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Ayahuasca Community Fellowship:

Theology, Membership, and Compliance

Theological Formulation for Sacred Ayahuasca Traditions

Ayahuasca Community Fellowship (ACF) presents ayahuasca ceremony as a sacred religious sacrament rooted in ancient traditions. In ACF’s doctrine, Ayahuasca (also called Yagé) is regarded as a “Master Plant Teacher” and a medium for spiritual ascension, rebirth, and purification​. The fellowship is explicitly syncretic (inspired by Unitarian Universalism) and non-denominational, meaning it embraces multiple tribal Amazonian spiritual traditions under one faith community​. ACF’s purpose is to provide ceremonial practice of ancestral plant medicine in a church/fellowship setting, as a “spiritually cathartic entheogenic communion” for its members​.

This theological framework emphasizes that drinking the ayahuasca brew in ceremony is a sacred rite of passage – a profound experience of ego dissolution and renewal. ACF literature describes the Ayahuasca ceremony as a “spiritually profound sacred purgation process” and “truly a native spiritual rite of passage” originating from the holy ancestral plant medicine traditions of Amazonian tribes​. In line with this, the fellowship views the intense purgative and visionary effects (sometimes called “ego death”) as central to personal transformation and spiritual growth. Indeed, ego death – the dissolving of one’s sense of self – is often understood as a gateway to spiritual awakening across many traditions​. ACF embraces this concept as part of its theology: the temporary “death” of the ego during ceremony allows a spiritual rebirth and deeper connection to the divine.

Crucially, ACF’s theology affirms that ayahuasca is used strictly as a sacred communion, not a recreational drug. All ceremonies are conducted with reverence to the plant spirit and in a ritual context led by experienced facilitators. Borrowing from indigenous wisdom, the fellowship believes the “intelligence and wisdom of the plants” guide the healing; facilitators (healers) are merely helpers in this process​. The fellowship’s motto, “Healing People to Heal the Planet,” reflects a core belief that individual healing through the ayahuasca sacrament contributes to broader spiritual and ecological healing in the world​. Overall, the theological formulation is coherent and sincere: ACF is a legally organized church that venerates ayahuasca as a sacrament given in communion to its members for the purpose of spiritual healing, self-knowledge, and connection with the divine​. This clear articulation of belief and practice establishes ACF as a bona fide religious organization rather than a mere retreat center.

Compliance Consideration: ACF’s theology has been deliberately framed to meet legal standards for religious use of ayahuasca. By highlighting the long history of sacred use (“practices with entheogenic plants have long existed and have been considered sacred to human cultures…for thousands of years”) and by formally adopting ayahuasca ceremony as a central religious rite, ACF underscores that its activities are an exercise of religion. The focus on sacramentality, community fellowship, and spiritual outcomes aligns with criteria under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) for what constitutes a “sincere religious exercise” burdened by the Controlled Substances Act​. In sum, the Fellowship’s theological narrative – a syncretic, nature-centric faith centered on the sacramental use of ayahuasca – is both coherent and consciously structured to support legal compliance and religious exemption claims.

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"WHEREAS, practices with Entheogenic Plants have long existed and have been considered sacred to human cultures and human interrelationships with nature for thousands of years, and continue to be improved to this day by religious and spiritual leaders, practicing professionals, mentors, and healers throughout the world."

"WHEREAS, Entheogenic Plants or combinations of plants such as ayahuasca that contain forms of DMT, a naturally occurring compound in the human body that is listed as a Schedule I substance, can lead to experiences that are reported as mystical or experientially .similar to near-death experiences” and can be ‘demonstrably beneficial in treating addiction,’ depression,’ PTSD,”and in catalyzing profound experiences of personal “‘ and spiritual growth" -City of Santa Cruz Resolution No. NS-29,623

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