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Psychological Aspects of the Yage
Experience in an Experimental Setting
by Claudio Naranjo

taken from _Hallucinogens and Shamanism_ by Michael J. Harner Copyright 1973, Oxford Press

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When we consider the anthropological reports on the uses and effects of yage or ayahuasca among the different Indian cultures in South America several questions naturally come to our mind: What is peculiar to the natives' experiences or their interpretations of such? Would a white man in our culture share what the shamans report of themselves or would he experience the drug's effect according to his own values, expectations, and previous life history? In a way these questions are equivalent to asking what kind of drug this is, since we can only generalize about the effect of a drug seeing through and beyond personality and cultural differences that bear on it, after which we may either affirm its relativity or grasp a common core of experience behind the dis- parate interpretations and symbolizations of it in the individual reports.

An answer to these questions, interesting to pharmacology and psychology as well as to anthropology, can be sought in the study of the reactions to the drug among non-natives that are not in-

CLAUDIO NARANJO, M.D., was formerly an Associate of the Institute of Personality Assessment and Research of the University of California, Berkeley. He has conducted experimental and clinical work in psychotherapy both at the University of Chile School of Medicine and in the United States, to which he came as a Guggenheim fellow in 1964·

formed of the natives' accounts of theirs, so I hope that some in- sights in this direction can be gained from the following report on experiences from thirty-five such volunteers in Santiago, Chile. The contents of this paper will report on some features in the experience with harmaline, the active alkaloid of yage, as reported by thirty-five subjects who took it either orally or by intravenous injection, in different dosage levels and in some cases more than once (cf. Naranjo, 1967)·

I shall not go into details about the physiological aspects of the reaction or its comparison with the experience induced by other hallucinogens, but I may say that, on the one hand, the experi- mental subjects ingested either mescaline or LSD on a different occasion, and they all agree that their reactions to these drugs are very different from those brought about by harmaline. On the other hand, this difference partly lies in that yage (or harmaline) induces a more sleep-like trance; the person under its influence generally wants to keep his eyes closed, since the external world appears as of little interest and distracting from the world of visions and inner happenings that take place when it is shut off. Parenthetically I can also mention that this trance-like state, somehow resembling sleep or a self-contained reverie, is neuro- physiologically more like a state of alertness in that the EEG recordings show the disappearance of alpha waves when the sub- jects have their eyes closed.

But what can be of greater interest for the purpose of compari- son with the preceding paper by Harner undoubtedly lies in the content of the experiences, be this the description of visions, or, in some cases, pure feelings or thoughts.

In general terms it can be said that the great majority of these experiences were of the sort that is generally misnamed hallucina- tory. That is, the person would visualize with closed eyes--and rarely with open eyes--images that are not mistaken for reality (though they may be associated with intense feelings). In some of the subjects this went along with or was followed by an inclina- tion to think about personal or metaphysical problems with a feel- ing of unusual depth, insight, and inspiration. In only two cases out of thirty-five a person under a full dose of the alkaloid had no hallucinations at all but only an indescribable feeling of joy, lov- ing serenity. Most people became nauseous and some vomited pro- fusely or experienced a vague but intense malaise, which on two occasions led to the interruption of the session. It is difficult to decide to what extent this discomfort was psychological in origin, but it appeared to be concomitant with a state of diminished awareness of the psychological happenings of the moment, a sort of sleepiness in which the person seemed to take refuge and shut himself off from overwhelming visions or feelings that he could not recall again.

Before we examine more closely the content of these experi- ences I would like it to be understood that the mere description of one such session, lasting about six hours, would easily take an hour to convey. In fact, I have in my possession a forty-page report written by one of the subjects on his experience. Since illustration with case material seems indispensable if one is to convey the par- ticular duality of the content, in what follows I shall alternate be- tween excerpts of session notes and the discussions of such. This will be necessarily unilateral because of the limited space avail- able, so I have chosen to concentrate on the highlighting of some of what appear to be recurrent themes underlying the individual experiences. I think it will become apparent that almost any illus- tration for one of these themes could also be used to illustrate some other, since such motives converge and are condensed in a synthetic whole in the actual play of fantasy.

I have chosen as a starting point for the following discussion the first vision of a 25-year-old woman, born in Europe of Euro- pean parents, who has lived in Chile since late in her childhood. She says:

I went at a terrific speed. I came to a strange street. I only saw one side of it. It was an interminable row of two- or three-storied houses with pointed roofs and wooden beams, in the style of medieval houses or English country houses.

I suddenly saw a man running. ire was a messenger. I had to slow down and placed myself next to him. That is, next to his face, since in this dream only my soul participated. My soul is a sphere of some 7 cm. in diameter, pure energy, and it rotates on itself at such enormous speed that it would be the same if it didn't. It can displace itself in any direction at the speed it wishes. My soul sees, hears, thinks; it perceives odors, I believe, but has no sense of touch for the simple reason that it repels matter.

We must in the first place take notice that this is a dream of fantasy of her "soul," and this awareness of an entity which is regarded as a soul as distinct from the body is seen with the same explicitness in other experiences too. Consider the following de- scription by a al-year-old Chilean journalist:

I was going farther and farther away from myself. I was real- izing that my body and my mind were such autonomous forces that if they had ever converged in me it seemed pure chance. What during my entire lifetime I had sensed like mingled con- fusion now appeared to be divided in three precise domains: outside lay the world, people, buildings and noises (for which I cared less and less); closer, as a boundary, stood my organism, with those hands, that mouth and its laugh, now commanded by itself; inside, at last, in the innermost and recondite, warmly floating in the skin that was always with me, was I. That is, my mind.

It is perhaps this transition from everyday-like awareness to that of the autonomous self, soul, mind, or whatever name we may wish to call it, that might: perhaps explain recurrent images of fall- ing into one's body, or simply falling--leaving the everyday ground --entering one's body or some symbolic place. The process is also expressed as one of dissociating and leaving, as going unconscious (though this does not actually happen) or, more radically, dying. Eight persons in thirty-five experienced visions or feelings of their own death.

The same subject of the last quotation felt he was dying, too, and comments: "If I was going to leave the body, that didn't worry me. I knew that I existed in essence, and this was the ideal state, with no skin, no liver, no resentments, atemporal."

In one of the two subjects who did not visualize, the experience of death was present too, but as pure feeling and as a bodily sen- sation: "Physically 1 felt that I was dying and I feel that when my time comes I shall die well."

In the following excerpt both the theme of death and that of an independent soul can be noticed:

I saw my own death, with anguish; how I was carried across fields of rice in Korea or China, on a stretcher, between two men, coolies, perhaps, and I could see my face, once more from the outside and very close. It was like tanned leather, as in a suitcase, covered with droplets of blood or scratches on the temples. . . .

The observer in this scene is a point in space, and the subject has previously commented that there is a feeling to it like being a butterfly. But this can now lead us to a different theme.

If we now turn our attention once more to the image of that spherical soul flying at high speed I would like to point out that this speed itself tends to recur in other visions; the lack of tactile sensations perhaps has its equivalence in a feeling of benumbed- ness which is often reported, whereas its being suspended in space, soaring through it at some altitude appears or is implied in about one-third of the subjects' comments or reports.

Consider the following excerpt from the account of a male sub- ject who took a fairly large amount of harmaline with the addition of mescaline:

The first thing I did, involuntarily, was lift my hand. It seemed to lose weight, it rose, rose . . . and then I felt that it was no longer a hand but the tip of a wing. I was turning into a winged being. I then stretched my wings and felt extreme freedom and expansion. My wings were growing and as they did my feeling of freedom increased, as if I had been imprisoned during my entire lifetime and I suddenly had organs that made it possible for me to expand.,4nd I would say: "I have wings! I have wings! There is no space that can contain them, the air cannot contain them, they are immense!" I felt my wings grow above the earth, and had the image of a huge bird above the earth, with its extended wings beyond its limits, reaching in- finity. I then, timidly, began to move them. I felt the movements of flying clearly: how the wing rested on the resisting air, and how a wave of motion went from the tip to the other end per- mitting me to lift the body. And I said: "I fly! I fly!" And felt the air coming into my mouth, caressing my whole body, and saw the perspective of the earth. I didn't go anywhere. I just flew and the air passing through my body gave my breathing a special rhythm, a rhythm of flying which expressed not only the movement but the joy.

It may be related to this experience of flying that some subjects who do not report it as such nevertheless describe their visions as scenes viewed from above, sometimes from great altitude. Such evidence of an aerial viewpoint can be found, for example, in the following description:

I remember a Negro woman I saw from above ... I saw her from a distance of some 3 meters and then approached her further, from her right side. She carried a purple parasol of a very bright, almost luminous color, like a sea anemone, like em- broidery, and would twist it around its axis so that it unfolded like loose chiffon or in the form of an aurora borealis, and she laughed with a coarse and vulgar laugh.

It happens with this as with many other yage' visions that it contains more than one of the recurrent themes, and I would be tempted to elaborate on each. Here it is not only the physical point of view from above that seems typical but, too, the image of a geometric center for the happenings, the merry-go-round-like rotation, the Negro woman and the experience of being teased. For the time being I shall conclude the discussion of the flight- theme by mentioning the most common presentation of it, which is the mere visualization of birds. The following is not the most typical example, but may be interesting from many points of view:

Suddenly, a crucified Christ ascended moving his arms like wings. And then another, moving his arms with the crossed sticks. All these movements were at an incredible speed. I thought, in seeing it, that here was from where the idea had come of de picting the Holy Ghost as a dove. And then Christ turned into a sort of dove that ascended.

