YOPO Seeds | Anadenanthera peregrina

STEP 1 - Anadenanthera peregrina seeds should be inserted into a good quality seed raising mix, approximately half in the soil and half out. Place the embryo end into the mix, it’s the little notch you see on the edge of each seed.

STEP 2 - Place the tray outside when you know you’ll have a few days of light rain. Germination will start almost immediately, you can watch the seeds swell as they take up moisture. Germination should be complete within 5 days. Daily minimum temperatures should be above 20ºC.

STEP 3 - Once the seedlings are 5cm tall they are ready to be transplanted into the garden.

ADDITIONAL NOTES - Young plants establish well and grow away quickly, usually reaching more than 2.5m in 2 years. Anadenanthera peregrina likes a full sun position and well-drained soil. Will respond well to regular watering over the warmer months but hates soggy roots. Grows extremely well on slopes. Do not mulch around the base of the plant as it doesn’t seem to like this. Anadenathera peregrina is drought hardy once established due to its water storing roots. Deciduous in most areas over the colder months. There is no need to fertilise as this species has a symbiotic relationship with soil bacteria. These bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilised by the tree but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby.

A potent medicine is prepared from the seeds of the Anadenanthera peregrina tree. The medicine, now used mainly in the Orinoco basin, was first reported from Hispaniola in 1496, where the Taino Indians called it Cohoba. Its use, which has died out in the West Indies, was undoubtedly introduced to the Caribbean area by invaders from South America.

An early Peruvian report, dated about 1571, states that Inca medicine men were able to tell the future by communicating with the ‘devil’ through the use of Yopo. In Argentina, the early Spaniards found the Comechin Indians taking Yopo ‘through the nose’ to become intoxicated, and in another tribe the same plant was chewed for endurance. Since these native cultures have disappeared, our knowledge of Yopo and its use is limited.

Yopo seeds were added to Chicha, a ceremonial maize beer. The juice of the seeds was squeezed into the Chicha, which was taken by shamans to foretell the future. The shamans of the Wichi tribe in Argentina still use a medicine they call Hataj made from the Anadenanthera peregrina, which allows them to penetrate other realities and influences those realms. Since the introduction of Christianity to these tribes, some individuals have equated the Yopo tree with the biblical Tree of Knowledge.

The preparation of Anadenanthera varies from tribe to tribe. The pods are first moistened and rolled into a paste, which is then roasted gently over a slow fire until it is dried out and toasty. Sometimes, the beans are allowed to ferment before being made in to the paste. After the toasting, the hardened paste may be stored for later use.

Some tribes toast the beans and crush them into a paste, grinding them on an ornate slab of hardwood made especially for the purpose. The resulting grayish-green powder is almost always mixed with ratios of alkaline substance, which may be lime from large land snail shells or the ashes of plant material. Apparently, the ashes are made from a great variety of plant materials including the burned fruit of the monkey pot, the bark of many different vines and trees and even the roots of sedges. The addition of the ashes also serves a mechanical purpose to keep the medicine from caking in the humid rainforest climate.

A note on the addition of lime or ash to medicines. This is a very widespread custom in both hemispheres. Lime or ash is often added to betel chew, pituri, mapacho, epena, etc. The basic nature of this substance often allows active alkaloids to become more bioavilable. In the case of Yopo, however, the alkaline admixture seems to be essential. Indeed, some tribes, such as the Guahibos, may occasionally take the powder alone. The explorer Alexander von Humboldt, who encountered the use of Yopo in the Orinoco 175 years ago, mistakenly stated that ‘…it is not to be believed that the Niopo acacia pods are the chief cause of the stimulating effects…The effects are due to freshly confined lime.’ In his time, of course, the presence of alkaloids in the beans was unknown.

A tea made from Yopo seeds is used for digestive troubles. The seeds, when combined with a Chicha brew, may also be used to help fever, melancholy and unknown afflictions. Seeds are added to honey to increase female fertility and as a diuretic. However, the seeds are also abortifacients. The gum of Anadenanthera colubrina is used to treat coughs, while the medicine is used to treat headaches, constipation and flu.

The alkaloids found in Anadenanthera peregrina seeds include The Spirit Molecule and The God Molecule. Elucidation of the chemical make-up of the seeds of the Yopo tree has only recently been accomplished. Future studies may increase our knowledge of the active principles of these seeds.

Yopo medicine is blown into the nose through a Kuripe or Tepi. The effects begin almost immediately. A twitching of the muscles, slight convulsions and lack of muscular coordination followed by light nausea, visuals and deep sleep. An abnormal exaggeration of the size of objects known as Macropsia is common. In an early description, the Indians say that their houses seem to ‘be turned upside down and that men are walking on their feet in the air’.

Toasted Yopo Embryo : Calcium Hydroxide : Sodium Bicarbonate

7 : 2 : 1