The prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor has manifested. Following a years-long legal battle, the Church of the Eagle and the Condor has successfully settled with the US Department of Justice (DOJ), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to legally use ayahuasca as an integral part of its religious practices, according to a press release.
The Church of the Eagle and the Condor is officially the first non-Christian church to obtain such legal protections. This also marks the first time in history that a church has received federal authorization to import and facilitate ayahuasca without going to trial. This historic settlement has promising implications for other Indigenous-rooted and syncretic faiths hoping to work with entheogens.
“This settlement reaffirms our right to practice our spirituality as we have always known,” says Belinda P. Eriacho, board member of the Church of the Eagle and the Condor, and member of the Diné / A:shwii lineages. “It is a recognition by the US government and an important milestone in honoring and validating Indigenous belief systems.”
Hellbound and Down 