On the whole ten subjects mentioned at least one of the experi- ences related to flying.

I would now like to concentrate on another aspect of our ini- tial quotation, which is the spherical shape and rotating motion of the transparent flying sphere. I am mentioning both the rotation and the shape not only because the first already suggests the idea of circularity, but for the fact that both, in turn, imply the idea of a center of the form or movement. This center may be the most adequate symbol to refer to the theme we now want to discuss.

It may be recalled that this idea of a central element and the rotating motion were already encountered in that vision of the Negro woman with the turning parasol which unfolded into an aurora borealis. Now consider the following passage from the same person's report:

I saw tiny dots, like those on a television screen, transparent dots that agitated and turned (when I fixed the gaze on one point) around a cone forming a sort of funnel, like the whirlpool that is formed when one removes the stopper. They turned, rather slowly, and this funnel opened upwards from the floor I was gazing at, and extended to the sides into my entire visual field.... And in this swirl of particles lies all my visual ex- perience. It all comes from it, this is the foundation of the scenes I saw, this was their spirit, in the same way that the dots on the television screen are the ground of all the images; but even the meaning of this incessant turning was in everything, like a merry-go-round, or like fair-music; it was like circus music. Was the teasing already here! Something of a sardonic joke was in all of this, these changing situations confronting the spectator (me), these images in incessant transformation, never perman- ent, meaning nothing but change as such, like the whirlpool that turned and carried in it all these visions.

The "center" can appear in the different visions as a source of motion or the region to which motion flows, a source of light or a perceiving eye, a geometric region such as a circular pond in the middle of Heaven or Hell, a being at the center of the earth, of the universe, the skull or inside the subject's body. (In nine of the subjects this was a noticeable feature appearing in more than one image.) From the subject's experiences and associations, as from the context in which these images appear, I definitely believe that this contraposition of center and periphery, the core and the sur- face, the immobile and the incessant turning, the source, begin- ning and end, and the everchanging flow, is that of the deeper self and the multiplicity of experience, and it encompasses but tran- scends the duality of mind and body. More precisely, it is that of being and becoming, and it matches the traditional Hindu symbol for samsara and nirvana: the wheel of incessant death and rebirth, and its hub. Or, according to a remarkable passage of the tao-te- ching, the practical materiality of a jar and the enclosed void that constitutes its essence.

I still have to illustrate one of the most important and striking themes in the yage' experiences, but this time, if I am to illustrate it with the initial dream of the spherical soul I have to quote a bit further from it. After describing the messenger in what seems to be medieval clothes, the subject goes on:

I left him behind and proceeded onwards, skimming just above the ground. I met a very large man, a sort of giant with a bronzed skin, black mustache, leather jacket and pants made of leopard's skin, who looked at me in a rage, who knows why. He produced a very long whip and wanted to whip me with it, taking my soul for a top. But the whip would stop at one cm. from my soul and couldn't go further. The giant and the whip were furious about their failure. The whip then turned into a black serpent's head with no teeth, that opened its mouth want- ing to devour me. It could not. At the moment my soul's atten- tion was caught by a funeral procession so I didn't see the giant or the whip anymore.

So here we find, in a brief scene, rage, dark skin, hostile whip- ping, leopard skin, a black serpent, and the prospect of being swallowed. In this particular instance, too, the soul appears invul- nerable to the threats because of its very nature. Here, as in other instances, it can be a matter of choice how embracing a category we want to regard as a theme. Serpents certainly recur in the vi- sions, and crocodiles or reptiles in general, and so do tigers, leop- ards and cats; but fangs also do, and birds of prey and vampires, and perhaps all these are interrelated by their implication of dan- ger, and would also be related to the giant and the whip. Since it is not possible in the present circumstances to elaborate on the different elements of this complex, though, I shall choose to illus- trate the two which are striking enough at least for their frequency. Strangely enough, tigers, leopards, or jaguars were seen by seven of the subjects even though big cats are not seen in Chile. These are sometimes encountered as aggressors, sometimes as a graceful sight, a friendly companion or, in one instance, experienced as a true impersonation. Reptiles, too, were seen by six subjects. In three instances these were dragons, and in another there was a dinosaur. Snakes were reported by three subjects, and for one of them these were the most prominent element in the whole expe- rience.

The following excerpt is from the same lady of the spherical soul and the giant with the leopard skin:

At first, many tiger faces. Panthers and all kinds of cats. Black and yellow. Then the tiger. The largest and strongest of all. I know (for I read his thought) that I must follow him. I see the plateau. He walks with resolution in a straight line. I follow; but on reaching the edge and perceiving the brightness I cannot follow him. The dream vanishes. But above the luminescence rises a statue of the Virgin with the child in her arms, and as- cends from the hole into the sky.

At a still later stage she is able to follow the tiger further to the end of the plateau and look into the abyss which is Hell (see Fig. I). It is round and in it is fluid fire, or fluid gold. People swim in it.

The tiger wants me to go there. I don't know how to descend. I grasp the tiger's tail and he jumps. Because of his musculature the jump is graceful and slow. The tiger swims in the liquid fire as I sit on his back. I then suddenly see my tiger is eating up a woman. But no. It is not the tiger. It is an animal with a crocodile's head and the body of a fatter, larger animal with four feet (though these were not seen).All kinds of lizards and frogs begin to appear now. And the pond gradually turns into a greenish swamp of stagnant waters, though full of life: primi- tive forms of life, such as algae, anemones, and micro-organ- isms. It is a prehistoric pond [see Fig. II]. A shore appears, not with sand but vegetation. Some dinosaurs are seen in the dis- tance. I rise on the tiger on the shore. The serpent follows us. It catches up with us. I stay aside and let the tiger take care of her [see Fig. III], But the serpent is strong and my tiger is in danger. I decide to take part in the fight. The serpent notices my intention, lets the tiger loose and prepares to attack us. I hold its head and press on its sides so that it will open its mouth. It has an iron-piece inside, like the bit of a horse. I press on the ends of this bit and the serpent dies or disintegrates, it falls into pieces as if it were a mechanical serpent. I go onwards with the tiger. I walk next to him, my arm over his neck. We climb the high mountain. There is a zig-zag path between high bushes. We arrive. There is a crater. We wait for some time and there begins an enormous eruption. The tiger tells me I must throw myself into the crater. I am sad to leave my companion but I know that this last journey I must travel. I throw myself into the fire that comes out of the crater. I ascend with the flames towards the sky and fly onwards.

I have deliberately quoted more than what is strictly relevant to the mere illustration of the tiger motive so at least an intuition can be formed as to the complex relationships between the themes of tiger, serpent, crocodile, fire, destruction, and those of flying, ascending, disembodied existence.

Just One more example before we proceed to a different aspect, this time from the same person who felt like a huge bird flying beyond the limits of the earth:

I wasn't a fish anymore, but a big cat, a tiger. I walked, though, feeling the same freedom I had experienced as a bird and a fish, freedom of movement, flexibility, grace. I moved as a tiger in the jungle, joyously, feeling the ground under my feet, feeling my power; my chest grew larger. I then approached an animal, any animal. I only saw its neck, and then experienced what a tiger feels when looking at its prey.

This may be enough to show how the tiger by no means stands for mere hostility, but for a fluid synthesis of aggression and grace and a full acceptance of the life-impulse beyond moral judgment. It is now time to turn to an aspect in these experiences which is much more diversified than those discussed, and which, though expressed here and there through particularized images, can choose such a variety of images that it makes it more appropriate to speak of a trait or quality of the yak experience than of a "theme." This quality is what we may want to call the religious or the mythical.

If we choose to regard as religious those images which belong in this category according to common knowledge, or the feelings and concerns that the subjects express in explicitly religious terms, we find that these were reported by fifteen out of the thirty-five. Five persons saw the Devil or devils, three of them mentioned angels, three had a vision of the Virgin Mary and two of Christ; three spoke of Paradise or Heaven, and two of Hell, three of them described priestly figures, while others saw churches, altars, or crosses. Aside from these fifteen, two had ecstatic feelings which were described in religious terms.

It is probably an arbitrary matter where to trace the limit be- tween what is religious and what is not. One instance of this can be seen in the transition between the vision of "the Devil" or minor demons to monstrous images or horrible masks, and from these to horrible people or animals. References to Greco-Roman gods, sirens or nymphs are not uncommon, and we may wish to place them in the same category with the religious images of Christianity. And, again, we can detect a mythical quality in the atmosphere of the typical fairy tale, with castles, kings, and medie- val costumes, as has been reported in at least four of the experi- ences. One subject said he felt like a pharaoh, but in his written report two days later he did not mention the image or idea of a pharaoh, but said instead that this was a feeling of being God. If it were not for this additional information, the essential reli- gious implication of the image could have been overlooked. For these reasons I believe the mythico-religious element is more per- vasive in the experiences than what appears from their outward descriptions and may be completely unrelated to the visual im- agery. In one instance, for example, a subject had been instructed to imagine the depth of the ocean. Only a month later did I dis- cover, to my own surprise, the importance that this experience had for her:

The most important was descending to the bottom of the sea [she commented]. The feeling of being myself. The sea was in myself. There was a continuity of the external with the internal. I have recalled this when I have been unhappy. The sand and the plants were myself or something of mine. The idea of God was in everything. I think that must be what is called a mystical experience. I cannot describe it. I wouldn't have words. Beauty, joy, peace, everything I longed for was there. God in myself.

