Richard Spruce (10 September 1817 – 28 December 1893)
An English botanist who had spent more than 15 years exploring the Amazon and in 1951 was the first Europeans to learn about the Holy Medicine of the Holy and Divine Mother Ayahuasca. He encountered the Divine Banisteriopsis Caapi Vine and witnessed a Sacred Ceremony and learnt about the great importance of the Holy Vine to the indigenous people of the Amazons.
More about him: Kahpi, PDF, Wikipedia.
Dr. Richard Evans Schultes (January 12, 1915 – April 10, 2001)
The first person to research and introduce the Holy and Divine Mother Ayahuasca and the Holy Plant Medicines to the West. He has inspired countless to research and discover the Holy and the Divine Mother Ayahuasca. He lived in the Amazons for over 13 years and his contribution to the field of Ethnobotany is immense, besides being considered as the father of the subject.
More about him: Wikipedia.
Michael Harner (April 27, 1929 – February 3, 2018)
Anthropologist
He studied the Holy and Divine Mother’s Holy Brew among the various indigenous groups in the Amazons. He lived with the Shuar(Jivaro) people in Amazons and practiced Shamanism during the 1960s, who was one of the first Westerners to initiate among Amazonian indigenous Shamans. His book ‘The Way of the Shaman’ gave a complete account of his experience with the Holy and Divine Mother Ayahuasca. He was one of the key figures in bridging the gap between indigenous Shamanism and the perspective of the Western world through his work, research, writing, fieldwork, etc.
More about him: Kahpi, Wikipedia.
Pablo Amaringo (1938 – 16 November 16, 2009)
Pablo Amaringo is most famous for his book “Ayahuasca Visions: The Religious Iconography of a Peruvian Shaman”. His artwork are exceptional which capture the essence of other-dimensional reality which is experienced by the participants of Sacred Ceremonies where the Holy Plant Medicine is taken to meet the Holy and Divine Mother Ayahuasca. His artwork has been featured widely.
More about him: Wikipedia.
Timothy Leary (October 22, 1920 – May 31, 1996)
Born in 1920 and leaving in 1996, Leary was one of the most notable promoters of Psychedelics in the 1970s during the counter-culture revolution in the West. He was a Harvard Psychologist famous for experimenting with and promoting Psychedelics. He and his colleague, Ram Dass, were fired from Harvard in 1963, a scandal had informed the public at large about Psychedelics.
More about him: Wikipedia.
Terence McKenna (November 16, 1946 – April 3, 2000)
Born in 1946 leaving in 2000, Terence left a deep mark in the Western world by promoting and advocating responsible use of Natural Psychedelic Plants and Holy Plant Medicines. He trailblazed the 90’s and was considered one of the leading authorities promoting the Holy and Divine Mother Ayahuasca and Holy Plant Medicines besides Holy Mushrooms.
More about him: Wikipedia, Kahpi.
Dr. Dennis McKenna (born December 17, 1950, in Paonia, Colorado)
Ethnopharmacologist
The brother of Terence McKenna, a strong promoter and supporter of Holy Plant Medicines, Holy Mushrooms, and the Holy and Divine Mother Ayahuasca, he dedicated his life to Plants. He has a Doctorate in Botany and is a professor at the University of Minnesota. In a popular story, in 1976 he had taken some Psychotria Viridis Leaves from Dr. Schultes, which grew in his family-owned forest.
More about him: Wikipedia.
Dr. Rick Strassman (February 8, 1952)
Dr. Strassman holds two degrees from Stanford and has an MD with Honors from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University. He published 30 peer-reviewed scientific papers and server as a reviewer for several psychiatric research journals. He is the author of the highly successful almost cult classic “DMT: The Spirit Molecule”.
More about him: Rick Strassman MD, Wasiwaska Research Center.
Stephen Szára (born 21 March 1923)
A Hungarian Chemist and the discoverer of hallucinogenic effects of N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) in humans. Among many other achievements Szára, with his colleagues, characterized the biochemistry of the first three Psychedelic cogeners of tryptamine: DMT, DET, and DPT, describing their pharmacokinetics and effects. Szára published research on how Psychedelics might be useful in therapy and has co-authored 2 books, coedited 4 books, contributed about 90 articles to professional journals.
