RVPS Gathering | Guest Speaker: Timothy White

Is Ayahuasca a Pharmacological Panacea, or a Dangerous Psychedelic Fad?

The recent and rapid spread of ayahuasca ceremonies from South America to the U.S., and many other parts of the world, has resulted in a plethora of useful information, as well as reams of misinformation.  For example, the therapeutic properties of ayahuasca have revolutionized psychological treatments for depression, drug addiction and PTSD.  Many Hollywood celebrities from Sting, Miley Cyrus, and Lindsay Lohan to Will Smith and Oliver Stone have publicly touted the fantastic creative benefits of ayahuasca.  On the other hand, mainstream news sources continue to focus on notorious cases of ayahuasca-related rapes and deaths in the Amazon.  In order to separate relevant facts from speculative fictions, this presentation will provide an in-depth review of what is known—or not known—about the effects of ayahuasca.

This presentation will provide an in-depth, experiential-based introduction to the medicinal plants used in ayahuasca brews:  from the different types of Huasca vine (Banisteriopsis sp.) to the DMT containing leaves of Chacruna (Psychotria veridis) and Chaliponga (Diplopterys cabrerana), and some of the key admixture plants used to amplify and modify visionary experiences.  As an entheogenic ceremonialist with over twenty years of ayahuasca experience, White will describe how psychoactive substances, personal sets, settings, shamans, songs, and spirits can shape and influence a person’s psychotherapeutic experience.  White will also provide a brief review of recent pharmacological studies on the principal alkaloids found in ayahuasca brews, exploring how that research is helping identify the therapeutic mechanisms active in using ayahuasca.

About the Author:  Timothy White

White is a 77-year-old visionary artist who specializes in painting shamanic and entheogenic themes in a magical realism style.  From 1985 to 2010, he served as the editor and art director of Shaman’s Drum Magazine, a quarterly publication that featured articles by many world-famous anthropologists and ethnobotanists, including Michael Harner, Richard Evans Schultes, Wade Davis, Mark Plotkin, Peter Gorman, and Dennis McKenna.

Over the course of the last 50 years, White has participated in literally hundreds of indigenous medicine ceremonies in the U.S., Mexico, and South America, giving him a deep understanding of how entheogens expand our consciousness, induce spiritual visions and insights, and help heal our minds, bodies, and spirits.