"Vine of the Soul" Banisteriopsis caapi (ayahuasca, yage) usage, habitat, effects

The entire B. caapi section from 'Food of the Gods' by Schultes & Hofman

C.B. Robinson et Small

B. Caapi (Spruceex Griseb.) Morton

Malpighiaceae Tropical zones of N-S America, W. Indies

These giant forest lianas are the basis of an important hallucinogenic drink ceremonially consumed in the western half of the Amazon Valley and by isolated tribes on the Pacific slopes of the Colombian and Ecuadorean Andes.

The bark of Banisteriopsis caapi and B. inebrians, prepared in cold water or after long boiling, may be taken alone, but various plant additives -especially the leaves of B. rusbyana, known as Oco Yaje, and of Psychotria viridis- are often used to alter the effects of the hallucinogenic drink.

Both species are lianas with smooth, brown bark and dark green, characterous, ovate-lanceolate leaves up-to about 7 in. (18 cm) in length, 2-3 in. (5-8 cm) wide. The inflorescence is many-flowered.

The small flowers are pink or rosecolored. The fruit is a samara with wings about 13/8 in. (3.5 cm) long. B. inebrians differs from B. caapi mainly in its thicker ovate, more attenuate leaves and in the shape of the samara wings.

VINE OF THE SOUL

There is a magic intoxicant in northwesternmost South America which the Indians believe call free the soul from corporeal confinement, allowing it to wander free and return to the body at will.

The soul, thus untrammeled, liberates its owner from the realities of everyday life and retroduces him to wondrous realms of what he considers reality and permits him to communicate with his ancestors.

The Kechua term for this inebriating drink- Ayahuasca ("vine of the soul") -refers to this freeing of the spririt. The plants involved are truly plants of the gods, for their power is laid to supernatural forces residing in their tissues, and they were divine gifts to the earliest Indians on earth.

Ayahuasca has many native names: Caapi, Dapa, Mihi, Kahi, Natema, Pinde, Yajé.

The drink, employed for prophecy, divination, sorcery, and medical purposes, is so deeply rooted in native mythology and philosophy that there can be no doubt of its great age as a part of aboriginal life.

Two closely related species of the malpighiaceous genus Banisteriopsis -B. caapi and B. inebrians- are the most important plants used in preparing Ayahuasca. But other species are apparently used locally on occasion: B. quitensis; Mascagnia glandulifera, M. psilophylla var. antifebrilis; Tetrapteris methystica and T. mucronata. All of these plants are large forest lianas of the same family. Banisteriopsis caapi and B. inebrians are frequently cultivated in order to have a supply close at hand for use.

Many plants of diverse families are often added to the basic drink to alter the intoxicating effects.

The most commonly used admixtures are leaves of B. rusbyana and of the rubiaceous Psychotria carthaginensis or Psychotria viridis.

Other known psychoactive plants, such as Brugmansia suaveolens, Brunfelsia chiricaspi, and B. grandifiora, may also be added. Among the many plants employed are Tobacco; Malouetia tamaquarina and a species of Tabermaemontana of the Apocynaceae; the acanthaceous Teliostachya lanceolata var. crispa or Toe Negra; Calathea veitchiana of the Maranthaceae; the amaranthaceous Alternanthera lehmannii and a species of Iresine; several ferns including Lygodium venustum and Lomariopsis japurensis; Phrygylanthus eugenioides of the mistletoe family; the mint Ocimum micranthum; a species of the sedge genus Cyperus; several cacti including species of Opuntia and Epiphyllum; and a member of the genus Clusia of the Guttiferae.

The natives often have special names for diverse "kinds" of Ayahuasca, although the botanist frequently finds them all representative of the same species.

It is usually difficult to understand the aboriginal method of classification: some may be age forms; others may come from different parts of the liana; still others may be ecological forms growing under varying conditions of soil, shade, moisture, etc.

The natives assert that these "kinds" have a variety of effects, and it is conceivable that they may actually have different chemical compositions.

This possibility is one of the least investigated yet most significant aspects in the study of Ayahuasca.

Among the Tukano of the Colombian Vaupes, for example, six "kinds" of Ayahuasca or Kahi are recognized. Botanical identification has not yet been possible in all cases, but the "kinds" have definite native names. Kahi-riáma, the strongest, produces auditory hallucinations and announce future events. It is said to cause death if improperly employed.

