Anthropologist Jeremy Narby has spent decades with indigenous people in South America. In this interview, he shares remarkable insights on ayahuasca and tobacco that are central to our understanding of how to work with both these important plants. Ayahuasca: health benefits; admixture concerns; the efficacy of the vine itself as a teacher; the importance of sky (yellow) ayahuasca over black ayahuasca for us “Westerners; the dangers of ayahuasca sorcery and the corruption of power. Tobacco: The number one plant teacher for the Asháninka people of Peru and Brazil; a diagnostic tool; spiritual and physical healing power of pure tobacco used skillfully; dangers (a two-spirit plant)