A familiar mythical character came to the fore during an experi- ence the most important aspect of which was the feeling the sub- ject had of not being the doer of his actions when he talked, laughed, or made a drawing. When he looked at himself in a mir- ror, too, his face seemed to him a mask while somebody else was looking through his eyes. This feeling of being, so to say, "pos- sessed" by another spirit developed into the notion that this was a dwarf inside of him. This dwarf, childlike and aged at the same time, bisexual or asexual, manipulator of the body and free from necessity but, at the same time imprisoned by the body, was part of his perception of different situations during the drug experi- ence, and the following excerpt refers to his viewing of a picture showing a sexual act:

... I thought eroticism would come next but it didn't. Never did I grasp the carnal side of the movements, and I saw it as an act as natural as any. Then, what was physically a genital turned into a communication tube, a bridge between two be- ings. The figures were communicating in the only possible way, interrupting during a fleeting interval the solitude of the spirit. Then, suddenly, the dwarf appeared in the bodies, laughing in amusement while he pushed out his obscene finger. He took de- light in it since this was his definitive, triumphant joke: while the body believed it was seeking its satisfaction it was really letting free the imprisoned dwarf. Love, it seemed, was the su- preme irony. Man and woman give themselves to each other in pleasure, the body instinctively seeks it, but, in the accomplish- ment, it ceases to exist, since the orgasm is a fleeting death. It being death, imprisonment and dependency cease to exist. In the battle between the body and tile dwarf this was the truce. But suddenly the dwarf's laughter vanished, and as if it were sucked by itself it grew smaller and smaller until it was only a light, an incandescent worm, a shining point, a microscopic and luminous spermatozoan. In this state it shot from the man's body to the woman's womb. In the midst of this truce the dwarf, too, was fooled. He was forced to abandon his inaction and was precipitated into doing something. A new human be- ing, to begin again the cycle with the duality of dwarf and body. This led me to the thought of a higher joke.

Even though the focus of this report has been descriptive, I think the different motives illustrated thus far almost out of their own accord fall together in an embracing whole. The complex of images discussed first as portraying the polarity of being and be- coming, freedom and necessity, spirit and matter, only set up the stage for the human drama. This involves the battle of opposites and eventually their reconciliation or fusion, after giving way to death and destruction, be this by fire, tigers, drowning, or devour- ing snakes. The beauty of fluid fire, the graceful tiger, or the subtle and wise reptile, these seem most expressive for the synthetic ex- perience of accepting life as a whole, or, better, accepting existence as a whole, life and death included; evil included too, though from a given spiritual perspective it is not experienced as evil any more. Needless to say, the process is essentially religious, and it could even be suspected that every myth presents us one particular as- pect of the same experience.

The themes I have illustrated are by no means the only ones that can be discerned in the sessions. As I mentioned in passing, Negro people appear very frequently, and this research was carried out in Chile where there are no Negroes. Landscapes and cities are often described (as the medieval houses in the first quotation) and these sometimes seem to be related to the experience of flying. Masks, especially monstrous or sardonic ones are often mentioned, and so are eyes. Not uncommonly robots, vehicles or a feeling of automation are reported, and so are mobs, caves, prehistory, pearls, and so on. It would take too long to illustrate all of them and more so to elaborate on their meaning. I think, though, that the themes discussed here are the central ones, and I would suggest that they invite us to regard some shamanistic conceptions more as the ex- pression of universal experiences than in terms of acculturation to local traditions.

REFERENCE

Naranjo, Claudio

1967 Psychotropic Properties of the Harmala Alkaloids. In Ethno-
Pharmacologic Search for Psychoactive Drugs (Daniel H.
Efron, editor-in-chief), pp. 385-91· Public Health Serv-
ice Publication No. 1645 Washington, D.C.: U.S. Depart-
ment of Health, Education and Welfare.

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The Harmala Alkaloids

The harmala alkaloids are psychoactive in man at oral doses of 25 to 750 milligrams. A small dose (25.50 milligrams) is a CNS stimulant. it increases mental activity and produces a pleasant dreamy state for several hours. The larger doses-- 200 milligrams up to 750 milligrams--yield the hallucinogenic effects. The experience usually begins within one hour and often lasts six hours or more,

The initial effects include nausea, vomitting, increased blood pressure and heart rate, profuse sweating, dizziness and body tremors. During this initial period you may hear humming or buzzing noises and you may notice a wave-like movement of the environment. You may feel alternations of hot and cold, You may even experience the feeling of sinking together with the sensation of flight.

These initial effects can be discomforting. They tend to produce anxiety and encourage a withdrawal from the external world. You will probably perceive environmental sights and sounds, especially other persons, as disturbing objects and wish to avoid them. Seek a dark, quiet place where you can enjoy the hallucinatory trance which follows.

The hallucinatory trance consists of three successive stages of hallucinations. You will know stage one when your sense of darkness is interrupted by bright flickers of light. These phosphene-based sensations first appear as colored dots, specks, stars or simple flowers. They give way to undulating lines, circles, grids, simple forms, abstract designs and multi-shaped geometrical patterns. Relax and enjoy a closed-eye contemplation of the floating, ever-changing pattern of these little images.

In stage two the abstract designs of stage one give way to slowly moving masses of shapes and colors. Larger shapes take form in a slowly developing pattern of hallucinatory images. These images acquire a personal character as your unconscious mind projects your fears and desires upon the shapes and colors of your visions. Do not be alarmed if the horizon seems to collapse in a bright flash of light or if your hallucinations turn into frightening animals. Huge birds of prey, large jaguars and snakes are common hallucinations with harmala alkaloids. Observe and enjoy the bright colored imagery as it changes continually in a flowing transformation of dream-like sequences.

Hours later, in stage three, this panorama of vivid fantasy fades into the slow movement of shapes and colors. These images disappear, in turn, as the last stage of the hallucinatory trance wears off. If your harmala experiment is part of a group experience, you may be surprised by the unusual similarity in the content of each other's hallucinations. The
harmala alkaloids tend to produce collective hallucinations--especially archetypal imagery--among group members. This access to "collective unconscious" is such an extraordinary effect that the harmala alkaloids have earned the name "telepathines". These unusual alkaloids are present naturally in harmala, the Hallucinogenic Herb of the American Southwest.

Important Considerations

Every psychedelic experience is chiefly a function of set and setting, of preparation and environment. The better prepared YOU are, the better the experience will be for you. Consider the following instructions:

* Do not drink any alcohol or take any drugs or medication when experimenting with MAO inhibitors (Ie, the harmala alkaloids).

REMEMBER: MAO inhibitors interfere with the bodys ability to detoxify certain drugs and fermented foodstuffs. Narcotics, barbiturates, tranquilizers, antihistamines, amphetamines, all forms of alcohol and foodstuffs containing tyramine are potentially LETHAL when used In
combination with MAO Inhibitors.

* Provide a comfortable setting which is as free as possible from unforeseen distractions and intrusions. Make sure you will not be disturbed for six to eight hours.

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The harmala alkaloids, with and without accompanying DMT-like compounds, have fascinated psychologists and others because of the unusually wide incidence of particular images. Outstanding in this regard are visions of tigers, snakes and naked women (often Negro); the color blue seems to predominate when ayahuasca is taken without additives. Although this imagery is not universal, it is common, sometimes frightening, and is closely aligned to the archetypal symbolism that so fascinated Carl Jung.

When Naranjo gave harmaline and harmine in psychotherapeutic situations to city dwellers (people who had never been in the jungle), he observed that much of the imagery that was aroused had to do with snakes, panthers, jaguars and other large felines. The recurrence of such images led him to speculate about the action of harmaline on "the collective unconscious."

The anthropologist Michael Harner is one of those claiming to have seen what the Indians are talking about, after having doubted throughout his year of study among the Jivaros of the Ecuadorian Amazon. Four years later, in 1961, he returned and was "turned on" to yagé by another tribe. Marlene Dobkin de Rios recounts his experience:

"For several hours after drinking the brew, Harner found himself, although awake, in a world literally beyond his wildest dreams. He met bird-headed people as well as dragon-like creatures who explained that they were the true gods of this world. He enlisted the services of other spirit helpers in attempting to fly through the far reaches of the Galaxy. He found himself transported into a trance where the supernatural seemed natural and realized that anthropologists, including himself, had profoundly underestimated the importance of the drug in affecting native ideology ...."

Michael Harner and Claudio Naranjo made much of the "constancy" of both yagé and harmaline visions in separate essays in Hallucinogens and Shamanism. An essentially similar case has been put forth in Furst's Flesh of the Gods, where Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff writes of the Tukano Indians of the western Amazon region of Colombia. These were the aboriginals Spruce first observed using yagé Koch-Grunberg described their yagé practices again half a century later:

"According to what the Indians tell me, everything appears to be larger and more beautiful than it is in reality. The house appears immense and splendrous. A host of people is seen, especially women The erotic appears to play a major role in this intoxication. Huge multicolored snakes wind themselves around the house posts. All colors are very brilliant..."

