As mentioned in the chapters on Entheogens (⇒) and Spirit (⇒), the source of knowledge for the preparation of Yage remains a mystery to science.
When a true Amazonian shaman is asked how the recipe for the preparation of Yage was discovered, he answers in the same way as he would answer if asked the source of knowledge of the use of other medicinal plants. He would claim that - ... during a ritual for the "study of a specific plant", the spirit of the plant teaches us both preparation of the plant itself for consumption, and use of the preparation as a curative remedy... - .
As far as shamans of the Amazonian rainforest are concerned, "study of a specific plant", entails a period of several weeks or months in isolation, following a highly restrictive diet, daily consumption of the plant being studied, and undergoing shamanic rituals; this period ends with an entheogenic ritual to enter into communication with the plant.
Among the various mysteries of the origin of knowledge of medicines and other shamanic preparations, the most well-known has undoubtedly been Yage since the '70s.
Yage, or Ayahuasca (we will call it Yage in order to avoid confusion with the name of the plant), is the entheogenic infusion used by Amazonian shamans to induce an Entheogenic State of Consciousness for a shamanic ritual. Yage is obtained by cooking smashed roots of the Ayahuasca plant and the leaves of the Chacruna shrub (Psychotria Viridis) from 5 to 10 hours.
The main psychedelic molecule of Yage is DMT (N,N-Dimethyltryptamine). DMT, which is similar chemically to the neurotransmitter serotonin, is present in many plants and is also secreted by the human brain.
No source of DMT will have any psychedelic effect if taken orally; in fact, there are monoamine oxidase enzymes in the human stomach which instantly deactivate DMT molecules, rendering consumption ineffective.
Inhibitory substances of the monoamine oxidase enzymes do exist, known also as MAOIs; if one takes such substances in combination with DMT, DMT can enter the circulation, reach the brain and cause psychedelic effects.[53]
The Chacruna leaf is a major source of DMT, and the Ayahuasca root is a source of inhibitory substances of monoamine oxidase enzymes; therefore, only by cooking these two substances can one obtain an infusion capable of inducing an Entheogenic State of Consciousness when taken orally.
The discovery of Yage is shrouded in various mysterious aspects:
How did shamans discover a substance capable of inducing an Entheogenic State of Consciousness when taken orally?
How could shamans several centuries ago ever have known of the existence of inhibitory substances of monoamine oxidase enzymes and DMT, when they had not even been discovered by modern science yet?
How did shamans discover that the Ayahuasca root contains inhibitory substances of monoamine oxidase enzymes, and that Chacruna leaves contain DMT?
How did the shamans find out that they had to cook the leaves of Chacruna (and not its roots or shrub) and smashed parts of Ayahuasca (and not whole pieces) for several hours to obtain an active oral substance?
Sceptics who do not believe the claims of shamans must find an alternative explanation for the mystery of shamanic knowledge on plant use. The most popular explanation among such sceptics is that of empirical knowledge through trial and word of mouth.
Sceptics believe that the origin of Yage knowledge is the consequence of a long series of attempts lasting generations.
It is mathematically easy to see that such a statement is senseless.
In the Amazon rainforest, there are 40 thousand (4 x 104) different plant species. The combination of any two plant species is taking place somewhere with 1600 million (1.6 x 109) different possible combinations; Yage is just one of them.
The preparation of Yage takes from 7 to 12 hours, between collecting the plants and preparing and cooking them; the ritual takes from 4 to 8 hours. Thus, considering that each of these 1600 million combinations would take a whole day, trying all possible combinations would take over 4,383,000 years.
We can exclude the possibility of hundreds of men attempting different plant combinations at the same time: until not so long ago, the communities of the Amazon rainforest were composed of few units and their main activity was not botanical study, but survival. The various ethnic groups spoke different languages; most did not have a writing system, and they were more likely to kill each other than lovingly exchange recipes for hallucinogenic infusions; indeed, wars and cannibalism between different ethnicities were common.
Our estimate of more than 4 million years is just that: an estimate. One would need to take into account that each plant species is composed of different parts, such as roots, the trunk, branches, leaves, seeds, flower petals, flower pollen, and so on, each with different chemical properties. This means that even between just two different plants, various different types of infusion can be made depending on which part of the plant is used, with each infusion having different chemical properties and effects. If it is possible to make not just one, but a number of different infusions with two plants, the estimated time required to prepare all possible infusions obtained by combining all components of all plants in the Amazon rainforest, even limiting oneself to infusions made with two plants, would be much higher than 4 million years.
A number of as-yet undescribed plant species should also be considered in the estimate.
Another factor to consider that would increase the number of combinations is that some shamanic recipes are made with combinations of three or more plants.
How could an elder shaman pass down to a younger one the knowledge of millions of tested combinations and millions of untested combinations? Another factor to consider in our calculations is repetitions of combinations of two same plants over the span of shaman generations.
Another not insignificant factor to consider is that many species endemic to the Amazon rainforest are poisonous, meaning one should keep count of the number shamans who die in an attempt to consume a new preparation made with one of the many poisonous plants; the death of the unfortunate shaman, in this case, would cause the loss of the accumulated knowledge transmitted to him.
All this is to say that claims of sceptics that the recipe for Yage originates from a long series of empirical attempts are colossal nonsense.