Ayahuasca

Ayahuasca is a psychoactive plant medicine used for thousands of years by the indigenous peoples of the Amazon in South America. There are different species of plants that work in combination to form the brew among different tribespeople, but for the most part the combination consists of a vine called Banisteriopsis caapi and a shrub called chacruna, or Psychotria viridis.

Generally and widely known as a ‘teacher plant,’ some people consider Ayahuasca to be a ‘portal’ to higher levels of consciousness, or ‘God’ consciousness. This is why many people class this ancient plant medicine as an ‘Entheogen’ – ‘entheo’ coming from the old Greek word for ‘God,’ and ‘gen’ signifying ‘generate’ or ‘generation.’ It is very common for those who ingest ayahuasca to undergo many deep and expansive ‘lessons’ surrounding their life, their culture, wounds, traumas, purpose, and more.

Since ayahuasca has grown exponentially in popularity over the past decade, so has the multitude of other plant medicines and ‘teacher plants’ from the array of indigenous cultures around the world who use them. However, there is no mistaking that ayahuasca is the most widely and fervently revered.