Ayahuasca Preparation

This essay is presented solely for educational purposes and is not intended to encourage idle experimentation with this potent holistic medicine.  Initiation or treatment with Ayahuasca should always be accompanied by competent, sensitive and experienced guidance with careful attention to set, setting, and spiritual protection following serious mental, spiritual and dietary preparation.   Ayahuasca is a potent holistic medicine, not a recreational drug experience.

prime cielo ayahuasca and samiruca chacruna

preparing  "'la cocina sagrada"

more chacruna is added...

...the magical brew simmers

...as the curandera lovingly tends "la medicina"

a shaman and apprentice at work ...

La Purga is ready  for ceremony

There are many permutations of the classic shamanic formula for the magical healing brew in the upper Amazon. Virtually every shaman and curandero has his or her personal recipe, often incorporating secret components. The nature and spirit of the various admixture plants brings undeniable healing versatility to the medicine, often enriching one's visionary communion with the plants.

Here are the "recipes" of some ayahuasqueros we know here in the Iquitos region of Perú.

Jose Padilla, Iquitos, Perú (52 years an ayahuasquero)
1 kilogram of fresh ayahuasca vine (Banisteriopsis caapi) combined with 50 chacruna leaves (Psychotria viridis). These  are boiled in 25-30 liters of water for 2 hours.  The water is then poured into another container and more water is added to the original plant material for another extraction lasting 2 ½ hours. This process is repeated a third time then all the extracts are combined and evaporated on a low fire until 1 ½ liters of Ayahuasca tea remain. The entire process takes 12 hours.

Norma Panduro, Iquitos, Perú (38 years a vegetalista curandera)
3 ½ kilograms of fresh ayahuasca vine, ½ kilogram of chacruna leaves, 3 leaves of toé (Brugmansia suaveolens), 4 flowers of bobinzana (Calliandra angustifolia), 10-20 cigarros of mapacho tobacco (Nicotiana rustica). She also adds 5-10 drops of perfume. The preparation is boiled for 12 hours.

Jhomber Davila, Requena, Perú (12 years an ayahuasquero)
8 pieces of ayahuasca vine approximately 30 cm long and 10 cm in diameter , 1 ½ chacruna leaves, 12 leaves of chiric sanango (Brunfelsia grandiflora).  Everything is combined and boiled n 40 liters of water for the entire day, reducing the  liquid n to 1 ½ liters of Ayahuasca tea.

Luis Culquiton, Manacamari, Nanay river, Perú (20 years palero curandero)
3 kilograms of fresh ayahuasca vine, 1 kilogram of fresh chacruna leaves, 200 grams of fresh tahuari bark (Tabebuia sp.). The plants are boiled together for approximately 8 hours and then reduced to obtain 1 liter of Ayahuasca tea.

Francisco Montes Shuña, Carretera Iquitos-Nauta, Perú (25 years an ayahuasquero)
12 pieces of fresh ayahuasca vine are macerated and boiled together with 200 leaves of oco yagé aka huambisa, chaliponga, chagrapanga (Diplopterys cabrerana) for around 12 hours to produce 750ml of Ayahuasca tea.

Ruperto Peña, Road Iquitos-Nauta, Perú (35 years an ayahuasquero)
12 pieces of fresh ayahuasca vine are macerated and combined with 200 leaves of oco yagé , 4-5 leaves of Piñon colorado (Jatropha curcas) and 3 leaves of petaquina (Dieffenbachia sp). These ingredients are boiled together for 12 hours and then reduced to 750 ml of Ayahuasca tea.

Solom Tello, Iquitos, Perú (50 years an ayahuasquero)
30-40 pieces of ayahuasca vine, 200-300 chacruna leaves, a few leaves of ajo sacha (Mansoa alliasea), mucura (Petiveria alliacea) and guayusa (Ilex sp.). Three extractions are done which are reduced to 1 ½ liters of Ayahuasca tea.

More to come ...

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