The Ayahuasca brew is considered by the Amazon's tribes as one of the master "teacher plants". It has been used by Shamans of the Peruvian Andes and Amazon jungle for centuries as an essential part of their traditional medicine as a way of expanding consciousness. In Quechua, the term "aya" means spirit or soul while "huasca" means rope (the soul's rope).

For the Shipibos, these psychotropic plants are known as "murayacai" which means "Shaman makers". The plants reveal to us the true world, while the normal world is considered an illusion.

If you want more information about this ancestral medicine, we recommend you to read the following articles:

• What is Ayahuasca? - by Diego Palma
  This is a summary of the book "El Ayahuasca - La medicina del alma" (Ayahuasca – The medicine of the soul) published in the internet in July 2002.
• www.ayahuasca-info.com - A general introduction to Ayahuasca.
• Ideas and Reflections Associated with Ayahuasca Visions - by Benny Shanon Ph.D.
  MAPS Volume 8 Num 3 Autumn 1998
• MAPS: Report on Ayahuasca retreat in Peru
  Experience from Arthur Gillard.