Ever since the first edition of 0 Uso Ritual da Ayahuasca (The Ritual Use of Ayahuasca) was published in 2002, it has been the text on ayahuasca that I most fre­quently consult. This densely-packed handbook is especially important as it is the only available publication to compile the most salient scholarly work on the urban ayahuasca churches of Brazil. Although the book resolves the fundamental problem of access to unpublished Brazilian scholarship, I am acutely aware of the urgent need for an English translation that will make this material available to a wider audience of scholars. As it stands, this text will bring relief, encourage­ment, and a change of mind to readers who think that research on entheogens is in a dismal,retracted or sluggish state.