Vienna Convention... Neither the crown (fruit, mescal button) of the [[Peyote]] cactus nor the roots of the plant ''Mimosa hostilis'' nor Psilocybe mushrooms themselves are included in Schedule I, but only their respective principals, [[mescaline]], [[dimethyltryptamine|DMT]], and [[psilocin]].}}

In [[Peru]], ayahuasca is legal and formally protected as part of the country's cultural heritage. When ratifying the 1971 ''Convention on Psychotropic Substances'', Peru entered a reservation to exclude Ayahuasca and [[San Pedro cactus|San Pedro]] from international control, citing their traditional ritual use by Amazonian peoples (United Nations Treaty Collection, 1971).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Castellanos |first=Kiko |date=2022-01-26 |title=Peru {{!}} Legal situation of ayahuasca {{!}} Map |url=https://www.iceers.org/peru/ |access-date=2025-09-22 |website=ICEERS |language=en-US}}</ref> This position was reinforced on 24 June 2008, when the ''Instituto Nacional de Cultura'' declared the traditional knowledge and ceremonial use of Ayahuasca by Indigenous communities as ''Patrimonio Cultural de la Nación'' (Cultural Heritage of the Nation).<ref>{{Cite web |last=PERÚ |first=Empresa Peruana de Servicios Editoriales S. A. EDITORA |date=2008-07-12 |title=Declaran Patrimonio Cultural de la Nación a los conocimientos y usos tradicionales del Ayahuasca |url=https://andina.pe/agencia/noticia-declaran-patrimonio-cultural-de-nacion-a-los-conocimientos-y-usos-tradicionales-del-ayahuasca-184254.aspx |access-date=2025-09-22 |website=andina.pe |language=es}}</ref>

A [[fax]] from the Secretary of the [[International Narcotics Control Board]] (INCB) to the Netherlands Ministry of Public Health sent in 2001 goes on to state that "Consequently, preparations (e.g. decoctions) made of these plants, including ayahuasca, are not under international control and, therefore, not subject to any of the articles of the 1971 Convention."<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/ayahuasca/ayahuasca_law10.shtml |title=Ayahuasca Vault: Law: UNDCP's Ayahuasca Fax |publisher=Erowid.org |date=2001-01-17 |access-date=2012-01-14}}</ref>

Despite the INCB's 2001 affirmation that ayahuasca is not subject to drug control by international convention, in its 2010 Annual Report the Board recommended that governments consider controlling (i.e. criminalizing) ayahuasca at the national level. This recommendation by the INCB has been criticized as an attempt by the Board to overstep its legitimate mandate and as establishing a reason for governments to violate the human rights (i.e., religious freedom) of ceremonial ayahuasca drinkers.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Tupper|first1=Kenneth W.|last2=Labate|first2=Beatriz C.|title=Plants, Psychoactive Substances and the International Narcotics Control Board: The Control of Nature and the Nature of Control|journal=Human Rights & Drugs|volume=2|issue=1|pages=17–28|year=2012|access-date=2012-12-12
|url=http://www.hr-dp.org/files/2013/12/12/HRDP_Journal_Tupper_Labate.pdf}}</ref>

Under American federal law, DMT is a Schedule I drug that is illegal to possess or consume; however, certain religious groups have been legally permitted to consume ayahuasca.<ref>[https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/schedules/orangebook/orangebook.pdf orangebook.pdf] ''www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov''</ref> A court case allowing the [[União do Vegetal]] to import and use the tea for religious purposes in the United States, ''[[Gonzales v. O Centro Espírita Beneficente União do Vegetal]]'', was heard by the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] on November 1, 2005; the decision, released February 21, 2006, allows the UDV to use the tea in its ceremonies pursuant to the [[Religious Freedom Restoration Act]]. In a similar case in Ashland, Oregon-based Santo Daime church sued for their right to import and consume ayahuasca tea. In March 2009, U.S. District Court Judge Panner ruled in favor of the Santo Daime, acknowledging its protection from prosecution under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.<ref>{{citation |url=http://csp.org/society/docs/SantoDaimeAshland20090318.pdf |title=Ruling by District Court Judge Panner in Santo Daime case in Oregon |access-date=2012-01-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003151720/http://csp.org/society/docs/SantoDaimeAshland20090318.pdf |archive-date=2011-10-03 }}</ref>

