Atmosphere

Features

Atmosphere and feature ratings above are based on Best Retreats research (October 2026). They will be updated if Arizona Yagé Assembly submits its own information.

Arizona Yagé Assembly: An In-Depth Review for Ayahuasca Ceremonies near Tucson, Arizona

Arizona Yagé Assembly (AYA) is a self-described visionary church that has held all-night ayahuasca ceremonies in Arizona since 2015. It was founded by Winfield Scott Stanley III, known as Scott Stanley, who is its director and lead facilitator, and it now holds ceremonies every other weekend in a round temple on church-owned desert land near Three Points, about 45 minutes west of downtown Tucson. Groups run to about 30 to 35 people with five to seven facilitators, guests sleep on their own mats in the temple, and the church says it does not refund guests whose experience was not what they expected. AYA is best known for its six-year federal religious-freedom lawsuit: federal agents seized four of its ayahuasca shipments in 2020, it sued the Justice Department, the DEA and other agencies, and in 2024 a court ordered it to hand over records identifying about 5,239 members, donors and contacts, and AYA lost its objections to that order in 2025 and 2026. AYA has never applied for a DEA religious exemption, so its ceremonies have no federal legal protection. We found no reports of deaths or abuse at its ceremonies. Our earlier profile named the wrong founder and needs correcting on group size, prices, ingredients and the legal history.

🎯 At a Glance

• Locations: Church-owned land near Three Points, Arizona (ZIP 85637), about 45 minutes from downtown Tucson, one hour from Tucson International Airport and two hours 15 minutes from Phoenix Sky Harbor, reached by dirt roads, according to the church’s 2023 FAQ. Its mailing address is in Tucson. Press reports have also placed ceremonies in Phoenix and Scottsdale, and the church runs yearly trips to the Peruvian Amazon upriver from Iquitos.
• Approach: All-night ayahuasca ceremonies, from about 6 or 7 p.m. to about 6 or 7 a.m., with several doses in a structured format inside a religious framework. Tobacco, hapé (rapé), sananga eye drops, sage and palo santo are also used. Guests can attend one, two or three nights.
• Suitable For: US residents who want a church-based ceremony close to home, are comfortable in a large group and sleeping on the floor, and accept the legal and privacy risks described below. Not suited to anyone who needs medical cover, privacy about their attendance, or comfort.
• Costs: The church says the cost depends on the number of evenings booked. The federal government told the court in 2022 that AYA advertised ceremonies at $325 to $775, according to UPI. Our earlier profile listed $185 to $295 for one night, $350 to $575 for two and $475 to $850 for three; those figures are unverified. No lodging, food or transport is included.
• Overall Assessment: A long-running, openly operating church with an experienced founder and a written health form, offset by large all-night groups, no medical staff, a remote dirt-road site, no refunds, federal seizures and unresolved litigation, and a court order exposing members’ identities to federal agencies. Directory evaluation: C.

💬 What Guests Are Saying

AYA is not listed on the major retreat review platforms, and its own sites do not publish ratings.

The positive picture. Our earlier profile reported reviewers praising caring facilitators, the desert night sky and the ceremonies as the best thing they had done for their mental health. Stanley told UPI in 2022 that 5,000 to 6,000 people had attended since 2015, and a founder interview on The Universe Within podcast credits him with more than 500 ceremonies.

The negative feedback. Our earlier profile also described critical reviews: a lack of reverence, facilitators using phones and giggling during ceremony, facilitators still working on their own healing, participants who felt shrugged off or “spiritually hurt,” and one reviewer who wanted an experienced shaman present at all times. These accounts remain unverified.

Who is writing the reviews. With no independent review platform to cross-check, guests have little to go on beyond the church’s own materials, paid press releases and friendly podcasts. If you have attended, we encourage you to share your experience through our submission form.

🚩 Incident Report

We searched news coverage, court records, review platforms and forums for reports involving Arizona Yagé Assembly, Scott Stanley and the church’s ceremonies.

