Yopo is a soft powder with strong power made out of the psychoactive seeds of the Anadenanthera Peregina. A tree with feather-like leaves and big seedpods native to South America and the Caribbean. When the Yopo is made the seeds are roasted and grinded, after which the powder is mixed with the ashes of several plants. Later water is added and a thick paste is formed into a flat cake and left to dry till hardened out. This thick pancake-like chunk is broken into pieces after which you will be left with small ‘stones’ of Yopo. During the ceremony these stones are portioned and grinded into a soft powder ready to be served.
Traditionally Yopo has been used for centuries as medicine for physical and mental ailments as well as a means to get in touch with the spirits. Indigenous people from several regions in the Venezuelan and Colombian Amazon work with Yopo during their spiritual ceremonies where they sniff the Yopo powder into their nostrils with a so called yopero; a little dowsing rod shaped applicator.
Yopo contains several active substances known to be psychoactive and very powerful. These substances are: DMT, 5-MeO- DMT and Bufotenin. These are seen as very potent in their own right, but together they make up a unique and sacred blend bundled up in a tiny seed. With this unique combination of substances many tribes in South America regard the Yopo as the crown of all plant medicine.