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Published on February 19, 2008 — comments 3
Basic scholar readings on ayahuasca
written by admin
Itis a relevant query of kreepmusic that prompted me to post a list of some of the readings
I consider basic to think ayahuasca. This is a selection from our (Partner and I) own
modest collection of documents. Stock and choice are personal and I assume the indicative
rather than comprehensive nature of this list
In order not to restrict too much the panel of good quality informative readings, I did
prefer to put the following commented bibliography under the broader heading adjective
“scholar” rather than “scientific”, For example Wizard of the Upper Amazon and its sequel Rio
Tigre and Beyond, the first person autobiography of the famous mestizo ayahuasquero
Manuel Gérdova-Rios, narrated by Bruce Lamb, have not been written and published like
academic/scientific works. Yet, two anthropologists specialists of ayahuasca, who have met
Don Manuel (including LE Luna), and I, consider this story as a valuable piece of
ethnographical work, worth to be included in scholar and scientific bibliographies (the
early critics of Amahuaca specialist Robert Carneiro, relayed by Jonathan Ott, are largely
irrelevant).
Ihave three golden rules with the documentation I'm using:
~ When dealing with academic authors, I prefer primary literature, ie. peer-reviewed
papers, to other sources. This rule is not always applicable, depending notably on
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discipline and historical period. I look then for references, and systematically check some
of them in order to evaluate the reliability of the author vis-a-vis his/her sources.
- With biomedical research, I prefer papers to abstracts. On ayahuasca and related close
topics I have a zero tolerance for abstracts. Only whole article-based references are
included in the list.
~ I read all thrice.
Alast preliminary note on the organization of the list: for practical reasons I've split it in
two parts. The first is about documents in English only that normally are easy to obtain
and, often but not always, easier to read than the other. Those in the second part are in
varied languages, generally less easy to obtain, and, often but not always, more difficult to
get to grips with. I haven't checked the availability of all and there may be some
misdirection. In addition, as I preferred to post as soon as possible, entries are lacking and
some comments are a bit short. I shall complete it in the future.
PART I: easily available (can be find, or bought at reasonable prices, on the Internet or in
bookstores):
Anthropology:
ATRAN Scott (2002) In Gods We Trust: The Evolutionary Landscape of Religion. New York,
USA: Oxford University Press.
A densely and widely referenced thought-provoking book on the recent approach labeled
“cognitive anthropology of religion”. Proposes some cognitive universals of religions and
replaces them in an evolutionary perspective: we humans have spent most of our history
as illiterate hunter-gatherers. Something must have survived in our neurocognitive
apparatus. Religions are based on it. Food for thought.
DOBKIN DE RIOS Marlene (1984) Visionary Vine: Hallucinogenic Healing in the Peruvian
Amazon, Ind publ. Prospect Heights, USA: Waveland Press. (First publ.: 1972).
DOBKIN DE RIOS Marlene (1992) Amazon Healer: The Life and Times of an Urban Shaman.
Bridport, EU: Prism Press.
Classic anthropological approach of Peruvian mestizo ayahuasqueros. The second book is
more personal and living.
FURST Peter T. (Ed,) (1972) Flesh of the Gods: The Ritual Use of Hallucinogens. New York, USA:
Praeger.
With the Harner (see below), a basic (republished) you-must-have-it. Be it just for the
contribution of Reichel-Dolmatoff.
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HARNER Michael J. (Ed) (1978) Hallucinogens and Shamanism, New York, USA: Oxford
University Press.
Who hasn't it? Contains notably the famous joint papers of Michael Harner (still then
considered an academic anthropologist) and Chilean psychiatrist Claudio Naranjo on
“common themes” in visions reported either by Indians after ayahuasca drinking or
Westernized city-dwellers after pure beta-carbolines administration (Naranjo was
apparently convinced ayahuasca could be reduced to harmaline, much like today some
seem convinced it can be reduced to DMT. An outdated, irrelevant, dogmatic, and
scientifically counterproductive attitude).
CORDOVA-RIOS Manuel & LAMB F. Bruce (1971) Wizard of the Upper Amazon. New York,
USA: Atheneum.
