Schedule

Activating the Sacred

A spirituality that is only private and self-absorbed, one devoid of an authentic political and social consciousness, does little to halt the suicidal juggernaut of history. On the other hand, an activism that is not purified by profound spiritual and psychological self-awareness and rooted in divine truth, wisdom, and compassion will only perpetuate the problem it is trying to solve, however righteous its intentions. Andrew Harvey. I believe that Ayahuasca holds a gift for a community of problematic substance users who are literally dying for a spiritual solution to the pain caused by trauma, exclusion and criminalisation. Our society focuses on “the addict” as a diseased individual rather than a person medicating against emotional and spiritual pain. This is what I believe the medicine holds, my community cannot access this, often through economic and social barriers but fundamentally the illegal nature of the medicine. There is a growing international recovery movement which is no longer focused on abstinence, Recovering Justice want to create dialogue between the recovery, drug user and Ayahuasca communities so we can co-create our shared vision for healthy and self-actualised human beings and communities. Much of my work has been focusing on how we motivate communities and small movements to create larger ones inspiring grassroots advocacy and reform. What would a symbiotic community of healers and activists working together feel like and how do we embody both those aspects of ourselves without sacrificing integrity or burning out; is there a way to heal the activists and activate the healers? I believe that sacred activism or activating the sacred can dissolve the constructed boundaries between individuals, communities and movements. Attending this conference would be an incredible opportunity for my organisation to meet a new community and form alliances and partnerships.

Ayahuascero or tobaquero? Tobaco in the context of ayahuasca experiences

In the transcendental world of ayahuasca, we have demonstrated that the use of tobacco (Nicotiana Rustica) has particular properties for healing, self-knowledge and the expansion of consciousness. It is imperative to address this field of knowledge that goes beyond ayahuasca, sustains it and in fact, gives it its true importance.

The Mesa Verde Foundation (Rosario, Argentina), has documented research protocols for more than 20 years, through which we have defined the close relationship that both plants confer in ritualized contexts. The reassessment of tobacco has led us to understand its capacity for action in the physical, energetic and spiritual areas, exponentially enhancing the lessons gained from the use of ayahuasca. In Amazonian knowledge, the connection of these worlds (ayahuasca and tobacco) that merge into one is undeniable: the understanding of a unique environment that transcends the material.

In this presentation, we will discuss the properties of tobacco, its origins, its taxonomy and history, teachings and above all its manner of acting through the ayahuasca experience, giving new meaning to the approach of its therapeutic potential. In such a way that a true reassessment of ayahuasca and its therapeutic and dynamic capacity in the experience will be developed through an exclusive reconciliation in its combination with tobacco.
The journey of both plants working together will explain a deeper and more radical level of this ancient brew, as yet insufficiently explored.in the experience will be developed through an exclusive reconciliation in its combination with tobacco.
The journey of both plants working together will explain a deeper and more radical level of this ancient brew, as yet insufficiently explored. plantas invisten en contextos ritualizados. La revalorización del Tabaco, nos ha llevado a comprender su capacidad de acción, en los campos físico, energético y espiritual, potenciando de modo exponencial los aprendizajes procedentes del uso de Ayahuasca. En el saber amazónico es innegable la conexión de estos mundos (Ayahuasca y Tabaco) que se funden en uno solo: la comprensión de un entorno unívoco, que trasciende lo material.

En esta conferencia desarrollaremos, las propiedades del Tabaco, sus orígenes, su taxonomía e historia, aprendizaje y sobretodo su modo de accionar a través de las experiencias de Ayahuasca, dándole un nuevo sentido al abordaje del potencial terapéutico de la misma. De tal manera, que una verdadera revalorización de la Ayahuasca, su capacidad terapéutica y dinámica en la experiencia, será desarrollada a través de un acercamiento exclusivo en su combinación con el Tabaco.
El recorrido de ambas plantas trabajando en conjunto, explicitara así, un nivel más profundo y radical del brebaje milenario, no explorado lo suficiente hasta la fecha.

Our forgotten Therapist: Music and the Art of Listening

This talk will present the latest research findings into the the function of set, setting and music in facilitating transformative experiences with psychedelic medicines, and discuss implications of these insights for developing a new, more accessible, more effective and more humane future of mental health care.

Psychedelia and instutionialization: The emancipatory potential of ayahuasca

Psychedelic substance use plays a role in the various cultures and in the most diverse ways. In some of them, this use has been integrated in a traditional way into community life without causing major problems. On the contrary, in more than a few cases, have become — as demonstrated by the case of ayahuasca — a in source of inspiration and cultural creation, of emotional well-being and psychic balance, of respect and adaptation of social life to the natural environment, etc. In other societies, such as contemporary capitalist cultures, its appearance has been problematic, if not openly conflictive. It could not be otherwise in a system that is founded on antagonism.

The hypothesis that we explore in this presentation points out the need for an autonomous institutional framework (neither state-based nor commercial) to facilitate the sound incorporation of the benefits that psychedelic substances can offer and, at the same time, to minimize and/or avoid the problems that are being identified. In this sense, we understand that ayahuasca is of interest because, while it can be subject to the familiar disadvantages that it shares with other types of psychedelic substances, it is nevertheless true that it presents certain novel elements that may situate it as a deviant case on which to propose novel hypotheses to respond to the heuristics that the psychedelic question poses. Through the way its use is put into practice, ayahuasca could now find itself in a position to establish a useful institutional framework for its incorporation into society.

UFOs, ETs, ENOC, and DMT

From an unreleased video-interview made of the famous mestizo ayahuasquero healer Pablo Amaringo in 2003 (to be screened), and famous stories such as the “UFO” sighting of the ethnobotanist and writer Terece McKenna in the Colombian jungle, discussion of “extraterrestrial” imagery in experiences with ayahuasca and DMT, and the association between the UFO phenomenon, Non-Ordinary States of Conscience (NOSC), Indo-American cultures, and DMT.
Both the transpersonal visionary experience and the culture of mysterious objects in the heavens were marginalized by the modern hegemony, however, among the different visionary manifestations, the phenomena of light (tectonic, celestial or entheogenic), shamanism, and DMT appear to have a far deeper relationship than we ever thought before.

Notes on identifying potential malpractice in the globalized offer of ayahuasca

The exponential growth in the supply and demand of ayahuasca worldwide during the last decade is a fact. This globalization in turn drives up a series of variables directly related to the expansive effect that encompass the sustainability of source inputs, its production and marketing, and even the health risks and threats to the integrity of the people associated with malpractice on the supply-side. Thus, and as a crucial point, we attend risky scenarios not only for the health of people individually, but for the survival of the cultures of origin and their practices, as well as for the plants.

The need arises to approach the phenomenon from different aspects and, as a starting point, a deeper understanding is proposed of the cultural and contextual differences that exist between territories and communities of origin and the urban centers of different latitudes, which qualify the entheogenic experience. On the other hand, while the expansion of the supply is inevitably associated with the condition of aptitude, both in the minimum training needed to impart and in the format itself, the need arises to build and implement an ethical protocol for the consumption of these plants, both abroad and in their origins. We then expose a series of common elements identified and extracted from examples of providers related to malpractice, especially in Spain, trying to contribute to the construction of the fabric of these protocols.

The Roots Awaken: Media & Technology to Empower Indigenous Communities

The purpose of this presentation is to explore how we can empower indigenous communities maintaining ancestral ayahuasca practices through media, technology, and territorial mapping. Currently the Amazon Rainforest is vanishing due to the threats of great environmental destruction. The indigenous people are at the forefront of protecting the rainforest and the wisdom of thousands of plants; including ayahuasca.
Kumiko’s work with community based media and technology alongside Amazonian communities addresses the core issues that the tribes are facing. This talk will explore the various components that make up co-creative collaboration in working with local communities. In order to continue using the medicine we must protect the indigenous people and their territory.
Kumiko will present segments from the feature length film she is directing, The Roots Awaken, about people from the Andes Mountains to the Amazon Rainforest that are uniting to protect their culture and ceremony. She will share insight on how she was able to live with thirteen tribes in the Amazon and film their intimate ceremonies for four years. Her insight will open a discussion around the benefits of merging innovative technology with ancient wisdom in this time of globalization.

Wachuma, the medicine of dreams and self-knowledge

In the Andes of Peru, the Chavín culture discovered this medicine 3,000 years ago and left it as a bequest to humanity. The main quality of this plant is that it refreshes our memory, activates our dreams, teaches us through them and shows many more things for Living Well (el Buen Vivir). Wachuma or Huachuma, better known as San Pedro, whose scientific name is Trichocereus Pachanaoi or Echinopsis Pachanoi, is a cactus that grows in the Andes that has guided our ancestors for thousands of years, reminding them of their essence, the permanent connection with the divine, and teaching them to heal holistically: body, mind and spirit. Today, humanity is in crisis and nature is reacting, it is urgent to open our hearts and raise our consciousness to continue evolving. Master plants like Wachuma can be an excellent aid in this process. All physical diseases have their origin in the spiritual, emotional and mental aspects; when we get to the bottom of what we are holding that is making us sick, our physical healing begins, as well. So, we remember who we are, in essence, and learn to use our energy and all the resources we have more consciously with better results in our lives.

The tradition-less path

The presentation will be in a personal tone explaining my process with the plant, and where I am 17 years later. I will try to explain how my path began with hard drugs, continued with psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists, legal drugs, different therapies and various admissions to sleep clinics etc….Until meeting the plant and beginning to see that I could change my way of being, of relating to the world, to people, to myself… There began my non-traditional path… Above all, I will talk about how I understand the intake of ayahuasca today.

Tales of an Explorer-Psychonaut: The Importance of Mind Set in Altered States Exploration

Rio Hahn will present from his psychonautic explorations of mind-altering substances, from ayahuasca in the Amazon to the deadly Datura in Nepal. Drawing on his personal experiences as an early psychonaut, and lessons he learned through personal experience with mentors such as Richard Evans Schultes, Albert Hofmann, John Lilly, Timothy Leary, Oscar Janiger and others, he will help us to understand the critical importance of “set,” meaning mind set, in any exploration of altered states of consciousness. At this time of ayahuasca tourism and self-made shamans, it is more important than ever to develop the ability to navigate the complex world of psychoactive substances and altered states of consciousness. His talk was developed to help new and experienced psychonauts gain new tools in their explorations, and help them avoid the exploitation that has occurred in our community.

