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The Stop
Ayahuasca (also known as caapi, yajé, or yagé) is an hallucinogenic drink made from the stem and bark of the tropical liana1 Banisteriopsis caapi and other botanical ingredients. Though plant-derived psychoactive drugs formed an integral part of South American traditional religions for millenia, it wasn’t until 1851 that ayahuasca was identified by the English botanist Richard Spruce.
Used traditionally as part of shamanic rituals to produce mystical experiences and spiritual revelations, ayahuasca is made by soaking or boiling the stems of the B. caapi vine with the leaves of either chacruna (Psychotria viridis) or chagropanga (Diplopterys cabrerana). The B. caapi vine contains harmine, an alkaloid that prevents the human digestive system from breaking down DMT (dimethyltryptamine), the psychoactive substance supplied by the other plants in the concoction. By preventing DMT from metabolising, B. caapi allows the chemical - a powerful, naturally occurring hallucinogenic compound structurally related to the drug LSD - to produce a powerful experience many believe leads to positive, long-term, life-altering changes.
In recent years, ayahuasca has experienced a surge of popularity, with ‘masses of people from all parts of the world’ travelling to the Amazon to participate in the rituals. Though some might dismiss this ‘unique phenomenon’ as drug tourism, it is actually ‘not as frivolous … as it sounds,’ since most travellers are searching for ‘spiritual and therapeutic opportunities’ characterised by ayahuasca’s ability to provide improved insight, personal growth, emotional healing, and the possibility to contact a ‘sacred nature, deities, spirits and natural energies.’ It is important to note that as it contains DMT - a chemical outlawed in most countries - ayahuasca itself is illegal. However, as with all things drug-law related, prohibition has done nothing to stop either interest or use, and ‘ayahuasca cults’ proliferate throughout the United States, Western Europe, Australia and South America - all accessible at the click of a mouse.
The Detour
Today’s Detour is to a video (5:07) in which multi-instrumentalist Antoine Baril performs Genesis’s ‘… In That Quiet Earth’ (from 1976’s Wind & Wuthering). It’s an amazing performance - and thanks to Mark for the recommendation!2 Definitely worth five minutes.
The Recommendation
Today’s Recommendation is Terence McKenna’s True Hallucinations: Being an Account of the Author’s Extraordinary Adventures in the Devil’s Paradise (1989).3 The book is a remarkable account of a journey to the Amazon McKenna, his brother Dennis, and a ‘band of friends’ went on in the early 1970s in their search for ethnobotanicals. The outcome of their experience - documented in this very readable book - is McKenna’s exploration of the ‘limitless potential of organic psychedelics to open our minds, bodies and spirits to higher states of being.’ Highly recommended, if you’re interested in such things.
From the back cover: This mesmerising, surreal account of the bizarre adventures of Terence McKenna, his brother Dennis, and a small band of their friends, is a wild ride of exotic experience and scientific inquiry. Exploring the Amazon Basin in search of mythical shamanic hallucinogens, they encounter a host of unusual characters - including a mushroom, a flying saucer, pirate Mantids from outer space, an appearance by James and Nora Joyce in the guise of poultry, and translinguistic matter - and discover the missing link in the development of human consciousness and language.
Look for True Hallucinations at an independent new or used bookstore (or, hey, the library) near you!
The Sounds
Today’s playlist consists of five tracks I’ve had on headphone rotation over the past couple of weeks: ‘Grassman’ (Dodgy, 1994), ‘Tired of Being Alone’ (Al Green, 1971), ‘Four Out of Five’ (Arctic Monkeys, 2018), ‘Thiago Silva’ (Dave/AJ Tracey, 2016) and ‘Ungodly Fruit’ (Wax Tailor, 2005). Enjoy!
The Thought
Today’s Thought is from Alan Watts:4
‘The only Zen you find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there.’
If you have a thought on this Thought - or any part of today’s issue - please leave a comment below:
And that’s the end of this Stop - I hope you enjoyed the diversion!
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Until the next Stop …
Lianas are stemmed, woody vines that are rooted in the soil, but climbs or twists around other plants. A ‘conspicuous component of tropical forest ecosystems,’ they are one of the most ‘important structural differences between tropical and temperate forests’ as they are frequently tangled together in a ‘hanging network of vegetation.’ Sources for today’s Stop include Ayahuasca (NIH), Ayahuasca (Britannica), Ayahuasca (Amazon Front Lines) and (the best book on such topics) Ott, Jonathan. Pharmacotheon: Entheogenic drugs, their plant sources and history. Kennewick: Natural Products Co., 1996.
I really do appreciate Mark’s recommendation - and would like to hear from other Bus Riders! If you have a video to recommend, let me know. I’m not short of links, but I’d really appreciate finding things even further off the beaten path. Because that path is so much more interesting ….
Terence McKenna (1946-2000) was an American ethnobotanist, philosopher and countercultural fixture who advocated for the responsible use of naturally occurring entheogenic plants. He’s quite a character and endlessly interesting, if a bit out there at times. Certainly someone to become familiar with if these topics are of interest. For a good introduction, you can start with today’s Recommendation and then move onto Food of the Gods (1992).
Watts was an English/American philosopher and Zen practitioner who devoted much of his career in the 1950s and 1960s to communicating Eastern philosophical ideas to Western audiences. For more information, see: Alan Watts (Encyclopedia.com).