LAMB F. Bruce (1985) Rio Tigre and Beyond: The Amazon Jungle Medicine of Manuel Cérdova
Berkeley, USA: North Atlantic Books,
Already presented. It is the famous story of Gérdova-Rios’ abduction during his
adolescence by Indians he named “Amahuaca’, but also sometimes “Huni Kui” (a more
interesting indication as it is the name Cashinahua give to themselves), that has attracted
much attention (it inspired John Boorman for his film The Emerald Forest) and criticism
(Carneiro and Ott). The sequel is sufficient as it contains a well-done digest of the first
book.
LUNA Luis Eduardo & AMARINGO Pablo ({1991]1999) Ayahuasca Visions: The Religious
Teonography of a Peruvian Shaman. Berkeley, USA: North Atlantic Books.
LUNA Luis Eduardo & WHITE Stephen F. (Eds.) (2000) Ayahuasca Reader: Encounters with
the Amazon's Sacred Vine. Santa Fe, USA: Synergetic Press.
‘Two musts made at the initiative of Luis Eduardo. The anthology Ayahuasca Reader notably
contains Spruce’s seminal account “on some remarkable narcotics of the Amazon valley
and Orinocco”, I recommend both
MATTESON LANGDON E. Jean. & BAER Gerhard (Eds.) (1992) Portals of Power: Shamanism
in South America. Albuquerque, USA: University of New Mexico Press.
A lot of good anthropological stuff on ayahuasca shamanism in this collective volume
“SACHAHAMBI’ Gayle
Many good quality informations about Ecuadorian Napo Runa ayahuasca tradition posted
on the Ayahuasca Forum by this learned pillar of the very same board. Just browse with the
search engine... and pray it will work.
SHOEMAKER Alan (updated 2001) Grace and Madness. Online ed.:
http://chinchilejo.yage.net/grace html
A living personal account and an interesting introduction to Peruvian ayahuasca mestizo
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shamanism in Iquitos area from the neither naive nor skeptical point of view of a man
whose life has been changed by his encounter with ayahuasca and its shamanic rituals. A
very good illustration of the difficulties and promises of ayahuasca-mediated
interculturalism, Self-published on the Internet and generously put in free-access, Only
lack references and a bibliography. With this text Alan became the main non-academic
portal to Peruvian ayahuasca shamanism for many English-speaking people.
TAUSSIG Michael (1987) Shamanism, Colonialism, and the Wild Man: A Study in Terror and
Healing. Chicago, USA: University of Chicago Press.
Recently a noted French anthropologist warned me against Taussig’s reliability. This
doesn't affect the large recourse to quoting one finds in this very original and brilliantly
written book. On the horrors of the rubber boom in Amazonian Colombia, and first
person descriptions of ayahuasca sessions, Taussig is excellent.
WILBERT Johannes (1987) Tobacco and Shamanism in South America. New Haven, USA: Yale
University Press.
On tobacco but mentions joint uses with ayahuasca. A model of scholarship and multi-
interdisciplinary work. To retain: all possible ways to prepare tobacco and introduce it in
the body (parenteral route excepted of course) have been explored by Amerindians.
Psychology:
SHANON Benny (2002) The Antipodes of the Mind: Charting the Phenomenology of the
Ayahuasca Experience. New York, USA: Oxford University Press.
Clearly there's a before and an after Benny's breaker in the history of ayahuasca tea
appraisal by Western science. An unprecedented collection of reports of ayahuasca visions
and a magisterial essay in their classification. A rich bibliography, an exposition of arduous
psychological and philosophical topics or debates in a clear style, many truly interesting
ideas and propositions (e.g. ayahuasca visions are different from dreams, the ritual
drinking of ayahuasca tea may be compared to the practice of music). One major
weakness: the excessively narrow disciplinary scope and scientific/epistemological
approach in which Benny confined himself (radical phenomenological cognitive
psychology). Renders unnecessarily problematic the interpretation of his own most
significant data.