Upper Napo Ayahuasca Commons: Networked, Biocultural Evolution of Health and Healing Rituals

Some plants with market power have centres of origin – bioregions identified as having the greatest diversity – to return to if commerce is genetically challenged.

It has been argued from a number of perspectives (Beyer 2012; Highpine 2013) that the original home of the ayahuasca vine and practice is the Upper Napo.

This talk, however, is more concerned with a diverse future than an original past. The Upper Napo is experiencing rapid urbanisation and gentrification, with territory and plants – and the practices based on them – disappearing fast. The resulting loss of micronutrients and healing powers from the forest, when moving from autonomous subsistence to consumerism, severely undermines popular health.

Yet fertile resistance to the civilising process is emerging: an agroecological ayahuasca commons is evolving. Based on a friend-of-a-friend protocol and reciprocity in perpetuity, the purpose is magical, not commercial: to ensure future generations can talk to the plants that co-evolved with the Napo Runa.

Individual specimens of ayahuasca, chali panga (Diplopterys cabrerana) and amiruka (Psychotria carthagenensis) that have been in the care of, and been caring for, families for generations are, following Free, Prior and Informed Consent, documented and propagated in networked ‘chakras’ (forest gardens) dedicated to in-situ, distributed conservation.

The future will include other significant plants and the wider purpose is to facilitate further biocultural evolution of the Upper Napo healing traditions and the chakras upon which they rest.

The Upper Napo ayahuasca commons is part of a larger chakra research and development project.

Ayahuasca Spiritual Practices at the Parliament of World’s Religions

In November 2018, a team of 15 ayahuasceros from around the world assembled at The Parliament of the World’s Religions, a religious conference in Toronto, to make a formal presentation about ayahuasca spiritual traditions. This was a monumental affair, as our delegates, some the members of indigenous tribes from the Amazon, were able to present a “freedom of religion” appeal and sing sacred ayahuasca songs in front of thousands. As these practices are typically met with governmental and legal hostility, acknowledgement of the religious validity of ayahuasca ceremonies by the world’s largest interfaith organization is a powerful step in gaining world-wide recognition, legitimacy, and acceptance.

How ayahuasca even came to be presented at the Parliament might itself be considered a miracle. It’s only because of the tireless efforts of one who was able to treat his so-called “untreatable” mental illness with ayahuasca, that this came to fruition. Benjamin Mudge, a man struggling with Bipolar Disorder, found relief, ease, and grace in his life after treating his condition with a unique blend of ayahuasca that he himself developed. The vast improvement in his mental health inspired him to pursue a PhD in Psychiatry, educate the world on this plant medicine’s many spiritual and healing benefits, and advocate for the religious freedom of those who responsibly hold sacred ceremonies with it. It is only through this personal struggle that the motivation to gather an international team and bring ayahuasca spiritualities to the Parliament of the World’s Religions came to be.

Shipibo Plant Medicine Demystified: Practitioner Training and Plant Diets Explained

This presentation focuses on two fundamental and overlapping elements of plant medicine about which accurate information is difficult to come by outside of practitioner’s inner circles: the shamanic training process and the role of plant diets. The specifics of these processes are complex and generally not shared publicly. However the basic concepts are easily conveyed and invaluable to a complete understanding of the tradition.

The Shipibo training process will be described at a practical level: differences in approaches between maestros and lineages, time and resource commitment, safety issues, where icaros come from, how they and other shamanic tools are used, etc.

Specific emphasis will be placed on the plant diet, which is the cornerstone of nearly all Amazonian medicine traditions and the mechanism by which practitioners learn to work with plant energies, including holding ayahuasca ceremonies. For participants, diets are the foundation for a deeper level of healing.

Diets will be discussed in depth; how one diets, physical and emotional challenges of diets, as well as how the diet connects the dieter to the energy and healing power of plants. Different approaches to dieting; healing vs. learning and isolation vs. social will also be explored.

Music and Psychedelic Therapy: Past, Present, and Future

Music has helped promote healing throughout history, and music’s capacity to engender or support altered states of consciousness remains a key component of today’s psychedelic therapy as well. Thanks to neuroscience and today’s brain imaging technology, we know more about this than ever before, even though this research has just begun to measure and quantify music’s capacity for healing and to engender or support altered states. We’ll take a global journey through the various uses of music as a method to guide or support therapeutic interventions throughout history, including how music is used with today’s psychedelic therapy and potential future applications.

Healing processes for women with Amazonian medicines

We will share the experience of the healing processes “Women and Amazonian Ancestral Medicine”; a safe, contained and professional experience, created for working with groups of women from different countries through a sustained process with ayahuasca medicine.
We constitute being a woman as a central aspect of the healing process, in the therapeutic design itself, incorporating:
– Women’s circles and integration after each ceremony, unifying the benefits of both practices
– Icaros oriented to “touch” on the transcendental experience themes linked to feminine life: Maternity, creative capacity, abortions, affective relationships, among other common themes. In this context, we have witnessed collective uterine cures, among other experiences.
In parallel, each participant presents unique motivations, the experience of women being very interesting with regard to mental health and psychophysical diagnoses (depression, addictions, uterine cancer, among others) and early traumas (especially childhood sexual abuse). We evaluate each case, designing a proposal of accompaniment before and after the experience in the forest, which allows the containment necessary to perform safe work with lasting effects in people with complex diagnoses. According to the case, we have incorporated interventions such as online psychotherapeutic support, plant intakes or other preparatory energetic interventions (with people trained in the participant’s city of origin), psycho-educational systemic interventions with family members (in cases where they oppose participation in the process with master plants), reports and networking with other treating professionals (psychologists, psychiatrists and/or practitioners of ancestral medicines), etc.

The globalization of Peganum Harmala and the x-huascas

For some decades, an old world plant has been experiencing rapid globalization in the context of the use of visionary plants, and revolves around the sphere of interests of ayahuasca: Peganum harmala or alharma. Their seeds contain the same alkaloids as the ayahuasca liana, with average concentrations ten times more powerful than the Banisteriopsis caapi vine.
As the most powerful MAO inhibitory plant source in the world, harmala seeds are used to unleash or strengthen the visionary properties of other plants (X-huasca combinations), both in psychonautic use and in ritual, spiritual and therapeutic contexts. In the last 20 years, harmala seeds have landed in Brazil, falling into combinations such as juremhuasca (jurema + harmel) and harmahuasca (harmel + ayahuasca brew).
Archeology has noted a relationship between humans and harmala of at least 7,000 years, while ethnobotany is highlighting an important religious role of this plant among the ancient populations of the Mediterranean and Asia, where, in many cases, it had assumed the role of the Tree of Life.
Another important aspect of harmala is its potential as an anti-cancer agent, being increasingly confirmed by clinical research; a fact that implies an indirect confirmation of the anti-cancer properties of ayahuasca itself.

Understanding the therapeutic potential of Ayahuasca: emerging psychological processes in a sample of users at the Temple of the Way of Light (Peru)

Our study is integrated in the broader research project “Long-Term Effects of Ayahuasca on the Quality of Life, Well-Being and Health of Western Users: A Longitudinal Study” conducted at ICEERS in collaboration with Beckley Foundation. In the context of this longitudinal, observational research project that aimed to assess the impact of ayahuasca on well-being and emotional symptomatology in visitors of the Temple of the Way of Light, we used qualitative phenomenological research that searches for the meanings underneath the participant’s subjective experiences and interpretations. Semi-structured in-depth interviewing was used to collect data next to an intentional theoretical sample of n=24 participants that presented criteria to integrate the groups of Depression, Anxiety, PTSD and Grief, immediately after the end of their experiences and while they were still at the TOWL. We asked participants to refer to the content of their experiences during the ceremonies, as well as to their views of the process at the moment of the interview in a stage coincident with integration. Our goal was to explain the broader research results that show high impact of ayahuasca in the relief of symptomatology by identifying and understanding the psychological processes that emerged from the participant’s experiences perceived as more related to ayahuasca’s therapeutic potential.
We developed a semi-inductive thematic analysis through qualitative data analysis software N-Vivo® 11 inspired by Grounded Theory. Semi-inductive data analysis allows a rigorous and systematic exploration of the content of the participant’s experiences while also authorizing creativity of the researcher in finding new and emergent content during data analysis.
Four groups of broadly understood psychological processes emerged that we associated with predominantly cognitive processes (for e.g. awareness or insight, self-control, acceptance), predominantly emotional processes (for e.g. emotional release, connection with self), predominantly spiritual processes (spiritual connection) and processes associated with the body (recognizing anxiety’s primary symptoms, connection with the body). Within these four main themes, cognitive processes accounted for an expressive part of the global results, with a total of 536 references coded and 21 participants referring to the theme of awareness. Predominantly emotional processes emerged in 138 references, with 17 participants referring to the theme of emotional release. Psychological processes associated with spirituality emerged in 37 references, with 12 participants referring to the theme of spiritual connection. Finally, psychological processes related with body awareness emerged in 33 references, with 8 participants referring to the theme of recognition of anxiety triggering primary symptoms. After exploring the emergence of these themes in the context of the various symptom groups we will discuss qualitative research’s potential to offer a deeper understanding of the therapeutic potential of ayahuasca; the relation between our findings and current literature around the therapeutic potential of psychedelics; and the relation our themes present with psychological processes set in motion by conventional psychological approaches to the treatment of these symptoms.