The second strongest, Méné-kahí-má, reputedly causes visions of green snakes. The bark is used, and it is also said to cause death, unless cautiously taken.

These two "kinds" may not belong to Banisteriopsis or even to the family Malpighiaceae.

The third in strength is called Suána-káhí-má ("Kahi of the red jaguar"), producing visions in red.

Kahi-vai Bucura-rijomá ("Kahi of the monkey head") causes monkeys to hallucinate and howl.

The weakest of the hallucinogenic "kinds" of Kahi or Ajuwri-kahi-má has little effect but is used in the drink to help the Méné-kahí-má.

All of these "kinds" are referable probably to Banisteriopsis caapi. Kahi-somomá or Kahi-uco ("Kahi that makes you vomit"), a shrub, the leaves of which are added to the drink, an emetic agent, is undoubtedly B. rusbiana, the same plant known among the western Tukanoan Siona of the Colombian Putumayo as Oco-yaje.

Although not so famous as Peyote or the sacred Mexican mushrooms, Ayahuasca has received popular attention because of news articles extolling the so-called telepathic powers of the drink. In fact, in the chemical investigation of Banisteriopsis, the first alkaloid isolated was named telepathine.

The hallucinogen may be prepared in diverse ways. Usually, bark is scraped from freshly harvested pieces of the stem. In the western areas, the bark is boiled for several hours, and the bitter, thick liquid is taken in small doses.

In other localities, the bark is pulverized and then kneaded in cold water; much larger doses must be taken, since it is less concentrated.

The effects of the drink vary according to the method of preparation, the setting in which it is taken, the amount ingested, the number and kinds of admixtures, and the purposes for which it is used, as well as the ceremonial control exercised by the shaman.

Ingestion of Ayahuasca usually induces nausea, dizziness, vomiting, and leads to either an euphoric or an aggressive state.

Frequently the Indian sees overpowering attacks of huge snakes or jaguars. These animals often humiliate him because he is a mere man. The repetitiveness with which snakes and jaguars occur in Ayahuasca visions has intrigued psychologists.

It is understandable that these animals play such a role, since they are the only beings respected and feared by the Indians of the tropical forest; because of their power and stealth, they have assumed a place of primacy in aboriginal religious beliefs.

In many tribes, the shaman becomes a feline during the intoxication, exercising his powers as a cat. Yekwana medicine men mimic the roars of jaguars. Tukano Ayahuasca-takers may experience nightmares of jaguar jaws swallowing them or huge snakes approaching and coiling about their bodies. Snakes in bright colors climb up and down the house posts. Shamans of the Conibo-Shipibo tribe acquire great snakes as personal possessions to defend themselves in supernatural battles against other powerful shamans.

The drug may be the shaman's tool to diagnose illness or to ward off impending disaster, to guess the wiles of an enemy, to prophesy the future. But it is more than the shaman's tool. It enters into almost all aspects of the life of the people who use it, to an extent equaled by hardly any other hallucinogen.

Partakers, shamans or not, set all the gods, the first human beings, and animals, and come to understand the establishment of their social order.

Ayahuasca is, above all, a medicine- the great medicine.

The Ayahuasca leader among the Campa of Peru is a religious practitioner who, following a strict apprenticeship, maintains and increases his shamanistic power through the use of Tobacco and Ayahuasca. The Campa shaman under Ayahuasca acquires an eerie, distant voice, and a quivering jaw which indicates the arrival of good spirits who, splendidly clad, sing and dance before him; the shaman`s singing is merely his own voice echoing their song.

During the singing, his soul may travel far and wide- a phenomenon not interfering with performance of the ceremony nor with the shaman's ability to communicate the wishes of the spirits to participants.

Among the Tukano, the partaker of the drug feels himself pulled along by powerful winds which the leading shaman explains as a trip to the Milky Way, the first stop on the way to heaven.

Similarly, the Ecuadorian Zaparo experience a sensation of being lifted into the air. The souls of Peruvian Conibo-Shipibo shamans fly about in the form of a bird; or shamans may travel in a supernatural canoe manned by demons to reconquer lost or stolen souls.

The effects of the drink are greatly altered when leaves of Banisteriopsis rusbyana or of Psychotria viridis are added. The tryptamines in these additives are believed to be inactive when taken orally, unless monoamine oxidase inhibitors be present. The harmine and its derivatives in B. caapi and B. inebrians inhibitors of this kind, potentiating the tryptamines.