Pharmacology:
LIN Geraline C., GLENNON Richard A. (Eds.) (1994) Hallucinogens: An Update. NIDA
Research Monographs, 146, available online for free at:
hutp://www.drugabuse.gov/pdf/monographs/download146.hum]
I sought after this monograph during ten years. As it was in no French academic library I
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even convinced some years ago the Paris academic library of pharmacy to acquire it. They
didn't succeed. And now it’s online for free... Nothing particular about ayahuasca but the
state of the art in preclinical neuropharmacological research on “hallucinogens” (in 1992)
by some of the best specialists. In addition some interesting reflections here and there.
SPINELLA Marcello (2001) The Psychopharmacology of Herbal Medicine: Plant Drugs That Alter
Mind, Brain, and Behavior. Cambridge, USA: MIT Press.
Moderately accurate on ayahuasca but deals with many other plants and contains a good
basic introduction to psychopharmacology.
Botany, Phytochemistry:
OTT Jonathan (1996) Pharmacotheon: Entheogenic Drugs, their Plant Sources and History,
second ed. densified. Kennewick, USA: Natural Products Co.
Is it necessary to present this unique, excellent reference book? I'm unsure the
Pharmacotheon still is easy to find in English at a reasonable price. But it’s certainly the case
of its more recent Spanish version.
Chemistry:
SHULGIN Alexander & SHULGIN Ann (1997) TIHKAL: The Continuation. Berkeley, USA:
Transform Press.
The chemistry of tryptamines and beta-carbolines depicted in an inspired and living
gourmet style. An entertaining introduction to basic biochemistry, The anthropology-like
part about ayahuasca and its terminology evidences Sasha's limitations out of chemistry.
PART 2: not so easily available (either expensive, notably the “pay per paper” on
academic publishers websites, or necessitates access to academic libraries)
Anthropology:
AIGLE Denise, BRAC DE LA PERRIERE Bénédicte & CHAUMEIL Jean-Pierre (Eds.)
(2000) La politique des esprits: chamanismes et religions universalistes. Nanterre, EU: Société
d'ethnologie.
The very interesting rewritten proceedings of the fourth international conference of the
International Society for Shamanic Research, dedicated to interactions between shamanic
societies or subcultures and universalistic religions. Amazonian indigenous shamanism
displays incredible openness and adaptability. The maintaining of ayahuasca practices
seems a positive facilitatory factor.
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AREVALO VALERA Guillermo (1986) El ayahuasca y el curandero Shipibo-Conibo del
Ucayali (Pera). América Indigena, 46: 147-161.
Guillermo Arévalo-Kestembetsa is the son and grandson of reputed Shipibo shamans (his
father is no other than Benito Arévalo, one can see in the MAPS-archived little film Sespe
did provide a link to http://www.pot-tv.net/archive/shows/pottvshowse-2253.html in the
“NPR show on Ayahuasca” thread [“Media’ section of this board]). He undoubtedly has
become the most famous living indigenous ayahuasca expert and shaman in the world
With this paper, published in a reputed Spanish-speaking journal of anthropology, and a
book on Shipibo traditional medicine with plants, also written in Spanish, Guillermo
showed how gifted he is. Courted by many anthropologists for his extended knowledge,
he's actively promoting traditional medicine and ayahuasca shamanism (he was the
initiator of an apparently unprecedented original event: Shipibo shamans did teach
ayahuasca use to their neighbours Amahuaca who had abandoned and forgotten it since
decades). He acquired in 2004 a surplus of celebrity in playing almost his own role in Jan
Kounen’s film Blueberry. Threats for his life in Pucallpa lead him to recently move to
Iquitos where he did open his new center a few weeks ago. Guillermo is also known for his
massages of feet during ayahuasca sessions, and for a very special tea, extremely strong, he
sometimes prepares (without Solanaceae).
ATKINSON Jane Monnig (1992) Shamanisms today. Annual Review of Anthropology, 21: 307-
380,
A well-done review on shamanism. The author also dealt with the still growing
phenomenon of neoshamanism. Hence the plural in the title.
CHAUMEIL Jean-Pierre (1988) Le Huambisa défenseur. La figure de I’Indien dans le
chamanisme populaire (région d’Iquitos, Pérou). Recherches Amérindiennes au Québec, 18: 115-
126.
CHAUMEIL Jean-Pierre (2000) Voir, savoir, pouvoir. Le chamanisme chez les Yagua de
UAmazonie péruvienne, Ind ed. Genéve, Switzerland: Georg.