• Deaths and serious injuries: None found.
• Sexual misconduct: No allegations found.
• Theft and crime: No criminal charges found against AYA or Stanley. Clay Villanueva, a co-plaintiff in AYA’s lawsuit who founded the separate Vine of Light Church in Phoenix, was raided in May 2020 and indicted in Maricopa County on conspiracy, money laundering and drug possession charges; he died in April 2022 before trial, according to the Phoenix New Times.
• Legal action: Federal seizures of AYA’s ayahuasca and a long-running federal lawsuit brought by AYA, described below.

If you have experienced or witnessed an incident at an AYA ceremony, please report it confidentially.

🔍 Critical Notes

Federal seizures. Federal authorities seized four shipments of ayahuasca sent from Peru to AYA and its umbrella group between April and December 2020, and in November 2020 a federal prosecutor warned in writing that future imports would be seized and forfeited, according to a May 2023 federal court order. The same order records an allegation that an agent threatened felony prosecution after seizing packages of mescaline; the details are unclear. DMT, the active compound in ayahuasca, is a Schedule I drug under federal law, and Arizona prosecutors have charged ayahuasca possession under state drug law, as in the Villanueva case.

The lawsuit. AYA, the North American Association of Visionary Churches (NAAVC), Vine of Light Church and Villanueva sued the Justice Department, DEA, Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection on May 5, 2020, in federal court in Northern California, claiming protection under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act; the case moved to the District of Arizona. Most claims were dismissed in March 2022, as Religion News Service reported, because AYA had never applied for a DEA exemption, but in May 2023 the court allowed its religious-freedom claim to proceed. The DEA agreed to settlement talks in mid-2022; no settlement followed at the time. Unlike the União do Vegetal and Santo Daime churches, which won religious-use cases in 2006 and 2009, AYA has no court ruling or exemption protecting its ceremonies. A press release distributed through openPR is titled “US Department of Justice and Ayahuasca Church Agree to Stipulated Dismissal”; its date and terms do not appear in the court filings cited here, and a federal court order dated April 28, 2026 treated the case as active.

Your name could be in federal hands. In February 2024 the court ordered AYA to give the government records including the identities, emails, attendance and donation history of members, donors and correspondents, about 5,239 people. AYA’s appeals failed: the Ninth Circuit denied mandamus in 2024, the US Supreme Court declined to hear the case on January 13, 2025, according to its docket, and, in an October 2025 decision, upheld the refusal to let a group of members intervene. Stanley swore that the disclosures “would destroy” the church. A magistrate ruled in July 2025 that AYA had waived its privilege over the documents, and on April 28, 2026 the district judge affirmed that ruling and warned that further delay would bring sanctions, according to the court’s order. Whether the records have been handed over is not public. Anyone who has attended, donated or emailed the church should assume their details may be among them.

No refunds. The FAQ states: “we don’t offer refunds if your experience isn’t what you expected.” Full cancellation terms are not published in the FAQ.

Corrections to our earlier profile. AYA was founded by Scott Stanley, not Clay Villanueva. Villanueva founded Vine of Light Church in Phoenix in 2017, co-founded NAAVC with Stanley and attorney Charles Carreon, and died on April 1, 2022. Groups are about 30 to 35 people per evening, not limited to 25. The brew contains ayahuasca vine, chacruna leaf, bobinsana and chiric sanango, so “no ingredient details” was wrong, and tobacco, hapé and sananga are also used. Stanley began drinking ayahuasca in 2009 with an Indigenous group from southern Colombia, later studied in Peru, and the church works with a Matsés curandero on its Peru trips, so “no Indigenous lineage” overstated the case. The lawsuit did not end in California; it continued in Arizona into 2026. We found no source for ceremonies in Joshua Tree, a 10-acre venue there, facilitators named Annie and Bayle, an eight-week SSRI rule, “certified integration coaches” or a discount code, which remain unverified.