Both types of alkaloids, however, are hallucinogenic.

Length and vividness of the visual hallucinations are notably enhanced when these additives are present. Whereas visions with the basic drink are seen usually in blue, purple, or gray, those induced when the tryptaminic additives are used may be brightly colored ill reds and yellows.

Without additives, Ayahuasca intoxication may be pleasant with visions of light setting ill with the eyes closed after a period of giddiness, nervousness, profuse sweating, and sometimes nausea.

A period of lassitude initiates the play of colors- at first white, then mainly a hazy, smoky blue that later increases in intensity; eventually sleep, interrupted by dreams and occasional feverishhess, takes over. Serious diarrhea, which continues after the intoxication, is the uncomfortable effect most frequently experienced. With the tryptaminic additives, many of these effects are intensified, but trembling and convulsive shaking, mydriasis, and increase of pulse rate are also noted. Frequently, a show of recklessness, sometimes even aggressiveness, marks advanced states of the inebriation.

The famous Yurupari ceremony of the Tukanoans is an ancestor- communication ritual, the basis of a man's tribal society and an adolescent male initiation rite.

Its sacred bark trumpet, which calls the Yurupari spirit, is taboo to the sight of women; it symbolizes the forces to whom the ceremony is holy, favorably influencing fertility spirits, effecting cures of prevalent illnesses, and improving the male prestige and power over women. The Yurupari ceremony is now little practiced.

One of the most detailed reports of a recent dance describes it as follows:

"A deep booming of drums from within the maloca heralded the appearance of the mystic Yurupari horns. With only very slight urging from one of the older men, all females from babes in arms to withered, toothless hags betook themselves to the fringing forest, to hear only from afar the deep, mysterious notes of the trumpets, sight of which is believed to spell certain death for any woman....

Payés and older men are not above aiding the workings of the mystery by the judicious administration of poison to any overcurious female.

"Four pairs of horns had been taken from places of concealment, and the players now ranged themselves in a rough semi-circle, producing the first deep, lugubrious notes....

"Many of the older men had meanwhile opened their tangatara boxes of ceremonial feathers and were selecting with great care brilliant feather ruffs, which were bound to the mid-section of the longer horns...

"Four oldsters, with perfect rhythm and dramatic timing, paraded through the maloca, blowing the newly decorated horns, advancing and retracting with short dancing steps.

At intervals, a couple danced out of the door, their horns raised high, and returned after a brief turn, the expanding and contracting feather ruffs producing a beautiful burst of translucent color against the stronger light.

Younger men were beginning the first of the savage whippings, and the master of ceremonies appeared with the red, curiously shaped clay jar containing the powerful narcotic drink called Caapi.

The thick, brown, bitter liquid was served in pairs of tiny, round gourds; many drinkers promptly vomited....

"Whipping proceeded by pairs. The first lashes were applied to the legs and ankles, the whip flung far back in a deliberately calculated dramatic gesture; the blows resounded like pistol shots. Places were immediately exchanged. Soon the whips were being freely applied, and all the younger men were laced with bloody welts on all parts of the body. Tiny lads not more than six or seven years old would catch up the abandoned whips, merrily imitating their elders.

Gradually the volume of sound diminished, until only two lone performers remained, enchanted with their art, bowing, advancing, and retreating, with great delicacy and grace in the celltot of the maloca. About a dozen of the older men were outfitting themselves with their finest diadems of resplendent guacamayo feathers, tall, feathery egret plumes, oval pieces of the russet skin of the howler monkey, armadillo-hide disks, prized loops of monkey-hair cord, precious quartzite cylinders, and jaguar-tooth belts. Bedecked with these triumphs of savage art, the men formed a swaying, dancing semi-circle, each with his right hand resting on his neighbor's shoulder, all shifting and stamping in slow unison. Leading he group was the ancient payé, blowing Tobacco smoke in benediction on his companions from the huge cigar in its engraved ceremonial fork, while his long, polished rattle-lance vibrated constantly. The familiar, dignified Cachiri ceremonial chant was intoned by the group; heir deep voices rose and fell, mingling with the mysterious booming tones of the Yurupari horns."

The Tukano believe that when, at the time of creation, humans arrived to populate the Vaupés, many extraordinary happenings took place. People had to endure hardship before settling the new regions. Hideous snakes and dangerous fish lived in the rivers; there were spirits with cannibalistic proclivities; and the Tukano received in trepidation the basic elements of their culture.