Difficult to make a choice in the production of this first rank anthropologist. I've selected
the second edition of his classic study (his thesis) on Yagua shamanism because it's easier to
get it, has an updated bibliography, and contains a highly interesting addendum. The
paper is an illuminating study of the dense, complex, and reciprocal relationships between
forest indigenous shamans and (sub)urban mestizo ayahuasqueros in the Iquitos area. Of
utmost interest is the statement that each kind of practitioners credits the other with
special power. At least for this area, a corollary of this essential study is that the idea of a
pristine, isolated, and purely indigenous ayahuasca “traditional setting” is a Western myth
(see comment of Rivier & Lindgren 1979),
FRIEDBERG Claudine (1965) Des Banisteriopsis utilisés comme drogue en Amérique du
Sud. Essai d’étude critique. Journal d'Agriculture Tropicale et de Botanique Appliquée, 12: 403-
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487, 550-594, 729-780,
ABIG article that is a remarkable review of the anthropological and ethnobotanical
literature on ayahuasca uses published before 1965. The breakdown of the infos according
to relevant ethnogeographical areas from North to South is very well done and useful
FROES Vera (1988) Santo Daime Cultura Amazénica. Histéria do Povo Juramidam, 2nd ed,
Manaus, Brazil: SUFRAMA.
Initially a thesis and probably one of the best histories of the Santo Daime movement.
Better than the MacRae. Contains an account of the drinking of daime by the author during
pregnancy and delivery. Like almost all Brazilian anthropologists who have written on
Santo Daime, Vera Frées is a fardada, i.e. a graduated member of this multicephalous sect.
A noted and respected one.
HENMAN Anthony Richard (1986) Uso del ayahuasca en un contexto autoritario. El caso
de la Unido do Vegetal en Brasil. América Indigena, 46: 219-284 (available online for free here
Ipdf document)).
By a noted anthropologist famous for his study of coca tradition, one of the very few field
studies on UdV easily available in academic libraries out of Brazil. The title, “use of
ayahuasca in an authoritarian context’, has confused some people who have cited this
paper while manifestly having limited their reading of it to its title: it referred not to the
UDV but to the military regime ruling Brazil at the time of Henman’s study.
KEIFENHEIM Barbara (1999) Zur Bedeutung Drogen-induzierter Wahrnehmungs-
veranderungen bei den Kashinawa-Indianern Ost-Perus. Anthropos, 94: 501-514,
A remarkable, fine-grained study of Huni Kuin (Cashinahua) males’ collective ayahuasca
practices. Huni Kuin do visualize the songs, sung by specialized cantors, as colored paths to
follow. It is absolutely clear from this study that these Indians do culturally discern and
code two stages of the ayahuasca effects and experience; stages which reality has been
challenged by Benny Shanon (2002). Keifenheim’s article highlights thus another
limitation of Shanon’s approach (besides Benny’s apparent ignorance of Keifenheim’s
work): its inability to apprehend the major influence of social-cultural phenomena. If all
the persons who drink ayahuasca in a given community agreed there are two stages, and
that everyone has to go through these stages in following the same sequence, as
synchronous with the others as possible, in order for all to live a safe experience, then 1)
there are two stages, and 2) a good reason for.
LABATE Beatriz. Caiuby & ARAUJO Wladimyr Sena (Eds.) (2004) 0 uso ritual da ayahuasca,
2nd ed. Campinas, Brazil: Mercado de Letras.
A classic-becoming collective book containing translations in Portuguese of published and
unpublished texts of non-Brazilian authors (Carsten Balzer, Barbara Keifenheim [the
previous ref.], Jean Langdon, Luis Luna, Jacques Mabit, Jonathan Ott, Benny Shanon), and
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original or adapted contributions of Brazilian researchers on Indian and, for the most part,
neoreligious ritual ayahuasca uses: Santo Daime (with fine distinctions between currents,
eg. Alto Santo, Gefluris), Barquinha, and UdVs (on the latter, a rare, remarkably lucid and
un-apologetic contribution of Afranio Patrocinio de Andrade. A welcomed contrast with
the one made by current members). Of utmost interest in this second edition is a paper,
based on field work, by Bia Labate and Gustavo Pacheco on the sources of Santo Daime
liturgy, costumes, and paraphernalia in traditions of Afro-Brazilian communities in the
State of Maranhio (Nordeste region), where Raimondo Irineu Serra, the founder, lived until
the age of 20. One also finds an adaptation of some Hoasca Project papers, realized by
members of the medical branch of one UdV, who participated to it (the least interesting
part I think, as most of this material had already being published in easily available
sources. Some previously unpublished numerical data though, notably on cardiovascular
parameters).
