About Ayahuasca
To describe Ayahuasca outside of the highly personal experience of drinking Ayahuasca is difficult, if not impossible. In the simplest terms, Ayahuasca is a tea made from plants of the Amazon (though the same plants grow in different parts of the world, too). Ayahuasca combines a vine from the jungle with the leaves of a plant. The two ingredients are cooked with water over a fire. The water boils down several times, and often more of the same two ingredients (and sometimes other speciality healing plants) are added as the brew is refined throughout the course of a morning and afternoon cook.
Crucial to the cooking process is the invocation of God, love, medicinal spirits, angels, avatars, doctors, guardians, and soul guides into the tea itself. Although this may sound superstitious, it is essential for the making of real "medicine." For hundreds of years practitioners have also made Ayahuasca for the purpose of withcraft and the attainment of personal power. In fact, the brews of Ayahuasca made around the world, though using identical ingredients, can be quite different from each other, depending on who made the brew, what kinds of intentions and prayers were present during the cooking of the tea, and so forth. In my opinion, it is important that each person find a tradition, a guide, and a brew that is right for them.
When administered by a Shaman or contained by a group ritual or structure, and accompanied by the guidance of medicinal healing songs (most traditionally called icaros), a gateway into the spirit world is opened. Psychic receptivity is greatly increased. Fears are brought to the surface. That which is hidden, repressed or forgotten is remembered, released, or exposed, and healing happens. At the crucible of this experience is "the purge," or la purga. People can laugh, cry, vomit, get diareah, feel like they are going crazy, travel out of their body, have life-changing visions, travel back in time to heal their past, and much more. Common to the purge is the shedding of inauthentic or negative/self-destructive behaviors, thought-patterns, relationships, addictions, etc. Sometimes the healing can happen instantly (most of my addictions were purged, and have never returned, since my very first ceremony in Peru). Other instances of healing required me to do out-of-ceremony homework and then later revist some of the more difficult themes of my psyche in subsequent ceremonies. For example: my addictions and relationship struggles were only superficial symptoms of deeper issues within my heart: the fear of life, the fear of death, trust in God and the Universe. The point remains, that even the best Ayahuasca medicine is not a cure-all. Ayahuasca challenges people to avoid "pat-answers" and walk the talk.
It is my opinion that Ayahuasca medicine is becoming a global sensation at this point in human history not because "the white man" or "western culture" is exploiting another indigenous tradition, but rather because Ayahuasca's destiny is to play an important role in the evolution of human consciousness. I believe that Ayahuasca has always been from the forest but for the world. In this respect, Ayahuasca can teach human beings to co-exist and live in harmony with not just each other, but the entire planet. After all, how exactly did people come to learn that just the right combination of plants, cooked in just the right way, would lead to such a deeply transcendent and personal experience?
All of this being said, I cannot equate psychedelic drugs or every shaman or shamanic tradition with the general benefits of Ayahuasca medicine that I've described here or in my book. Ayahuasca medicine will always remain, to some extent, a mystery and a deeply subjective adventure of the human soul. To me, although I have felt deeply inspired to share my healing journey with the world, Ayahuasca remains an experience I am hesitant to "recommend." I think it's something that people seek or feel led to try for their own unique reasons.
At the end of the day, every experience I've had with Ayahuasca medicine has been bigger than any one vision or any particular "medicine." It's been about God's love for me and for the entire universe.
If you're interested in reading more on the subject of Ayahuasca, and plant Medicines, here are some resources that I've enjoyed:
Singing to the Plants, by Stephan V. Beyer.
Forest of Visions, by Alex Polari de Alverga
The Cosmic Serpent, by Jeremy Narby
Breaking Open the Head, by Daniel Pinchbeck
Food of the Gods, by Terence McKenna
If you're interested in reading more literary spiritual memoirs, here are some that have inspired me:
Angelhead, by Greg Bottoms
Writing from the Center, by Scott Russel Sanders
Salvation on Sand Mountain, by Dennis Covington
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, by Annie Dillard
Traveling Mercies, by Anne Lamott
Crucial to the cooking process is the invocation of God, love, medicinal spirits, angels, avatars, doctors, guardians, and soul guides into the tea itself. Although this may sound superstitious, it is essential for the making of real "medicine." For hundreds of years practitioners have also made Ayahuasca for the purpose of withcraft and the attainment of personal power. In fact, the brews of Ayahuasca made around the world, though using identical ingredients, can be quite different from each other, depending on who made the brew, what kinds of intentions and prayers were present during the cooking of the tea, and so forth. In my opinion, it is important that each person find a tradition, a guide, and a brew that is right for them.
When administered by a Shaman or contained by a group ritual or structure, and accompanied by the guidance of medicinal healing songs (most traditionally called icaros), a gateway into the spirit world is opened. Psychic receptivity is greatly increased. Fears are brought to the surface. That which is hidden, repressed or forgotten is remembered, released, or exposed, and healing happens. At the crucible of this experience is "the purge," or la purga. People can laugh, cry, vomit, get diareah, feel like they are going crazy, travel out of their body, have life-changing visions, travel back in time to heal their past, and much more. Common to the purge is the shedding of inauthentic or negative/self-destructive behaviors, thought-patterns, relationships, addictions, etc. Sometimes the healing can happen instantly (most of my addictions were purged, and have never returned, since my very first ceremony in Peru). Other instances of healing required me to do out-of-ceremony homework and then later revist some of the more difficult themes of my psyche in subsequent ceremonies. For example: my addictions and relationship struggles were only superficial symptoms of deeper issues within my heart: the fear of life, the fear of death, trust in God and the Universe. The point remains, that even the best Ayahuasca medicine is not a cure-all. Ayahuasca challenges people to avoid "pat-answers" and walk the talk.
It is my opinion that Ayahuasca medicine is becoming a global sensation at this point in human history not because "the white man" or "western culture" is exploiting another indigenous tradition, but rather because Ayahuasca's destiny is to play an important role in the evolution of human consciousness. I believe that Ayahuasca has always been from the forest but for the world. In this respect, Ayahuasca can teach human beings to co-exist and live in harmony with not just each other, but the entire planet. After all, how exactly did people come to learn that just the right combination of plants, cooked in just the right way, would lead to such a deeply transcendent and personal experience?
All of this being said, I cannot equate psychedelic drugs or every shaman or shamanic tradition with the general benefits of Ayahuasca medicine that I've described here or in my book. Ayahuasca medicine will always remain, to some extent, a mystery and a deeply subjective adventure of the human soul. To me, although I have felt deeply inspired to share my healing journey with the world, Ayahuasca remains an experience I am hesitant to "recommend." I think it's something that people seek or feel led to try for their own unique reasons.
At the end of the day, every experience I've had with Ayahuasca medicine has been bigger than any one vision or any particular "medicine." It's been about God's love for me and for the entire universe.
If you're interested in reading more on the subject of Ayahuasca, and plant Medicines, here are some resources that I've enjoyed:
Singing to the Plants, by Stephan V. Beyer.
Forest of Visions, by Alex Polari de Alverga
The Cosmic Serpent, by Jeremy Narby
Breaking Open the Head, by Daniel Pinchbeck
Food of the Gods, by Terence McKenna
If you're interested in reading more literary spiritual memoirs, here are some that have inspired me:
Angelhead, by Greg Bottoms
Writing from the Center, by Scott Russel Sanders
Salvation on Sand Mountain, by Dennis Covington
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, by Annie Dillard
Traveling Mercies, by Anne Lamott
