“The components of these potions vary according to regional plant availability and cultural needs.”
Biography
Constantino Manuel Torres, Ph. D., Art History, Professor Emeritus, Art and Art History Department, Florida International University, Miami.
Constantino Manuel Torres has conducted research on ancient cultures of the South Central Andes since 1982. His work has concentrated on the San Pedro de Atacama oasis, Chile, and the use of Anadenanthera-based snuffs. Torres is also involved in the study of the art of Tiwanaku, Bolivia, attempting to unravel the structure of the Tiwanaku iconographic configuration and its relationship to visionary plants. His books include Anadenanthera: Visionary Plant of Ancient South America (2006), co-authored with David Repke, a comprehensive and detailed study of this sacred plant continually used for the past 4000 years. His recent research on Anadenanthera preparations has led to the study of ayahuasca analogues in South American antiquity.
On two occasions he has been an invited presenter to the Dumbarton Oaks Round Table, and participated in a symposium on the art of the South Central Andes at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Visual Arts of the National Gallery, Washington, DC. Torres has also organized several symposia on the art and archaeology of the Andes for the International Congress of Americanists and for the Society for American Archaeology. He has been the recipient of three Fulbright Fellowships, He is adjunct professor for the graduate program in Anthropology and Archaeology, Universidad Católica del Norte, San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. Torres is also advisor for “Cultura y Drogas,” an interdisciplinary graduate program at the Universidad de Caldas, Manizales, Colombia.
The origins of the ayahuasca/yagé concept. An inquiry into the synergy between DMT and ß carbolines.
“Use of psychoactive plants and preparations in South America is characterized by a predilection for visionary agents containing short-acting tryptamines.”
Transcript abstract
This paper presents the results of an inquiry into the origins of the ayahuasca/yagé concept. Ayahuasca and yagé are analogous potions that exert their psychotropic action through the synergism of their basic component alkaloids: harmine, tetrahydroharmine, harmaline, and dimethyltryptamine (DMT). These beverages have a long history of use throughout the Amazon Basin. This investigation reveals, instead of a fixed recipe, a complex series of potions. The components of these potions vary according to regional plant availability and cultural needs. Ayahuasca and yagé are the potions most commonly used today, but not the most ancient. The beginning stages of my inquiry focused on the origins of these two pharmacologically complex beverages. It soon became apparent that questions of origin were not restricted to sets of specific recipes, prescriptions, and localities. Instead, a construct related to plant interaction and modulation began to emerge from this research.
In an inquiry about origins, in addition to ayahuasca and yagé, equivalent potions should be considered. Significant among these are, vinho de jurema, yaraque, vino de cebil, and chicha with an admixture of Anadenanthera seeds. These beverages must be seen within the context of tryptamine activation throughout South America (smoking, snuffing, enemas, unguents). Use of psychoactive plants and preparations in South America is characterized by a predilection for visionary agents containing short-acting tryptamines (N,N-DMT, 5-MeO-DMT, and 5-HO-DMT). First, a survey of potions and brews that activate tryptamines by the addition of these alkaloids to a ß-carboline base is presented. Second, the antiquity of these drinks is determined by searching early colonial documents and ethnographic information collected in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. Third, after gathering the temporal data, a review of pre-Columbian iconography is undertaken to determine possible use of ayahuasca-like potions previous to contact with Europeans.