Evaluation of the Possible Interactions Between Canabidiol and Ayahuasca in Healthy Volunteers: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Controlled Study with Placebo

Ayahuasca is a psychoactive beverage traditionally used by Amazonian indigenous groups and by religious groups such as Santo Daime for ritual and therapeutic purposes. The main active principle of ayahuasca is dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a hallucinogenic tryptamine that acts as an agonist of the 5-HT2A serotonergic receptor. Studies in animals and humans suggest that ayahuasca has anxiolytic and antidepressant effects. Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of the major phytocannabinoids present in the Cannabis plant. Although the mechanisms of action are poorly understood, basic and clinical studies have shown that CBD has anxiolytic, antipsychotic, anticonvulsant, antioxidant and neuroprotective effects, among others. Basic studies have found evidence of interaction between 5-HT2A receptors and the endocannabinoid system. This interaction has not been evaluated in humans. Therefore, the objective of this project is to evaluate the effects of CBD on the subjective, cardiovascular and cognitive effects of ayahuasca. 20 healthy volunteers will participate in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial where they will receive the following treatments: placebo or CBD (600 mg) followed by ayahuasca (1 mL/kg). The assessment of subjective effects and social cognition will be performed through the application of scales and tests (VAMS, ESS, BAI, Recognition of Facial Expressions Task). These scales and tests will also be applied 1, 7, 14 and 21 days after administration of ayahuasca for the evaluation of subacute effects. Cardiovascular assessment (blood pressure and heart rate) will be performed only during the acute effects of ayahuasca (0-6h).

Evaluation of the healing potential of ayahuasca and the integration of experiences

In the years 2015 and 2016 Rabbit Hole institute from Slovenia, conducted the study on healing potential of ayahuasca. In the study we focused on evaluating the risks and benefits of ayahuasca and compared the healing potential of ayahuasca with healing potential of psychotherapy.
Regarding the reported great benefits of ayahuasca experiences we tried to “translate” the healing process of ayahuasca experience in the language of therapy practitioners, trained in western psychotherapy. Most western psychotherapists are skeptical towards the indigenous healing methods, especially the ones, facilitated with the intake of psychoactive substances, that are in our culture still regarded as drugs. In the talk, I will present the main findings of the qualitative part of the study and insights from my work with integration of ayahuasca experiences.

Ayahuasca Ritual Use During Treatment of Severe Physical Illnesses: a Qualitative Study

Recent evidence shows that ayahuasca may act as a therapeutic agent in the treatment of psychiatric disorders such as addiction and depression. Preliminary studies also hypothesize that it could present therapeutic effects in the treatment of physical illnesses, including cancer. Diseases that threaten life or generate severe incapacitation also affect mental health, since they can raise existential questions and trigger psychospiritual processes. Currently, an increasing number of people have sought ayahuasca after the diagnosis of severe physical illnesses (SPI). However, this phenomenon has been little studied and the psychological mechanisms of the possible therapeutic effects are unknown. Thus, the purpose of this study was to use qualitative methods to investigate how the ritual use of ayahuasca influences the ways people with SPI understand and relate to illness and treatment.
Fourteen participants (7 female, 7 male) who consumed ayahuasca ritualistically during the period of medical treatment for SPI (gastrointestinal, dermatological, neurological, and rheumatologic diseases, HIV positive and cancer) were included. Data analysis was performed by thematic analysis and sample size was defined by theoretical saturation.
The results suggest that the ritual use of ayahuasca may promote a deep introspection that could facilitate autobiographical-related catharsis and the attribution of new meanings to their illnesses, increasing acceptance. Illness acceptance, as well as reported positive effects on mental health, seem to favor changes in the relationship to illness and treatment, usually with better coping. New views towards life, death, and spirituality also contribute to a change of perspective of ayahuasca drinkers regarding their SPI.

“The liana of life”: Traditional indigenous medicines – a vital component for the treatment of eating disorders?

Eating Disorders, ED, are serious and especially difficult to treat, with a tendency to increase in different cultures; there are more and more cases of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder in prepubescent girls, adult women, boys and men.

They present the highest morbidity rate of all current psychological disorders: 1 person dies every 62 minutes. An estimated 40% relapse after receiving traditional western treatments. And they usually still live in secret and silence, able to go unnoticed for years.

Can traditional indigenous medicines be a key to their important and longed-for healing, especially chronic, resistant or adult sufferers?

Traditional indigenous medicines have facilitated a range of valuable and diverse experiences, until recently inaccessible – to understandings, to reconciliations or refocusing on how they look, nourish or relate and connect with themselves, with others and with the world, with those who have minimized symptoms and neurosis, vitality has been reactivated, or the integral and healthy development of the people discussed in this presentation has continued.

The reflections, analysis and experiences that are shared come from three sources. From the actual healing process of a person with severe anorexia nervosa treated with psychiatry, clinical psychology, psychotherapies and traditional indigenous medicines and diets in the Peruvian Amazon by the speaker; from psychotherapeutic cases; and from recent research on the effects of ayahuasca taken ritually on ED.

The comprehensive body points to yes: they can be a key piece. They can, finally, lead to a return to eating, loving, feeling, enjoying, to simply starting to live.
re los efectos de la ayahuasca tomada ritualmente en los TCA.

El conjunto completo se dirige al sí: pueden ser pieza clave. Pueden, finalmente, llevar a volver a comer, amar, sentir, disfrutar, a, sencillamente, empezar a vivir.

Forest Gardens and Ancestral Health in the Urbanising Ecuadorian Amazon

The Upper Napo Runa, Amazonian Kichwa of Ecuador, used to roam the forest at all scales. ‘Chakras’ – a network of polycultural forest gardens of great biological diversity – were distributed across large territories with wild parts to traverse, and used to be the basis for health, social relations, and transmission of knowledge.

Chakras far from dwellings could provide solitude for magical practice and autonomy from states, empires and conquerors unable to identify these horticultural sites camouflaged in “virgin” forest, yet visible to fellow people through property patterns encoded in the vegetation, sculptured for millennia through selection and promotion of some species and the containment of others. Chakras near dwellings provided food and medicine daily. Chakras were at the heart of abundant Kichwa subsistence together with the wild, the rivers and the rocks, and people floated freely between them.

Today, however, squeezed between conservation policies, deforestation, mining, oil fields, roads and urbanisation, the chakra system has almost disappeared entirely, taking with it health and healing powers forged through the ages in communion with spirits, plants, animals, and many other beings. The territory of the yachak – the one who knows – has disappeared.

Given this context, and based on numerous conversations with Napo Runa friends since 2005, I ask what kind of spaces and cultural alliances can form the basis for the continued but changed existence of ancient healing practices, in the Ecuadorian Amazon, today, and for the future.

Ayahusca for treating trauma and post traumatic stress discorder

In the ayahuasca ceremonies that are currently performed in the western scene, we often see cases of people who have suffered some type of trauma in their lives, some of them presenting symptoms of post-traumatic stress. In this presentation I will present a protocol for working with these cases, from preparation before the ceremony, the care and interventions during the experience and the post-session tracking.

Transformation of consciousness from the use of ayahuasca in Santiago, Chile

This research sought to learn the course of human living of a group of people after the ritual use of ayahuasca, in everyday life. The question that guided this study was: How does the experience of the ritual use of ayahuasca relate to human living? This research was constructed from a qualitative approach and has an exploratory character. Methodologically, a focus group technique was used with a group of twenty subjects; adult men and women from Santiago, Chile, who had experienced the ritual use of ayahuasca at least once during the last three years. Two focus group sessions were held, where spaces were opened for conversation and reflection about the motivations, reflections and transformations of human living in their daily life, from the ritual use of ayahuasca. In relation to the results obtained in this investigation, it was possible to conclude that the result of the ritual use of ayahuasca in the daily life of the subjects of the study is Loving. That it is the relational pain or suffering that motivated the subjects to resort to the ritual use of ayahuasca. And that this operates as an orthogonal encounter and a liberating conversation that opens the possibility for reflection. And that it is in that reflective state where they could observe the relational matrix of their human existence. It was also concluded in this study that the worldview of the subjects was changed by the ritual use of ayahuasca.

A Contribution About the Psychoanalytic Concept of Transference to the Understanding of the Relationship Between Leader and Adepts in Ayahuasca Groups.

Recently, some ayahuasca leaders have been denounced by inappropriate conduct as psychological and / or physical abuse. With these violations, it raises the question of the possibility of an aggravation of these behaviors when is seen the growth of ayahuasca groups worldwide.

There are leaders not always aware of their unconscious phantasms, and experienced regarding to ayahuasca effects
and /or its administration to the novices. The beginner adept prone to the psychological changes proper to the early stages of this contact either by the tea effects, or by fascination emanated by the newly acquired cosmogony and cosmovision can become victim of unconscious desires on the part of unsuspecting leaders.

What is the needed understanding to maintain a impeccable leadership given the subtlety of the dynamics in the intensely affective relationship established in EAC, or from the more continuous contact with the psychoactive? Would it help in the ayahuasca healing process if the transferential love phenomenon could be seen with a better understanding?

This is an introduction that seeks a more solid formation for those interested in conducting spiritual works as well as caution to beginners through a brief understanding of the transferential phenomenon present in hierarchical relationships with a spiritual leadership to whom is given authority over many aspects of life. Currently, researches shows strong indicators of psychological well-being as a consequence of the use of the psychoactive in liturgical or experimental context, and is important the mitigation of the harmful consequences of this kind of ignorance.

I present “A contribution about the psychoanalytic concept of Transference for the understanding of the relationship between leader and adepts in ayahuasca groups.”

Aya Woke: Elevating Humanity Through Business

In this presentation I will share my authentic story of how I went from a startup founder with a unicorn exit to waking up thanks to ayahuasca and now doing what I love and living my dreams with eyes wide open by being in service to others through conscious capitalism. All too often we talk about ayahuasca ceremonies and not the journey of integration in our lives and especially businesses. I’m living proof of what’s possible when you wake up (AYA WOKE) and practice divine downloads in the real world as evident from birthing with my best friend and co-Founder of 1heart Brandon Evans 1heart.com, 1heartjourneys.com (transformational travel using Aya for top executives and high growth startup founders) and Superfood brands like SUPERWELL.com to bring mother nature and nurturing plants to the masses. And, best of all, are the stories of these beautiful light beings birthing beautiful dreams with universal support.