In 2017 the [[Santo Daime]] Church Céu do Montréal in Canada received religious exemption to use ayahuasca as a sacrament in their rituals.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://chacruna.net/how-ayahuasca-church-received-religious-exemption-canada/|title=How Our Santo Daime Church Received Religious Exemption to Use Ayahuasca in Canada|last=Rochester|first=Jessica|date=2017-07-17|website=Chacruna|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-01}}</ref>

Religious use in Brazil was legalized after two official inquiries into the tea in the mid-1980s, which concluded that ayahuasca is not a recreational drug and has valid spiritual uses.<ref>More on the legal status of ayahuasca can be found in the [[Erowid]] vault on the [http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/ayahuasca/ayahuasca_law.shtml legality of ayahuasca].</ref>

In France, [[Santo Daime]] won a court case allowing them to use the tea in early 2005; however, they were not allowed an exception for religious purposes, but rather for the simple reason that they did not perform chemical extractions to end up with pure DMT and harmala and the plants used were not scheduled.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060510000632/http://www.santodaime.it/Library/LAW/Francia/courdapeldeparis05_france.pdf ''Cour d'appel de Paris, 10ème chambre, section B, dossier n° 04/01888. Arrêt du 13 janvier 2005''] Court of Appeal of Paris, 10th Chamber, Section B, File No. 04/01888. Judgement of 13 January 2005</ref> Four months after the court victory, the common ingredients of ayahuasca as well as harmala were declared ''stupéfiants'', or narcotic schedule I substances, making the tea and its ingredients illegal to use or possess.<ref>''JO'', 2005-05-03. [http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jopdf/common/jo_pdf.jsp?numJO=0&dateJO=20050503&numTexte=18&pageDebut=07636&pageFin=07636 ''Arrêté du 20 avril 2005 modifiant l'arrêté du 22 février 1990 fixant la liste des substances classées comme stupéfiants'' (PDF)] [Decree of 20 April 2005 amending the decree of 22 February 1990 establishing the list of substances scheduled as narcotics].</ref>

In June 2019, [[Oakland, California|Oakland]], California, decriminalized natural entheogens. The City Council passed the resolution in a unanimous vote, ending the investigation and imposition of criminal penalties for use and possession of entheogens derived from plants or fungi. The resolution states: "Practices with Entheogenic Plants have long existed and have been considered to be sacred to human cultures and human interrelationships with nature for thousands of years, and continue to be enhanced and improved to this day by religious and spiritual leaders, practicing professionals, mentors, and healers throughout the world, many of whom have been forced underground."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-oakland-magic-mushroom-legal-20190605-story.html|title=Oakland becomes 2nd U.S. city to decriminalize magic mushrooms|last=Shalby|first=Colleen|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=5 June 2019|access-date=2019-06-06}}</ref>
In January 2020, [[Santa Cruz, California|Santa Cruz]], California, and in September 2020, [[Ann Arbor, Michigan|Ann Arbor]], Michigan, decriminalized natural entheogens.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/santa-cruz-decriminalizes-psychedelic-mushrooms/story?id=68611065|title=Santa Cruz decriminalizes psychedelic mushrooms|last=McCarthy|first=Kelly|date=2020-01-29|website=ABC News|language=en|access-date=2020-01-31}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/30/us/santa-cruz-mushrooms-psychedelics-trnd/index.html|title=Santa Cruz decriminalizes magic mushrooms and other natural psychedelics, making it the third US city to take such a step|last=Kaur|first=Harmeet|date=2020-01-30|website=CNN|access-date=2020-02-02}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Stanton|first=Ryan|date=2020-09-22|title=Ann Arbor OKs move to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms, plants|url=https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2020/09/ann-arbor-oks-move-to-decriminalize-psychedelic-mushrooms-plants.html|access-date=2020-09-22|website=mlive|language=en}}</ref>
<!-- NPR reported in August 2010 that it was legal, is that wrong?
In Peru, the government is undergoing the legislation process of legalizing and regulating ayahuasca usage and monitoring ayahuasca centers. Currently (April 2010) the use of ayahuasca is not technically legal but since it is an accepted practice of Indigenous cultures in Peru, the Peruvian government is going through of the process maintaining the continuity of these cultures whilst avoiding international issues.
-->

