Difference between revisions of "Ayahuasca"

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:''This entry focuses on the caapi vine itself; for information on entheogenic use, see [[Ayahuasca]].''
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#REDIRECT [[Banisteriopsis caapi]]
{{Taxobox
 
| color = lightgreen
 
| name = Ayahuasca
 
| image = aya mujeres.jpg
 
| image_width = 200px
 
| image_caption = Ayahuasca de las Mujeres
 
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
 
| divisio = [[Magnoliophyta]]
 
| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
 
| ordo = [[Malpighiales]]
 
| familia = [[Malpighiaceae]]
 
| genus = ''[[Banisteriopsis]]''
 
| species = '''''B. caapi'''''
 
| binomial = ''Banisteriopsis caapi''
 
| binomial_authority = ([[Richard Spruce|Spruce]] ex [[August Heinrich Rudolf Grisebach|Griseb.]]) [[Conrad Vernon Morton|C.V.Morton]]
 
}}
 
 
 
'''''Banisteriopsis caapi''''', also known as '''Ayahuasca''', '''Caapi''' or '''Yage''', is a [[South America]]n jungle vine of the family Malpighiaceae. It is used to prepare [[Ayahuasca]], a [[decoction]] that has a long history of [[entheogen|entheogenic]] uses as a medicine and "plant teacher" among the [[indigenous peoples]] of the [[Amazon Rainforest]]. It contains the [[beta-carboline]] [[harmala alkaloid]]s and [[Monoamine oxidase inhibitor|MAOIs]] harmine, harmaline, and tetrahydroharmine.  Most caapi is cultivated by the [[shaman]]s who use it.
 
 
 
According to ''The CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names'' by Umberto Quattrocchi, the naming of ''B. caapi'' was actually dedicated to [[John Banister (scientist)|John Banister]], a seventeenth-century English clergyman and scientist. An earlier name for the [[genus]] ''Banisteriopsis'' was ''Banisteria'', and the plant is sometimes referred to as ''Banisteria caapi'' in everyday usage.
 
 
 
The name Ayahuasca means "vine of the soul", and the shamans of the indigenous Western Amazonian tribes use the plant in religious and healing ceremonies.  In addition to its hallucinogenic properties, caapi is used for its healing properties as a [[purgative]], effectively cleansing the body of [[parasite]]s and helping the [[digestive tract]].
 
 
 
==Types of vine==
 
Although there is no apparent difference in species, the caapi vine is categorized by those who use it into several different types, each of which have different potencies, effects, and uses.  Different categorizations may be used in different areas, and this list is not meant to be exhaustive or universally applicable. 
 
 
 
===Peru===
 
[[Image:Urarina_shaman_B_Dean.jpg|thumb|right|Urarina [[shaman]], 1988]]
 
 
 
In [[Peru]] and other places of the [[Upper Amazon]], the different types of Caapi are referred to as different "colors" by the [[shamans]].
 
 
 
*'''Cielo''' (sky) or '''yellow''' caapi
 
Probably the most commonly used variety, at least among the [[mestizo]] [[curendero]]s of contemporary Amazonia.  It is considered relatively gentle and is the typical vine used for initiation.  Often has seven sections when viewed in cross-section.
 
*'''Black''' caapi
 
There seem to be two varieties of black caapi, which may or may not be the same plant.  They are often associated with witchcraft or brujeria, and should only be used by those who are very experienced with the medicine.  Often has five sections when viewed in cross-section.
 
*'''Thunder''' or '''trueno''' caapi
 
Brings on a particularly intense purge as well as other physical effects which are often very overwhelming.
 
*'''Indian''' caapi
 
Perhaps the only variety of caapi that is not cultivated, but rather harvested from old-growth, unflooded, white sand rainforest.  Use was believed to be more prevalent before contact with the west.
 
*'''White''' caapi
 
Used most often in [[magic (paranormal)|magic]], both in brujeria and combating brujeria.
 