Ayahuyasca Practices as a Destination for Westerners

There is general recognition not only of tourism as an “ideal” vehicle for intercultural dialogue but also of modern travel as a basis for personal development. This is obviously two-sided: it can either be seen as a quest for status based on the construction of a façade or as a genuine search for self-fulfilment. This paper focuses on the latter.

The number of international tourists pursuing a meaningful experience to evade from their daily life contexts and to be immersed in natural – sacred spaces or times (rituals) increases day by day. Yet, there is still little research done about this quest for meaning from the perspective of tourism studies.

Hence, the goal of this exploratory study is to investigate the quest for personal transformation, taking Westerners travelling to Latin America in order to engage in Ayahuasca practices as a case study. Specifically, we aim at describing their motivations (pre-trip) and long-term outcomes (post-trip).

We have undertaken in-depth interviews as the basic methodology to make our study a relevant contribution for the development of social studies and to extend the numerous pieces of research on “experiential tourism” upon which theory can be constructed. Our work also connects to social studies in adding a new perspective to the general understanding of how a highly secularised society feels the need for a holistic approach to life, which can be achieved by the quest for spiritual and transformative experiences.

New Findings from a Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial with Ayahuasca for Treatment-Resistant Depression

The use of ayahuasca, an indigenous brew from the Amazonian basin with psychedelic properties, has increased worldwide and its therapeutic value has been investigated. Recently, we conducted a randomized placebo-controlled trial with ayahuasca in 35 patients with treatment-resistant depression. The results suggest a significant antidepressant effect of ayahuasca with rapid onset, already one day after a single session with ayahuasca. Compared to placebo, between-groups differences increased from one day (Cohen’s d = 0.8) to seven days (Cohen’s d = 1.4) after dosing. In addition to the antidepressant effects, in this trial we also explored the sub-acute effects of ayahuasca on a number of markers such as psychiatric scales, neuropsychological tests, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG), and, saliva and blood tests. All assessments occurred one day before and one day after the treatment session with ayahuasca or placebo, in all patients with depression as well as in a group of 50 healthy individuals. This presentation will focus on showing some of the new findings from these measurements, which should help informing on safety and on the mechanisms behind the observed antidepressant effect of ayahuasca.

Regulatory challenges in contemporary world and the politics within the Ayahuasca community

Demand for ayahuasca has increased in the modern world both within and outside of its original cultural and historical context, now including the West, due to the growing scientific research on its medicinal and therapeutic effects. This presents challenges for governments, policymakers, and other stakeholders regarding its legal status, regulation, and transnational governance. To contribute to understandings of these challenges, this paper explored, from a sociological perspective, how collective strategic action can be a source of both social change and stability for the governance of ayahuasca. It did so by looking at two opposing collective strategic groups as a case study: The Ethnobotanical Stewardship Council (ESC), who aimed to ensure participant safety, sustainability of the plant itself and fair remuneration to local growers; and a group of more than 60 academics and other experts who disagree with the ESC’s approach. Consequently, differing ideologies clashed: a risk mitigation approach based on dialogue, by the ESC, vis-à-vis the claim of anti-cultural appropriation and indigenous representation, by the opposition. Results from interviews and discourse analysis of documents during the episode of contention in 2014, between the ESC and the opposition, suggest that to change the governance of ayahuasca, the collective strategic action of the ESC was based on cooperation while the oppositions was based on coercion to restore the status quo and stabilise the field. Coercion and influence as power, from the opposing group, suggested that the ayahuasca community has an underlying political issue that has been overlooked since the ESC’s dissolution.

The Human Brain Under Influence of Ayahuasca: Insights from Computational Neuroscience

Reports about Ayahuasca experience usually involve changes in perception and cognition such as increasing of awareness, flexible thoughts, insights and memory retrieval. We argue that alterations on functional patterns of brain activities
underlie metal state shifts. Using Complex Network approach and concepts from Theory of Information we evaluate functional magnetic resonance data from the same group of individuals before and during the Ayahuasca experience. We report here two finds: 1) an increase in Shannon entropy of the degree distribution and; 2) an increase in the characteristic geodesic entropy of functional brain networks during Ayahuasca experience.
The first find indicates that the connectivity patterns on the functional brain networks during Ayahuasca experience are less constrained by the distribution of connections. The increase in characteristic geodesic entropy suggests that, considering the whole network structure, the overall statistical dependence among the brain regions activities is lower. Both results point in the same direction: the functional brain connectivity patterns are less constrained during Ayahuasca experience. These results support the hypothesis that the psychedelic states, as the state induced by Ayahuasca, arises due to a higher entropy of the brain’s functional connectivity. In other words, the “freedom of mind” on the psychedelic experience can be partially explained by the reduction of constraints in the functional brain connectivity.

Psychedelic Medicines: A Paradigm Shift from Pharmacological Substitution Towards Transformation-Based Psychiatry

While psychoactive drugs such as ketamine and psilocybin have been researched extensively in the past decades, scientific interest in ayahuasca has just started to grow, due to its potential therapeutic benefits. Beyond its traditional indigenous and mestizo use in the Amazon, ayahuasca is currently spreading all over the world as an alternative plant medicine in various ritualistic contexts. This rapid dissemination coincides with the observational evidence that ayahuasca facilitates transformational processes with beneficial health outcomes. However, more empirical research is needed to move beyond anecdotal evidence and further verify therapeutic efficacy and biomechanisms of ayahuasca under controlled conditions.

In this talk, I will outline future possibilities of ayahuasca-assisted therapies based on the biomedical literature on psychedelics and other contexts in which ayahuasca is used to support health and wellbeing. First, psychedelic medicines will be contrasted with standard psychopharmaceuticals as a novel treatment option that necessitates a paradigm shift from substitution- to transformation-based therapy. Second, various adaptogenic effects of ayahuasca will be reviewed, including effects on body, brain and mental functioning. Third, a novel transformational psychotherapy framework will be introduced that outlines how ayahuasca could be used to support sustainable transformation. Finally, future research directions of developing pharmahuasca applications in clinical settings will be contrasted with traditional and indigenous contexts of ayahuasca use, highlighting the challenges of intercultural knowledge transfer.

Ayahuasca and cooperative learning: the experience of União do Vegetal

Cooperative learning (CL) is an educational innovation, which can contribute to the construction of a more collaborative and sustainable world, insofar as learning to be cooperative and supportive is fundamental for our human survival. The five elements that comprise it (positive interdependence, promoter interaction, individual and collective responsibility, social skills, group processing) are present in the universe of ayahuasca and can be identified in the work of the Centro Espírita Beneficente União do Vegetal – UDV. This qualitative ethnographic research carried out in the doctorate program at the University of Valladolid-Spain analyzes the cooperative learning experience in the realm of the UDV, founded on the ideas of Ovejero (2019), professor at the University of Valladolid, my director of thesis, JOHNSON (1993), KAGAN (1993), and FREIRE (2006). Some countries such as the United States, Norway, Finland, Portugal, Spain, Brazil and others have invested in this methodology. In the testimonies of members of the UDV it is possible to identify it as a religious stamp institution, which is used in training a pedagogical line with similar principles to those of CL. The people in this training process, with the experience provided by ayahuasca, support each other in a united way, collaborate with the development of socio-emotional competency and increase the capacity for positive influence, strengthening the feeling of belonging and wellbeing. It is possible to identify in the research that the UDV carries within its organization the principles of CL with a humane training that heals individualistic and competitive behaviors.

The Significance of Therapeutic Ethics of Care for the Spiritual Practice of Medicine Work.

Ethics of care that have been developed in the field of psychology can help mitigate the problems that come from the inevitable evolution of spiritually-oriented medicine works. This presentation discusses important ethics of care considerations for all people facilitating medicine works as safeguard for the work, participants, and the facilitator themselves. It is based on the premise that evolution will happen and that we are best aided in this process by carefully looking at how to assist this evolution in the best possible way

The traditional formats for spiritually-oriented medicine ceremonies help to eliminate the problems that can arise in deeply transformational work such as transferential issues, boundary crossing, abuses of power, and confidentiality breaches. As the spiritual traditions of medicine work become more utilized, they are often adapted to new cultures and merged with other practices. This type of growth has both positive and negative implications. Very often the people adapting these spiritual ceremonies do not fully understand the effects that the customs and practices have on the safety and health of the work for the participants and because of this make changes to the ceremonial components that create problematic dynamics. The ramifications of these problems for the individual, for the participants, and to medicine work at large can be great and can harm individuals and compromise the work itself . The problems can be decreased through understanding and instituting ethics of care.

Palestinians, Israelis, and Ayahuasca: Can Psychedelic Medicines Promote Reconciliation?

A number of ayahuasca groups in Palestine/Israel include both Jewish and Arab participants. We have interviewed 36 participants of these groups to understand processes within this context which might promote reconciliation between group members.
Some examples of themes shared by the interviewees were: 1) Strong connection based on universal humanity – beyond cultural identities. 2) Strong connection based on the identity of ‘the other’ as well – usually through music or recitations of texts – an experience which many reported as being transformative in their relation to the other culture. 3) Painful visions of war and destruction such as seeing the bleeding earth, and compassionate visions in which one sees himself as ‘the other’ in the painful moments. 4) Re-experiencing painful moments of conflict-related personal or collective traumas. 5) The shared ayahuasca experience brought ways in which one is trying to change the conflict through compassion and love (in opposite to many models of activism which are confrontational). 6) Fear or shame in initial encounters which dissipates after intense psychedelic experiences. 7) The appreciation that witnessing someone else’s expression of diversity expands one’s own identity boundaries. 8) An appreciation that one needs to do ‘self-healing’ before trying to change the conflict. 9) Seeing the connection between “Pachamama” and the “Holy Land” and considering the conflict as unsacred.
These interviews support the view that psychedelics can be used for reconciliation and conflict resolution, and the themes found in these interviews support our current development of a model for psychedelic-assisted reconciliation.