The Tukanos still live in relative isolation. What caught the eye of Reichel-Dolmatoff was their use of representational paintings on house fronts, rattles and bark loincloths. The natives claimed that these designs were observed during yagé inebriation. During 1966-67 a number of adult males who frequently partook of this brew were offered sheets of paper and a choice of twelve colored pencils. "The men showed great interest in and concentration on this task and spent from one to two hours finishing each drawing."

The colors they selected spontaneously "were exclusively red, yellow, and blue, on very few occasions adding a shade of hazel brown." Certain design elements were regularly repeated. Here's Reichel-Dolmatoffs listing of the Top Twenty:

1. Male organ
2. Female organ
3. Fertilized uterus
4. Uterus as passage
5. Drops of semen
6. Anaconda-canoe
7. Phratry
8. Group of phratries
9. Line of descent
10. Incest

11. Exogamy
12. Box of ornaments
13. Milky Way
14. Rainbow
15. Sun
16. Vegetal growth
17. Thought
18. Stool
19. Rattles
20. Cigar holder

"Garden of Eden" and other imagery is more specific to yagé than any image pattern is to LSD, mescaline or psilocybin. The near-universality of many yagé images suggests that the beta-carbolines are a good deal closer than other psychedelics to being a "pure element" in a Periodical Table of Consciousness. These beta-carbolines, however, cannot be entirely "pure," as they are accompanied by many negative side-effects.

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In the 1960's a Chilean psychotherapist, Claudio Naranjo (1973, 1978 ) used a variety of hallucinogens including harmaline (one of the harmala alkaloids) in the psychotherapeutic setting, and came to the conclusion that: "Harmaline may be said to be more hallucinogenic than mescaline . . . both in terms of the number of images reported and their realistic quality. In fact some subjects felt that certain scenes which they saw had really happened and that they had been as disembodied witnesses of them in a different time and place. This matches the experience of South American shamans." (Naranjo, 1967).

Ott (1993 ) considers that the harmala alkaloids are not actually hallucinogenic in their own right but that they permit the DMT in the ayahuasca mixture to be absorbed into the blood stream so that these create the entheogenic effects. This is still a matter of debate. There is extensive evidence from many anthropologists which suggests that the Banisteriopsis vine together with Psychotria Viridis is a psi-conducive drug, particularly with regard to remote viewing, clairvoyance and precognition but so far there has been no experimental test of these claims (Kensinger, 1973 ). Ayahuasca has recently been investigated by Don et al (1996 ) who suggest that its action is consistent with their other research into brain function and psi experience.

Thus, the anthropological evidence suggests that harmala alkaloids mixed with DMT stimulate a psi-conducive state of consciousness; the neurochemical evidence suggests that the harmala alkaloids are an analogue of pinoline which is produced in the pineal gland, noting that in the comparison between the action of the harmala alkaloids and pinoline it must be remembered that a one-position change in methoxy grouping can be profound in its action. The Yogic and occult teachings and common folk lore all say that the pineal gland is the psychic centre and I suggest that the pinoline made by the pineal gland at night time, through its action on serotonin, stimulates a dream type state of consciousness which is psi-conducive.

http://www.psi-researchc...re.co.uk/article_2.html

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I wanted to start this thread to discuss peoples harmala only journies..no DMT, mushrooms or other admixtures here..I know that there are alot of people here that are into harmalas. I really really love them..in all forms..I love caapi tea, rue tea and extracted harmalas. For me harmalas are visionary and transformative psychedelics all by themselves. Lower doses bring on a calm and euphoric medative state that is sort of dreamy and empathic. Larger doses I lay down in bed and get sucked into visionary dream sequences and astral sort or journies where I seem to meet with realistic people in other places etc that often have some sort of relevance to me and my life. There is a wonderful glow that accompanies the experience afterwords..it is like being rebooted.

Anyway I find rue to be just as visionary as caapi surprisingly..I used to not even want to touch rue due to all the bad stuff I heard about it. 250mg though seems like it would be alot for me..I think I would be astral traveling with that dose..same with 150g of caapi..Harmaline seems to be very powerful to me and I think rue alkaloids over all are active at lower doses than caapi alkaloids due to that harmaline content in rue. I havent gone as high with rue though as I have with caapi yet so I need to experiment more. I have only like 10 experiences with rue tea and maybe 10 with rue alkaloids in large enough doses to have visions..so not much compared to my caapi experience.

I like to take the 2 together as well..

There are differences though. Rue I find a bit more somatic than caapi, once on rue I could have sworn I ate mushrooms with how euphoric my body felt..caapi feels more of an easy or gentle teacher and very earthy, whereas rue doesnt seem to fuck around at all, but is definatily like some ancient alchemical warlord that can show you alot.

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(with 2 g Peganum harmala seeds, ground, in capsules) "No effects."

(with 5 g Peganum harmala seeds, ground, in capsules) "At about 1:45 tinnitus was obvious. At 2:00 precise movements were problematical and nystagmus was noticeable. Mild nausea and diarrhea, but no vomiting. I was sensitive to light and sound, and retired to a dark room. Hallucinations were intense, but only with the eyes closed. They consisted, initially, of a wide variety of geometrical patterns in dark colors, getting more intense as time went on. They disappeared when the eyes were opened. Although the loose bowels and nausea were pretty constant through the first part of the trip, I was not afraid. It was as if the "fear circuits" in the brain had been turned off. The geometric shapes evolved into more concrete images, peoples faces, movies of all sorts playing at high speed, and animal presences such as snakes. It was like vivid and intense dreaming except that I remembered most of it afterwards. In another hour things became manageable and I could go out in public. My sex drive was pleasantly enhanced, and I slept very well."

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The leaves were Ayahuasca’s “helpers,” I was told, and their purpose was to “brighten and clarify” the visions. The vine is like a cave, and the leaf is like a torch you use to see what is inside the cave. The vine is like a book, and the leaf is like the candle you use to read the book.8 The vine is like a snowy television set, and the leaf helps to tune in the picture. There was a subtle attitude that the need for strong leaf was the sign of a beginner: An experienced ayahuasquero could see the visions even in low light.

Ayahuasca vine is notvisionary in the same way as DMT. Visions from vine-only brews are shadowy, monochromatic, like silhouettes, or curling smoke, or clouds moving across the night sky. It is because their visions are usually monochromatic that vines are classified by the color of vision they produce: white, black, blue, red (in my experience, dark maroon). Snakes, the most common vision on Ayahuasca, are considered the manifest spirit of the vine.9 Vine visions can be hard to see; in fact, the “visions” may not be visual at all, but auditory or somatic or intuitive. But the vine carries the content of the message, the teaching, and the insight. The leaf helps illuminate the content, but the teachings are credited to the vine. Vine visions are “frequently associated with writing, to a code that is present in visions…or in the ‘books’ where the spirits keep the secrets of the forest.” (Calavia Saez 2011:135). The vine is The Teacher, The Healer, The Guide. The purpose of drinking Ayahuasca is to receive the message the vine imparts. This is why it is the vine, not the leaf, that is classified by the type of vision it gives. “For them the vine is, in truth, a living guide, a friend, a paternal authority” (Weiskopf 2005:104).

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The caapi-program is not all that snowy! I get perfectly high-resolution caapi visions, but they are in silhouette (black figures moving on a reddish background, especially with red caapi). But to see them in full living aya-color, of course, you need to add throw some "light" on them to see that they have patterned skin (for animals) or clothes (for people).

I guess I am much more sensitive to the plants than most.

For example, the minimum caapi I need to feel it very distinctly is 2 grams. 10 grams is enough to voyage with! This is far below what others are reporting (50 grams and up!)

Some varieties of caapi or some particular batches are unusually visionary, while others are merely "intense". The visions with caapi are not colorful, though. They are more like clear picture-narratives in red and black tones. The "additive" not only lights this picture up, but adds the brilliant colors.

1 gram rue is enough for me as well.

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Absolutely-- cappi in and of itself is psycotropic.

And it is legal.

Double the dose for the tea. 60 grams instead of 30 to start (though higher amounts probably will not hurt)

The vine is powerful by itself, and the images that it can elicit are quite profound.

Dark, blues, greens-- jungle like landscapes with snakes, cats-- amazing things.

By contrast, Peganum harmala is more likely to make you sick before you have anywhere near the effects that cappi causes.

With all the discussion lately about how important DMT (illegal) is, (and we know that it is) the fact is that the Vine of the Soul (Ayahuasca) is the vine itself.

It is the core of the experience, its trunk if you will. Though P. harmala makes a good substitute when used with the admixture plants-- P harmala, in and of itself, is not the trunk, as only Banisteriopsis cappi (Ayahuasca) can be.

It is good to touch the trunk now and then.

And the images, insights and such are no less profound even if they lack the brightness that the admixture plants provide.

A dark jungle landscape can be a very interesting place to be.

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I tripped well for about 30-40 mins. I kept seeing people of all sorts. Buildings in distant lands. Houses, fancy rooms, cars.

The hallucinations were weak in the sense that they were semi-transparent with weak colouring. However, their clarity and detail was ASTOUNDING. It was like looking at reflections in black marble or on a tv tube. Crystal clear.

in one vision, I was in a room with a tiled floor. i knelt down and looked at my reflection in a black tile. I could clearly see myself and the rest of the room. Now that is what I call clarity.

