Yopo (Anadenanthera peregrina), is a tree found in South America, Central America, and Puerto Rico. The seeds have been used for spiritual and medicinal practices by indigenous people for nearly 2400 years.
Spirit Rising does not condone recreational use of any plant medicines. These plants are sacred and meant for spiritual growth and medicinal use. Medicine people use yopo in order to connect with the spirits and consult and ask them for answers to help people.
Yopo is made by cooking the seeds until they pop open, then crushing them into a very fine powder, then mixing it with a finely powdered form of calcium bicarbonate (snail and oyster shells contain calcium carbonate). There is a precise recipe, this isn’t everything involved in the process.
When used in a ceremonial setting and responsibly with a trained medicine person, yopo can be incredibly healing, enabling a person to identify areas in their life that need to change or be addressed in order to effectively begin to heal and move into the best life they could live. The spiritual aspects of healing benefit physical and psychological aspects in also healing.
The physical aspects can be very disorienting and unpleasant. The snuff burns your nasal passage, but that is replaced very shortly by an intense heaviness in the head, so much so that you must lay down. This does give way to calm peacefulness with visions of sacred geometry and possibly greater visions.
You might purge by vomiting, defecating, crying, and/or laughing. It is important that you allow these things to happen and surrender to the process so the medicine heals you in whatever form you need in the moment.
Know that it is OK and natural.
The entire experience will usually last around 30 minutes, but at times it does truly seem like lifetimes of time go by. As the medicine finishes its work and begins to leave, you will be left with a sense of bliss and serenity, and a deeper understanding of who you are and how to live a life worth living, for you.
