Ayahuasca and San Pedro

The San Pedro Cactus

Ayahuasca and San Pedro possess a potential for profound change capable of modifying your life in various ways, depending on how you use them. For many years, our ancient cultures have used this sacred plant. The clearest evidence of its use in the past is found in the Chavin culture, which settled in northern Peru approximately 3,500 years ago. Although it is believed that its use dates back many centuries before the formation of Chavin and Huachuma, it has continued to be used throughout history and up to the present day by the Mochica, Chimu, Nasca, Tiahuanaco, Wari, Inca, etc. cultures.

During the Inca era, the city of Cusco, Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley were the ceremonial and spiritual center of the entire empire, so the sacred medicine of Huachuma was one of the main master plants used. The name “San Pedro” comes from a denomination proper to the colonial period, it is believed that it was given to that plant, since a relationship was made with the Christian saint who was in charge of the keys of heaven. The Huachuma is a cactus that is scientifically known as Trichocereus. There are several varieties of this cactus, but two of them are frequently used in the preparation of the Sacred Drinks: Trichocereus pachanoi and Trichocereus peruvianus.

Amazonian ayahuasca

Ayahuasca, also known as yagé, is a mixture of two plants: the ayahuasca vine (Banisteriopsis caapi) and a shrub called chacruna (Psychotria viridis), which contain the hallucinogen dimethyltryptamine (DMT). DMT is illegal in many countries, such as the United States and the United Kingdom. In Peru, ayahuasca is a shamanic medicine native to the Amazon Rainforest. It relates to the religious rituals and ceremonies that are distinctive to the Ayahuasca experience as a whole. The immediate effects of the medicine can be
The immediate effects of the medicine can be felt between 20 and 60 minutes after taking it, but the intoxication can last in a person for up to 8 hours. Ayahuasca has a wide range of amazing beneficial effects on the body, mind and soul, which makes each ceremony feel completely different.

The popularity of this plant has been booming over the last few years, and ayahuasca tourism in South America for ayahuasca ceremonies has doubled. Everyone wants to reach a higher consciousness and get a glimpse of the vast unknown universe inside them.
Ayahuasca is called by some the Spirit Molecule, and by others the God Molecule. It helps people discover the divine within all of us. DMT has been the spiritual medicine of indigenous tribes in South America, particularly in Peru and Ecuador. It is a medicine of the jungle. It is a combination of several ingredients, all plants that grow in the jungle, and DMT ayahuasca is a blend of this combination of plants. Spiritual life contains DMT, the God Molecule or Spirit Molecule because it puts the person in an altered state of consciousness, a hallucinogenic entheogen.

Many people tout the healing effects of ayahuasca DMT, from the physical, emotional, mental and, most importantly, from the spiritual level, from where the illness begins. If the disease is addressed from within, deep inside, the physical manifestation of the disease often disappears. If old resentment and anger is let go, health in mind, body and spirit takes its place.

What is the difference between Ayahuasca and San Pedro (Huachuma)?

Surely you have heard about these healing plants in the Peruvian culture, during the last years they have become very popular among visitors interested in rediscovering themselves and finding a connection with the ancient ancestral world of the Incas. Ayahuasca is the master plant of the Amazon, this drink is obtained from the union of two plants, while San Pedro (Huachuma in Quechua language) is the master plant of the Andes and is a single plant, a cactus. Both have psychoactive effects and are related to spiritual connection but their effects are slightly different.

Here is the difference between Ayahuasca and San Pedro

Ayahuasca is believed to be the magical plant of the jungle that provides healing and self-knowledge. San Pedro is known as the guide, the male plant of the Andes, which extends consciousness to macro cosmic proportions. DMT is present in Ayahuasca plant medicine, while mescaline is present in San Pedro plant medicine.

Ayahuasca has been used to help people understand themselves, to find and heal the lost parts of the soul: it is a journey centered inside the person. Huachuma helps to open our heart, shows us the divinity inside and outside of us and makes us feel connected to the world around us, focusing its healing on the interaction with our world.

Ayahuasca is often experienced and associated as the energy of a grandmother, while the energy of San Pedro is a masculine energy, in fact, many shamans compare it to the energy of a father or grandfather. Some healers believe that before having a ceremony with the use of Ayahuasca it is better to have a ceremony with San Pedro because the two medicines are integrated within shamanism in the Peruvian culture. San Pedro brings light and helps to face the Ayahuasca ceremony by illuminating the shadows and giving more support, making the experience of the medicine more enlightening precisely because San Pedro is light.

What the Sacred Plants of Power have in common is that they have the gift of awakening our inner healer. When taking sacred medicines, one should not concentrate on the rational mind; one should allow oneself to let the medicine flow through the body. We should not oppose the medicine, but allow it to have its effect to help us heal physically and spiritually.

Ayahuasca and San Pedro have a transformative power that can change your life in any way you use it. Ayahuasca will help you identify what you need to change and San Pedro will help you start working towards it. Although sacred, these plants are not for everyone: they are forbidden for those predisposed to psychosis, but for many people they are a tool that, if used correctly, can achieve extraordinary results in healing the soul.