More about him: Wikipedia, ESPD 50.
Claudio Benjamin Naranji Cohen (24 November 1932 – 12 July 2019)
He is considered the pioneer in integrating Psychotherapy and Spiritual Traditions. He devoted his long life to examining the psychotherapeutic potential of Psychedelic substances. Among his pioneering Psychedelic therapy research, he coordinated groundbreaking work during the 1960s on the visionary and therapeutic effects of the Holy Brew of the Holy and Divine Mother Ayahuasca.
More about him: Kahpi, Wikipedia.
Marlene Dobkin De Rios (1939 – 2012)
She was one of the first anthropologists to conduct detailed studies on the Holy Medicine of the Holy and Divine Mother Ayahuasca. She wrote many books and articles on Shamanism, Healing, Ethnopsychology, Mysticism, and much more. She was one of the few women in the field of ethnobotany and psychedelic studies at that time.
More about her: Kahpi, Chacruna.
Dr. Jordi Riba (1968-2020)
Jordi Riba was one of the most prolific researchers of the Holy Medicine of the Holy and Divine Mother Ayahuasca. He conducted the world’s first controlled clinical trial with the first neuroimaging studies with the Holy Medicine. He also contributed greatly to bring the understanding of the mechanistic and therapeutic potential of the Holy Medicine of the Holy and Divine Mother Ayahuasca.
More about him: Wasiwaska Research Center, Chacruna.
Graham Hancock (born 2 August 1950)
Writer
A popular writer, speaker, and notable for his infamous Ted Talk which was banned and has had millions of views and has been shared by various individuals. Besides the almost 20 mins Ted Talk he is vehement in promoting Holy Plant Medicines which enable individuals to achieve alternate states of consciousness and allows them to meet the Holy and Divine Mother Ayahuasca.
More about him: Wasiwaska Research center, Wikipedia.
Benny Shanon (born 1948)
Author and Professor of Psychology
The author of a very important book on the Holy Medicine and the Holy and Divine Mother Ayahuasca, the Antipodes of the Mind: Charting the Phenomenology of the Ayahuasca Experience, where Shanon provides rough cartography of the visions and non-visual effects which the Holy Medicine can induce. He claims to have consumed the Holy Medicine a few hundred times. Shanon is a Professor of Psychology and has a doctorate in experimental psychology from Stanford University.
More about him: Wikipedia.
Alex Grey (born November 29, 1953)
Artist
A highly talented and gifted artist who has popularised artwork globally depicting non-ordinary and other-dimensional realities, with fantastic usage of color, context, and objects. Those individuals having had experience with Holy Plant Medicines can instantly relate to Alex’s artwork, and thereby he has gained immense popularity worldwide.
More about him: Wasiwaska Research Center.
Dr. Ralph Metzner (May 18, 1936 – March 14, 2019)
Psychotherapist
He has been exploring states of consciousness and transformational practices for over forty years and teaches courses on altered states of consciousness and ecopsychology. His popular books include “The Psychedelic Experience” (with Leary), and “Ayahuasca – Hallucinogens, Consciousness and the Spirits of Nature”. He has also written on 5-Methoxy-Dimethyltryptamine and Holy Mushrooms.
More about him: Wasiwaska Research Center, Kahpi.
Dr. Stanislav Grof (born July 1, 1931)
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist with 4 decades of experience into non-ordinary states of consciousness induced by psychedelic substances and natural sources. He published over 100 articles in professional journals and his books include The Holotropic Mind, LSD Psychotherapy, and many more which promote spirituality and promoted healing through the Holy Medicine of the Holy and Divine Mother Ayahuasca.
More about him: Wasiwaska Research Center.
Dr. Stanley Krippner (born October 4, 1932)
Professor of Psychology
A Psychologist and Parapsychologist who writes extensively on alternated states of consciousness, dream telepathy, hypnosis, Shamanism, dissociation, and Parapsychological topics. He has done pioneering work in scientifically investigating human consciousness and has greatly contributed to promoting experiential spiritual reports in the scientific community. He did the research “Identifying Spiritual Content in Reports from Ayahuasca Sessions”.
More about him: Wikipedia.