In another, I saw the back of the head of a man with long black hair, spanish, standing outside in a town square in the sun. I could clearly see the sunlight reflecting off his hair. i could see the individual hairs. The detail was exquisite.

On one hand i am disappointed i never got round to drinking the pv, but on the other i am thrilled to have experienced a proper pure vine trip for the first time.

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We did (our crew) quite a bit of work trying to get this to go.. We used either cappi or rue for the mao inhibitor.. gaakk that stuff is awful to taste ( as liquid). At about :20 min we'd get the soft glow sense that told us the MAOI was working.. then we'd drop the DMT freebase caps. We started at 40mgs (analytical balance used), boosted up by 60mgs to 100mg to try and fully launch.

No one got beyond a mild +++ (+3). We repeated this several times. The psychic, clarivoyant shaman experiences which were always there with Viridis(Hawaiian grown) or Diplot. were not there with the pharma... Something is missing for the full blown entheogenic experience. We never tracked that down, as it could have been various tryptamine analogs or 5meo-dmt in the plant that was not in the pharma.

Our conclusion was that it was a waste of good freebase to pursue this route and a much more complete and total experience was to be had with the botanical path. Not what we expected or wanted, but the reality for our experiments.

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By way of conclusion, I present two additional examples. Unlike all other examples in this chapter, which consist of specific visualizations pertaining to specific content items, these examples are records of sessions. They cite or summarize the various visualizations experienced by one individual drinker in one setting. I bring them in order to give the reader a more direct feel of the visionary experience induced by Ayahuasca.

The first example consists of a 'real-time' verbatim report of what I saw in one session in which I partook of Ayahuasca by myself. I spoke aloud describing what I was seeing and notes were taken by the person who watched me. This session is not part of the core corpus and it is the only session of which I have such a recording. Overall, I would characterize this session as one of moderate strength. In it, there were no grand visions and most of the visualizations in it are snapshots and relatively simple scenes. Furthermore, in this session I had very few ideations and no special psychological insights or spiritual experiences whatsoever. Yet, I find this report to be especially valuable in portraying the general flavour of Ayahuasca visions. Manifest in it is a fairy tale-like ambience and an overall air of magnificence and enchantment. Also featuring in the report are several details that are character*istic of Ayahuasca visions in general—these include fire (note the various ways it is incorporated within the narrative of the vision), light-producing objects, carriages, and processions. Also recurrent in the report are turning movements, upward movements, and looking forward far into the distance. One comment made by a person seen in this visual sequence is a good example of how ideas relate to Ayahuasca visualizations. The entire sequence lasted about forty minutes:

A golden crystal chalice.

Flowers. In the flowers there are birds and insects and the birds go up and up.

A wheel is turning and there is a rod that is turning round and round. From it, a fire ignites.
An old man holds a taper and from it the fire climbs up and up.

A futuristic city.

A Chinese king is sitting and turning his parasol. Now he is in his study. In the background, birds are kissing one another.

A great hall—like an animated movie.

There is a code here—like that of Morse or the genetic code. The code is constituted by many, many dots, the density between which varies. All this is a language calling to be deciphered.

There is something that pushes up and up. It is like a mountain train. All the time it goes up and up.

A car from the 1920s. Delightfully magnificent. From it emerge light and flowers. Advancing with this light, we pass along gold-plated walls and come out through a staircase made out of gold and ivory. The steps go up and down and reach a theatre.

Up in the heavens there is a woman escorted by a man. In the woman's hand there is a torch that swirls. Lights come out of it in the form of flags and the flags turn into hats full of gems. The gems are sparkling.

A scene in Europe in the sixteenth or perhaps the eighteenth century. Knights are riding. They are mounted upon magic motorcycles full of colours and light. All is like a cartoon and enchanted. It is all part of big procession. There are also small dwarfs there. Two of them are holding a banner with the insignia of the sovereign.

An Indian is smoking a big pipe. Through an old telescope, a man is peering into the far reaches of the universe. A view of the planet Earth turning round and round.

Beautiful gardens like Versailles and the Tuilleries.

There are ballerinas there. Like a cabaret. Their thighs are exposed. One woman gets to the balustrade and is watching the audience.

The Indian is smiling. The message is that 'all of these are the expressions of the same source, a source of bounty and grace'.

In a King's reception hall. There are chalices full of wine. Long processions of carriages proceed further and further. Slowly, all the time, the horsemen are pushing forward. In the hall, the seats are made out of silver. There is a feast. A big pot is placed in the middle. A fruit salad is offered in goblets of finely polished, very clear glass. Slowly, the chef pours some sort of syrup or gooey topping. The sauce covers the fruit and then it ascends upwards.

An elephant lifts up its trunk high and looks far, far forward. Up there are birds and they are looking in my direction. There are flowers, and butterflies are flying from flower to flower. All are washed in the light of the sun.

Women are dancing. Carriages come one after the other and the wine flows. An officer approaches a carriage and salutes. The footman bows and opens the carriage's door. The Queen is stepping out."

~Shanon:
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"The second example was provided by a young man who partook of Ayahuasca in private sessions conducted in Europe. This individual is not amongst the informants whose data are analysed in this book; his report was communicated to me just when the typeset of this monograph was being sent to the publisher. I present this report as an illustrative example of the experiences of a first-timer. The following is a slightly edited synopsis of what this person saw during his first two sessions with the brew. I shall note that while the report is rich in details, the intoxication experienced was not especially strong; by the present structural typology, all items seen would be characterized as single, simple images.

Animals. Those seen most frequently were serpents, felines, and birds. Some of the serpents were ornate, like Chinese dragons; the felines included tigers and black pumas; the birds included parrots, peacocks, and toucans. Also seen were a galloping horse, dragons, monsters of all sorts, and evil beasts; with some of the latter blood was associated.

Many human persons were seen. Amongst these were Indians and a sensuous Caribbean dancer. A person present in the session appeared to have the face of a gorilla with the beak of a bird.

Palaces and mansions. Amongst the buildings seen were skyscrapers and pyramids. Also seen were interior decorations of buildings. These were very exquisitely ornamented; many were gilded.

Cities. Many different ones were seen; some had futuristic architecture.

Landscapes. These included forests, open deserts, river scenes, and scenes under water. Associated with the latter were corals and 'tornadoes offish'. Overall, the landscapes had an ambience of serenity and silence.

Especially frequent were disembodied eyes; many of these pertained to big cats. Other items noted: an Indian in a boat, an old woman turning white and transforming into a young girl, cars of the 1950s that were colourfully painted in a style which was 'rather kitsch', streams of gold.

The trees outside looked like goddesses.

Significantly, the items reported by this informant include all those that are typical of Ayahuasca visions. As such, this report, I find, is a good example supporting the cultural non-specificity of these visions.

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The leaves were Ayahuasca’s “helpers,” I was told, and their purpose was to “brighten and clarify” the visions. The vine is like a cave, and the leaf is like a torch you use to see what is inside the cave. The vine is like a book, and the leaf is like the candle you use to read the book.8 The vine is like a snowy television set, and the leaf helps to tune in the picture. There was a subtle attitude that the need for strong leaf was the sign of a beginner: An experienced ayahuasquero could see the visions even in low light.

Ayahuasca vine is notvisionary in the same way as DMT. Visions from vine-only brews are shadowy, monochromatic, like silhouettes, or curling smoke, or clouds moving across the night sky. It is because their visions are usually monochromatic that vines are classified by the color of vision they produce: white, black, blue, red (in my experience, dark maroon). Snakes, the most common vision on Ayahuasca, are considered the manifest spirit of the vine.9 Vine visions can be hard to see; in fact, the “visions” may not be visual at all, but auditory or somatic or intuitive. But the vine carries the content of the message, the teaching, and the insight. The leaf helps illuminate the content, but the teachings are credited to the vine. Vine visions are “frequently associated with writing, to a code that is present in visions…or in the ‘books’ where the spirits keep the secrets of the forest.” (Calavia Saez 2011:135). The vine is The Teacher, The Healer, The Guide. The purpose of drinking Ayahuasca is to receive the message the vine imparts. This is why it is the vine, not the leaf, that is classified by the type of vision it gives. “For them the vine is, in truth, a living guide, a friend, a paternal authority” (Weiskopf 2005:104).

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Psychotropic Properties of the Harmala Alkaloids
Claudio Naranjo
Department of Anthropological MedicineUniversity of Chile, Santiago, Chile

The use of plant materials containing harmala alkaloids is probably very old. Peganum harmala, a zygophyllaceous plant, the seeds of which contain harmine (1), harmaline («), and harmalol (3), is thought to be native to Russian Turkestan or Syria, and has been used throughout the Middle East both as a spice and as an intoxicant. Its medical and psychotropic properties are known in India, where it was probably taken by the Moslems, and where the seeds may now be purchased in bazaars (h). It is also believed that it was the Arabs who took the plant along the African Mediterranean and into Spain, where it may be found growing wild at present.

The species of Banisteriopsis that constitute a source of harmala alkaloids are used in an area lying between the rain forests of South America and the Andes. This is approximately the area designated as the "montaiia" in the classification of South American cultures. It consists of a tropical elevated territory along the headwaters of the Amazon and Orinoco Rivers, where live some of the least known Indian groups.

Of much interest is the recent discovery of substances closely related to the harmala alkaloids in animals. One of these is adrenoglomerulotropine, ahormone of the pineal body, the chemical identity of which has been indicated as 2, 3, 4, 9-tetrahydro-6-methoxy-l-methyl-lH-pyrido(3, 4, 6)indole(5).