There lived among these carly Tukano a woman; the first woman of creation, who "drowned" men in visions. Tukanoans believe that during coitus, a man "drowns"- the equivalent of seeing visions.

The first woman found herself with child. The Sun-father had impregnated her through the eye. She gave birth to a child who became Caapi, the narcotic plant. The child was born during a brilliant flash of light. The woman -Yaje- cut the umbilical cord and, rubbing the child with magical plants, shaped its body. The Caapichild lived to be an old man zealously guarding his hallucinogenic powers. >From this aged child, owner of Caapi or the sexual act, the Tukanoan men received semen.

For the Indian, "the hallucinatory experience is essentially a sexual one... to make it sublime, to pass from the erotic, the sensual, to a mystical union with the mythic era, the intrauterine stage, is the ultimate goal, attained by a mere handful but coveted by all."

All or much of Indian art, it has been proposed, is based on hallucinogenic experience. Colors, similarly, are symbolically significant: yellow or off-white has a seminal concept, indicating solar fertilization: red -color of the uterus, fire, heat- symbolizes female fecundity; blue represents thought through Tobacco smoke. These colors accompany Ayahuasca intoxications and have precise interpretations.

Many of the complicated rock engravings in the rivers of the Vaupés, are undoubtedly based upon drug experiences. Likewise, the stereotyped paintings on the bark wall of Tukanoan communal houses represent themes from Ayahuasca hallucinations.

It has been suggested that many of the design motifs induced by Caapi are, on the one hand, culture-bound and, on the other hand, controlled by specific biochemical effects of the active principles in the plant.

The special painted clay pot for preparing Caapi is sacred among the Tukanoans, and when not in use, aways hangs outside of the maloca in a northeastern orientation. The designs are directly connected with the characteristic visual effects experienced during Caapi intoxication.

Pictures and decorations on pots, houses, basketry, and other household objects fall into two categories: abstract design and figurative motifs.

The Indians know the difference between the two and say that it is due to Caapi intoxication.

Someone watching a man at work or finding a drawing would say: "This is what one sees after three cups of Yajé," occasionally specifying the kind of plant that had been used and thus giving an indication of the nature of the narcotic effects they attributed to different concoctions."

It would seem that such an important drug would have attracted the attention of Europeans at a very early date. Such was not the case. In 1851, however, the English botanist Spruce, who was collecting among Tukanoan tribes in the Rio Vaupés of Brazil, met with Caapi and sent material for chemical study to England. Three years later, he observed Caapi use again among the Guahibo Indians along the upper Orinoco. Later, he encountered Ayahuasca among the Zaparo of Ecuador and identified it as the same hallucinogen as Caapi.

"In the course of the night," Spruce wrote of Caapi, "the young men partook of Caapi five or six times, in the intervals between the dances; but only a few of them at a time, and a very few drank of it twice. The cup-bearer -who must be a man, for no woman can touch or taste Caapi- starts at a short run from the opposite end of the house, with a small calabash containing about a teacupful of Caapi in each hand, muttering 'Mo-mo-mo-mo-mo' as he runs, and gradually sinking down untill at last his chin nearly touches his knees, when he reaches out one of his cups to the man who stands ready to receive it...

In two minutes or less after drinking it, the effects begin to be apparent. The Indian turns deadly pale, trembles in every limb and horror is in his aspect. Suddenly contrary symptoms succeed; he bursts into perspiration and seems possessed with reckless fury, seizes whatever arms are at hand... and rushes to the door while "he inflicts violent blows on the ground and doorposts, calling out all the while: Thus would I do to mine enemy [naming him by name] were this he!In about ten minutes the exitement has passed off, and the Indian grows calm but appears exhausted."

Since Spruce's time, this drug has been mentioned often by many travelers and explorers, but little has been accomplished until recently. In fact, it was not untill 1969 that chemical analysis of Spruce`s material, collected for such examination in 1851, was carried out.

Much remains to be learned about Ayahuasca, Caapi, Yajé. There is little time before increasing acculturation and even extraction of whole tribes will make it forever impossible to learn about these age-old beliefs and uses of one of the most fascinating culturally powerful of the hallucinogens.

"Vine of the soul"

Taken from: "Plants of the gods, their sacred, healing and hallucinogenic powers" By Richard Evans Schultes and Albert Hofmann (Healing Arts Press, Rochester, Vermont)

This document Healing Arts Press