The Fundamental Right to a Religious Use of Ayahuasca: a New Approach to Strategically Position Ayahuasca in a Regulated Scenario

This abstract is based on my thesis “FREEDOM OF RELIGION AND PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES: a comparative legal study relating to Ayahuasca as a sacrament”, presented in Samford University as part of a Master of Comparative Law program, my personal experiences as Federal Judge in Brazil, Constitutional Law professor and UDV member.
The international system of drug control established as lawful the use of plants containing psychotropic substances for medicinal and research purpose. The UDV case in USA represented a new category, when the Supreme Court recognized as lawful the religious use of Ayahuasca as a religious sacrament, establishing an historical precedent.
The Brazilian experience is also studied, addressing the legal status of Ayahuasca in a religious context through a multidisciplinary dimension, where a new regulatory standard was set considering medical, sociological and anthropological aspects of the religious use of the tea.
The scope of the fundamental right of freedom of religion is examined through personal autonomy, private and public health. Human dignity is presented as an ethical standard, an interpretative vector in order to reach government decisions that promote respect to autonomy and self-determination of the human being.
International treaties on psychotropic substances are discussed, as well as its interpretation throughout international organizations and consequences to the legal and political status of several countries.
Finally, we present an approach to strategically position Ayahuasca in a regulated scenario nationally and internationally, considering the results on individuals, communities and societies when used responsibly in a religious context.

Can the environmental characteristics cause variation in DMT (N,N-Dimethyltryptamine) production in Psychotria viridis Ruiz & Pav?

Environmental parameters direct some of the major physiological processes of plants and may affect the production of their biochemicals compounds. In this study were evaluated plants grown in two regions of the Brazilian Western Amazon, where they have been recorded higher and lower annual rainfall rate respectively. Leaves were collected to verify the interference of the environment on the leaf structural traits to understand if intraspecific leaf alterations can lead to the variation in DMT production. This study included the description micromorphlogical, anatomical and histochemical of leaf sample of P. viridis. The histochemical characteristics were revealed with specific reagents and the morphoanatomical description were made using stereomicroscope, light microscope and scanning eléctron microscopy (SEM). The foliar morphoanatomic pattern found was the same in all plants of the two study areas. Epidermis uniseriate with druse, tector trichomes of varied morphology, apical stipula, amphi-hypostomatic stomata and domatia. Differences in stomatal density, leaf area and glandular ducts were the main leaf characteristics found that indicate intraspecific changes promoted by interactions between plants and the environment. Histochemical tests revealed higher total alkaloid content in leaves of plants under the highest annual rainfall mean. The results showed that water availability promoted structural and quantitative changes in leaves of P. viridis which possibly induced functional responses with effect on the production of alkaloids in plants under a lower rainfall rate. This allows us to consider that the variation in the DMT production of this species is closely related to the environmental parameters supported by the plants.

Ayahuasca, the Drug War, and the International Movement For Drug Decriminalization

When it comes to drug policy, the political landscape has changed as quickly as any other issue over the past few years – especially in the U.S., which historically has propagated the global “war on drugs”. A growing majority of people in the U.S. support making marijuana legal, significantly reducing the role of the criminalization in drug policy, and treating drug use as a health issue rather than a criminal one. Yet, as in numerous other countries, people who use ayahuasca in the U.S. remain vulnerable to stigmatization, marginalization, and even criminal punishment.

How do we build a world where legal ayahuasca makes sense, where people are free to live openly as their full selves? How can we ensure that ayahuasca isn’t just legally accessible for a privileged few, while communities who have historically suffered the worst harms of prohibition remain marginalized?

First, we must overcome ongoing barriers to scientific and medical research – the potential benefits and risks of ayahausca need to be better understood, but the drug war and its ideology continue to drastically limit the scope of scientific research. Second, we need to carefully guide the public narrative about how ayahuasca is perceived and managed – public support for legal access to ayahuasca remains low due to unsubstantiated myths that are vestiges of the drug war.

Third – and most importantly – we must repair the harms of ayahuasca’s prohibition and reduce the role of criminalization in drug policy more broadly. The prohibition of ayahausca, like the prohibition of other illegal substances, is a legacy of racism, colonialism, and the repression of indigenous cultures – and any drug policy reforms must include reparative justice provisions that account for this history.

As the U.S. and numerous other countries move toward ending the criminalization of people who use drugs, what does this mean for people who care about ayahuasca? And why might we have a critical role to play in moving broader drug policy reforms forward that could ultimately break the back of global drug prohibition?

The Potential of Ayahuasca-Assisted Therapy in the Treatment of Mental Health Challenges

This presentation is based on the synthesis of observational research on the use of ayahuasca for the treatment of addiction and eating disorders and over a decade of psychotherapeutic work with the preparation for and integration of ayahuasca experiences. The presentation explores the therapeutic mechanisms of well-guided ayahuasca experiences for psychotherapeutic change in mental health challenges such as addiction, eating disorders, trauma and treatment resistant depression; addressing the value of complementary psychotherapeutic work and other conditions for successful therapeutic outcomes. Also experiences from psychotherapeutic work with patients who have suffered trauma from inappropriate Ayahuasca use will be touched on.

Clarifications regarding the regulation of ayahuasca in Spain: current legal and judicial status

Ayahuasca is a vegetable preparation containing dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a substance listed as Schedule I on the Convention on Psychotropic Substances of the United Nations of 1971. The regulation of this substance raises the question of whether such a control system is applicable to ayahuasca, as such. In our presentation, this issue will be addressed within the Spanish legislation. Consequently, whether there is a legal basis to consider ayahuasca a controlled substance capable of constituting the material object of the crime of drug trafficking will be analyzed (Article 368 of the Criminal Code) and will face the conclusion to be reached with the existing minor case-law/jurisprudence in our country. Also, a review will be done of its legal situation at the administrative level.

Discussions concerning power and the new uses of yajé

Including new uses of a therapeutic and spiritual nature, the expansion of the use of yajé has transformed the rituality, the actors, the settings, and the purposes and aims of the practice, in the face of a new type of users. The sources of legitimization of the ritual use of this psychotropic have also adapted, not without risks, to the new scenarios. This presentation seeks to account for some of the most sensitive transformations in the sources of legitimacy of yajé consumption. If until a few years ago it was the indigenous curacas who held the power of its use, today we are faced with a dissimilar field of specialists who handle the psychoactive: taitas, shamans, therapists, doctors, psychiatrists, pharmacologists, etc. The diversity of actors contrasts with the logic of power that the traditional uses of yajé hold. The forms of social power mobilized historically by this ritual practice in their original contexts (the power of the jungle, the power of different, the power of “Indianness”) have been displaced by the logic of a new political economy of yajé, and of the commodification and globalization of new uses. What implications do this opening have for a new scenario of globalized consumption?

Molecular Investigation of the Rapid Antidepressant Effect Involved in the Pharmacodynamics of Ayahuasca in Patients with Resistant Depression: Bibliographic Review

According to the World Health Organization, Major Depression by 2020 will be the most disabling disease on the planet, with great difficulties in treatment. Currently, almost 50% of the patients do not show significant improvement in the first 8-12 weeks and only 20 to 35% will present complete remission, being difficult the treatment of patients with resistant depression. Ayahuasca has been evaluated in several studies, both animal and human as a new treatment, that has the potential to reverse the major depression core symptoms, vis a vis resistant depression and major depression in a single dose. The ongoing study aims to show where constituents do their actions, what effects, and how these effects acts to improve the depressive state. The present review describes that DMT has great affinity for chaperone Sig-1R. Sigma Receptors are implicated in regulation of neuronal cell morphogenesis as synaptogenesis and myelinization growth, immunoregulation and other complex neuronal functions. The ß-carbolines, Harmina, Harmalina, Tetrahidroharmina are IMAOs, which inhibit the degradation of DMT, and demonstrate strong psychoactive properties as stimulants in the central nervous system leading to neogenesis, stem cell proliferation, astrogliogenesis and neuronal plasticity. This study has the potential to evaluate new pharmacological targets that can be translated in new treatment for Major Depressive Disorder.

The Therapeutic Effects of Ayahuasca: Mindfulness and Psychological Flexibility as two Potential Mechanisms of Action

There is a growing body of evidence demonstrating the therapeutic potential of ayahuasca for treating depression and anxiety. However, the mechanisms of action involved in ayahuasca’s therapeutic effects are not well understood. Mindfulness and cognitive flexibility are two possible mechanisms which are both associated with psychological wellbeing, while rumination and rigid thinking are associated with psychopathology. Like other classical psychedelics, ayahuasca also leads to an afterglow effect of increased subjective wellbeing that persists after the acute effects have subsided. This afterglow period may also offer a window of increased therapeutic potential.

UDV Science: scientific and Academic Interests and Guidelines of the Centro Espirita Beneficente União do Vegetal (CEBUDV)

The UDV is the most structured religion in Brazil among those that use the tea Hoasca (Ayahuasca) as a sacrament. In the formative process of the UDV, we can trace the importance of scientific investigation about not only the tea but also about the religion itself, as a social institution. Starting in 1970’s, after being publically attacked by a physician in the local newspaper the city of Porto Velho, the Center opened its door to scientific research. Again, in 1985, after the Brazilian Government arbitrarily classified – without any scientific study – Banisteriopsis Caapi as a dangerous substance, there was a juridical demand from the UDV, and Brazilian government consequently created a Work Group to study ayahuasca religions from a broader perspective (Anthropology, Sociology, Law, Psychology and Medicine). In the 1990’s after a few other persecutions and prejudices, the UDV decided to invite some scientists to conduct a study in order to assess the Tea Hoasca (Ayahuasca) form a medical and pharmacological point of view, which resulted in the Hoasca Project, and also opened its doors for the assessment of the effects of the tea on teenagers (Ayahuasca in adolescence Project). Today, the CEBUDV is restructuring its Scientific Department (UDV Ciência or UDV Science) as well as redefining its scientific policies. My communication will talk about the historical vocation of the CEBUDV towards academic and scientific interest and will also announce the reformulation of the Scientific Department of the UDV and its policies. It will also announce to the research community how we can support some new researches.