This substance is identical to 6-methoxytetrahydroharman which has been shown to be formed in vivo from 5-methoxytryptamine and acetalde-hyde (6). 6-Methoxytetrahydroharman is an isomer of tetrahydroharmine,one of the alkaloids in Banisteriopsis (7), and in the African Leptactiniadensiflora (8).

One more substance, 6-methoxyharmalan, has been shown to derive, at least in vitro, from melatonin (9), which in turn results from the methylation of acetyl serotonin. The enzyme which makes this methyla-tion possible, hydroxyindole-O-methyltransferase (HIOMT), has only been found in the pineal body. (See Fig. 1.)

6-Methoxyharmalan is an isomer of harmaline differing in the position ofthe methoxy group, which is attached to the same point of the ring as the phenolic group in serotonin or the methoxy group in ibogaine, a demonstrated hallucinogen (10). (See Fig. 2.)As will be seen in the rest of the paper, I have found both synthetic 6-methoxyharmalan and 6-methoxytetrahydroharman to be hallucinogenic(11), a fact which invites speculation on the possible role of the metabolites on the psychoses. It is suggestive that the highest concentrations of serotonin have been found in the pineal glands of schizophrenics, and that 6-methoxyharmalan is a powerful serotonin antagonist.

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diagrams and figures

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It may be noted that the above reported finding constitutes the first demonstration of an endogenous hallucinogen, twenty years after the motion of apsychotoxic metabolite was proposed by Hoffer, Osmond and SmythieS (12).

Lastly, one may wonder whether the pineal body—associated by Tibetan traditions with higher states of consciousness—may not actually play a part in the regulation of attention or the rhythm of sleep and wakefulness. An indirect indicated of this is the demonstration of increased pineal HIOMT activity in rats kept in constant darkness for six days (13).

Studies carried out some 30 years ago by Gunn et al., showed that some synthetic Beta-carbolines had similar pharmacological properties, which inturn resembled those of quinine (H). Thus, both quinine and the harman derivatives were toxic to protozoa, inhibited the contraction of the excised muscle of the frog, caused relaxation of most smooth muscle, but contraction of uterine muscle, and caused convulsions followed by paralysis in mammals.

The only compound in this chemical group reported to have hallucinogenic properties, to my knowledge, is harmine (15), which may be regardedas identical Jo telepathine, yageine, and banisterine, and constitutes most of the alkaloid content in the Banisteriopsis extracts. Yet the question poses itself as to whether the qualitative similarity of harman derivatives, as evidenced by many pharmacological effects, would also apply to the psychological syndrome produced.

For instance, Gunn finds that harmaline is twice as active as harmine, judging from the lethal doses of both compounds forthe rabbit, and from their toxicity to protozoa.

I have indeed found harmaline to be hallucinogenic at dosage levels above 1 mg./kg. i.v. or 4 mg./kg.by mouth, which is about one half the threshold level for harmine. It maybe interesting to note at this point that the onset of effects of harmaline or other derivatives is about one hour after ingestion by mouth, but almostinstantaneous after intravenous injection, if circulation time from elbow tobrain is taken into account. In this, harmaline resembles the chemically related tryptamines and differs from the slow-acting phenylethylamines.

Tetrahydroharmine, the reduction product of harmaline, is another substance studied by Gunn and shown to be similar to its more saturated homo-logs, but three times less active than harmaline.

Racemic tetrahydroharmine, up to the amount of 300 mg. by mouth, was administered by us to one volunteer, who reported that at this dosage level there were subjective effects similar to those he experienced with 100 mg.of harmaline. More trials would be required to assess the mean effective dosageof tetrahydroharmine as a hallucinogen, but this single experiment suggests that racemic tetrahydroharmine is about one-third as active as harmaline, corresponding to Gunn's estimation on the basis of lethal dosage.

The effect of relocating the methoxy group of harmaline was not tested by Gunn but was of special interest here, in view of a possible function of the 6-methoxy homolog in the body. 6-Methoxyharmalan was indeed shown to be hallucinogenic, as was anticipated, subjective effects becoming apparentwith approximate oral dosages of 1.5 mg./kg. The ratio between threshold doses of harmaline and its 6-methoxy analog is 3:2, 6-methoxyharmalan being the more active.

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Methoxytetrahydroharman, probably identical with pineal adreno-glomerulotropine, was also shown to be psychoactive, eliciting mild effectsat a dosage level of 1.5 mg./kg. The relative activities of the two 6-meth-oxyharmans are approximately 1:3, the harmalan being more active than its unsaturated homolog, which confirms once more Gunn's statement as to the relationship between double bonds and pharmacological effect.

It would seem premature to make any statement as to whether there is aqualitative difference in the subjective reaction to the different carbolines tested. Such appeared to be the case, in that experiences with the 6-methoxycompounds happened to be of a less hallucinogenic nature in the strict sense of the word, their effect being more akin to a state of inspiration and heightened introspection.

Among the 7-methoxy compounds, harmaline seemed to cause more withdrawal and lethargy than harmine, but both substances showed a highly hallucinogenic quality in the visual domain. However, more systematic study would be needed to confirm differences such as these, in view of the variability which exists even between consecutive experiences of the same individual with the same chemical. This is well knownfor LSD-25, and was quite marked in four of the seven subjects to whom harmaline was administered more than once.

Yet it seems clear that the various fota-earbolines are similar enough in their effect to be told apart from mescaline, as was shown by the comments of persons to whom mescaline, harmaline and some other harman derivative were administered on consecutive occasions. The third compound, the nature of which was not knownto the experimental subjects, was invariably likened to harmaline rather thanto mescaline. The same can be said of instances in which harmaline was administered on a second or third occasion without divulging the drug's identity. Regardless of the differences between consecutive harmaline experiences,these were classified together as distinct from that of mescaline.

It is quite possible that further research with a larger number of subjects may demonstrate qualitative differences of a subtle kind between the different carbolines, analogous to those shown for variously substituted phenyl-isopropylamines (16, 17). Nevertheless, it may be adequate for the time being to regard the effects of harmaline as an approximately valid indication of a syndrome shared, with minor variations, by compounds of similar structure.

This information that I am presenting here on the effects of harmaline is based on the reactions of 30 volunteers to whom the drug was administered as a hydrochloride, either by mouth or intravenously, under standard conditions. One aspect of these was the absence of all information regarding effects other than those primarily psychological in nature.

As part of the interest lay in knowing the difference between the harmaline syndrome and that of mescaline, both drugs were administered to each volunteer on different occasions. In the case of every one of the 30 subjects it was evident to the observer that both the subjective and behavioral reactions of the person were quite different for the two drugs, and this was corroborated without exception by the subjects themselves. Yet the quality of the difference was not clealy

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the same in all instances, so that it is hard to find regularities to which no exception can be mentioned. Recurring differences between harmaline and mescaline can be observed however, and in what follows, the most salient ofthese are cited.

Physical sensations in general are more a part of the harmaline intoxication than of that produced by mescaline (or similar substances). Parasthesias of the hands, feet or face are almost always present with the onset of effects, and are usually followed by a sensation of numbness. These symptoms are most marked when the alkaloid is injected intravenously, in which case some subjects have likened them to those experienced under ether anesthesia. Distortions of the body image, which are quite frequent with mescaline or LSD-25, were very exceptional with harmaline. Instead, subjects indicated isolated physical symptoms such as pressure in the head, discomfort in thechest, or enhancement of certain sensations, as those of breathing or blinking.

Nausea was reported by 18 subjects and this sometimes led to intense vomiting. It was usually associated with dizziness or general malaise, which would in turn appear or disappear throughout a session in connection with certain thoughts or stimuli.

In the domain of perception, one of the most noticeable differences betweenthe drugs is in the visual appearance of the environment. While distortions of forms, alterations in the sense of depth and changes in the expression of faces are of frequent occurrence under most hallucinogens, these phenomena were practically never seen with harmaline. The same was true in regard to color enhancement, or perception of apparent movement—flowers breathing, shapes dancing and so on—frequently seen with LSD-25.

With harmaline, the environment is essentially unchanged, both in regard to its formal and its aesthetic qualities. Phenomena which most frequently occur withopen eyes are the superposition of images on surfaces such as walls or ceilings,or the viewing of imaginary scenes simultaneously with an undistorted perception of surrounding objects. Such imagery is not usually taken for reality but there was an exception to this in the case of a man who saw a cat climbing a wall, then turning into a leopard, when in fact, not even the cat existed.

Other recurrent visual phenomena were a rapid lateral vibration in the field of vision and double or multiple contours in objects, especially when these were in motion or when the subject's eyes turned away from them. Some described lightning-like flashes.

With closed eyes, imagery was abundant and most often vivid and bright colored, with a predominance of red-green or blue-orange contrasts. Longdream-like sequences were much more frequent for harmaline than for mescaline. Certain themes, such as felines, negroes, eyes, and flying are frequent and have been reported elsewhere (18).

Perception of music was not altered or enhanced with harmaline as is the case with mescaline or LSD-25. Yet noises became very prominent and generally bothersome. Buzzing sounds in the head were reported by more thanhalf of the subjects.

Synaesthesias were not reported, and the sense of time was unaltered.

