The brew - How to prepare ayahuasca?

Starting a thread 👇 of plant medicine photos from my time with the Huni Kuin people in the Brazilian #Amazon. These encounters gave me a new perspective on #indigenous wisdom and healing traditions. Originally shared on Bluesky, will post one image at a time here.

Let’s talk about the preparation of ayahuasca. What is ayahuasca? It is a brew made of the ayahuasca vine (Banisteriopsis caapi, on the left) and the leaves of chacruna (Psychotria viridis, on the right). Both growing natively in the Amazon. I took these photos in the state of Acre in Brazil.

The first step in preparing ayahuasca is to harvest it. It’s easy, it grows everywhere in the rainforest. Here’s a photo of a Huni Kuin medicine man harvesting the vine with a machete. He’s wearing the handwoven vest coat and headband used for sacred occasions. The ceremony has already began!

Then, collect some chacruna leaves (Psychotria viridis). Excuse the plastic bag 😅

Next, the bark of the vine is rasped with a knife. This is a tedious step, but a very important one. You want to keep the vine intact while removing anything on the outside that may pollute the brew (lichen, moss…).

Interestingly enough, I found an illustration of this step in a book called Hallucinogenic Plants: a Golden Guide (1976). The preparation hasn’t changed at all in the last 50 years. If you’re interested, you can read this book for free on Internet Archive:

When the vines are clean, they are beaten in order to separate the fibres. This will allow the active principles of ayahuasca to infuse the brew.

The next step consists of adding water to the ayahuasca vines and chacruna leaves and bring it to a boil. Typically, a couple of hours are needed to extract the compounds from the plants. This is done in the ceremonial maloca where the sacred events and community rituals take place.

Once it has boiled for a little while, the brew is left to cool down briefly. The ayahuasca vines and chacruna leaves are separated, filtered out, from the liquid.

When all the liquid has been drained out, what’s left is the fibres of the ayahuasca vines and chacruna leaves. There’s no use for it, and it is discarded.

It finally starts to look like ayahuasca! The brew is left to simmer and reduce. It gradually takes on its characteristic dark brown colour.

The ayahuasca has cooled down and is ready. It’s around 8pm, the ceremony will start soon, the medicine man has already set up the altar in the maloca. Sacred and meaningful objects are placed in its centre (tobacco, feather fans, containers, icons…). I can feel nervousness and excitement in my belly.

The ceremony is now underway. While the ayahuasca is working, everybody is playing music, singing, and dancing. It’s a real celebration of life. The music, the fire, the dance… everything takes on a surreal aspect. I ask myself if I am dreaming or if it is reality! (excuse the quality of the photo)