LUNA Luis Eduardo (1986) égetalismo: Shamanism among the Mestizo Population of the
Peruvian Amazon. Stockholm, EU: Almqvist & Wiksell International, Stockholm Studies in
Comparative Religion.
THE most complete work to date on Peruvian mestizo folk shamanic healers called
vegetalista, those specialized in ayahuasca being named ayahuasqueros. Surpasses in many
aspects the work of Dobkin De Rios, who did initially react in an unfriendly manner to this
excellent piece of work (Taussig [1987] and other, including Doctorcito, have noted the
close resemblance between shamanic and academic conflicts and rivalries). Probably one
of the first published texts mentioning Pablo Amaringo and reproducing one of his
paintings. Since then Luna became the active center of gravity of an incredible array of
events about ayahuasca (including research) in the world.
MAGRAE Edward ({1992] 1998) Guiado por la Luna: Shamanismo y uso ritual de la ayahuasca en
el culto de Santo Daime. Quito, Ecuador: Abya-Yala. (Orig.: 1992. Guiado pela lua: Xamanismo e
uso ritual da ayahuasca no culto do Santo Daime. Sao Paulo, Brazil: Editora Brasiliense).
I've read both versions but found more convenient to have it in Spanish. A standard
reference book on Santo Daime. The stress on shamanism is a bit far-fetched and has been
criticized. MacRae also is a fardado
NARANJO Plutarco (1969) Etnobotanica de la ayahuasca (Banisteriopsis sps). Religion y
medicina. Ciencia y Naturaleza, 10: 3-92.
I did choose this big paper rather than other better known and more often cited later
publications of the Ecuadorian scholar Plutarco Naranjo because this one contains the
photograph of an ancient decorated beaker made of stone resembling those used
nowadays by Indians to serve ayahuasca tea. Found in an area peopled today by Shuar
Indians, it may be 2000 years old according to Naranjo. In a later paper (1986), he is the
one who proposed to consider that ayahuasca uses have more than 4000 years.
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REICHEL-DOLMATOFF Gerardo (1975) The Shaman and the Jaguar: A Study of Narcotic
Drugs Among the Indians of Colombia, Philadelphia, USA: Temple University Press.
The best known classic study of ayahuasca practices and symbolism in Indian context,
among Eastern Tukano groups of Colombia, by one of the most famous Americanist
anthropologists of the 20th century. The jaguar complex, the two stages of ayahuasca
effects, the synchronized collective dancing, and many other things that have durably
marked the field of ayahuasca research.
Ethnobotany, phytochemistry:
BRACK EGG Antonio (1999) Diccionario enciclopedico de plantas utiles del Peru. Cuzco, Peru:
Centro de Estudios Regionales Andinos “Bartolomé de Las Casas”.
An invaluable tool to know the botanical name, chemical content (if determined), and
cultivation details (if existing) of the plants the ayahuasquero is prescribing you or gives
you as preliminary purge.
McKENNA DJ., TOWERS G.H.N. & ABBOTT F. (1984) Monoamine oxidase inhibitors in
South American hallucinogenic plants: tryptamine and beta-carboline constituents of
ayahuasca. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 10: 195-223.
A very good study of the chemical content of mestizo standard teas and the plants they are
made of. The first in vitro demonstration of the MAOI property of the tea and, BTW, the
first empirical confirmation of the role of the caapi beta-carbolines in protecting DMT
from deamination in the liver and intestine.
RIVIER L. & LINDGREN J.-E. (1972) “Ayahuasca’”, the South American hallucinogenic
drink: an ethnobotanical and chemical investigation. Economic Botany, 26: 101-129.
