30th December, 2021
Some people look at Ayahuasca (medicine) as a solution for all problems in this world... well, if you believe in equilibrium and a well balanced existence, perhaps it is the solution (at least the beginning). Later on you may realise that the world isn’t overpopulated, the drawback is the way we (humans) coexist. It is worth mentioning that you can achieve same results Ayahuasca does, by easing the whole healing process in several years (or even decades) with psychotherapists or deep meditation (if you know how to meditate), so yes, from this point of view, Ayahuasca is not the only way, it is just a powerful tool that helps significantly to speed up your healing/learning process.
Taking Ayahuasca (medicine) isn’t something pleasant, in fact, about half an hour after drinking it, when the whole purgative process commences, most of the people regret it and start questioning; Why am I doing this? Oh, oh! I don’t like this… "Can you please pull over? I want to get off…", Where's mum?... Few minutes later “only if you give up fighting”, your ego gets destroyed in thousands of pieces and then, only then, you are invited to walk through the valley of death where you may visit some deep memories and strange places, here is where and when the healing/teaching process begins... it is involuntary, you can’t influence it, the medicine gives you what you need and not what you want. The whole ride takes about 5 to 7 hours, you'd better be patient.
It is crucial to understand the reasons why you are taking the medicine and most importantly that you are doing it by yourself and; not trying to escape any social convention, pretending to satisfy someone/organisation, following a friend or supporting a family member. In other words you must be feeling “called” which ultimately defines the intention for facing Ayahuasca.
Feeling called is not necessarily something you can describe with words but sensing the necessity of changing/adjusting/adding something to your life. There are several ways for identifying this strange feeling, here are some common behaviours:
This is perhaps the most important part of the entire process. It happens right after you’re feeling called and before taking the medicine, it is when you feel ready by holding a well defined reason for facing Ayahuasca. Not having a very clear intention can make your whole experience meaningless, put it in this way; You are given the chance to talk to the Oracle and the only foolish question you have is… Oracle, I wonder what you have to say to me today? the Oracle will tell you absolutely nothing, or if it does, you won't acknowledge it.
I heard several times people saying; I will take the medicine and see what it has to show me, hoping for getting surprised. Do not do this, you’d better wait till the right moment, why? It is when messages aren’t clear, so people start interpreting them at their own convenience, and they may get stuck in here, they don’t evolve, don’t take any action, life doesn’t progress or if it does, it can be in an unhealthy way… the medicine becomes inefficient. This is called Spiritual Bypassing.
Having said that, please keep in mind that Ayahuasca isn’t a tool for spiritual growth. Instead, it tries to clean your body and mind, bringing equilibrium, clarity and self awareness. Once you have found the right path to the best version of yourself, a new different way of looking at life gets unlocked.
How much you need depends on many factors, your genetics play a strong role in here but ultimately how well physically/mentaly prepared you are, will dictate the whole quality of your experience. In some cases the medicine can be very inefficient or have no effect at all. That’s correct, sometimes people take the strongest dose possible (80 to 100 millilitres) and it doesn’t have any effect on them; they have no purging, no visions, no learning, nothing. People can be totally blocked (unreceptive) to the medicine, it is mainly due to the fact they didn’t follow a proper diet for at least a week before... with no meat, reduced salt and sugar, no fermented fruits like; banana, avocado, pineapple, etc. Everything should be pretty much fresh. What you eat 48 hours before taking the medicine is extremely important, some food like pork meat; contains enzymes that block the medicine and doesn’t allow it to do its job. If you really want to make the best of your Ayahuasca experience, you’d better be as clean as possible (including sex abstinence), it is highly recommended to take the medicine on an empty stomach. How much of the brew should you drink?
Warning! It is very dangerous mixing Ayahuasca with other substances like alcohol, drugs, etc… especially if you are taking antidepressant pills (serotonin), or any psychiatric drugs, there is a high risk of getting serious mental/brain damage (stroke or even death).
