News
Takiwasi at the World Ayahuasca Conference 2019
The Takiwasi Center will be represented by a delegation of researchers during the third World Ayahuasca Conference to be held in Girona, Spain, from May 31 to June 2. Among them Dr. Jacques Mabit, founding president of the center, and Matteo Politi, scientific director.
The third World Ayahuasca Conference will explore how ayahuasca practices have impacts not only on individuals, but also on communities, societies, and this planet we call home. The conference will have an important drug policy angle, with focus being placed on human rights, sustainability and indigenous rights and will host an eclectic mix of speakers from Dennis McKenna to Julie Hannah and Civil Society organization leaders such as Leila Salazar from Amazon Watch.
Workshop: Ayahuasca, a Vision from Traditional Amazonian Medicine
Dr. Jacques Mabit, founding president of the Takiwasi Center, will be among the facilitators of the workshop "Ayahuasca, a vision from traditional Amazonian medicine" that will take place on Thursday 30 May. This workshop will provide theoretical and practical knowledge about the spiritual worlds and how to work within it. Presenters will draw on their experiences to create a space for discussing this topic, which is rarely spoken about within the context of Western ayahuasca use. We will explore the following question: How can we be both curious and conscious about the possible implications of spirit work? Through this workshop, which will pair presentations with opportunities for questions and discussions, we will explore the connections between traditional shamanic visions and the new western shamanism. More information: Ayahuasca, a Vision from Traditional Amazonian Medicine.
Presentation: Ayahuasca and beyond: herbal traditional Amazonian medicine for human therapy and planetary health
Matteo Politi, Scientific Director of Takiwasi, will participate at the third World Ayahuasca Conference with an oral presentation entitled: “Ayahuasca and beyond: herbal traditional Amazonian medicine for human therapy and planetary health”. Despite the internationalization process of the Ayahuasca consumption, from a biomedical perspective the authentication of the plants material and the composition of the finished brew is still matter of debate. Within the scientific community there is a consensus about the main ingredient of Ayahuasca preparation, identified in the plant Banisteriopsis caapi (Spruce ex Griseb.) Morton. From a taxonomical viewpoint, this genus is constantly evolving and rather complex including 136 species. The increasing popularity of Ayahuasca has triggered a considerable growing of the so-called shamanic tourism in the Amazon basin, allowing foreigners to discover a whole series of practices derived from Traditional Amazonian Medicine (TAM) including the shamanic plant diet, a ritualized ingestion of others medicinal plants beyond Ayahuasca. However, the above mentioned simplification versus internationalization process could affect the quality, safety, and efficacy of these traditional herbal remedies, as well as determine the loss of significant cultural heritages related with the proper use of such kind of ethnomedicines; a traditional ecological knowledge that can play a role not only in the context of human therapy, but also for planetary health issues at large. More information and schedule: World Ayahuasca Conference 2019.
Presentation: Ayahuasca and Psychosis
Another researcher who will present her work during the conference is Annalisa Valeri, from the José Bleger Study and Research Center, Italy, who for some years has been developing the "Ayahuasca and Psychosis" project analyzing data provided by the Takiwasi Center. The aim of this research is to find out the relationship between ayahuasca and psychotic symptoms (unusual experiences defined as ravings, hallucinations, experiences of deep discomfort, severe depression, serious eating disorders) that arise once the ritual is finished and last up to a month after the ceremony. The hypothesis is that the ayahuasca ritual can allow ancient memories to emerge, as pre-verbal experiences that, if not integrated into a global vision, could lead to moments of fragmentation, with experiences of persecution. In the same way, the experience with ayahuasca could allow, through the emergence of ancient traumas and pre-verbal memories, to find a meaning to the symptoms that usually would not fit in the whole individual’s personality. This would mean that the experience with ayahuasca could have the therapeutic potential to modify and expand the awareness of lived experiences, not only at the individual level. More information and schedule: World Ayahuasca Conference 2019.
Workshop: From Screening to Session. Safety for Ayahuasca Facilitators
Over the past few years, ICEERS foundation, which is organizing the World Ayahuasca Conference, has been collaborating with facilitators, scientists and therapists worldwide to collect best practices for safety around the ceremonial use of ayahuasca. This workshop is designed for experienced ayahuasca facilitators and their helpers and is not an entry level course. The latest information that has been validated by experts will be shared and the primary issues to be considered for maximizing benefits and minimizing risks of working with ayahuasca will be discussed. This workshop focuses on considerations for before and during the session and is a compliment to the Psycheforum workshop on the following day, which will focus on the “after”. The facilitators of this workshop will be, David Londoño, Colombian clinical psychologist, who has worked for 5 years in the Takiwasi Center as a psychotherapist and coordinator of the therapeutic team, and Jerónimo Mazarrasa, activist of the ayahuacacommunity and coordinator of social innovation at ICEERS foundation. More information: From Screening to Session. Safety for Ayahuasca Facilitators.