A drink with healing powers, used by the indigenous people of Amazonia, ayahuasca consists in a preparation of a kind of liana, which is named “Yagugue”. According to the beliefs, ayahuasca can help heal depression and addictions, and is a natural substitute for pharmacological treatments that are usually recommended for this kind of ailments.
One of the first references found about ayahuasca outside Amazonia was on the book “The cards of Ayahuasca”, published in 1962 by writers William Borroughs and Allen Ginsberg, who, through the use of cards, told their personal experiences with the drink during their trip to Latin America, specifically during their stay in the Amazon jungle in Peru.
According to Professor Dennis MacKenna, expert botanist of the University of Minnesota, “most people look for ayahuasca with good intentions, because they have specific problems such as depression, and drinking this indigenous drink is not fun or pleasant, because it puts the body in a physical and emotional squeezer”.
This drink has a strong depurative power and side effects that range from hallucinations, nauseas and vomiting to shaking and lethargy, but those who have drunk it assure that it has allowed a change in perspective and thought, which has helped them ease their addiction and ailments.
According to different cultures, ayahuasca allows a modification in the consciousness, making it possible to enter a state of catharsis, which represents an efficient method to discard the evil which reside in a person.
Studies done on Yagugue liana explain that in its components there are harmine-type alkaloids, which along with harmaline and harmamol, are classified as the main inhibitors of the monoamine oxidase, being the chemical compounds of the first generation of antidepressants.
The use of ayahuasca has its roots in different South American cultures, like the ones from Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Brazil, all these countries share a part of the great region of Amazonas. The Shuar people in Ecuador and Peru, know ayahuasca as “Natem”, making use of its properties in different ceremonies and healing rituals. In Colombia, the communities of Inga and Kamsa consider the benefits of Yagague liana, adapting it to their own traditional healing practices.
The importance of ayahuasca has been rising in the last few years, making many scientist start to focus on its antidepressant properties to help heal psychiatric and psychological ailments, and also investigate how it can break harmful habits and evoke a process of detoxification. The treatment on rehab patients has already started in Brazil and Peru, and it is considered a natural relief for patients addicted to medications.
ALFA