Yopo
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| iAnadenanthera peregrina | ||||||||||||||||
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| Anadenanthera peregrina Speg. |
Yopo, Anadenanthera peregrina, (also known as Cohoba, Nopo, Ñopo; syn. Mimosa peregrina L.), is a native South American tree as well as an entheogen used in healing and rituals. The beans of the tree are either ground with a mortar and pestle into a powder or moistened and rolled into a hard paste with some lime. In some areas the beans are also smoked. The trees grow in open plain areas, and leaves, bark and seeds contain DMT, 5-MeO-DMT and related compounds (Schultes 1976,1977; Pachter et al. 1959).
Its usage complex is similar to that of Vilca and Virola.
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[edit] Related Species
The usage complex of Yopo is almost identical to that of a related tree, Anadenanthera colubrina, commonly known as Cebíl or Vilca. The beans of A. colubrina have a similar chemical makeup as Anadenanthera peregrina, with their primary constituent being 5-OH-DMT (Bufotenin). The traditional use of the leaves of these two trees has been discussed in detail by Jonathan Ott.
[edit] Usage
Black beans from these trees are toasted, pulverized and mixed with ashes or calcined shells to make psychedelic snuff called Yopo by Indians in Orinoco basin in Colombia, Venezuela and possibly in Southern part of Brazilian Amazon. It was also widely used in ceremonial contexts by the aborigines of the Caribbean area, including Cuba and La Española, up to the Spanish Conquest. Yopo is blown into the nostrils through bamboo tubes or snuffed by birdbone tubes.
Active Constituents: Bufotenin, DMT, 5-MeO-DMT and related compounds. Most newer analyses indicate that Bufotenin is the main active constituent.
[edit] References
- Jonathan Ott - Shamanic Snuffs or Entheogenic Errhines (2001) ISBN 1-888755-02-4
- List of plants of Caatinga vegetation of Brazil
- Richard Evans Schultes - Plants of the Gods (1992) ISBN 0-89281-979-0
