ayahuasca

7 Stories

What It's Like Inside a Ayahuasca Church

Participants claim they're healed, though a crackdown could be coming. The AP digs in

(Newser) - One night in October in a small town in Utah, a mix of military veterans, corporate executives, thrill seekers, ex-members of a polygamous Mormon sect and a man who supposedly struck it rich on a game show converged for a $900 "healing" weekend. Together, overseen by a Colombian shaman,...

Another City Decriminalizes Magic Mushrooms

Oakland, Calif., follows Denver's lead

(Newser) - Oakland, Calif., has followed Denver's lead in decriminalizing magic mushrooms—but also peyote and ayahuasca. The move came Tuesday after a unanimous vote by the Oakland City Council, which directed law enforcement to stop investigating and prosecuting individuals for possession or use of plant-derived hallucinogens, reports USA Today . Ahead...

Prosecutors: Tourist Lynched in Amazon Had Bought a Pistol

Prosecutors say Sebastian Woodroffe is main suspect in shaman's killing

(Newser) - The Canadian man lynched in the Amazon last Thursday is the No. 1 suspect in the death of an octogenarian shaman, prosecutors say. Reuters reports on the new evidence that brought them to that conclusion: a silver-colored pistol prosecutor Ricardo Jimenez says Sebastian Woodroffe purchased in early April. They were...

In Peru's Amazon, a Shaman Is Killed, Then a Tourist Lynched

Police investigating the death of Sebastian Woodroffe, 41

(Newser) - The death of a Canadian man is making headlines for its location, manner, and the murkiness around it. The body of Sebastian Woodroffe was found in a shallow grave Saturday in the Ucayali region of Peru's Amazon by police who began searching for the 41-year-old after a video was...

Hipsters Are Healing Their Souls With 'Grandmother' Drug
Hipsters Are Healing
Their Souls With
'Grandmother' Drug
in case you missed it

Hipsters Are Healing Their Souls With 'Grandmother' Drug

Amazon's ayahuasca is said to offer therapeutic benefits—though not without a cost

(Newser) - A psychedelic concoction known as yage, or ayahuasca, has been brewed in indigenous communities in the Amazon region for centuries. But now it's found a relatively new audience: Americans immersed in what Ariel Levy, writing for the New Yorker , calls "the Age of Kale," who are tapping...

Tourist Killed in Psychedelic Ritual in Peru

Brit allegedly attacked Canadian with a knife, was killed

(Newser) - Phoenix Ayahuasca describes itself as "offering a safe and supportive place to experience plant medicines" near Iquitos, in the Peruvian Amazon. On Wednesday, things went wrong. Witnesses say a British man was killed during a bad trip after consuming a hallucinogenic brew at Phoenix Ayahuasca, which the Independent calls...

Hallucinogenic Brew May Help Depression
 Hallucinogenic Brew 
 May Help Depression 
study says

Hallucinogenic Brew May Help Depression

Results from first human clinical trial of ayahuasca are promising

(Newser) - A psychedelic brew from the jungles of Brazil shows promise as a treatment for depression—in fact, as a treatment for those who don't respond to more traditional medication. Researchers at the University of Sao Paulo have just published the results of the first clinical trial involving the anti-depressant...

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