Event Details:

Date: March 12th

Venue: Redbrick Hotel Wollongabba

Time: 6 - 9PM

Talk Blurb:

Yopo: Ayahuasca's Grandfather

Seeds, Snuffs and Visionary States: An Ethnobotanical Exploration

Hidden beneath the canopy of ancient forests, beyond the reach of more widely known plant medicines, exists a sacred plant medicine that few in the modern world have encountered.

His name is Yopo.

The First Breath.

The Dreamer.

The Grandfather.

The Teacher of Teachers.

Yopo represents one of humanity's oldest documented relationships with visionary plant medicines.

This presentation offers an exploration of a largely forgotten lineage of sacred plant knowledge, examining traditions that predate many contemporary practices. Revered for millennia by the Yanomami, Piaroa, and guardians of the Orinoco basin, Yopo (Anadenanthera peregrina) holds a distinguished place within traditional plant medicine systems, serving as a bridge between physical and spiritual dimensions of experience.

This presentation integrates scientific and ethnographic perspectives, examining Yopo not merely as a botanical specimen or chemical compound, but as a culturally significant "Master Teacher Plant" within indigenous worldviews. We explore how traditional knowledge systems understand Yopo as carrying ancestral wisdom and maintaining living connections to ancient practice.

Through examination of shamanic frameworks, we investigate how Yopo facilitates introspective experiences and understandings of the interconnection between humans, plants, and spiritual dimensions.

We journey through the traditional ceremony itself: the ritual preparation of seeds, the sacred blowing techniques, the songs and prayers that accompany the medicine, and the documented historical uses across generations. This exploration reveals how Yopo has functioned within indigenous communities for millennia to support personal transformation and collective wisdom transmission.

This is a rare opportunity to encounter knowledge that has remained largely inaccessible to Western audiences. Join us to discover what Grandfather Yopo has been waiting to teach.

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Speaker Biography:

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Stevan Sipka - Ethnobotanist & Founder of Sacred Plants Australia

Stevan is the founder of Sacred Plants Australia and an independent ethnobotanical researcher focused on the relationships between sacred plants, culture and traditional knowledge systems.

Since 2013, he has conducted fieldwork in remote indigenous and ethnic minority communities across the planet, working directly with shamans and traditional healers to document medicinal, ceremonial, and sacred plant knowledge.

His work spans visionary and medicinal plant traditions, ritual preparation methods, and the cultivation and care of sacred plant species. Through sustained, hands-on practice, Stevan has developed applied expertise in plant identification, propagation, and stewardship, with particular attention to the cultural and spiritual dimensions of plant use within traditional healing contexts.

He maintains a living collection of more than 270 rare and culturally important sacred plant species, forming a botanical sanctuary that supports ongoing research, conservation, and education. His approach integrates indigenous knowledge systems with contemporary ethnobotanical perspectives, emphasising ethical engagement and lineage-based knowledge preservation.

Stevan's work is dedicated to responsibly sharing plant knowledge with researchers, practitioners, and students alike, while advocating for sustainability, cultural respect, and the protection of sacred plant traditions.

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