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Many of the differences between harmaline and mescaline may be related to the facts that the effect of the former on the emotions is much less than that of mescaline, and thinking is affected only in subtle ways, if at all.

Concern with religious or philosophical problems is frequent, but there is not the aesthetic or emphathetic quality of the mescaline experience. Thus,the typical reaction to harmaline is a closed-eye contemplation of vivid imagery without much further effect than wonder and interest in its significance, which is in contrast to the ecstatic heavens or dreadful hells of other hallucinogens.

Despite this lesser effect of harmaline on the intensity of feelings, qualitative changes do occur in the emotions, which may account for the pronounced amelioration of neurotic syptoms evidenced by 8 of our 30 subjects, as detailed in a separate report (19).

Desire to communicate is slight under the effect of harmaline, since other persons are felt to be a part of the external world, contact with which isusually avoided. Possibly related to this withdrawal is the extreme passivity which most subjects experienced in regard to physical movement. Most of them lay down for 4 to 8 hours and reported a state of relaxation in which they did not feel inclined to move a muscle, even to talk. In view of this observation, it is hard to understand how the Indians, according to someauthors (20), engage in dancing or even whip one another under the effects ofcaapi.

Summing up, harmaline may be said to be more of a pure hallucinogen than other substances whose characteristic phenomena are an enhancement of feelings, aesthetic experiences, or psychotomimetic qualities such as paranoid delusions, depersonalization, or cognitive disturbances. Moreover, harmaline appears to be more hallucinogenic than mecaline (the most visually acting drug in its chemical group), both in terms of the number of images reported and their realistic quality. In fact some subjects felt that certain scenes which they saw has really happened, and that they had been as disembodied witnesses of them in a different time and place. This matches the experience ofSouth American shamans who drink ayahuasca for purposes of divination.

The remarkable vividness of imagery viewed under the effect of harmaline,together with phenomena such as double contours and persistence of afterimages, had led us to suspect a peripheral, i.e. retinal, effect of the drug, and this was tested by the recording of electroretinograms in cats.

The suspicion was confirmed, in that harmaline causes a definite increase in the alpha wave and a decrease in the beta wave of the electroretinogram, both of which become apparent before any change is observed in the brain cortex.

It would be beyond the scope of this paper to deal with electrophysiological studies, but I will briefly mention some recent results we have obtained incat experiments at the University of Chile, which add to the general picture of the harmaline intoxication:

(1) Electrocorticograms recorded in chronically implanted cats showed either electrocortical desynchronization or synchronization in correspondence with the animal's behaviour, alternating between arousal and lethargy. In addition to this spindle bursts of high voltage and low frequency were observed in all instances and these did not seem to be related to the animal's behaviour.

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(2) Experiments performed in cats with a chronically isolated forebrain showed even more clearly the above mentioned spindle bursts in the brain cortex, and regular wave bursts of high voltage in the pontine reticular formation, which we have not seen described under other pharmacologicalconditions. These cats were behaviourally overactive.

These facts may be interpreted as an indication that harmaline acts as a stimulant on the midbrain reticular formation. The direct action of harmaline on the brain cortex is hard to interpret and seems more that of adepressant, but this is counteracted in the intact animal by the arousing influence of the reticular formation.

The neurophysiological picture matches well that of traditional yage "dreaming", in that the state we have described involved lethargy, immobility, closed eyes and generalized withdrawal from the environment, but at the same time an alertness to mental processes, and an activation of fantasy.

REFERENCES
(1) Goebel, Annalen, 38,363,1841.(2) Fbitsche, Annalen, 64,365,1847.(8) Fischer, O., Chem. Soc. Abstr., 1901 (i), 405.U) Maxwell, M. M. "Caapi, its source, use and possibilities." Unpubl. MS., 1937.(5) Fabeel, G. and W. M. McIsaac, "Adrenoglomerulotropin." Arch. Biochem. Biophys.,94:443-544,1961.(6) McIsaac, W. M. "Formation of l-methyl-6-methoxy-l,2,3-tetrahydro-2-carbolineunder physiological conditions." Biochem. Biophys. Acta 52: 607-609, 1961.(7) Hochstein, F. A. and A. M. Pabadies. "Alkaloids of Banisteria Caapi and Prestonia Amazonicum." J. Am. Chem. Soc. 79,5735,1957(8) Pabis, R. R., F. Percheron, J. Manlil and Goutabel. Bull. Soc. Chim. France,750,1957.(9) McIsaac, W. M., P. A. Khatrallah and I. H. Page. "10-methoxyharmalan, a potentserotonin antagoinist which affects conditioned behaviour." Science 134, 674-675,1961.(10) Naranjo, C. Psychological effects of Ibogaine. In preparation.(11) Naranjo, C. and A. Shulgin. Hallucinogenic properties of a pineal metabolite:6-methoxytetrahydroharman. Science. In press.(12) Hoffeb, A., H. Osmond and J. Smythies. "Schizophrenia: a new approach II." J.Ment. Sci., 100: 29-45,1950.(IS) Axelbod, J., R. J. Wubtman, and S. Snyder. "Control of hydroxyindole-O-methyl-transferase activity in the rat pineal gland by environmental lighting." J. Biol.Chem. 240:949-954,1965.(H) Gunn, Arc. Int. Pharmacodyn., 50,793,1935.(15) Pennes, H. H., and P. H. Hoch, Am. J. Psychiat. 113,885,1957.(16) Shulgin, A., T. Sabgent and C. Nabanjo. "Chemistry and psychopharmacology ofnutmeg and related phenylisopropylamines." Paper presented at the Symposium"Ethnopharmacologic Search for Psychoactive Drugs." U. of Calif., S. F., 1967.(17) Nabanjo, C. MMDA in the facilitation of psychotherapy. Book in preparation.(18) Nabanjo, C. "Psychological aspects of the yag£ experience in an experimentalsetting." Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American AnthropologicalAssociation, 1965.(19) Naranjo, C, Ayahuasca, the Vine of the Dead. Book in preparation.(20) Taylor, N., Flight from Reality. 1949.(21) Vilublanca, J., C. Naranjo, and F. Riob6. Effects of harmaline in the intact catand in chronic isolated forebrain and isolated hemisphere preparations. Psychopharmacologia.

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"Garden of Eden" and other imagery is more specific to yagé than any image pattern is to LSD, mescaline or psilocybin. The near-universality of many yagé images suggests that the beta-carbolines are a good deal closer than other psychedelics to being a "pure element" in a Periodical Table of Consciousness. These beta-carbolines, however, cannot be entirely "pure," as they are accompanied by many negative side-effects.

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intramolecular hydrogen bonding of the tertiary aliphatic nitrogen of yuremamine protects it from metabolism and could allow it to act as an inhibitor of MAO, thus facilitating the oral activity of DMT in this single-plant formulation. Presently the putative pharmacology of purified yuremamine is unknown.

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Dzikus:
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        Chacruna and Chaliponga are similar in effects, usually bright and colorful. Both have a long history of indigenous use as admixtures to Ayahuasca. Chacruna is the kindest of them all. Chaliponga contains 5-MeO-DMT as well as N,N-DMT. Her visions are somewhat fuzzier, but the effects seem to last longer, and the afterglow is more pronounced. Jurema contains some other stuff not well known, which some call "jungle DMT". It is sinister and scary, much about devils and death. Her visions are of subterranean worlds- hell, caves, underground tunnels.

        69Ron:
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        SWIM has more consistent results from Hawaiian Psychotria viridis. Hawaiian Psychotria viridis is less toxic compared to Mimosa. Mimosa has a lot of tannins and other junk you don’t want to ingest. Most people find Psychotria more pleasant and less toxic feeling that Mimosa.

        For ayahuasca, P. viridis is much better. The trip is smoother, less toxic feeling. SWIM always prefers P. viridis over M. hostilis. The effects are cleaner, friendlier, and just plain better. There’s something about M. hostilis that makes it feel darker, more toxic.

        A caapi only brew is sometimes recommended as your first experience. Harmine and tetrahydroharmine are the main active alkaloids in caapi, and when taken together without admixture plant, they alone can cause visions, but they are dark, daydream-like, and not as vivid as those had when an admixture plant source is added. Admixture greatly enhances the visual effects of harmine and harmaline, and also introduces “psychedelic” alterations to the thought processes. Admixture makes the experience much more intense, and can also make the experience more frightening for a first time user, especially if the dose is high enough.

        My recommendation for a first time experience is to use a weak brew made using chacruna and caapi and nothing else. Don't use mimosa, and don't use chaliponga. Chacruna gives a much friendlier experience than either mimosa or chaliponga. Chaliponga is often recommended for experienced users only.

        Seriously, don’t use mimosa. There is no such thing as Ayahuasca made with mimosa. The natives do not use mimosa for making Ayahuasca. There must be a good reason they don’t use it in Ayahuasca. Ayahuasca made with mimosa feels quite toxic to SWIM, and is probably not good for you. That’s probably why they don’t use it. When SWIM uses mimosa in ayahuasca he feels tense, gets lots of stomach problems, and feels some unusual toxic effects that are hard to describe. It just doesn’t feel healthy to SWIM. SWIM has decided to never use ayahuasca made with mimosa. He thinks possibly liver damage or something worse may be the result of using mimosa in ayahuasca too often. There are no long term studies of users of mimosa based ayahuasca around to show that it’s safe. There are such studies for ayahuasca made with chacruna and chaliponga showing that long term use is safe.