===Intellectual property issues===
Ayahuasca has stirred debate regarding intellectual property protection of [[traditional knowledge]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Tupper|first=Kenneth|s2cid=144295220|date=January 2009|title=Ayahuasca Healing Beyond the Amazon: The Globalization of a Traditional Indigenous Entheogenic Practice|journal=Global Networks|volume=9|issue=1|pages=117–136|doi=10.1111/j.1471-0374.2009.00245.x}}<!--|access-date=2013-12-12--></ref> In 1986 the US Patent and Trademarks Office (PTO) allowed the granting of a patent on the ayahuasca vine ''B. caapi''. It allowed this patent based on the assumption that ayahuasca's properties had not been previously described in writing. Several public interest groups, including the Coordinating Body of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA) and the Coalition for Amazonian Peoples and Their Environment (Amazon Coalition) objected. In 1999 they brought a legal challenge to this patent which had granted a private US citizen "ownership" of the knowledge of a plant that is well-known and sacred to many [[Indigenous peoples of the Amazon]], and used by them in religious and healing ceremonies.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ciel.org/Bio/Biodiversity_Accomplishments.html |title=CIEL Biodiversity Program Accomplishments |publisher=Ciel.org |access-date=2012-01-14 |archive-date=2015-04-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150420214258/http://www.ciel.org/Bio/Biodiversity_Accomplishments.html }}</ref>

Later that year the PTO issued a decision rejecting the patent, on the basis that the petitioners' arguments that the plant was not "distinctive or novel" were valid; however, the decision did not acknowledge the argument that the plant's religious or cultural values prohibited a patent. In 2001, after an appeal by the patent holder, the US Patent Office reinstated the patent, albeit to only a specific plant and its asexually reproduced offspring. The law at the time did not allow a third party such as COICA to participate in that part of the reexamination process. The patent, held by American entrepreneur Loren Miller, expired in 2003.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Ayahuasca Patent Case |url=http://www.ciel.org/reports/legal-elements-of-the-ayahuasca-patent-case-november-1999-wiser-bw99-10-2/ |department=Our Programs: Biodiversity |publisher=The Centre for International Environmental Law |access-date=January 22, 2018}}</ref>

==Research==
{{See also|Psychedelic therapy}}

Ayahuasca may have significant therapeutic effects for mood disorders ([[Effect size|Hedges' g]] of -1.34 in 7 articles covering heterogenous indications); it generally causes few lasting adverse effects.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Yao |first=Yuan |last2=Guo |first2=Dan |last3=Lu |first3=Tang-Sheng |last4=Liu |first4=Fang-Lin |last5=Huang |first5=Shi-Hao |last6=Diao |first6=Meng-Qi |last7=Li |first7=Su-Xia |last8=Zhang |first8=Xiu-Jun |last9=Kosten |first9=Thomas R. |last10=Shi |first10=Jie |last11=Bao |first11=Yan-Ping |last12=Lu |first12=Lin |last13=Han |first13=Ying |date=2024 |title=Efficacy and safety of psychedelics for the treatment of mental disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis |journal=Psychiatry Research |volume=335 |article-number=115886 |doi=10.1016/j.psychres.2024.115886 |issn=1872-7123 |pmid=38574699}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Legal status of ayahuasca by country]]
* [[List of substances used in rituals]]
* [[Andrew Gallimore]]
* [[Changa (drug)|Changa]]
* [[Dimethyltryptamine/harmine]]
* [[Dimethyltryptamine/β-carbolines]]
* [[German Amazon-Jary-Expedition (1935–1937)]]
* [[Ibogaine]]
* [[Icaro]]
* [[Kambo (drug)]]
* [[Yachay]]

