A sacred medicine to some-a dangerous drug to others. Tourists are travelling across the world to try the ancient hallucinogenic tea called Ayahuasca. Deep in the Amazonia Rain Forest Ayahuasca is at the center of a burgeoning new-age tourism trend. It is a thick and potent hallucinogenic tea that has been brewed and sipped by indigenous people from across South America for centuries. Purported to allow drinkers access to the Spirit Realms. This muddy liquid is traditionally consumed by shamans in ceremonial contexts…but what is this tea really about?
Ayahuasca-What Is It?
Ayahuasca is a combination of the leaves from the psychotria Virdis and the baisteriopsis caapi blended together. Neither of these plants are hallucinogens alone. The leaves of the psychotria viridis to contain DMT which has a similar structure to serotonin. If you took something with DMT it would normally be deactivated by your body’s naturally occurring enzymes before going into your bloodstream.. The vine component of ayahuasca alters that mechanism and allows the DMT to cross over into your blood-brain barrier. The necessary leaves are boiled together or alone in preparation. This tea can also contain MAO inhibitors.
When you drink Ayahuasca tea it usually begins to have an effect on your body within thirty minutes after it is consumed. The hallucinations that you experience will usually peak at hour one and can last anywhere from four to six hours.
*Keep in mind the DMT is a schedule 1 substance in the United States and is illegal in many other countries.
The Ceremony
Traditionally the Ayahuasca tea is served by a shaman who has trained or even not trained to officiate over the devotes. Preparation prior to the ceremony can include fasting the day of so your stomach is emptied allowing the Ayahuasca to work at it’s peak in terms of absorption. Mental preparation includes meditation and prayer as well as abstinence from electronic devices and focusing your intentions on the highest vibrations. Sometimes a spiritual bath is done to purify the skin.
Natural Does not Mean Safe
Some studies have shown the Ayahuasca can have a few modest health benefits but those same health benefits can also be derived from studied treatments. Ayahuasca, like any drug or chemical can have varied consequences. There has been some evidence from a pharmacological standpoint that Ayahuasca consumption can build a density of serotonin receptors which might have a bearing on preventing depression. You may be able to identify a psychological mechanism but to ascertain if it would work in practice it is difficult to say.
Mental and Physical Aftermaths
When ingesting Ayahuasca some people can experience vomiting and diarrhea as well as extreme dehydration and permanent dehydration. Other side effects include increased hear rate, dizziness, agitation increased blood pressure, dilatation of pupils, chest pain and even seizures.
The psychological and psychiatric effects can be even more dramatic. As with other psychedelic drugs, when you use ayahuasca you will experience hallucinations. Hallucinations are not real. They are simply an experience involving the apparent perception of something not present. And while people see these hallucinations as profound spiritual and healing experiences it is important to realize there is no way to predict how a person will react to these chemicals and what your experience will be. Each persons brain has a different chemistry-so their experience could be subjective at best. Some people do not realize that they have an underlying condition such as epilepsy or psychiatric illness that isn’t made aware until after the tea is ingested. This is a serious problem with so many hallucinogens that people don’t take into account.
Some people have stated that they have felt intense anxiety, paranoia and fear. It can bring up past traumas and even repressed memories that folks may not be ready or equipped to deal with especially in a foreign place with little medial or psychological support.
It is also important to realize that another potential risk with the use of Ayahuasca, and more specifically DMT; is serotonin syndrome. Serotonin syndrome is most likely to occur in people who are taking antidepressants while they are also taking DMT. This syndrome occurs when you body builds up too much serotonin. Symptoms of serotonin syndrome include severe headache, disorientation, agitation and even high blood pressure. It can potentially be fatal. The effects can last for weeks, months and even years.
Forced Spirituality
Drinking Ayahuasca can be a very powerful experience. A single experience can be life changing and that sense of transformation can be very real to the person going through the experience. There is a sense that this is so important. It is pregnant with meaning and that what you are about to do and what you will be a witness to is so wonderful and special that is carries over into real life. But the “effects” or lessons are only temporary. This is most likely why people continue to go back and repeat the experience. The effects, sadly for devotees, are not lasting. Our journey here on Earth is not fully in our hands, especially when it comes to spiritual ascensions and deepening. Altering your consciousness to gain consciousness is very contradictory to the point of being alive -fully in your body and fully aware so that you may respond to the destined events, gifts and challenges imprinted in your life pathway.
The Two-Faces of Ayahuasqueros
Many of the ayahuasca shamans are two-faced, meaning they have the beneficient healer on the hone side and the face of malevolence on the other. The shamans that conduct these ceremonies employ many spiritual tactics of their own for profit and gain. One such tactic is called the “dart of intent”. It is not at all uncommon for many of the Ayahuasqueros to place a dart into the luminous body of someone they are leading in ceremony. The dart is placed with the intent to influence that person to go back to their home country and tell many people about the Ayahuasquero, even to organise groups to come and work with the Ayahuasquero. The Ayahuasquero does this for his own benefit, to get more paying “clients”. Other stories about the shadow side of the ayahuasca trade in Peru. They have little or no medical training and if something was to go wrong there is little support for the devotee.
Ayahuasca and Evil Spirits
While people may have many good intentions going into their Ayahuasca experience the may be unaware of the spiritual dangers associated with these ancient ceremonies involving mind altering substances. Once a person ingests this tea and begins their process their ethereal body becomes cracked and profoundly opened and there can be an infiltration of negative energies into their luminous field. These entities can become attached to their body and can begin to influence their luminous mind/body. Contending with psychic intrusion can be devastating. The lack of awareness surrounding evil spirits and the ways that they relate to man is one aspect that makes drinking Ayahuasca a dangerous experience. Demonic energies are known to harvest around these types of ceremonies-looking for open hosts. It is widely known that shamans who are involved with the ritual work openly with the Demonic. They see it as a status symbol that somehow elevates them among their peers. It is seen as a sign of strength and respect. But once Demonic is exposed directly to a human being they will never separate or leave that person alone. The use of Demonic forces as an aspect of the Ayahuascan Ceremony can have dire consequences. Many a devotee have come with attachments or in transient of full states of possession. Sometimes an exorcism is the only thing that can bring these affected folks back from this experience.
Spiritual Shortcuts
Not Everyone is supposed to have profound spiritual experiences. Especially the masses, who’s role is to be a supportive element in our earthly spiritual system. Unfortunately these are the very people who typically seek out these types of ceremonies and rituals in order to actualize and maximize their spiritual being. You cannot really jump timelines. This type of process and dismiss the necessary steps for each souls ascension and evolution. It is an ego centered activity that is posed under the guise of spiritual ascension. It seeks to gain something instead of receiving the blessings and lessons organically through the selfless and faithful act of patience and discernment that is already interwoven into our souls destiny.
Be very careful and think in a practical way when involving yourself in something like this. Spirituality is different for everyone but it is always free of cost. Anything that asks you to place your mental, physical and spiritual health at risk for a large sum of money breaks all spiritual laws and the consequences can be irreversible.
Peace,
Kate
