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Published: October 18th 2007
I had heard about Ayahuasca (pronounced i-ya-wa-ska) 20 years ago when Lynn V. Andrews wrote a bit about it in Medicine Woman. I found this book again in Lake Atitlan, at the same time my friend was actually doing this sacred ceremony also known as a Tea Ceremony which I didn’t think was very wise to do at that time. When we landed in Peru our tour guide handed me this experience on a plate with a photocopied brochure, I listened to the universal signs and I felt very curious as to what this was all about. It is meant to be conducted by a shaman or doctor of herbal medicine as it is a hallucinogenic journey which is something I have not done in many years.
Ayahuasca is the vine of a banisteriopsis caapi tree and is meant to have entheogenic or hallucinogenic properties, which is used for reaching deep into the troubled mind and for specific rituals, spiritual clarity and deep medicinal healing work that can be sometimes used in extreme cases of terminal diseases. It is no game, nor is it a joke and should at all times be taken very seriously. The Ayahuasca vine is considered
a powerful means to a desired end and can also be mixed with ‘chacruna’ which is a form of psychotria viridis, a shrub from the coffee family whose indigenous Quechua meaning is ‘to mix’. This mind-blowing concoction gives a more accelerated animated, visionary, property to this experience and is truly an experience to be had.
The main part of this practice is the natural purging of the body, either through vomiting or crapping yourself although vomiting is the more desired and controllable purge of choice, this is meant to cleanse the digestive track which happens when the mind has rapidly accessed a huge amount of unconscious negativity. The combination of plants can only be found within the Amazonian rainforest of Peru or Amazon.com might sell it if you look hard enough.
We flew to Puerto Maldonado which boarders Bolivia and is pure dense jungle, from my window seat high in the sky all I could see was one great broccoli head. A long boat took us down river; the vastness of Amazonian broccoli heads reversed its perceptions as I suddenly felt like the smallest blip amongst the grandest and densest jungle. It took 90 minutes to reach Eco
Amazonia lodge only assessable by boat and nestled far within this natural terrain. The cabins were worthy of Elle decoration coverage and the sounds all around were pure natural jungle. We were the only two people there who had the more alternative package deal. We met our maestro for the night Dr. Edinson Rumayna, he preferred to be called a doctor of herbal medicine than a shaman as he believes that any charlatan can be called a shaman these days and that most western people are sucked into the belief that these people are Gods and that many good honest folk are unfortunately ripped off in the process, I kept quiet about my newly acquired shamanic qualification and exactly how much I paid for it.
Dr. Ed has 38 years experience of doing these tea ceremonies, he fits snugly into a huge presence of authority, and he didn’t speak a word of English so we had the help of his apprentice Jono. They carefully explained what to expect, that the herb works with the deepest recesses of the mind, visions of conscious good and unconscious evil could surface, to try not to control these visions and to completely let
go and see what comes up. All of us present were to sit away from each other with no talking or touching anyone else. We could if lucky have an outer body experience or we could also die metaphorically and be reborn, which personally I have now done too many times this year.
Dr. Ed and Jono would also take the tea and Dr. Ed will take two lots of this stuff for good measure and then guide us by a series of bird style whistling, singing and chanting. This will alter our visions and directions and this is important that the Dr. does this beautifully as any weird bum notes or under tuned sounds can turn a person literally green in many different ways. The Dr. will blow out deeply in order for us to remember to exhale or to snap us out of a bad trip. The sounds of the jungle would have a huge effect on this experience and our hearing will be ultra sensitive, this is why they do this here in the Amazon jungle, but people with psychiatric problems should not do this kind of thing at all and yet most people who attend
have deep rooted anxieties, fears, hostilities, anger, drug problems and disbeliefs about occult issues, this is not good.
They told us many stories of previous trippers of Ayahuasca, from the bad, scary and freaky trips to the good positive healing work that’s been achieved by many others, the Dr. works on a different level with his clients, a more one to one level, like a channeller. This recently including important government dignitaries that came from Chilli in search of a cure for a certain kind of cancer and it is believed they have now found relief using the guidance of Dr. Ed and this treatment. Grown men have freaked out doing this tea ceremony, one man was a complete materialistic egotistical nightmare, he was the big ‘I am’ with a fat bank account to match, before they started the tea, he was considered by piers as beyond materially wealthy in the physical world and he thought by doing this alternative extreme experience it would make him the big man around town, but in reality his spirit was destitute, weak, poor and desperate for salvation. He screamed throughout the night, claiming the devil was present, later claiming it was his
worst nightmare ever, the Ayahuasca made him literally face his deepest darkest demons, the next day he apparently felt like a complete twat for screaming like an incarcerated mad man which pissed off a lot of the others present. But, since that night his life began to change for the better.
One man was said to be challenged by the threat that his girlfriend was about to abort his unborn baby, he asked for guidance throughout the trip and the spirit of the unborn child spoke to him, stressing the importance of his life and how he must stop the mum to be from getting rid of him. The babies’ spirit showed him the future with the baby in it, mum dad and child is now very happy together. Also a man had heard that his girlfriend had aborted their child without his consent and he was very upset by this, he too also spoke to this child’s spirit and the child told him it was not his fault and it was meant to have happened on many other unconscious soul levels. This brings up the whole abortion debate on many levels. Dr. Ed and Jono are there to
support, to guide and to talk to the ancient spirit guides, helpers and those of a lesser more evil denomination who comes to be near, planning to possess the tripper’s body. They both offer telepathic guidance, wisdom and advice and work on ethereal levels with us the night trippers. Jono told us to ask for specific answers to big questions to try think of health, luck, job, projects and love, in that order. If you have ever done anything like this you will sympathize that this request is near on impossible to carry out, my mind was jumping everywhere.