Effects of Ayahuasca on Mindfulness Capacities, Self-Compassion and Emotion Dysregulation in a Community Sample.

Ayahuasca is a hallucinogenic brew original from the Amazon basin. Findings on its psychological effects are still arising parallel to the willing to find out a new potential therapeutic agent. Previous studies suggest increases in mindfulness-related capacities (e.g. decentering, non-judging, non-reacting and acceptance) and in emotion regulation after ayahuasca intake in community samples. Our data also show improvements on emotional dysregulation in individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) traits, which suggests that ayahuasca therapy could be of special value in clinical populations affected by these deficiencies. Moreover, preliminary results also suggest increases in self-compassion and in self-criticism/self-reassurance. Our findings indicate that acute ayahuasca intake could be as effective at improving self-compassion as more lengthy and costly interventions. Future studies should address the benefits of combining ayahuasca administration with mindfulness-based interventions. Self-compassion may promote well-being and healthier coping strategies (and consequently less avoidance reactions to aversive events) and thus may have a positive impact on negative affect and other psychopathological conditions. It would be of great value to examine the potential mechanisms behind the benefits of ayahuasca over wellbeing. To sum up, we present several findings on the effects of ayahuasca and introduce related issues such as personality, psychotherapy and modalities of consumption of this substance.

Biophilia & the Biosphere: Psychedelics and Nature Connection

Recent research has highlighted how experiences with psychedelic substances such as ayahuasca can increase people’s feelings of nature connection. Increased levels of nature connection are correlated with enhanced wellbeing, and also strongly predict pro-environmental attitudes and behaviour. Given our time of increasing disconnection and ecological destruction, could psychedelics provide a means of healing both humans and the biosphere through reconnecting us to the natural world? Could this research play an important role in translating indigenous wisdom into something recognised in modern western discourse? How can research in this important area be advanced so that the nature reconnecting potential of psychedelics can be better understood and acknowledged, and so play a role in reconnecting our species to the biosphere, to help facilitate human and planetary healing?

Psychosis and ayahuasca

The research aims to ascertain the relationship between ayahuasca and psychotic symptoms (unusual experiences defined as delusions, hallucinations, experiences of deep malaise, severe depression, severe eating disorders) that manifest once the ritual is over and last up to a month after the ceremony. The hypothesis is that the ayahuasca ritual can allow old memories to surface, pre-verbal experiences that, if not integrated into a worldview, could lead to moments of fragmentation, with experiences of persecution. In the same way, the experience with ayahuasca could allow, through the emergence of old traumas and pre-verbal memories, the ability to find meaning in symptoms that would not commonly fit in the whole personality of the individual. This would then mean that the experience with ayahuasca would have a therapeutic potential to modify and expand the awareness of lived experiences, not only on the individual level. Through collaboration with the Takiwasi Center in Tarapoto, the research foresees a study on 8 cases from the Center that have experienced psychotic symptoms. The study would be carried out through the analysis of the material compiled with Project Plus, in order to find out whether ceremonies with ayahuasca may have therapeutic potential in the understanding and cure of psychotic symptoms or, conversely, an effect of exacerbation and triggering of latent psychoses. In addition, through different associations in Italy that perform rituals with ayahuasca, there would be 10 interviews with people who have sought this experience to cure psychotic experiences or who, conversely, after an experience with ayahuasca, have had psychotic experiences, analyzing how the process has developed over time.o como el proceso se ha desarrollado en el tiempo.

What is in the Cup? Chemical Composition of Ayahuasca and its Substitutes

102 samples of psychoactive brews offered as ayahuasca in different locations and traditions were chemically analyzed at the Institute of Chemistry of the University of Campinas, SP, Brazil in collaboration with the research group of Prof. Alessandra Sussulini. Concentrations of DMT and characteristic alkaloids of B. caapi (tetrahydroharmine, harmine and harmaline) in all collected samples were determined by reversed-phase UHPLC-MS/MS. Qualitative analyses for suspected non-traditional additives such as moclobemide, yuremamine and psilocin were performed by UHPLC-MS.
Chemical compositions of studied psychoactive brews offered at ceremonies as ayahuasca were variable but mostly consistent with ayahuasca made from Banisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria viridis. However, from “ayahuasca ceremonies” held in Europe we found two related samples of counterfeit ayahuasca containing moclobemide (likely from a pharmaceutical source), psilocin, high concentrations of DMT from Mimosa tenuiflora (confirmed by presence of yuremamine) and very low concentrations of B. caapi alkaloids. Some analogues of ayahuasca (Peganum harmala, Mimosa tenuiflora) were used in Europe with partial informed consent of the participants. No counterfeits or analogues were found among ayahuasca samples from Brazil or samples from Santo Daime ceremonies held outside Brazil.
Based on these results we recommend for ayahuasca users open enquiry and awareness about the constituents of the used brew, especially concerning ceremonies held outside of Southern America and its spiritual traditions. We see a need for development of evidence-based legal regulations and ethical self-regulations in collaboration between practitioners of ayahuasca rituals.

The Power of Ritual: Set and Setting in the Santo Daime

Set and setting is a fundamental concept in the field of psychedelic drug research, which points to the profound dependence of psychedelic effects on psychological, social and cultural factors. The study of set and setting, explores the various extra-drug parameters and techniques used for controlling drug response.
Santo Daime is a Brazilian rainforest religion, which makes elaborate use of ordering principles, techniques and symbology to shape and direct the effects of the hallucinogenic brew ayahuasca. The talk will explore the principles, methods and ideologies (set and setting) employed by the Santo Daime doctrine in order to shape hallucinogenic experiences within its ritual. It will discuss the reasoning behind specific instructions given to ceremony participants, their benefits for creating a safe set and setting, which supports the occurrence of conversion-type mystical experiences, as well as the types of situations in which ritual environment and provisions might backfire and worsen set and setting conditions. Understanding the use of set and setting techniques in ritual setting is especially important in an era in which psychedelic research returns to the fore, seeking new ways to conceptualize the role of set and setting in shaping hallucinogenic effects.

Modulatory Effects of Ayahuasca on Personality Structure in a Traditional Framework

Ayahuasca is a powerful psychoactive South American plant brew mix containing dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs). It is used by certain communities within the Amazon basin and surrounding areas for ceremonial purposes. Westerners are now entering such communities primarily seeking alternative physical, psychological or spiritual healing. Glorified media representations have resulted in exponential growth in ayahuasca tourism, yet the brew itself is vastly understudied. This paper assesses the impact of traditional ayahuasca use on human personality; typically deemed to be stable above the age of 30 and measured using the five-factor model (NEO-PI3), correlated with the extent of a perceived mystical experience (MEQ30) following ayahuasca ingestion. Rationale is based on Maclean et al. (2011) which found a similar compound, psilocybin, caused long term increases in levels of Openness on the NEO-PI after a single administration. Current study sample group N=24 found significant short-term (12 day) increases in levels of Agreeableness from pre-post ingestion, along with significant reductions in levels of Neuroticism. Long-term (six month) reductions in Neuroticism were sustained, whereas changes in Agreeableness were no longer observed. Personality changes showed positive correlation with perceived mystical states within participants. These findings support the growing body of research that suggest therapeutic avenues for psychedelic compounds, and of mystical/peak experiences.

Ayahuasca and Tobacco Smoking Cessation: Results from an Online Survey in Brazil

Tobacco smoking is a highly concerning public health matter around the world. Conventional treatments are unsatisfactory. Recent evidence suggests that psychedelics may be effective for the treatment of addiction. This research evaluated the experiences of people who reported having stopped or reduced tobacco smoking after ayahuasca consumption. An online survey was conducted collecting sociodemographic information, data about smoking patterns before and after the ayahuasca experience, smoking dependence and the mystical experience of the most influent experience on the smoking cessation/reduction, evaluated with the Mystical Experience Questionnaire (MEQ30). A total of 452 valid responses were collected; 401 (88.7%) volunteers reported going to the ayahuasca ceremony without previously intention of quitting smoking; 316 (69.9%) reported that they had completely stopped smoking after one or more ayahuasca experience(s). Logistic regression was conducted with the conditions of total abstinence (quitters group, n=316) and reduced smoking (relapse group, n=136). Age, having a child, marital status, MEQ30 4 factors, and frequency of ayahuasca consumption were used as associated factors in the model. Being in a relationship (OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.2-2.8), being older (1.03, 1.005-1.06), drinking ayahuasca frequently (1.984, 0.257, 3.1]), having experienced a more intense mystical experience (1.03, 1.006-1.05) were detected as factors associated with the quitter’s group. These results suggest that the mystical nature of the ayahuasca experience may act as a predictive factor for stopping smoking and the frequency of ayahuasca consumption is strongly associated with quitting, corroborating the therapeutic potential of ayahuasca as an auxiliary tool for addiction treatment.

The Lympho-Neuric Syncytium: A New Model for the Integrated Use of Ayahuasca on Mind and Body

Advocates of natural medicine and ayahuasca speak of a psycho-neuro-endocrine-immunologic network whereby psyche affects the nerves which affect the hormones which affect the immune system. While such a cascade certainly exists, a more accurate depiction is an integrated syncytium comprised of both neurons or nerve cells in the brain and lymphocytes, a kind of white blood cell, in the immune system that circulates in the blood and emanates from the bone marrow. Both neurons and lymphocytes bear serotonin receptors on their cell surfaces, which explains their capability of being tuned directly by ayahuasca. Both the nervous system and the immune system maintain an internal image of Self, and are thus both cognitive systems that differentiate between Self and non-sense. The new hypothesis presents the nervous and immune systems as complementary aspects of a single integrated syncytium that is capable of being tuned instantaneously by ayahuasca and related entheogenic, serotonin-modulating compounds. Beginning research using ex-vivo models is outlined for elucidating the underlying mechanisms, veracity, and implications of this phenomenon for psychophysical integration and treatment of chronic diseases.

Could Psychedelics Serve as a Prevention of Mental Health Disorders?