It is important to make sure you understand the difference between a drug and a medicine. A Drug is a substance that brings some relief or cure to your body/mind by taking it away from its natural form or, in the case of your mind, by bending reality. For example: Anesthetics, these drugs induce insensitivity to pain, or make you feel doped, some of them unconscious. Or when you take sleeping pills, the drug helps you to sleep by reducing your awareness and sometimes making you dizzy or lazy. Drugs are normally synthetic (made in labs). Medicine does completely the opposite, it attempts to bring your body/mind to its most natural state posible. Simple examples are: When you feel thirsty all you need is to drink some fresh water to feel back as nature intended. When you feel weak, eating proper food, bringing nutrients and reinforcing your immune system is perhaps all you need. If you are low in oxygen and feel dizzy, maybe you need to improve your breath and get some fresh air. So from this point of view; water, air, and food are medicine. Medicines are normally made out of plants, herbs, flowers, or fungi…
Ayahuasca is a medicine because it attempts to bring your body and mind to the most well balanced version of yourself, it gets rid of all things your body doesn’t need and brings a tremendous self awareness (including sometimes spiritual awakening but let’s talk about that later).
Have you heard Ayahuasca is a one way trip? Well it actually is. It is very unlikely you will be the same person you were before, unfortunately this decision affects all people you share your life with. It is important you are aware of the transformation you may suffer. The hardest part of Ayahuasca is what happens next, taking action and facing all consequences. People call it the “integration” period. Here is a list of common situations/behaviours you could unconsciously incorporate into your day to day life:
Please ask yourself how important are any of these points to you and to people around you before taking the decision of doing Ayahuasca.
Well, if this is your main concern, then it looks like you don’t understand the benefits of Ayahuasca or perhaps you do but what you currently have in life is much more valuable and you are afraid of losing it. The purging part is only a small segment of the whole process. Remember, the hardest part is what happens weeks/months/years after, when you are aware of what needs to be done but you are still frightened of evolving and taking action. Nevertheless, there is a step in between which isn’t purgative and you don’t need to prepare weeks in advance, all you need is to have your stomach empty. Psilocybin!
There are lots of different types of psilocybin mushrooms. My comparison is made with the Amazonian psilocybin type. I won’t go through its chemical differences but its experience. Some people may argue that these are similar to Ayahuasca but in my personal opinion they aren’t, in fact they are a lot different. Here are some points to consider:
Psilocybin mushrooms grow everywhere, normally you can find them in abandoned places, close to cow dung, dead pieces of wood (trees)… all you have to do is; grab them, dry them and eat them. Important! look on the internet for their classification (some poisoned mushrooms look similar!)
Ceremonies are the right way of taking Ayahuasca. Why? During your experience with the medicine you may pass through a very difficult period facing paranoia/psychosis (you can't simply distinguish what's reality or not), here is when it's very important to have someone present looking after you, helping you to come out from that very difficult state of consciousness, transform that repetitive harsh loop into a relieving spiral. I heard lots of sad stories and undesired accidents that happened to people taking ayahuasca alone, you never know! It happens even to experienced people, Ayahuasca can be ruthless. Other reason, people who attend the ceremony with you, share the same place and time (sinergy), so you can support each other not only during the ceremony but also after, during the integration period, you have someone (who understands you) to talk to, this is priceless. Also, the shaman and facilitators are there for helping, you really need someone guiding you through this complicated experience (don’t do it at home on your own). Shamans are the ones to trust, they usually have several decades helping the community and learning from other Shamans. Their role is to observe who you are before offering to you the medicine, they need to understand what needs to be done and how the medicine could affect you, then after, during the integration period they evaluate how you evolve.
There are different types of Ayahuasca rituals, some of them, it isn’t you who drink the brew but the shaman, then they will try to do the healing from outside. Some other rituals, your family or people who care about you, are invited as “observers”... This brings some peace of mind, it makes you feel protected/safe during this vulnerable experience. I am not going to argue what’s the best way of doing Ayahuasca, all methods have valid points, although I personally believe it should be me who face my own fears/traumas from the very deep inside me. Ceremonies are great for providing this space.
