This essay attempts to analyze and compare thee present day meanings surrounding the use of two hallucinogenic beverages , Jurema and Ayahuasca . The former is found among the Kaiiri-Shoko of Alagoas'state, Brazil, and the latter has had its use spread throughout the upper Amazon region, in Brazil , Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. The author prents an argument that relates the uses of the two hallucvinogens to the processes of ethnic identification, political resistencve and healing. The essay finds support in the works of botanists, anthropologists and pharmacologists, even though most of them did not reach the same conclusions as the author.