Research data worldwide suggest that the prevalence rate of mental health disorders is increasing continuously and treatment itself may not be sufficient to successfully improve global public health. To achieve that a focus on prevention strategies may significantly help.
At the same time, the growing evidence from psychedelic medicine is showing that psychedelics administered in the controlled setting, are effective in treating a range of mental health disorders as well as promoting positive mental health aspects in healthy volunteers. Psychedelics showed to increase well-being, flexibility, openness, creativity, and mindfulness as well as facilitating spiritual experience and increasing neuroplasticity. These traits and phenomena are at the same time identified as important correlates of mental health and their strengthening frequently a focus for health interventions, either therapeutic or preventive. Key aspects mentioned are very interrelated and often overlapping.
We hypothesize that there is a growing body of evidence suggesting that the mechanism of functioning of psychedelics could also be effectively used in mental health disorder prevention, by strenghtening the certain traits and enhancing the psychological processes which are associated with the mental health across the different diagnosis as well as in healthy people. As the most promising we consider the constructs of psychological flexibility and resilience. These seem to be directly associated with the radical increase in neuroplasticity, often perceived as spiritual experiences, during the acute phases of psychedelic states.
If confirmed, this would be of huge importance for mental health care. If that is the case, psychedelics could offer even more socio-health-economical benefits than we have thought so far. Specific techniques for achieving the prophylactic effect will need to be explored by rigorous research.
Proposed hypothesis is based on the evidence from current research and supported by the novel preliminary data from the studies exploring the change of psychological flexibility factors and resilience after use of psychedelics (psilocybin and secretion from Bufo alvarius).

Electromagnetic environmental changes due to the effects of ayahuasca

Until now there has been no dissemination of the research on the biophysics of the effect of ayahuasca – or no such research exists. In different Amazonian ethnic traditions, there is talk of the presence of ‘entities’ that appear during sessions or ceremonies of the entheogen and that indigenous shamans claim to perceive and even use according to their interests.
In recent years I have been recording the changes that occur in the level of environmental electromagnetism during ayahuasca sessions when there is a minimum group of participants – measured in micro-teslas – and the results are, at least, surprising. The different change in the process of crystallization of proteins in a sample within the group of consumers, and outside, has been observed and photographed, in the measurements of environmental electromagnetism, both conducted both in a closed space as well as an open space while occupied by a group of consumers. These data, which I will present in the presentation, allow us to elaborate certain hypotheses about the influence of the internal world of the human being on the environment while under the effect of an entheogen in a certain context. I will present comparative data of ayahuasca sessions, meditation retreats, etc.

Since 2014, we have been carrying forward the first postgraduate course in Traditional Indoamerican Medicine (TIM) in the city of Rosario, Argentina. It is a collaboration between the Faculty of Medicine, the University of Rosario and the team of professionals of the Mesa Verde Foundation.
Thanks to this initiative, we are drawing closer to the western scientific community, through the University, the theoretical teachings of ancient medicinal practices of different native peoples of America, made invisible since the European invasion of Abya Yala (American continent).
In each class we work with shamans, healers and traditional indigenous doctors who share their wisdom together with an interdisciplinary team composed of psychiatrists, psychologists, anthropologists and lawyers.
This unprecedented integration is the first of its kind in the academic world of Argentina and a large part of South America. This postgraduate course follows the guidelines of WHO, Unesco and other international organizations, promoting, educating, informing, protecting and teaching traditional medicine for the common good.
One of the main objectives of the postgraduate course is education on the different sacred plants, especially ayahuasca and a complex field of knowledge that includes and sustains its ritual use, researched by the Mesa Verde Foundation for more than 20 years, along with traditional Amazonian ayahuasquero doctors.
This labor of many years is a great first step toward the integration of ancestral knowledge into academic institutions, the decolonization of university thought, the promotion of future standards for TIM and the proper and respectful integration of western knowledge and ancient knowledge.
adecuada y respetuosa del saber occidental y el saber milenario.

EEG Studies of the Acute Effects of Smoked DMT

Over the past years I have been conducting EEG studies on DMT, employing N,N-DMT from Mimosa hostilis and also 5-MeO-DMT (both synthetic and Bufo alvarius toad venom). The main findings are in good agreement with published EEG Ayahuasca studies reporting DMT effects.
For N,N-DMT EEG changes consisted of suppression of power across broad frequency band (1-20 Hz) and increased power in High Beta (25-30 Hz) and Gamma (40-50 Hz, P<.0001, N=20). Both N,N-DMT and 5-MeO-DMT induced reversible hypercoherence resulting from increased neural network connectivity. These findings share features reported for meditation and lucid dreaming work. Acosta-Urquidi, J. 2017, Advances in Psychology Research, vol. 130, 173-199; Acosta-Urquidi, J. 2015, Cosmos and History, Vol. 11 (2), 115-129.

The Therapeutic Potential of Ayahuasca for People with Bipolar Disorder

Although people with bipolar disorder have high suicidality and limited treatment options, they are usually excluded from ayahuasca ceremonies. Given the evidence indicating ayahuasca’s efficacy for treating depression, I question whether ayahuasca is safe and effective for treating bipolar disorder?

There is valid concern that ayahuasca would worsen manic/depressive symptoms in people with bipolar disorder, because most antidepressant pharmaceuticals and most psychedelics are known to do so. My research has indeed documented numerous cases of bipolar people developing manic symptoms after drinking ayahuasca, but detailed analysis indicates that many of these are false negative results, and that the real majority of bipolar people have therapeutically-positive experiences with ayahuasca. I explain these contradictory results by deconstructing the set and setting of ayahuasca ceremonies, as well as deconstructing the tea itself.

I will present qualitative data from 60 bipolar people that have drunk ayahuasca, and chromatographic quantification of the psychoactive ingredients in 100 batches of tea. I conclude that the crucial factor determining bipolar people’s response to ayahuasca is the cooking technique, because variations in cooking technique affect the ratios of the 4 psychoactive ingredients in ayahuasca, thereby affecting the balance of bipolar brain chemistry.

I have developed novel theories about the receptor binding times of 5-TH2AR agonists, the interaction of SRIs with DMT, fermentation, the CNS action of harmala alkaloids – all of which provide scientific explanations of my dogma-refuting qualitative evidence that ayahuasca can be a safe and effective psychedelic medicine for people with bipolar disorder.

Exploring the Psychological Relevance of Intersubjective Experience During Ceremony

Legal in many countries, retreats working with psychedelics and plant medicines offer a structured, supportive environment for an ever increasing group of individuals seeking healing, insight, or personal growth through the use of these compounds. Yet, little empirical research has been done on the psychological, social, and environmental factors which determine acute subjective and long-term responses to guided experiences in ceremonial and other naturalistic environments. In order to examine the influence of contextual factors on the acute psychedelic experience and its psychological outcomes, we conducted a study (www.ceremonystudy.com) that prospectively collected data from >300 individuals who planned to take a psychedelic substance or plant medicine in a guided setting. Traits, variables pertaining to set, setting, and the acute subjective experience were assessed at five time points before and after a guided experience, ceremony, or retreat. At AYA2019, I would like to present data on social components at play during ceremonies that was collected during this study. Specifically, how the experience of ‘communitas’ , identity fusion, and other intersubjective phenomena during ceremonies and sharing circles can have an impact on long-term changes in psychological well-being, social connectedness, interpersonal tolerance, and related concepts, such as reciprocity. This work is related to the submission by my colleague Leor Roseman and I would ideally like to present during the same panel as him. Thank you very much for considering this proposal.

Ayahuasca: A Review on Phytochemistry, with Emphasis on its Neuropsycho-Pharmacology and Potential Medical Uses

Ayahuasca, the psychotropic plant-brew, has been used for centuries by the indigenous people of South American-Amazonia for ritualistic, medicinal, and recreational purposes. In the last couple of decades, it has generated a worldwide interest as a novel psychoactive stimulant. The decoction of Ayahuasca is most commonly prepared by boiling the stems of Banisteriopsis caapi with an adjuvant plant such as Psychotria viridis, or even Diplopterys cabrerana, Nicotiana sp. and Datura sp. The decoction contains alkaloids, ranging from seratonergic-neuromodulators, N, N – Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and Monomethyltryptamine, to monoamine oxidase-enzyme inhibitors such as harmine, tetrahydroharmine, harmaline, and harmol. The activity of these molecules causes neuro-psychological effects of Ayahuasca, which includes enhanced visual imagery, vivid “projections”, “mystical/spiritual revelations”, and “increased introspection”. Research has highlighted Ayahuasca’s potential for treatment of neurological disorders ranging from depression to substance-addiction.
DMT is an important constituent, responsible for psychedelic actions such as kaleidoscopic display of geometric pattern, euphoria or anxiety, and awareness of dissociation from the physical body (out of body experiences). It has been well established that DMT is endogenously produced in humans and primates. It acts on serotonin receptors: 5-HT2A (primarily), 5-HT1A, and 5HT3A. More recently, it has been reported that DMT also activates trace amine-associated receptors (TAAR) and sigma- 1 receptors.
This article focuses on neuropsycho-pharmacology of Ayahuasca, enlisting reports such as enhanced creative performance in visual arts by artists and intuitive thinking/insight generation by scientists. Further, the pharmacokinetics and mechanisms of action of Ayahuasca’s phytocomponents and its potential clinical uses are discussed. It finishes with suggestions for future research on better understanding of its actions in the central and peripheral nervous systems.

Dilemmas in the recognition of ayahuasca as cultural heritage in Brazil

The presentation will be a reflection on the area of debates around the recognition of ayahuasca as an intangible cultural heritage in Brazil. Following the request made by representatives of the so-called “Brazilian religious lines” – and signed by the Secretariat of Culture of Rio Branco, capital of the province of Acre – to the National Historical and Artistic Heritage Institute, a process was established in the State sector to identify the ways and practices that make the “ritual use of ayahuasca” a “cultural reference” for communities and for national identity and education, in accordance with the terms set out by the cultural heritage policy. Giving a brief ethnography on the development of the process is proposed, that includes the production of an inventory in which a team of researchers presents local traditions and defends the recognition; the increase in awareness of local actors about the diversity of stakeholders in patrimonialization, a perception closely related to the phenomenon of the expansion of ayahuasca use to the most varied geographical regions and areas of knowledge; the holding of seminars in which indigenous peoples have decided, among themselves, to deliberate on what meaning the recognition of ayahuasca as a cultural heritage may have for the continuation of their historical projects, for the protection of their traditional knowledge and, in addition, on the possible consequences that the growing interest in ayahuasca may have for their culture and community.

