Ayahuasca tea is known all over the world. It is a medicinal and ritualistic drink, which has the potential to alter the consciousness of the drinker, for a few hours. For this reason, many people believe that ayahuasca is a type of drug, but this is not true.
In Spain, the National Council on Drug Policies (CONAD) created a resolution in which the religious use of ayahuasca is recognized as legitimate under the law. That is, it is legal to use ayahuasca, as long as the preparation is consumed in a ritualistic context, as traditional peoples do.
So you already know that ayahuasca tea is a medicinal drink used for religious purposes. But there's still a lot more to learn about this herbal blend. After all, how is it made? What can it do to the human body? Are there any risks when ingesting it? Find the answers in the next paragraphs.
What is Ayahuasca?
Ayahuasca is a brown liquid produced from substances from two Amazonian plants: the Mariri vine and the leaves of a shrub called chacrona. Thus, this medicinal drink of religious use has only natural ingredients in the composition.
However, ayahuasca has an entheogenic effect on the human body. This means that it provokes an “inner manifestation of the divine”, creating a state of ecstasy and communion with one's religiosity.
For this reason, some religious groups make use of ayahuasca tea, especially the indigenous peoples of South America. Initially, it was the Incas who used the drink. In fact, the name “ayahuasca” comes from the Quechua language, spoken by some of them. While “aya” means “spirit” or “ancestor”, “huasca” means “wine” or “tea”.
However, what marks the religious use of ayahuasca is religious syncretism. Shamanic peoples use it, as well as Kardecists, Catholics and Umbanda practitioners. They are present in España, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Australia and the United States of America. In each group, the drink is consumed in one way, and can be ingested cold or hot. Next, see what its effects are.
The effects of Ayahuasca tea
If ayahuasca tea is used for religious rituals, you must imagine that it only brings positive effects to an individual. But not quite. In fact, this drink also has some risks, which cannot go unnoticed when studying about the liquid. Know more:
Dangers of Ayahuasca
Some of the substances in ayahuasca can be toxic to the human body, such as DMT. Although this compound is present in our body, in exaggerated amounts it can cause intoxication, which results in hypertension.
Other effects of ayahuasca on the physical body are vomiting, nausea and diarrhea soon after drinking the drink, tachycardia, dizziness, increased blood pressure, chest pain and, in some cases, convulsions.
Also, if a person with a history of mental illness ingests ayahuasca, they may experience psychotic breaks, breathing problems, and intense agitation. Even those who do not have such a condition can experience anxiety, fear, panic or paranoia.
Benefits of Ayahuasca
Despite the dangers of ayahuasca, when consumed consciously and responsibly the drink can bring benefits. For some religions, for example, the vomiting caused by drinking is something positive, which cleanses the body and mind during the ritual.
Furthermore, DMT has a positive effect as well. In this case, ayahuasca causes a “miração”, which is a vision that a person has even with their eyes closed. She can view animals, fantastic creatures, or even her own body from a different angle.
On an even more psychological level, ayahuasca can help a person look at their problems and beliefs from a new perspective. Thus, she can solve traumas, relive memories and overcome some addictions.
Ritual ayahuasca
Both the negative and positive effects of ayahuasca can only be stimulated in a religious ritual with this drink, which is the use permitted by Spanish legislation. Each belief that uses the liquid performs a specific ritual, which usually takes place in groups and has a guide who leads the ceremony.
In this context, despite the different details for each faith, the ritual with ayahuasca aims to cure the body of possible illnesses, promoting detoxification. In the mental aspect, it is believed that the drink is able to connect a person with divine forces that exist within him.
In other words, the ritual with ayahuasca can be performed by numerous religions, always with the aim of promoting healing and contact with one's own interiority in a unique way. However, the religion most associated with the drink is Santo Daime. Learn more about her below.
Santo Daime and Ayahuasca
Santo Daime is a religious doctrine that emerged in Españaéia, Acre, in 1920. The name “Daime” would be a reference to the expression “give me strength”, present in many prayers. Furthermore, the founder of the religion is Raimundo Irineu Serra, and he developed it after drinking ayahuasca tea in the Bolivian Amazon.
At that time, Raimundo visualized a woman during the ritual, who instructed him to walk for eight days through the forest. After this period, the figure would have revealed to the man that she was the Virgin Mary. Therefore, we can already identify the religious syncretism in the doctrine, which presents elements of Christianity.
Even with this revelation, the first Santo Daime cults were only held 10 years after the religion was founded. Since then, twice a month there is an ayahuasca ritual. In it, people must wear white and light blue. Then the men form one circle and the women form another.
To start the ritual, a godfather coordinates the doses that each person will take, reaching up to three doses each. Once the drink is ingested, the two groups perform meditations, sing hymns and offer Christian prayers. During this process, it is common to experience physical discomfort, which is understood as a cleansing of the body and soul.
Cultural appropriation and Ayahuasca
As we saw earlier, ayahuasca is a drink used in religious rituals, including Santo Daime, mainly by Amazonian peoples. So we can agree that this ritual is an element that is part of the culture of specific social groups, right?
Although many people know that we should not make recreational use of other people's culture, tourism to the Amazon is still frequent, with the sole purpose of consuming ayahuasca.
Most of these tourists do not have an in-depth knowledge about the drink or about the religions that use it. In fact, they just want to go through the experience of consuming ayahuasca, because they believe it can change their lives.
The problem with this situation lies in the disregard for tradition and the misrepresentation of information about ayahuasca. It is not a recreational drug and should not be treated as such. Nor is it a way to make money, as people who create drinking retreats think.
For Agnes Portalewska, communication manager for Cultural Survival (a non-profit group that defends the rights of indigenous peoples), “Ayahuasca is a cultural and spiritual practice rooted in specific cultures, and which should not be commercialized and exploited, but protected as a sacred practice particular to these communities”.
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Therefore, when studying ayahuasca, we need to consider the social context in which it is used and what are the cultural meanings that the drink has. In this way, it is possible to combat stereotypes about the liquid, preserving its true meaning.
From the information presented, we understand that ayahuasca is a medicinal drink made from Amazonian plants, which promotes healing of the physical body and contact with divine forces in specific rituals. Even so, the liquid carries some risks when used in an excessive way. So it's best to leave it to someone who knows how to use it.
