Ayahuasca

AYAHUASCA

Ayahuasca is known as the vine of death.

For the Amazonian natives in Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Brazil and Ecuador for whom the herbal tea has been a part of their native traditions for as long as anyone can remember, the herbal tea brewed from the vine is sacred; part of a religious ritual. In the collection of the ethnological museum in Quito, Ecuador is a ceremonial ayahuasca cup that is at least 2,500 years old.

For westerners who travel to the Amazon to experience the powerful effects of ayahuasca, it is done for healing and to gain insight into their lives. The healing may be both emotional and physiological. In a report published in a National Geographic magazine in 2006, it was reported that curing metastasized colorectal cancer has been documented.

Most often, however, the ayahuasca experience is undertaken for its alleged spiritual benefits. People who take the hallucinogenic tea commonly report having the sensation of hearing receiving instructions or information from a higher voice, providing advice or knowledge about one's self or life history. This very personal information frequently teaches individuals facts about their lives they had not previously realized.