Ayahuasca Chronicles
I have done my fair share of ceremonies. I have drank in 42, and have probably sat in on about 60. I continue to drink the medicine because of the benefits I gain from working with the shamans and Ayahuasca. Some of those being, ridding myself of dark thoughts and energies, detoxifying, gaining incredible insights and universal knowledge, and glimpses into the infinite to name a few.Lately I have been hearing of other people’s journey with Ayahuasca and their stories continue to amaze me. The power of the medicine, and the experiences people have after returning home are incredible. It constantly reminds me why I made this doc in the first place, to share this incredible experience. I’m adding this post in hopes that other people who have drank Aya will share their experiences here, because they are just amazing to hear.
Fire away!
posted by Keith at
Thursday, March 12, 2009
3 Comments:
Ellie
Out of the 10 ceremonies I have participated in, a few have stood apart from the rest. I have difficulty putting some of those experiences into words as they were so complex that I don't think the proper words exist to describe them. There is one that I am able to share.
Perhaps the most transformative ceremony for me was my second one. I was laying on a mat on the floor. Before I begin I will mention that throughout my life I have suffered from moderately serious back pain issues that were caused by anxiety. At some point, I turned onto my stomach and my back and legs cramped up. It was like I could feel currents running through my lower back and legs that were twisted and writhing, like a snake. It was pretty painful. I didn't call out for help for a while but the pain got overwhelming and I had to break through a barrier to be able to ask for help. I did, and one of the shamans came over to me. I told him what was going on and he began to sing icaros over me.
When he was through, he told me that there was a snake lodged in my back that he had gotten loose. It didn't want to come out but he made it leave. He said he called on a bunch of different spirits to help him before calling on the spirit of sanango. When he did, sanango came to the rescue and then the snake turned into solid gold and slipped right out!
I saw immediate changes the next day. That whole night I was still in pain, but the next day I felt taller. A couple different people told me I looked taller! Before this ceremony I was unable to sleep on my back because there was an arch at the base of my spine that prevented me from laying comfortably. After that, the arch disappeared and ever since then I have been able to lay on my back without pain.
Hopefully I can return to Peru soon for more medicina!
Saturday, March 14, 2009 - 12:46 AM
Debs
For me it is difficult to write about experience of ceremony, for I find that the written word is not the vehicle for transmitting the essence of a non-linear, non-structured, other-dimensional experience. Indeed, as humans we (or somebody/thing) created speech and language in order that the ego can function in linear, third dimensional reality. Once out of this useful but somewhat restrictive suit, that language is found wanting.
So I shall share with you how la medicina has changed my life. Thirty ceremonies in two years. For those of you who have seen me rolling around making ridiculous noises in the trailer for the film, I can assure you I have come a very, very long way since then. Ceremonies are just as intense but I have grown in my ability to navigate through the turbulence.
I had heard that ayahuasca could instigate change but I didn’t go to the jungle wanting anything. I was refreshingly uninformed about ayahuasca. All I had been told by my spirit guides was that my time had come to drink it.
When change manifested it was not external, in the form of change of residence, job and the like. Does not our over-identification with ego result in a predisposition towards thinking that The External, i.e. what we do/act/say, where we live, who we interact with, defines who we are? Ayahuasca explodes the myth that one is one’s ego. I am not my ego, I am consciousness. That is my core being. So ayahuasca manifests a transformation in my consciousness, not my ego. Ego may then begin to behave differently as a result. Hamilton sums up this process when he says:
“As your consciousness changes, how you feel about everything changes, your understanding of everything changes, and how you think changes.”
This is my experience.
Before ayahuasca, I thought my way through life. Now, I feel my way. Spirit speaks to me through my feelings. Being more energetically open means that I pick up on the energy around me and am more aware of internal changes in how I feel. Small acts of cruelty upset me deeply. But this increased sensitivity is not weakness. On the contrary, in my core I feel stronger, more resilient. Sensitivity gives me the power of discernment, so I can avoid people who may seek to dis-empower me.
Sensitivity with strength. A paradox? Yes, but then ayahuasca is about understanding and becoming aware of the paradox at the root of human existence. I can be walking down the street and feel un-utterable joy at the beauty of God’s creation simultaneously with deep grief at the pain and desperation that permeates the Earth.
I love my family with an intensity and deepness I have never before experienced.
Each day I watch the sun rise and am speechless at the loveliness of this world.
I no longer create drama in order to feel alive. Nor do I react to other peoples’ dramas. Or engineered dramas in the world at large (aka news media). Without drama, life becomes real. Who needs drama when the world is full of flowers?
I say YES to everything. I say YES to life.
I was not a happy individual before ayahuasca. All of my adult life I have struggled. Western allopathic medicine gives this struggle labels, but I don’t collude in the myth of mental illness. It is dislocation from Source which creates ennui and suffering. Ayahuasca heals this.
I would like the whole world to discover they don’t have to be in pain, that they can find the source of true joy. Maybe one day this will happen.
Debs : )
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 - 12:26 PM
I have drunken ayahuasca 45 times. I first started going to Blue Morpho in June of 2006 to get rid of a five year Oxycontin addiction. To my happiness I was able to kick the habit. While I was down there I realized that there is so much to learn from drinking ayahuasca and talking to spirit. I learned about oneness and how we are all spirit. I was able to get off all the other drugs that I was addicted to also. I also agree with Debs about not worrying about drama anymore since the world seems to be full of it. It is quite pleasant to go through life not worrying. Life changes for the better and the synchronicity of life flow a lot smoother. It's like you can see it coming.
My biggest ceremony was when I gave myself to God. It all started when I broke an ayahuasca diet (which I strongly don't recommend). That ceremony started out good with the feeling of love, peace and respect. I saw this greenish-yellowish spirit and it was fixing my body. I realized then that I had a beautiful and wonderful life. Then all of sudden this dark black thing with a yellow outline came. I began to feel so much fear. This was utter fear. Fear I have never felt before. I was so scared. I yelled for water to be poured on to my head. That chilled me out for a little while. Then Hamilton came over and gave me a venditta(I know I spelled that wrong) but the darkness went hiding deeper inside me. Hamilton told me to respect the medicine. I became very confused and lost.
Then I began to have telepathy. Hamilton and Alberto started calling on God and I had to open my heart. It was a struggle at first but I was able to do it. It was the most beautiful and loving experience that words can't explain. I just kept thanking God over and over again. I realized the medicine was not about power and power would lead you to the dark side. It was a struggle to let go of having power. Then Jiri telepathically told me to just let it roar. I must have screamed for it felt about an hour and half. It felt amazing. My body shook with the love of God.
When I was in my bungalow the devil appeared and telepathically Alberto told me to give myself back to God. I started crying and got down on to my knees with my forehead into the floor with my arm stretched out behind my back and started yelling at the top of my lungs, "I give myself to you!" I must have done that for about a half hour. Hamilton came to check on me and gave me a some help to give myself to God. Eventually, I succeeded. I saw angels, Jesus, Adam and Eve and everyone that I loved. And finally God in the sense that Keith explains of being the universal and the infinite.
It was best experience I ever had.
Lou Dawg
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