So we began in a circular room, Christians believe that having no corners the devil cannot hide. We were shown all emergency exits and where the candle lit toilet was. Dr. Ed started and performed a smoking ritual for protection, I surrounded myself with white golden light and anchored my grounding cord and away we went. I sat on a very comfortable gym floor mat with an emergency sick bowl next to me. I brought a cosy blanket and pillow. I drank the tea that tasted of Floradix, as soon as I drank it I felt woozy, all my cells
were jumping around, my vision became slightly blurred but it was very floaty and pleasant, the lights were turned off. I think it took about 30 minutes for the feeling of WAAAH HOOOOO to come up through my legs like the original caapi vine weaving itself in and around me. I was tachycardic with anticipation.
The visions became intense, it was like being amidst the biggest light show yet we were in a blanket of natural darkness, the kaleidoscopic colours and images flooded my mind and then my body became a part of the show. I or my ego tried to control the thoughts and images but it was hopeless. I just let go and let God! It took a while to sift through all the endless thoughts in my head as my chatter less mind was chatting hard and still cultivating, I was having a million conversations with myself and very aware of every single one of them and conscious of each conversation as a whole concept.
Inspirations, insights, images of people past and present surrounded me. I was also very aware that there was three of me; my ego was in a foul mood, but my
3rd person self laughed at her and told her to sit down and shut up. My higher self was hovering in a divine light and I blessed the Dr. for allowing me to get a glimpse of this scared part of me which was a lovely warm light, I silently observed everything as the third person, as if I was floating away from my body giggling and happy to be alive. This experience tests how alive or dead I really felt. The room was quiet and yet the bird’s song outside was blowing my mind. All day the birds had sounded like a small pebble dropping into a deep well of water, one bird continued its chant of ‘Where’s William, where’s William, where’s William’ the birds were conducting the magical symphony within my mind. Then right on queue Dr. Ed joined in, he had taken 2 lots of this stuff, which I kept reminding myself he had done, I didn’t know if I should think of him as a mad man or a genius.
I tried to ask about health, luck, job, projects and love in that order, but no clear visions came, it was all very pixelated, fragmented
with an undercurrent of understanding so I left it to personal interpretation later. As Dr. Ed spoke he became a circus ringleader, he talked extra fast, I think! I could not for the life of me move a single muscle; I was not thirsty, anxious nor fearful. I kept laughing to myself quietly in my head, I was aware not to verbally impose on the gang and I didn’t have enough manpower to shrug my shoulders or breath normally or speak anyway.
As the Dr. sang, bird whistled, talked, galloped around the room like some Navajo Indian, he asked if I was OK, which I understood in Spanish, my visions changed. Jono had told us to be aware of any shaking and nauseous feelings, but I felt none of these things, the only bad thing I was aware of was when I bowed my head low, this is when black images came to mind, sculls and general deadness, I had just lifted my head up, which believe me was a real effort, I blew out a breath and laughed to myself, then the light came back to my being. Jono was the first to be sick and bloody hell
Ayahuasca painting
this was drawn while someone was on the stuff...pure genius.was he sick. The Dr. shone a green light so he could see where he was going, safety at all times. I too purged, it came upon me very suddenly when I was not really thinking any bad thoughts but there was a mass of thoughts all at once, I had been comfortably supine, impressed that I got to my feet then sprinted 50 yards to the bathroom in time. I threw up hard and it felt great.
I looked into the mirror where I thought I would stare at my eyes and see what happened. If you stare into your eyes while on hallucinogenic’s you see your soul, you see yourself as other incarnations and I swear this happened. My pupils were 5mm of memories. My face as Claire Hall changed, as it got younger and thin and then skeletal, I held my breath added more conscious light and continued on; I then changed into an old man which was very Kubrick. My face changed into a handsome man, my image turned into a baby and I was being born and died at the same time. I was pure light and bone, as I passed through many lives
as male and female. I had my dawning moment, I knew what had to be done, for my future, I also had a very clear image of the man I was to marry, he was not in my life now, but he was coming. The Dr. had done a great job of deflecting and protecting any evil away from my aura, but also I had done an amazing job of ridding myself of current fear and anxieties over these last few months of cultivating.
I loved every moment. It felt so clean and pure, I remembered everything so clearly and after 4 hours it was sort of over, we both walked through a natural flamed passage way which was very Alice in wonderland, back to our cabin by midnight, where we had a cat called Pinino and 2 turkey things waiting for us. I experienced no come downs or bad moods, vivid flash backs, voices in my head other than the ones I already have, evil entities, or darkness. In fact it felt like when a computer defrags its system. I feel like everything is now in order. More personal progress achieved.
To have done Ayahuasca
in Peru in the Amazon basin and not freaked out in the slightest has to be the biggest thrill I have experienced, The whole thing was so very Pink Floyd!
www.ecoamazonia.com.pe
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Sheila
non-member comment
Hi
Dear Claire. There cannot be much else that you can go through, can there? I could never have endured what you have!! I feel you need a jolly good rest now, and I'm beginning to feel that I will not know the "new" you when next we meet. On reading the comments posted on your blog I realise that you have many a real good friend out there waiting for your return. So I'm sure they like me are longon to see you again in the near future. Love Sheila xx