Healing with Yagé: An Interview with Taita Juan Bautista Agreda Chindoy

Abstract

Taita Juan is a Cametsa traditional healer and yagecero from the Sibundoy Valley in Colombia. As a member of the new generation of Colombian taitas traveling the world, he has acquired clients and apprentices from throughout the Americas and Europe. He is perhaps best known internationally for having been detained by United States Customs officials and charged with possession with intent to distribute a Schedule 1 drug (ayahuasca) in 2010; he was subsequently released and deported. In this interview, we explore Taita Juan’s views on how ayahuasca can be used to diagnose and heal illness. We address how clients are prepared for ceremonies (i.e., diet, sexual activity) as well as how he determines which patients can safely receive ayahuasca or other plant medicines (i.e., proscriptions based on health conditions or medication use). The interview also explores how the substance itself is ritually handled, including preparation, dosage, and its combination with other purgative plants and healing techniques such as limpias (cleansings), perfumes, and music. We discuss how Taita Juan’s treatments are occasionally used in conjunction with conventional allopathic medicine. We also discuss his claims to have cured cases of heroin addiction, cancer, and AIDS, and address the drug addiction treatment clinic he and his assistants are founding in Central America. Finally, the interview explores not only Taita Juan’s experience of being detained and released by the United States government, but also the legal ramifications this has had for the traditional use of ayahuasca in Colombia and elsewhere.

Appendix: Select Medicinal Plants in Taita Juan’s Garden

[In the preparation of this text, not all English-language names and scientific names were available to the authors]

• Ajenjo—Wormwood—Artemisia absinthium

• Amansaguapo

• Anamu

• Arnica—Arnica

• Borrachera Amarillo—Trumpet Flower—Brugmansia aurea

• Borrachera Blanco—Trumpet Flower—Brugmansia arborea

• Borrachera Rosada—Trumpet Flower—Brugmansia insignis

• Borrachera Rosada—Trumpet Flower—Brugmansia suaveolens

• Botoncillo de Mar

• Calendula—Calendula—Calendula officinalis

• Canelon

• Casco de Vaca

• Cauco

• Cedron—Aloysia triphylla

• Chonduro Rojo

• Chontambe

• Coco Chonduro

• Cuiyangillo

• Diente de Leon—Dandelion—Taraxacum officinale

• Eneldo

• Escobilla

• Escorsonera

• Euculyptus—Euculyptus—Eucalyptus globulus

• Euculyptus—Euculyptus—Eucalyptus leucoxylon

• Gente Chonduro

• Hoja Santa

• Insulina

• Limoncillo—Lemongrass—Cympopogon citratus

• Manzanilla—Chamomile—Matricaria recutita

• Menta—Mint—Mentha spicata

• Millonaria

• Oregano—Oregano—Origanum Vulgare

• Ortiga—Nettles

• Paico—Wormseed—Dysphania ambrosioides

• Pajakan

• Poeleo

• Quererme

• Romasa

• Romero—Rosemary—Rosmarinus officinalis

• Sabila—Aloe Vera—Aloe barbadensis

• Sangre de Drago—Croton lechleri

• Sauco- Elderberry—Sambucus nigra

• Seguidora

• Sidra

• Tarta

• Tigre Chonduro

• Tomillo—Thyme—Thymus vulgaris

• Toronjil—Lemon Balm—Melissa officinalis

• Valerana—Valerian—Valeriana officinalis

• Violeta—Violet—Viola odorata

• Vira Vira

• Waira Chonduro

• Yagé—Banisteriopsis caapi

• Yerba Buena—Peppermint—Mentha arvensis

• Yerba Dulce