The best and still unsurpassed analytical biochemical study of caapi vines and teas; still the
sole of this quality in Indian context. The only published modern study where different
parts of the vine were analyzed.
Itis a great pity that the Swiss Laurent Rivier recently wrote intellectually ugly texts on
ayahuasca and is supporting some ignorant, reactionary, and prejudiced French
toxicologists. On the basis, shared with Rivier, of an improbably simplistic opposition
between an undefined, paternalistically idealized “indigenous traditional setting” (just talk
with Guillermo Arévalo, or see Chaumeil 1988; Aigle et al. 2000), and “out-of-the-
traditional-setting” practices, these toxicologists are attempting to criminalize ayahuasca
rituals, at least in France, in waving their brand new scarecrow: “chemical submission” (see
[in French]: http://www.sfta.org/Consensus/protocole%20souchi%2011%2003.pdf). Of
course, these scary ignorant buffoons are just bluffing: their first hand experience of
ayahuasca, its rituals and drinkers, is limited to incomplete chemical analysis of the
content of bottles “filled with an orange-colored liquid” seized by the police in 1999 among
French daimistas. They don’t have a single case description to cite, a single clinical vignette
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to quote about “chemical submission” with ayahuasca tea. Only vague or blatantly false
allusions, evidently without the slightest reference, written in an indirect style (“cases have
been reported...) Vexed interests are certainly not foreign to this attitude: the mentioned
toxicologists have private or public analytical facilities, get money from forensic
toxicology business, have taken advantage of a right-wing government to promote their
views and to besiege an official commission in charge of delivering advices about “drug
scheduling”. The more they criminalize ayahuasca uses, the more money and prestige they
can expect. Evidently short-sighted (people will become more discreet or go in
neighbouring countries where the legal situation is less insane) and a two-edge sword: they
have attracted Doctorcito’s attention, who’s henceforth tracking them.
C'mon Mr. Rivier, stop degrading your reputation with poor quality writings and don't
commit yourself further with these freaks. Or I regretfully will have to write about you and
them elsewhere than on this forum. You already know how precise and generous I can be
with quotes and references. With yours as well: no doubt the following quote will permit to
members of this board to effortlessly appreciate your new objectivity.
Quote:
In South America, the traditional use of ayahuasca has spread among mestizo members of the rural
population and, more recently among the urban middle class with the expense of major changes in
the observance of traditional taboos and rituals (MacRae, 1998). The issues of abuse liability or
toxicity of ayahuasca are becoming increasingly important with the advent of syncretic religious
groups such as Union de Vegetal and Santo Daime in Brazil which utilize the decoction as a ritual
sacrament (Callaway et al,, 1994).
Moreover, the suggested application of ayahuasca as a pharmacotherapy for cocaine addiction by
groups such as the Takiwasi treatment clinic in Peru (Mabit, 1996), its increasing consumption in
several European countries, the USA and Japan are indications of the radical changes which have
occurred in the practice of ayahuasca ceremonies compared to the original ritualistic and
shamanistic practices of South American Indians. The recent proliferation of web sites advocating
ayahuasca use and proposing the selling of the drink itself (e.g: http://www.yage.net ), the very
detailed indications to select plant or chemical substitutes to make the so-called *Pharmahuasca”
or Ayahuasca borealis (Ott, 1999) make such pressure even more intense.
Finally, in search of exotic and possibly original psychedelic experiences, Western visitors are
flooding into the tropic forests, contacting shamans to buy the right to sit at an organized
ayahuasca setting. This aspect associated with the raising interest for ethno-eco-tourism traveling
in the Amazon basin these last 10 years have brought considerable pressure on the small villages
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inhabited by isolated ethnic groups of various Indian tribes. The clients of these adventure trips in
the Amazon region are searching only for the entheogenic experience with little interests in meeting
the natives. They want their hallucinogenic trip rapidly and are not at all interested in following the
taboos that traditions might impose to them, nor worried by the impact their brutal arrival may
cause on the fragile bio-ecosystem. As consequence, one can understand why the local shamans,
adapting to the new demand, change the original settings of the ayahuasca ceremony their
ancestors have taught them to follow and respect. Very soon, parts of the orally transmitted
tradition will be lost forever.
