Ayahuasca

Israeli writer and publicist Alexander Brass reflects on his Ayahuasca experience in the Amazon Jungle Retreat.

For thousands of years, Indigenous communities across the Amazon have prepared a powerful ceremonial brew by cooking together the woody Banisteriopsis caapi vine and the leaves of the Psychotria viridis shrub. Known in Quechua as “the vine of the ancestors,” this medicine has served as one of the most revered tools for healing, divination, and spiritual guidance in Amazonian cosmovision.

In traditional settings, experienced shamans guide all-night ceremonies in which participants drink the bitter, dark liquid while sacred songs (icaros) steer the experience. The focus is never recreation; rather, the brew is used to cleanse body and spirit, reveal the root causes of illness, communicate with plant and ancestor spirits, resolve interpersonal conflicts, and receive direction for individuals and the community. Despite centuries of suppression during colonial times, these practices endured and are still very much alive among dozens of Indigenous nations.

Global interest began to rise in the 20th century through accounts by explorers, anthropologists, and writers such as William S. Burroughs. In Brazil, churches like Santo Daime and União do Vegetal incorporated the brew into structured religious contexts, eventually winning legal recognition. Since the 1990s, retreat centers in Peru, Brazil, and Costa Rica have welcomed thousands of international seekers pursuing psychological healing and spiritual growth.

Emerging scientific studies are now documenting what Indigenous traditions have long asserted: significant and often rapid improvements in treatment-resistant depression, PTSD, addiction, and anxiety. These effects appear tied to increased brain plasticity, deep emotional processing, and lasting shifts in perspective and meaning-making.

At its core, ayahuasca remains a profound teacher plant that continues to transmit ancient Amazonian knowledge into the modern world, offering pathways to physical purification, emotional resolution, and reconnection with the greater web of life.