These latter plants are rich in the N, N-dimethyltryptamine or DMT— another of
the archetypal psychedelics (Peyton and Shulgin 1994). Substances (beta-carbolines)
found in Banisteriopsis caapi have distinct psychoactive properties, but also facilitate
the more spectacular visionary action of DMT (McKenna and Towers 1984).
Reichel-Dolmatoff (1975) provides an outstanding ethnographic description of
his attendance at a social dance and yajé session among the Barasana Indians of the
Pirá-paraná.^7 Unlike the Huichol peyote pilgrimage, the yajé session described by
Reichel-Dolmatoff was not part of a predetermined ritual cycle, but rather
something that came together in a more spontaneous and informal way, requiring
only a few days notice to prepare and send invitations to neighbouring
communities. The session itself, however, unfolded in a highly formalized way:
It was becoming dark now and we entered the maloca. Just inside the door
the men had arranged two rows of little wooden stools, and now they began
to open the large boxes containing the feathercrowns, the rattles, and the
painted loincloths. Bëhpó, the oldest of the men present and the headman of
the visiting party, opened a box lying before him on the floor, lifted up a large
feather headdress with both hands, and put it slowly on his head. It was 6:20
P.M. He now took another feathercrown and handed it to his neighbor; then
another and another. More boxes were brought, and all the men adorned
themselves.... It was about an hour before all the men were properly dressed.
(Reichel-Dolmatoff 1975:159–60)After the men had adorned themselves, they sat in a semicircular formation facing
the interior of the maloca:
There were twelve men, who were now talking and laughing. It was dark now
and one of them lit the turí, the large resin-covered torch standing near the
center of the room, and it began to shed intense red light over the scene.
(Reichel-Dolmatoff 1975:160)The men next tied rattles made from strings of tinkling seeds around their ankles.
Bëhpó shook his stick-rattle in a highly stylized series of gestures. There was a
general playing of flutes, whistles, and turtle-shell instruments. Cashirí, a kind of
beer, was ritually served. Bëhpó then lifted an ornate ceramic horn which produced
a long-drawn sound like a foghorn. The men now rose for the dance:
The deafening sound of the rattles filled the room as the men took up their
positions once more, facing the interior of the house, stamping the floor—
once, twice, three times—‘Hö!’ they exclaimed. ‘Hö-hö!’ Then they advanced
and turned, singing and marking their steps with the hollow thud of the
stamping tubes. The line advanced into the open space of the center. Turning
around in a circle, each man with one hand on the shoulder of the one before
him, they appeared again in the light, dancing slowly round after round.128 DES TRAMACCHI