Ayahuasca and Beyond: Herbal Traditional Amazonian Medicine for Human Therapy and Planetary Health

Despite the internationalization process of the Ayahuasca consumption, from a biomedical perspective the authentication of the plants material and the composition of the finished brew is still matter of debate. Within the scientific community there is a consensus about the main ingredient of Ayahuasca preparation, identified in the plant Banisteriopsis caapi (Spruce ex Griseb.) Morton. From a taxonomical viewpoint, this genus is constantly evolving and rather complex including 136 species. Ethnobotanical data on Ayahuasca report different common names for same plant species and vice-versa. The preparation can also be a matter of concern being a key process for potential variation of chemicals in the finished products. It seems, however, that a simplification/standardization process for the preparation of Ayahuasca brew goes together with its internationalization, both in terms of botanical material used (including its domestication) and herbal formula.
The increasing popularity of Ayahuasca has triggered a considerable growing of the so-called shamanic tourism in the Amazon basin, allowing foreigners to discover a whole series of practices derived from Traditional Amazonian Medicine (TAM) including the shamanic plant diet, a ritualized ingestion of others medicinal plants beyond Ayahuasca. However, the above mentioned simplification versus internationalization process could affect the quality, safety, and efficacy of these traditional herbal remedies, as well as determine the loss of significant cultural heritages related with the proper use of such kind of ethnomedicines; a traditional ecological knowledge that can play a role not only in the context of human therapy, but also for planetary health issues at large.

Effects of DMT in the Brain and Human Experience

DMT is known for inducing rich experiences characterised by feelings of deep immersion into a subjectively-felt “different reality or dimension” in which people encounter complex scenes and communicate with seemingly conscious entities. In our research we studied the effects of DMT by administering more than 60 doses while capturing the effects of the compound in the brain using EEG and fMRI, as well as range of subjective effects inspired by a neurophenomenological approach. Results reveal an intimate relationship between different measures of brain activity and dynamic shifts in different dimensions of conscious experience. Our findings indicate the potential relevance of using DMT in the context of consciousness research as well as its similarities with dreams, near-death experiences and a range of non-ordinary states of consciousness.

The patrimonialization and social diversity of ayahuasca in Brazil

We will present a communication that is based on some reflections on my thesis entitled:

Tradition and modernity in the field of ayahuasca: an analysis of the processes of regulation and patrimonialization of ayahuasca in Brazil during the period 1986 – 2016, which analyzes the dynamics of social and political linkage in the field of ayahuasca in Brazil via assessment of the broad process of public recognition of ayahuasca – both in its normalization and its cultural heritage. This process involves representatives of religion present in this field, the State, groups and individuals outside the field identified by the use of ayahuasca in the state of Acre, in Brazil and throughout the world. Their study shows, through the analysis of the speeches of the actors involved, the conflicts between the social actors (from Bourdieu’s field theory), their intentions and efforts to contemplate them. In addition, we will see what the establishment of different configurations means (in the sense proposed by Elias), the exploration of the dynamics between tradition and modernity. The survey included a review of documents, a set of semi-structured interviews with important actors in the field of ayahuasca, with members of the judiciary, the Ministry of Culture, legitimate interpreters of the history of ayahuasca (or Daime), and the life stories of important actors from the religious traditions present in the field of study. Our main thesis is that the processes analyzed represent moments in which the tensions arising from the desire for recognition and legitimacy – meaning in relation to the dialectic between tradition and modernity in the Brazilian ayahuasca camp – produce intentional and unintended results by the actors in tests in the field.
ducen resultados intencionados y no intencionados por los actores en pruebas en el campo.

Ayahuasca Clinical and Neuroscientific Research in the United States: Update

Ayahuasca is an ancient South American ethnomedicine with applications in the treatment of major depression, PTSD, drug and alcohol addiction, neurodegenerative diseases and possibly in cancer as well. – the plagues of our time. It healing power is due to its psychedelic consciousness effects as well as its neurochemical action in both the brain and the gastrointestinal system. Ayahuasca may also have transpersonal effects in which humans can communicate instantly over space. This is why the Harvard ethno-pharmacologists who were the first westerners to study the use ayahuasca tea among indigenous groups in the Amazon basin called the alkaloid constituent of ayahuasca tea ‘telepathine’. Ayahuasca has much to teach us as healers, physicians and scientists. Legal ayahuasca research in the United States requires an FDA-approved standardized ‘botanical drug’, and FDA-approved clinical trial or brain research study and a DEA licenses to measure DMT, to manufacture, distribute and administer a DMT-containing study medication in human beings who are enrolled in an institutional ethics review board approved study. I will describe the technical and legal challenges of ayahuasca research and describe my path to FDA IND approval for ayahuasca research, the status of the U.S. project and the need for consciousness and neuroscience fMRI research of the ayahuasca state of consciousness.

From Jaguars to Ego Death: Some Thoughts on Ayahuasca Medicalization

Despite a long and diverse history of use across shamanic and religious cultural practices, ayahuasca is increasingly being defined as medicine by an assemblage of scientific research groups, media institutions, and patient and consumer populations. Through the act of measurement, scientific instruments negate the cultural shaping of ayahuasca drinking in an attempt to render it objective, standardized, and knowable within an emerging technical discourse connected to broader research on psychedelic medicine. This talk considers how the attempt to scrub culture from psychedelic science is paradoxically helping to animate pharmacological matter with political and moral agency. While indigenous Amazonian approaches often ascribe a morally ambiguous agency to the spirits that appear in ayahuasca visions, psychedelic scientists are foregrounding chemicals as unambiguous moral agents when used safely.

The Dynamics of Ayahuasca Phenomenology Approached from a Jungian Analytical Psychology perspective

The Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) influenced the psychology of the 20th century with his concepts, ideas and theories, but he often remained controversial in the academic world. Essential for Jung were spiritual and transcendent dimensions of man, he sought for depth and meaning in the human soul. With his work he worked in the areas of religious psychology, philosophy, astrology and ethnology. Introspection was for Jung the key to self-knowledge and individuation. In the psychotherapeutic process, Jung was concerned with dealing with complex episodes, with special consideration of the affective levels. In a creative process with the inclusion of dreams and inner images, a process of development and change was to be initiated in the client.
Ayahuasca drinkers talk about ayahuasca as a tool to explore undiscovered areas of the human mind. The effects of ayahuasca involve a wide range of mental and physical phenomena, including the reliving of autobiographical memories, the intense feeling of physical sensation, or transpersonal and supernatural experiences. Also unpleasant, Carthaginian processes can be experienced, which can be described in Jung’s words as encounters and work with your own shadow. In this lecture, the speaker wants to deal with parallels in Jung’s concepts and the phenomenology of ayahuasca experiences.

Some Ideolgocica Risks of Psychedelics: Spiritual Inflation and Utopianism

Psychedelics, including ayahuasca, are, as we all know, very potent substances that can have extremely positive consciousness enhancing and healing effects on individuals. We also all know they can be problematic when given to the wrong person (or even the right person in the wrong setting or with poor preparation). But beyond their impacts on individuals these substances can also have important effects on the larger society, helping spawn cultural trends and aesthetic movements, and influencing socio-political ideas. These cultural phenomena have not been studied in any depth because psychedelics have generally been proscribed and demonized in our culture, so serious mainstream sociologists and cultural observers have largely ignored their larger social impacts, but that is no reason we who are sympathetic to psychedelics’ potential shouldn’t honestly and critically look at their socio-cultural effects. In this session, J.P. Harpignies will explore one troubling aspect of psychedelic subcultures, especially contemporary ayahuasca circles—a fairly widespread tendency toward the uncritical acceptance of a number of extremely naive utopian ideas and some very paranoid conspiratorial ones, as well as toward certain strains of spiritual megalomania. He will discuss some possible reasons for these tendencies and how perhaps to mitigate some of the negative consequences these problematic ideological tendencies can have.

Ayahuasca as Relational Medicine: Intimate Encounters at the Frontiers of Liquid Modernity

This presentation is based on over two years of ethnographic and qualitative research conducted at an ayahuasca retreat center in the Peruvian Amazon, a collaborative study between the Temple of the Way of Light, ICEERS and the Beckley Foundation. These observations are likewise informed by my lived experience as a retreat facilitator on site. In this presentation, my aim is to address the social, political and onto-epistemic dimensions of health and wellbeing, made visible through the participants’ ayahuasca experiences, contextualized by the setting provided by the retreat structure and the encounter with a radically different cosmology and worldview, manifest in the work of the Shipibo healers. The interaction between ayahuasca and a group setting that promotes intimacy, horizontality, and mutual responsibility amongst participants often encourages a social dynamic where participants can both safely express and listen to each others’ struggles, difficulties, and breakthroughs. This break with the individualistic, pharmacologically-driven focus of bio-medicine alone greatly contributes to counteract the feelings of alienation and isolation that exacerbate suffering when it remains private. In the increasingly liquid societies of modernity (drawing from Bauman), these rare, shared experiences of communal struggle, breakthrough and healing allow participants to recognize the interconnected and interdependent nature of health and wellbeing, prompting them to pay special care to their eroding social bonds and to reframe experiences of loneliness, alienation, anxiety, depression, or trauma in all their multi-dimensional complexities, moving beyond an exclusively individualistic framework and making visible the impact that social, cultural, political, or environmental factors have on their own wellbeing. Ethnographic approaches, I propose, can elucidate the multilayered complexities of affliction and healing that often are lost through a purely quantitative or biomedical lens.