Source: http://www.rivier-consulting.ch/dossier/Ethnomed_Tl_2002,pdf
The last paragraph is particularly edifying. It is at best badly informed sensationalizing
journalism, betraying an unfathomable ignorance of decades of anthropological studies on
ayahuasca. Interestingly Rivier is here on the same line of arguments previously put forth
by... Jonathan Ott [1996] [rejoining of the extremes?]! Alan Shoemaker [see Part I] and Luis
Eduardo Luna have already pinpointed the weaknesses of this largely fantasized
argumentation. What follows is just a digest and slight extension of these
counterarguments). To visit remote, “isolated” Indian communities, one not only needs at
least one official authorization in most countries, but transport costs are simply prohibitive
for “tourists”. The Indians who opened their ayahuasca practices to Westerners have
chosen to do it (yes Mr. Rivier, they are capable to decide by themselves: some refused to
do so) and the adaptation of their rituals for these newcomers doesn’t mean one second
they are abandoning their own tradition. Quite the reverse as this phenomenon valorizes
ayahuasca practices and traditions to the eyes of their communities.
SCHULTES Richard Evans (1986) El desarrollo historico de la identificacion de las
malpigiaceas empleadas como alucinogenos. América Indigena, 46: 9-47.
No need to present the regretted Dick Schultes; and to precise that a bibliography on
ayahuasca without him is like a tree without a trunk. A not too ancient comprehensive and
very detailed paper on the ethnobotany of ayahuasca. Has the particularity to be in
Spanish. Another great ref., richly illustrated, is: SCHULTES Richard Evans, RAFFAUF
Robert F. (1992) Vine of the Soul: Medicine Men, their Plants and Rituals in the Colombian
Amazonia, Oracle, USA: Synergetic Press.
Pharmacology:
CALLAWAY J.C., McKENNA DJ., GROB C.S., BRITO G.S., RAYMON L.P., POLAND RE.
ANDRADE E.N., ANDRADE E.0., MASH D.C. (1999) Pharmacokinetics of Hoasca alkaloids
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in healthy humans. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 65: 243-256.
The first and unique study of standard ayahuasca tea pharmacokinetics among authentic
ayahuasca drinkers. Harmine, tetrahydroharmine, DMT, and harmaline were all found in
the blood (plasma)
DELIGANIS AV. PIERCE P.A. & PEROUTKA SJ. (1991) Differential interactions of
dimethyltryptamine (DMT) with 5-HTIA and 5-HT2 receptors. Biochemical Pharmacology,
Al: 1739-1744,
On different occasions Stephen Peroutka showed a remarkable intuition and propensity
for hypothesis proved sooner or later to be wrong (a useful but certainly uneasy role to
have repeatedly). During some years he believed so-called hallucinogenic,
psychotomimetic, psychedelic, entheogenic, or psychointegrator substances were
antagonists at 5-HT2A receptors. That's what this paper, based on an in vitro experiment,
claims about DMT. Randy Smith et al. (1998) proved he was wrong, as usual [yes, that's
ferocious and unfair, but how much was this guy paid to err?] Normally the results on
binding affinity and agonist efficacy of DMT at 5-HTIA receptors are correct: there was and
still is no controversy on this point (the significant affinity of DMT at 5-HTIA receptors
was, again, confirmed in Glennon et al. 2000).
FORSSTROM T., TUOMINEN J. & KARKKANEN J. (2001) Determination of potentially
hallucinogenic N-dimethylated indoleamines in human urine by HPLC/ESI-MS-MS.
