For countless ages, the sophisticated scientists of the Amazonian basin have, in the name of religion, explored the various modes of their own nervous system functioning through the phytotechnologies of orally activated tryptamine psychedelics. Many have journeyed to the Amazon in order to taste this sacred brew, the potions of roots and leaves and barks which throw the intrepid psychonaut into the furthest reaches of their own minds. We need no longer make this journey, or spend great deals of money importing the sacred plants employed in these mixtures. The fusion of modern and ancient science has allowed us to discover the chemical mechanism by which these sacraments act, and how to mimic them with entheobotanicals you may find in your own backyard.
Ayahuasca, or Yage, is the name applied to a number of shamanic brews used for visionary purposes in the Amazon. Ayahuasca means "Vine of Souls," and refers specificaly to the Banisteriopsis caapi vine, rich in beta-carbolines. A number of admixture plants are added, which fall under four divisions--stimulants, medicinal plants, plants whose pharmacobotany is currently unknown, and plants containing entheogenic tryptamines.
Stimulant plants are added in some regions to combat the narcotic-sedating properties of beta-carbolines. These stimulants are usually methylxanthines, like 1,3,7-trimethylxanthine, caffeine. Ilex genus plants are fine examples--this is the same genus that gives us the cerebrotonic Yerba Mate tea.
Our Western medicine is far behind the pharmaceutical database stored in the oral traditions of Amazonian technicians, so the class of plants whose chemistry we don't understand may have a number of medicinal plants, which serve healing purposes to augment the healing visions which are unleashed by Ayahuasca.
The real oomph of the potion, however, comes from the tryptamine bearing plants. These are the plants, like Psychotria viridis, which contain N,N-dimethyltryptamine or the 5-methoxy homologue, as well as other methyltryptamines which are likely inactive.
The pharmacodynamics of Ayahuasca most likely come from this pairing of tryptamines and beta-carbolines. Tryptamines are normally inactive orally (up to dosages above one gram), as they are easily deaminated by monoamine oxidase. However, the mildly psychedelic beta-carbolines act to inhibit monoamine oxidase (MAO), making Ayahuasca essentially a technology for making tryptamines orally active. In addition, tryptamines normally last on the scale of minutes in action, when smoked or injected without MAO inhibition. However, with MAO inhibition, the tryptamine experience is extended to four to six hours.
However, in a recent letter to MAPS, Jon Ott challenged the mechanism of MAOI in Ayahuasca, pointing out that though MAO inhibition in the gut would allow tryptamines to enter the bloodstream, MAOI in the brain actually has an antagonistic effect on LSD and DMT, as can be expected, and as has been seen in clinical tests with clinical MAOIs.
With this understanding of the pharmacology of Ayahuasca, Jon Ott, in his book Ayahuasca Analogues, from which the title for this site is taken, discussed the use of non-Amazonian plants for production of pharmahuasca, or a pan-Gaean Ayahuasca mixture. Here I have reproduced, without permission, the tables giving Ayahuasca admixture plants, analyses of Ayahuasca brews, plants containing beta-carbolines, and plants containing tryptamines.
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