    I think once you've had enough experience with ayahuasca made with chacruna and ayahuasca made with mimosa, you'll notice just how much more toxic a mimosa based ayahuasca feels, and you’re likely going to stop using it and switch to brews made with chacruna.

    I think listening to the body is important. Mimosa in Ayahuasca doesn't feel healthy.

    As for the natives who use mimosa, they don't use it with any MAOI, and their habit has not been extensively studied.

    Most people use mimosa because it's cheaper, and when they are given real ayahuasca made with chacruna, most of them make the switch to it because it feels much healthier. That’s been SWIM’s experience with the people he knows.

    Mimosa is cheap. People use it because it's cheap. Same with rue. People use rue because it’s cheap.

    There are many shamans who have the internet now and know about how cheap mimosa is and have tried it. So your reasoning behind why they do not use mimosa in ayahuasca only applies to shamans living in the jungle. Other shamans who know about mimosa still do not use it in ayahuasca because their followers in general prefer ayahuasca made with chacruna. It feels better for the body and has a long history of safe use.

    I’m willing to bet that long term use of ayahuasca made with mimosa will cause liver damage or some other health problems. It feels that toxic to SWIM.

        shroomdoom:
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        I prefer Chacruna by far to Mimosa which consistently produces a rougher more confusing experience. Let's just say this I would rather be deep in and fully immersed ( complete with throbbing machine/wave vibration noise...you know the one) in a wall of visions from Chacruna any day than M hostilis.

        The content of my experiences from Mimosa has been largely negative and much more confusing/disorienting. First of all I hate to brew it because it's got too much tannins and it's nasty to digest. Then Mimosa seems to be this wily, semi-malevolent character that is happy to kick your ass in an overt way. I feel like drinking brews with mimosa induce a savage and jubilant eating of my psyche with this purple, green, red and golden parade to accompany.

        The first difference I notice to Chacruna, I feel more disoriented and fearful from my mimosa brews and the anxiety level is high. I have seen other people react even more extremely negatively than myself to mimosa and rue preparations; a girl screaming vocalizations that sound inhuman, a guy having involuntary and violent spasms that resemble breakdancing of some sort, a grown man in his 30s unhinged so bad he was afraid to be in the dark alone in the 3 weeks after his experience. I have seen enough repeated negative reactions dealing with Mimosa and companion plants to not want to ever work with it again in my brews or recommend it to anyone. I don't know if it's the companion alkaloids or the high amount of tannins ect but something about that stuff isn't nice.

        Also for me it has nothing to do with high vs low DMT content effecting the quality of the experience. I have Hawaiian Chacruna of legendary potency that works at roughly the same gram amounts as m. hostilis bark. I just don't like that Jurema in my Ayahuasca. Call it personal preference.

        Jixe:
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        I wouldn't mix acacia with ayahuasca vine (caapi) It's not a good idea in my experience and from seeing others especially with trouble breathing, this is why actually just mix aya vine and the chacruna or chali.

        TheAppleCore:
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        Definitely go with the chacruna (psychotria viridis).

        There are a few reasons that mimosa hostilis is not ideal for a newcomer to ayahuasca. Firstly, p. viridis is essentially nontoxic, whereas m. hostilis has toxins that increase the likelihood of overdose, or at least a highly unpleasant experience (I have been there, due to careless brewing, and yes it is *horrible*). Secondly, m. hostilis is known as having a very harsh and unforgiving "spirit", whereas chacruna is generally considered to have more of a gentle and maternal spirit. Thirdly, chacruna has a very long history of traditional use in ayahuasca brews, and has a very good safety track record, whereas we are currently unsure of potential long-term health ramifications of m. hostilis as an aya admixture.

        swimmingdancer:
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        There are all sorts of alkaloids and various other compounds in the plants. One alkaloid that I know has been isolated in mimosa hostilis is yuremamine. There is not much yet known about yuremamine, it represents an entirely new family of indole derivatives (tryptophan, the precursor of serotonin is an indole as well). Yuremamine also contains DMT within its molecular structure. It has been suggested that perhaps one of yuremamine's properties might be that it acts as an MAOI or a prodrug, because mimosa has been found to be orally active while DMT on its own is not.

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Ayahuasca is Banisteriopsis caapi. It contains mostly harmine. B. caapi itself contains no DMT and can be used as is to produce visionary states that are like mental day dreams which lack true visual content. Often admixtures are used to increase the visual content of the ayahuasca dreams. Most admixture plants contain DMT.

    Harmine used alone, can produce a mild dreamy psychedelic experience in which daydreams or lucid dreams can be experienced if the user chooses to do so. These dreams from harmine alone are vague and lack visual content, but usually have story lines and can be quite complex just like a real dream. Harmine allows one to go in and out of dream consciousness at will. It takes some practice to learn how to enter a lucid dream with harmine alone. Harmine won’t make you enter a lucid dream. You have to do it yourself by allowing your mind to drift off into a lucid dream.

    DMT used alone, produces an intense visual experience, often very chaotic and fast moving, and quite amazing to watch. The visions of DMT alone usually lack meaningful content. The DMT visions are often just constantly morphine colors and shapes. Most of it makes absolutely no sense. Rarely will the visuals present to you a full blown dream with people, places, a story line, etc. But this does sometimes happen. But usually you just get a bunch of bazaar visions that are difficult to understand.

    When combined, as in ayahuasca, the harmine brings a dreamy quality to the DMT experience that makes it more like one is experiencing an actual dream, not just a bunch of fancy colors. With the two together, you have the visuals of DMT, plus the dream content of harmine. Harmine is the boss here in this combination if used in ayahuasca proportions where harmine is not just used as an MAOI but is used specifically to allow dream consciousness to be entered by the user. DMT is just an additive used to increase the visual portion of the harmine induced dreams.

    Using harmine in very low doses, just as an MAOI, is not the same as using properly made ayahuasca. If harmine is used in low doses just for it’s MAOI effects, the trip lacks dream content and is just a bunch of bazaar DMT visual effects. This is not ayahuasca-like, it’s just orally activated DMT. That’s not the same. Its true that some ayahuasca is prepared this way, but such ayahuasca is considered inferior by most natives. With ayahuasca, the DMT is just an additive, not the main course. This is why ayahausca made with only caapi is still called ayahuasca and considered nearly as powerful as ayahuasca made with additive plants containing DMT.

    This is something a lot of people don’t get. Ayahuasca is not simple orally activated DMT. It is the dream consciousness effects of harmine that are at play in ayahuasca. In order to experience lucid dreams from harmine without DMT, you need to practice a lot. But once you know how to do it, you don’t need DMT added to it anymore, unless you want the extra visual depth that DMT adds to the dreams.

    So, “Dmt Or Ayahuasca?”, well that question is a personal question. Some people prefer DMT-less ayahuasca. Some people prefer just orally activated DMT. Some people prefer ayahuasca with a side order of DMT. Some people prefer the truly bazaar effects of smoked DMT alone.

    My personal opinion is that DMT alone is FUN and can be quite frightening. It’s like a roller coaster ride and I like roller coasters. But don’t expect a deep meaningful life changing experience from it. Its pure visual FUN and nothing more. If I want a more meaningful experience I’d use an oral ayahuasca extract, or a smoked Yopo extract (not as effective as ayahuasca because Yopo is low on harmala-like alkaloids).

    Authentic ayahuasca, high in harmine, and low on DMT, is like entering a full blown 3D dream with dream characters, storylines, etc. This can be a life changing experience. It’s more like sitting in a theater for several hours absorbing a story that’s meaningful because its about you. You leave with memories of places, things, people, etc., and possibly a new view on life.

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This is a really excellent description of the effects of Vine and DMT separately and together. (I'm not sure that the Vine's effects can be completely attributed to one chemical, though, but I am not a biochemist.)

    "These dreams from harmine alone are vague and lack visual content, but usually have story lines and can be quite complex just like a real dream."

    They may or may not have visual content, but when they do, the visual images are shadowy and monochromatic, silhouette-like and very slow-moving compared to DMT. This is why you hear in the Amazon about "different colors" of Vine based on the color of the visuals they tend to produce, since they are usually only in one color: red (actually a sort of dark maroon), yellow (sort of tan), black (a sort of dark charcoal), etc. No one would describe DMT plants with a single color! But the point is, whether visual or not, they have content and storyline, like a lucid dream... and messages and insights.

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The author proposed to re-introducing the term Oneirophrenia, first employed by Meduna, to designate drug-induced states that differ from the psychotomimetic by the absence of all symptoms of the psychotic range and yet share with the psychotomimetic experience the prominence of primary process thinking. Harmaline and ibogaine characteristically elicit such a state, for their psychological effect is one much like the bringing about of dream phenomena without the loss of consciousness, changes in the perception of the environment, delusions, or formal alterations of thinking and depersonalization.

    In short, we may speak of an enhancement of fantasy which, remarkable as it may be, does not interfere with ego functions. Such an enhancement of fantasy, as we will see, is in the nature of both an increase in vividness of visual imagery (which takes on an eidetic quality) and an increased spontaneity of content, which resembles that of true dreams more than that of ordinary daydreams.

    In a way, neither harmaline nor iboga may be said to be new. Of course, each has been used for centuries by people in Asia, Africa, and South America, mostly as a part of rituals intended to bring the individual into contact with the realm of myth.

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