Scandinavian Journal of Clinical & Laboratory Investigation, 61/7: 547-556. (Available online for
free here [pdf document))
To my knowledge the most recent detection of DMT, bufotenine (5-OH-DMT), and
intermediate compound N-methyltryptamine (NMT) in a human body fluid. Urine
samples of a total of 65 “patients” (28 “surgical”, 13 “internal medical’, and 29 “psychiatric”)
were analyzed. DMT was detected only in 5 persons (-8%): 8 “surgical’, 2 “internal medical”,
but no “psychiatric”. No 5-MeO-DMT detected in any sample. Only bufotenine was
regularly found at significant levels, and significantly more in “psychiatric patients”. A short
but clever and pondered discussion. About the determination of DMT or 5-MeO-DMT in
urine: “probably not very informative, because, owing to their lipid solubility, they are
excreted in urine in very small amounts and therefore are not expected to reflect the
changes in the levels of these compounds in plasma or tissues” (p. 554). Different but much
more credible results and statements than in Pomilio et al. 1999. Demonstrates in passing
that Lisa Melton [see “Lisa Melton’s paper” thread] didn’t do correctly her job and gave
precedence to nationalism over science.
GLENNON R.A,, DUKAT M., GRELLA B., HONG S.-S., CONSTANTINO L., TEITLER M.,
SMITH G., EGAN G,, DAVIS K., MATTSON MV. (2000) Binding of beta-carbolines and
related agents at serotonin (5-HT2 and 5-HTIA), dopamine (D2) and benzodiazepine
receptors. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 60/2: 121-132.
hitp:/iwww.ayahuasca.comlamazonfbasic-scholar-readings-on-ayahuascal ramtwe0:7 Basic scholar eacings on ayahuasca- Ayahuasca.com
When NIDA’s pet Richard Glennon and his collaborators investigate basic
neuropharmacological features of beta-carbs. Unexpected finding: a surprising lack of
binding affinity of harmine and harmaline at benzodiazepine receptors (it’s a common
assertion in the pharmacological literature that they are antagonists or inverse agonists at
these receptors). Unsurprising: “modest” binding affinity and no efficacy (second
messenger activation) of harmaline at 5-HT2A receptors. Oddly enough, harmine efficacy
has not been evaluated even though it displayed an at least 10-fold better (ie. lower)
binding affinity than harmaline at 2A receptors in this study. But remember Claudio
Naranjo’s studies (e.g. in Harner 1972): oral harmine was considered two times less potent
than harmaline in producing a “hallucinatory experience”.
GUAN Y., LOUIS E.D., ZHENG W. (2001) Toxicokinetics of tremorogenic natural products,
harmane and harmine, in male Sprague-Dawley rats. Journal of Toxicology and
Environmental Health, Part A, 64: 645-660.
By the same Wei Zheng’s team, with the same analytical technique than in Zheng et al.
(2000). To be taken with the same caution, two very intriguing results about harmine in
what is to my knowledge the first pharmacokinetic study of orally administered harmine
in rats; 1) rapid but low oral bioavailability of harmine (3% absolute oral bioavailability, to
be contrasted with 19% for harmane), 2) great variations in blood concentration-time
profiles after oral administration, in rats that have similar pedigrees, more controlled than
for any racehorse. Fully confirms harmine vulnerability to first pass metabolism in the
liver (Yu et al. 2008). But did evidence low -not null- oral bioavailability (I guess those
concerned by this allusion will discover this reference in 2005).
LIN K.-M. & POLAND R.E. (1995) Ethnicity, culture, and psychopharmacology. In:
BLOOM FE. & KUPFER DJ. (Eds.) Psychopharmacology: The Fourth Generation of Progress.
New York, USA: Raven Press, p. 1907-1917.
A basic interesting review of pharmacogenetic- and culture-based variations in the effects
of psychotropic drugs. Mentions notably the different ethnic distributions of the genetic
polymorphism of the liver drug-metabolizing enzyme CYP2D6. The topic of culture has
disappeared in the disappointing last “generation” of what constitutes the bible of
psychopharmacology researchers: DAVIS K.L., CHARNEY D., COYLE J.T. & NEMEROFF
G. Eds.) (2002) Neuropsychopharmacology: The Fifth Generation of Progress. Philadelphia, USA:
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
RIBA J., VALLE M., URBANO G., YRITIA M., MORTE A. & BARBANOJ MJ. (2003) Human
pharmacology of Ayahuasca: subjective and cardiovascular effects, monoamine metabolite
excretion, and pharmacokinetics. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics,
306/1; 73-83.
The only paper of the Barcelona team I will include here. Odd finding with their gel-
capped lyophilizate: almost no harmine was detectable in the blood of the volunteers, only
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