🆘 Screening & Mental Health Risks

Registration is not complete until guests submit a Health Form and a Ceremony Questionnaire, according to the FAQ, which also gives preparation guidelines, including dietary changes and daily meditation for at least a week beforehand. The FAQ publishes no list of excluded conditions or medications. No medical staff are mentioned in the church’s FAQ or the court filings, and no emergency protocol is published. The site is reached by dirt roads that rideshare drivers typically will not use, about 45 minutes from the hospitals of central Tucson, which would slow any emergency response. Drug testing is “up to the individual,” and the church says it cannot vouch for anyone’s driving. Integration support is a closed Facebook group. ICEERS notes that ayahuasca’s MAOI component makes combinations with SSRIs and other serotonergic medications contraindicated, and that ayahuasca is contraindicated for people prone to psychosis. Erowid warns of extreme, possibly fatal reactions with some prescription drugs. Never stop a psychiatric medication to qualify for a ceremony without your prescriber’s guidance.

🧪 Brew Substance

AYA’s brew combines the Banisteriopsis caapi vine with chacruna leaf, the DMT source, plus bobinsana and chiric sanango, according to the FAQ. Traditional ayahuasca pairs the vine with a DMT-containing leaf, as Erowid explains. Guests receive several doses over the night. The church imports ayahuasca from Peru, which is how its 2020 shipments came to be seized. No kambo, bufo, San Pedro or psilocybin is offered.

📍 Location, Setting & Style

• Setting: Sonoran Desert land west of Tucson. Ceremonies have been held since January 2022 in a round maloca, described by Religion News Service as a 50-foot-wide yurt on the western edge of the Tucson desert. Nights can be cold, and the church advises layered clothing.
• Rooms: None. Guests sleep in the temple on their own mat and sleeping bag; buckets, tissues, a wash area and a toilet are provided, and spare gear can be borrowed. Multi-night guests arrange their own lodging, from a list the church provides.
• Style: A US church with American facilitators who avoid the word “shaman,” using Amazonian sacraments, icaros and tobacco in a structured religious ceremony. AYA works with The Aya Mission, a veterans’ nonprofit in Scottsdale.

Practical guidance: Rent a car, as the church strongly recommends; taxis and rideshares usually will not drive the dirt roads, and the church keeps a carpool list for each weekend. No airport transfer is offered.

Should You Book?

Arizona Yagé Assembly may suit you if you live in the United States, want an established church ceremony rather than travel abroad, and accept large groups and basic conditions. The trade-offs: no medical staff on a remote site, no refunds, ayahuasca that remains illegal under federal and Arizona law without an exemption, and a real risk that your identity ends up in federal records. If you go, ask how the church handles medical emergencies and how it now protects attendee data, and read our guide to verifying retreat facilitators.

The Team & Story

Scott Stanley founded AYA in 2015 and leads it as director, minister and lead facilitator, according to the church’s Supreme Court petition and the 2023 court order. He told the court he began drinking ayahuasca in 2009 and later studied with practitioners in Peru. On Peru trips the church works with Eladio Melendez Garcia, a Matsés curandero. Charles Carreon, a lawyer, represents the church and serves as general counsel of NAAVC. In November 2024 AYA asked the US Supreme Court to hear its privacy objection, which the Court declined in January 2025, and the same month it hosted a Veterans Day retreat for 22 veterans with The Aya Mission, a Scottsdale nonprofit recognized in 2024 that says it does not run ceremonies itself. Stanley told Religion News Service in 2022, “We’re fighting this and we expect to win.” We did not independently verify anyone’s credentials.

Prep & Integration Tips

Before you go: Complete the health form honestly, disclose every medication, and talk with your own doctor well before the ceremony. Follow the church’s preparation guidelines, and consider the privacy implications of registering. After you return: The church’s support is a closed Facebook group. Arrange support from a qualified therapist at home, and avoid driving after an all-night ceremony. Our guide on how to research ayahuasca incidents can help you check any group.

Pros & Cons

Book Your Ceremony

Registration runs through the church’s websites, aya.guide and ayaguide.org, with the health form and questionnaire. Ceremonies are held every other weekend. Before paying, confirm the price for your nights, the cancellation terms, the emergency arrangements and how your personal data will be stored and shared. Best Retreats does not take bookings; learn more about our mission.

Last reviewed October 2026.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. Consult a qualified medical professional.