*'''Red''' caapi
 
Considered very strong and used most often for healing; often, the curandero will take red caapi while their patient is given the yellow variety.
 
*'''Rattle''' caapi or ''Ayahuasca cascabel''.
 
Often considered the most potent variety of caapi; ayahuasca cascabel has been seen and experienced very little by westerners, if at all.
 
 
 
===Ecuador===
 
In the [[Napo Province|Napo]] province of [[Ecuador]], the vine is divided into three types.  It is said that all are used for the same purposes, though the visions of each dif
 
fer.
 
*'''Ayahuasca de las Mujeres''', Women's Ayahuasca
 
So named as it has bumps or protrusions, "like a woman".  The effect is more rapid.  Gives visions of flowers.
 
*'''Ayahuasca de los Hombres''', Men's Ayahuasca
 
Straighter than the women's Ayahuasca; gives visions of Boas.
 
*'''Ayahuasca para Ver Fantasmas''', Ayahuasca for seeing spirits
 
Has "designs" on the bark; gives visions of spirits.
 
 
 
==Legal issues==
 
===Legality===
 
In the '''[[United States]]''', caapi is [[Controlled Substances Act|uncontrolled]]; in addition, it does not contain any scheduled substances.  A recent court case involving the DMT-containing ayahuasca tea brewed with it, ''[[Gonzales v. O Centro Espírita Beneficente União do Vegetal|Gonzales v. UDV]]'', was found in favor of the [[União do Vegetal]], a Brazilian religious sect utilizing the tea in their ceremonies and having around 130 members in the United States. 
 
 
 
In '''[[Australia]]''', harmala is a controlled substance, but the vine is not.
 
 
 
In '''[[Canada]]''', harmala is a schedule III substance, but the vine is not.  (Note that Canadian scheduling laws are very different from their United States counterparts).
 
 
 
Caapi, as well as a range of harmala alkaloids, were recently scheduled in '''[[France]]''', following a court victory by the [[Santo Daime]] religious sect allowing use of the tea due to it not being a chemical extraction and the fact that the plants used were not scheduled.  Religious exceptions to Narcotic laws are not allowed under French law, effectively making any use or possession of the tea illegal.
 
 
 
For more legal information, see [[Ayahuasca]].
 
 
 
===Patent issues===
 
The caapi vine itself has been the subject of a dispute between U.S. entrepreneur Loren Miller and the Coordinating Body of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA). In [[1986]] Miller obtained a US [[patent]] on a variety of ''B. caapi''. COICA successfully argued that the patent was invalid because Miller's variety was neither new nor distinct, and the patent was overturned in [[1999]]; however, in [[2001]] the [[US Patent Office]] has since reinstated the patent because, at the time it was granted, the law did not allow a third party such as COICA standing to object. ''B. caapi'' is now being cultivated commercially in [[Hawaii]].
 
 
 
==See also==
 
*[[Ayahuasca]]
 
 
 
==External links==
 
* [http://www.amazonlink.org/biopiracy/ayahuasca.htm Report on indigenous use of the plant, and the patent dispute]
 
 
 
* [http://www.erowid.org/plants/syrian_rue/syrian_rue_info1.shtml Report on Beta-Carboline Containing Plants]
 
 
 
* [http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=/netahtml/search-adv.htm&r=2&p=1&f=G&l=50&d=ptxt&S1=caapi&OS=caapi&RS=caapi United States Patent # PP5,751,  Miller,  June 17, 1986, Banisteriopsis caapi (cv) `Da Vine`]
 
 
 
[[Category:Entheogens]]
 
[[Category:Herbal and fungal hallucinogens]]
 
[[Category:Malpighiaceae]]
 
[[Category:Monoamine oxidase inhibitors]]
 
[[Category:Psychedelic tryptamine carriers]]
 
[[Category:Ayahuasca|*]]
 
[[Category:Flora of Peru]]
 
[[Category:Flora of Ecuador]]
 

Latest revision as of 18:26, 1 March 2010