Customer Reviews

Ayahuasca Analogues Pangean Entheogens

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"Ayahuasca Analogs" is interesting, but for the most part, everything in this book came from "Pharmacotheon." I was very disappointed. The only appreciable difference is that Ayahuasca Analogs contains more ethnic recipes for harmaline-tryptamine interaction.

Ayahuasca Analogues is the first book to explore in detail the human pharmacology of ayahuasca, fabled jungle ambrosia. After reviewing carefully the ethnobotanical, chemical and pharmacognostical literature on the "Amazonian Amrta", Ott describes more than three dozen psychonautic experimants designed to elucidate the incredible pharmacology of ayahuasca potions, ingenious amalgamations of extracts from ayahuasca liana,which contain enzyme inhibitors, and extracts of leaves of other plants containing DMT a potent entheogen ordinarily inactive orally. Ott boldly characterizes the discovery of ayahuasca potions by various groups of South American Indians as "one of the most sophisticated pharmcognostical discoveries of all antiquity."
There follows a review of the literature on the plants containing ayahuasca-type enzyme inhibitors, and on plants which contain DMT and related entheogenic tryptamines. The resulting tables of more than 60 plants in each category document Ott's contention that there are at least 4000 possible combinations of plants which can yeild entheogenic potions like ayahuasca. These are the Ayahuasca Analogues of the book's title, and Ott's psychonautic experiments include several with such "analogues", as well as with pharmahuasca - the pure alkaloids in capsule form. A thorough index, twenty-one footnotes, nine tables and a detailed bibliography of 418 sources make this a valuable reference book, as well as Ott's personal logbook of his psychonautic "travels in the universe of the soul" with ayahuasca.

Ayahuasca Analogues is certainly not light reading, although it is a slim book of a mere 127 pages. As those who appreciate the writings of Jonathan Ott would expect, this book is dense with information: detailed, technical, extensive, and thorough, for those who want to know all there is to know about the history, pharmacology and pharmacognacy (the study of the effects of psychoactive plants on consciousness) of ayahuasca, with all information attributed to sources for verification and/or further reading. Though the book itself may not include all there is to know about ayahuasca, it is certainly an invaluable starting point for a full literary study of that entheogen and this book, with its eighteen-page bibliography, gives the serious researcher the means by which to acquire just about all there is to know about ayahuasca. If the reader appreciates the Shulgins' TiHKAL and PiHKAL, he or she would likely appreciate this book, though it is not quite as technical as the Shulgins' books. On that note, Ayahuasca Analogues would do well sitting on the shelf beside these two books along with Ott's Pharmacotheon and other technical books on entheogens.

The book opens with an essay on (as Ott has coined) the "entheogenic reformation," referring to the return of entheogens to a place of importance in western history. Then Ott covers the history of ayahuasca specifically for the modern Western world beginning in 1851 when, as far as history tells, the pioneering botanist Richard Spruce became the first-known westerner to become aware of its existence.

Ayahuasca Analogues goes on to discuss various admixture plants of both tropical and temperate zones before dealing with the pharmacognacy of ayahuasca in full detail, as well as the beta-carbolines, harmine and harmaline, and also gives individual attention to the tryptamine DMT. This is the real value of the book - detailed information of the usage of northern-latitude plants which can be substituted for Amazonian plants in order to elicit the same effects.

Indeed, one of the express purposes of the book is to provide enough information for the would-be ayahuasca experimenter to forget about ayahuasca tourism, leave the Amazon alone and instead use one of the thousands of possible combinations of plants that are available in the northern hemisphere (which, for that reason, has been called "ayahuasca borealis").

The following chapter deals with psychonautic reports; that is, the experimentation by Ott and associates as they attempt to ascertain the active principles of ayahuasca and to determine optimum ratios and dosage levels through bioassays (assessments of the effects of taking ayahuasca) with various harmine/harmaline and DMT-containing plants. This chapter also discusses MAOI pharmaceuticals and pills (which have been called "pharmahuasca") of extracted active principles.

The book continues with a literary history of ayahuasca, as well as Santo Daime and União do Vegetal, both of which are religious groups centered on the taking of ayahuasca as a sacrament.

Some unusual experimentation is explored. There is a section, for example, on "peyohuasca," which is what the author calls a mixture of mescaline and harmaline which showed promising potential and which belies the underground myth that the combination would be deadly (and this is confirmed by Alexander Shulgin).

The reader will find no colorful descriptions of ayahuasca visions in this book, but rather, exact dosage levels, timing of effects and other such technical information. It should be mentioned, however, that all of the tables in this book are available on the net. But that is only part of the value of this book and, despite what one review states, this book provides much that is most definatley not included in Ott's Pharmacotheon.

Unfortunately, this book is out of print and so you can expect to pay a high price. One can only hope that Natural Products will make a reprinting though there seems to be no signs indicating they intend to do so.