User:Mjr22/sandbox

Nomenclature
In Brazil, the brew and the liana are informally called either caapi or cipó; the latter is the Portuguese word for liana (or woody climbing vine). In the União do Vegetal of Brazil, an organised spiritual tradition in which people drink ayahuasca, the brew is prepared exclusively from B. caapi and P. viridis. Adherents of União do Vegetal call this brew hoasca or vegetal.

Preparation
Sections of Banisteriopsis caapi vine are macerated and boiled alone or with leaves from any of a number of other plants, including Psychotria viridis (chacruna) or Diplopterys cabrerana (also known as chaliponga and chacropanga). The resulting brew contains the powerful psychedelic drug DMT and MAO inhibiting harmala alkaloids, which are necessary to make the DMT orally active. The traditional making of ayahuasca follows a ritual process that requires to pick the lower chacruna leaf at sunrise then say a prayer. The vine must be "cleaned meticulously with wooden spoons" and pounded "with wooden mallets until it's fibre."

role of shamans
“In the most traditional setting, a shaman is someone who has achieved spiritual mastery… someone that has dominion over life and death, someone who can choose the moment of their death… someone who has developed themselves to such an extent where they have achieved spiritual sovereignty, and they can communicate with immortals, supernatural spirits”  Shamans are people who dedicate their life to spiritual development and the healing of others, this along with a lifetime of knowledge. True shamans are believed to embody the knowledge and insight of millions of years of experience.

Some shamans and experienced users of ayahuasca advise against consuming ayahuasca when not in the presence of one or several well-trained shamans.

In some areas there are purported brujos (Spanish for 'witches') who masquerade as real shamans and who entice tourists to drink ayahuasca in their presence. Shamans believe one of the purposes for this is to steal one's energy and/or power, of which they believe every person has a limited stockpile.

Traditional brew
Ayahuasca being prepared in the Napo region of Ecuador

Traditional ayahuasca brews are usually made with Banisteriopsis caapi as an MAOI, although dimethyltryptamine sources and other admixtures vary from region to region. There are several varieties of caapi, often known as different "colors", with varying effects, potencies, and uses.

DMT admixtures: Other common admixtures: Common admixtures with their associated ceremonial values and spirits:
 * Psychotria viridis (Chacruna)  – leaves
 * Diplopterys cabrerana (Chaliponga, Chagropanga, Banisteriopsis rusbyana) – leaves
 * Psychotria carthagenensis (Amyruca) – leaves
 * Justicia pectoralis
 * Brugmansia (Toé)
 * Nicotiana rustica (Mapacho, variety of tobacco)
 * Ilex guayusa, a relative of yerba mate
 * Ayahuma bark: Dead head tree. Provides protection and is used in healing susto (soul loss from spiritual fright or trauma).
 * Capirona bark: Provides cleansing and protection. It is noted for its smooth bark, white flowers, and hard wood.
 * Chullachaki caspi bark (Brysonima christianeae): Provides cleansing to the physical body. Used to transcend physical body ailments. Head spirits look Caucasian.
 * Lopuna blanca bark: Provides protection.
 * Punga amarilla bark: Yellow Punga. Provides protection. Used to pull or draw out negative spirits or energies.
 * Remo caspi bark: Oar Tree. Used to move dense or dark energies.
 * Wyra (huaira) caspi bark (Cedrelinga catanaeformis): Air Tree. Used to create purging, transcend gastro/intestinal ailments, calm the mind, and bring tranquility.
 * Shiwawaku bark: Brings purple medicine to the ceremony.
 * Uchu sanango: Head of the sanango plants.
 * Huacapurana: Giant tree of the Amazon with very hard bark.

Ayahuasca analogues
The name "ayahuasca" specifically refers to a botanical decoction that contains Banisteriopsis caapi. A synthetic version, known as pharmahuasca, is a combination of an appropriate MAOI and typically DMT. In this usage, the DMT is generally considered the main psychoactive active ingredient, while the MAOI merely preserves the psychoactivity of orally ingested DMT, which would otherwise be destroyed in the gut before it could be absorbed in the body. Thus, ayahuasqueros and most others working with the brew maintain that the Banisteriopsis caapi vine is the defining ingredient, and that this beverage is not ayahuasca unless B. caapi is in the brew.

Effects
The ingestion of ayahuasca can also cause significant, but temporary, emotional and psychological distress.[  Long-term negative effects are not known.[39] A few deaths due to participation in the consumption of ayahuasca have been reported.[40][41][42] The deaths may be due to preexisting heart conditions, as ayahuasca may increase pulse rates and blood pressure, or interaction with other medicines taken, such as antidepressants, and in some cases possibly a result of the addition of toé in the brew.[43][44]