==Notes==
<references group="note" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{Prone to spam|date=January 2014}}
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{{refbegin|30em}}
* [[William S. Burroughs|Burroughs, William S.]] and [[Allen Ginsberg]]. ''[[The Yage Letters]]''. San Francisco: City Lights, 1963. {{ISBN|978-0-87286-004-9}}
* Langdon, E. Jean Matteson & Gerhard Baer, eds. ''Portals of Power: Shamanism in South America''. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1992. {{ISBN|978-0-8263-1345-4}}
* [[Benny Shanon|Shannon, Benny]]. ''The Antipodes of the Mind: Charting the Phenomenology of the Ayahuasca Experience''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. {{ISBN|978-0-19-925293-0}}
* Taussig, Michael. ''Shamanism, Colonialism, and the Wild Man: A Study in Terror and Healing''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986. {{ISBN|978-0-226-79012-1}}
* {{cite journal|last=Tupper|first=Kenneth|title=The Globalization of Ayahuasca: Harm Reduction or Benefit Maximization?|journal=International Journal of Drug Policy|volume=19|issue=4|pages=297–303|date=August 2008|doi=10.1016/j.drugpo.2006.11.001|pmid=18638702|url=http://www.kentupper.com/resources/Globalization+of+Ayahuasca+-+IJDP+2008.pdf|access-date=2008-07-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081217031309/http://www.kentupper.com/resources/Globalization+of+Ayahuasca+-+IJDP+2008.pdf|archive-date=2008-12-17|citeseerx=10.1.1.517.9508}}
* {{cite journal|last=Tupper|first=Kenneth|s2cid=144295220|title=Ayahuasca Healing Beyond the Amazon: The Globalization of a Traditional Indigenous Entheogenic Practice|journal=Global Networks|volume=9|issue=1|pages=117–136|date=2009|doi=10.1111/j.1471-0374.2009.00245.x}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Tupper|first1=Kenneth W.|last2=Labate|first2=Beatriz C.|title=Plants, Psychoactive Substances and the International Narcotics Control Board: The Control of Nature and the Nature of Control|journal=Human Rights & Drugs|volume=2|issue=1|pages=17–28|year=2012|url=http://www.hr-dp.org/files/2013/12/12/HRDP_Journal_Tupper_Labate.pdf}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Tupper|first1=Kenneth W.|last2=Labate|first2=Beatriz C.|title=Ayahuasca, Psychedelic Studies and Health Sciences: The Politics of Knowledge and Inquiry into an Amazonian Plant Brew|journal=Current Drug Abuse Reviews|volume=7|issue=2|pages=71–80|year=2014|url=http://www.kennethtupper.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Ayahuasca-Psychedelic-Studied-Health-Sciences-CDAR-2014.pdf|doi=10.2174/1874473708666150107155042|pmid=25563448|access-date=2015-10-18|archive-date=2015-09-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150922073351/http://www.kennethtupper.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Ayahuasca-Psychedelic-Studied-Health-Sciences-CDAR-2014.pdf}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* {{Commons-inline}}
* {{Wiktionary-inline}}
* [https://psychonautwiki.org/wiki/Ayahuasca Ayahuasca - PsychonautWiki]
* [https://www.erowid.org/chemicals/ayahuasca/ayahuasca.shtml Ayahuasca - Erowid]
* [https://tripsitter.com/ayahuasca/ What is Ayahuasca? - Tripsitter]
* [https://doubleblindmag.com/ayahuasca-experience/ The Ayahuasca Experience: A Pilgrimage to the Spirit - Double Blind Magazine]

{{Traditional Medicine}}
{{Psychedelics}}
{{Serotonin receptor modulators}}
{{Monoamine metabolism modulators}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayahuasca}}

[[Category:5-HT2A agonists]]
[[Category:Ayahuasca| ]]
[[Category:Biopiracy]]
[[Category:Dimethyltryptamine]]
[[Category:Entheogens]]
[[Category:Herbal and fungal hallucinogens]]
[[Category:Indigenous culture of the Amazon]]
[[Category:Mixed drinks]]
[[Category:Monoamine oxidase inhibitors]]
[[Category:Polysubstance drinks]]
[[Category:Psychedelic drugs]]
[[Category:Serotonin receptor agonists]]