There are some people taking a synthetic “medicine” called Ayahuasca analogues, they brew it themselves at home with some similar plant extracts posted by mail, please don’t call these Ayahuasca simply because it has DMT, it’s like calling Acid “Psilocybin Mushrooms Analogue” simply because it has LSD in it. I am not arguing if it works or not, and for sure it is way cheaper. The reason why I don’t believe it should contain the word “Ayahuasca” is because many things can go wrong when misinformed people (with poor guidance) start taking it freely, then! there could be a bad connotation with Ayahuasca ceremonies (this is sad).
Although Ayahuasca is pretty much consumed all around the world, there are only 4 countries that legally allow its cultivation, preparation and distribution; Mexico, Peru, Costa Rica and Brazil. Some other countries like Colombia, Chile, Spain, USA, etc… have more control depending on some indigenous or religious laws. The rest of the globe it is banned (as a drug) or even considered diabolic.
Most of the Ayahuasca distributed in Europe, Africa and USA, is prepared and imported from the amazon jungle. The two plants (Caapi and Chacruna) which are the raw ingredients, are from tropical climates, so taking Ayahuasca in Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Colombia, or Brazil means you are drinking it fresh. However this doesn’t mean that the quality of the brew gets compromised when it is exported to remote countries. What really matters is, who’s the person distributing it. How much experience does he/she have with it? Does he/she provide some guidance before and after? Is he/she really trying to help or is it more for business? Do you have any references from friends about this person/centre? Everytime you are going to take Ayahuasca, it is important you tell someone from outside (say a friend or relative) about where you will be, a contact number, and when they should expect to hear back from you (how many days).
Hey, don’t be alert if during the ceremony you are offered some other substances apart from ayahuasca (all of them are optional). It is quite common that there is a session of Rapé a few hours before you take the medicine and/or during the ceremony, shamans say that it helps to clean your pineal gland, some others use Ambil for getting a clearer thinking, also, during the ceremony some people use Sananga (eye drops) which is used for general detoxification and eyesight improvement. All these are quite common and part of the rituals.
The best place to take Ayahuasca is where there aren’t other intentions but healing. Make sure, the place you are doing it feels comfortable, no one is getting closer than they should, no one is trying to seduce you, and no one is trying to sell something. If you take Ayahuasca in the amazon jungle you don’t have to pay anything for it, indigenous people don’t need money, there is nothing you can offer to them, they need nothing from you. I find this both; intriguing and inspiring.
During my last visit to Colombia, I was told by indigenous people from the Cofan tribe, that the whole movement of sharing medicine with white people started by the end of the 70s. It was the sacred plans who told them to scout out visiting urban areas (cities) and spread the knowledge of the Yagé (Ayahuasca) with the rest of the world, until then the only legal way of accessing the medicine was by visiting tribes in the amazon. Ayahuasca is meant to be available (for free) to all those who feel called. Sadly some things didn’t go as expected.
In Europe and USA only wealthy people have access to Ayahuasca ceremonies (this is sad). Due to the logistic cost; importing the brew, venue, toilets, facilitators, musicians, food, etc… All that convenience and comfort have an extra cost added to ceremonies which can be sometimes quite expensive. Here is what to expect from your Ayahuasca ceremony depending on how much you pay:
I have done several ceremonies, it is important to share this knowledge. I never saw (nor heard) of someone coming out as a worse person post-ceremony. I took the time to write this page because I believe this medicine should be available to all those who need it (at a fair price). Ayahuasca should be taken in a safe and healthy way. You shouldn’t feel afraid of it, you must have all the support you need; not only from your family and friends but also from the society.
If you feel like sharing something or simply would like to say “hi”, feel free to write to contact[at]pmyth.com
Aho!