A Phoenix church is pleased to have reached a legal settlement enabling it to import the medicinal psychoactive brew ayahuasca for religious and ceremonial purposes. It has had shipments of the plant-based sludge seized by American authorities on a few occasions in recent years.
The Church of the Eagle and the Condor (CEC) says it is the first non-Christian church in the United States authorized to use the psychedelic. “Also, this is the first time in history a church’s right to import and share its sacrament has been secured without going to trial,” the organization said Monday.
The church, established in 2018, has received a religious exemption from the U.S. Controlled Substances Act. Currently, ayahuasca is classified as a Schedule I narcotic drug in the country.
A group of Indigenous healers in the Amazon rainforest who have been using the plant brew ceremonially for centuries inspired the church’s practices.
“Our ceremony is rooted in the Shipibo Amazonian tradition which has been passed down by countless generations,” Joseph Tafur, an Ayahuasquero/shaman, said.
The CEC says it was founded on the prophecy of its two birds, which will ultimately involve “the restoration of harmony between humankind and mother nature.”
Huge news! 🔔 This is the first time since the Native American Church use of peyote as religious practice that a church with an Indigenous lineage has been formally recognised 🍃 The precedent has been set! @Chacruna_Inst https://t.co/J8uQGBkXKg
— Onaya (@onaya_io) April 23, 2024
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Milestone helps pave the way for others
The bird-worshipping church says this achievement will have positive implications for other religions that seek to use psychedelics to attain enlightenment openly.
“The resolution of this case represents the government’s recognition of this community’s right to exercise their religious beliefs without interference,” church member Martha Hartney said. “Their success [the CEC] is a watershed moment in the United States.”
This development is significant because the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has now clearly acknowledged the role of ayahuasca in Indigenous spirituality and religious practices.
The CEC’s designated “Widsom Carrier” is a Navajo woman. Its Board of Directors and advisors come from various backgrounds.
Ayahuasca is made by combining leaves of the chacruna plant with the ayahuasca vine and cooking it for several hours. The chacruna contains the active ingredient DMT while the vine contains a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI). The latter is required for the drug to be orally active.
Arizona is also known for the Peyote Way Church of God founded in the late 1970s. It specializes in the use of a plant sacrament that grows in the desert.
All races are legally permitted to cultivate and use the peyote cactus for religious purposes in the states of Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Colorado, Utah and Minnesota too.
rowan@mugglehead.com
