Ayahuasca Visions

By Alex Andrei On June 17, 2010 · 22 Comments

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Can a psychedelic brew from the Amazon really give you a window into your soul?

Many say that Ayahuasca (pronounced ajaˈwaska), a medicinal tea prepared from a jungle vine found in the tropical regions of South America, can lead users to transformative spiritual experiences.

Naturally, I have been fascinated with learning more about this supposedly magical beverage, but it is highly illegal here in the U.S. so you can’t exactly pick it up at the local Whole Foods.

Ayahuasca has been around for hundreds of years and is typically prepared by shamans in indigenous tribes in Brazil and Peru. In the movie Altered States, it is hinted that Ayahuasca is the drink that William Hurt sips before his transformative sessions in the flotation tank (a fun activity I recently discovered — the flotation tank part, that is).

If you want to try Ayahuasca out for yourself, you’ll be happy to learn that there’s a small cottage industry in Peru and Brazil catering to Westerners who want the experience. But obviously, you’ll want to do your due diligence and make sure the operators aren’t fly-by-night. The last place you want to find yourself is in a ramshackle hospital in the middle of the jungle.

National Geographic’s Kira Salak traveled to Peru and took part in an Ayahuasca ceremony in a jungle hut. When she started to see colors and visions, the shaman’s apprentice told her that she was seeing with her third eye. What does that look like? Here’s Kira’s take:

Dark creatures sail by. Tangles of long, hissing serpents. Dragons spitting fire. Screaming humanlike forms. For a bunch of hallucinations, they seem terrifyingly real. An average ayahuasca ceremony lasts about four to five hours. But in ayahuasca space—where time, linear thought, and the rules of three-dimensional reality no longer apply—four to five hours of sheer darkness and terror can feel like a lifetime. My heartbeat soars; it’s hard to breathe. But I have done this before. I remind myself that what I’m experiencing now is my fear taking symbolic form through the ayahuasca. Fear that I have lived with my entire life and that needs to be released. Read more of Kira Salak’s excellent article.

And here’s a cool (yet over-the-top) video with Ayahuasca visions:

Obviously, Ayahuasca is an intense and possibly life-changing experience. But are there side effects? Bad trips? Should I start packing my bags for Peru now or is Ayahuasca overhyped? I would love to read about your experiences with this wonder potion.

About The Author

Alex Andrei

Follow on Twitter @AlexAndrei. Alex Andrei is founder of SpiritualMind. He lives in NYC where his daily encounters with colorful and aromatic characters have prompted his interest in exploring the meaning of life. Along with writing, he enjoys long walks on the beach and has a keen sense of smell (which, as you may have guessed, he developed in NY).

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http://wonderandwander.com Ameya

I’ve never tried it, but I definitely would if given the opportunity. While someone doped out on this stuff constantly would be a liability to society, I still think we are being robbed of the opportunity to experience other states of being with such heavy drug laws. Caffeine gives people an altered state of mind, too, yet Americans live off of it. I think part of it has to do with the fact that people have a hard time believing in arbitrary rules and laws (of which our world is currently made) and true free thought is very threatening to the system…

Haha, I sound like such a burn out. I’ve never even tried anything, I’m just stating observations. I’m pretty de-linearized mentally already, so I’m really curious as to how something like this would affect me, and if the experience would be any different than the more “normal” thinkers who try it.

http://www.spiritualmind.com Alex Andrei

Hmm… only one way to find out, Lima Peru is just a few hours away
justatraveler

I participated in two ayahuasca ceremonies. They were amazing, transformative experiences. My life changed from the moment that I drank. I now see myself and the world in abstract ways. I am no longer an individual. I am a single cell in an organism that we call the human family. The microcosm relates to the macrocosm. I am not separate from the people around me. We are all connected. You who are reading this do not think that you know me, but one beautiful day we will meet in another world and we can have a good laugh about this together. You are not alone either. You have a thousand hands to hold you up.

I never believed in or cared about anything in life. I just felt lost. I was the biggest skeptic and the biggest critic of everyone and everything. I lost complete faith in my religion and only knew that I believed in God. My faith is completely renewed now, but in spirituality, in general, not some dominating, confining set of religious dogmas. When I drank, I realized the true nature of this world and how humanity has lost its way completely.

Yes, I sound crazy. Last year I would have thought I was a nutcase. But…… Down Is the New Up. The only hard part has been integrating everything I learned from Ayahuasca into this bullshit lifestyle in this bullshit society. Its actually pretty tough. Look around you. Is your life complete bullshit? You know it in your heart. Its not for me to judge.

lifeontheroad

ha, ha, I was wondering when BNT would have an article on the subject. But I was hoping for a more informative piece!

Nevermind! What I can say is that it is a life-changing experience, but it is not something that should be taken lightly. Many tourist go to Peru and think, hey, I’m going to have the trip of my life. But it is nothing like that, it can be sooo scary, you might actually believe you are dying, you can vomit heavily and other pleasant things of the sort!

If I had one advice before you try, it is to research, research, research. Read as much as you can (there’s some food and medicine to avoid as it can be physically dangerous if they’re mix up with ayahuasca). Understand the effect that it had on other people’s lives. You might also end up with a “bad” shaman, risks ranging from being ripped off to being under control of someone who has no idea what he is doing. So make sure that the shaman who will conduct the ceremony has a good reputation. Ask locally but beware, it is becoming such a big market that everyone is just badmouthing about their neighbours with no reasons at times!

Kira Salak article is great, but a bit too sensationalist for me. Yes, ayahuasca is a fantastic healing tool, but YOU have to do some of the work too. I’ve rarely met anyone being healed from his depression after only one session.

Finally, the bigger risk might be psychological if you’re not ready to face what has been revealed to you. You might also have an information overdose and not know what to do with those foreign yet so real experiences. You are immersed in such a different world, magic but incredibly real (more real than reality as many say) at the same time that it can affect you profoundly and if you do not have any psychological support, the results can be a bit overwhelming. You need time to adjust, so I wouldn’t recommend to go into a ceremony and go on to your travels right after.

That being said, this is a wonderful experience, it is becoming so popular in Peru (for the better and for the worse) that you’ll meet other great souls who will help you integrate your experience. You’ll learn a lot about yourself (if you’re not ready to face your dark sides, that’s a no go!); it will help you grow and understand love in a whole new light.

Is it overhyped? I would say so, but if you have time on your hand and are ready to go and explore by yourself, you can easily get away from the all included shaman packages!

http://www.spiritualmind.com Alex Andrei

Yeah, I don’t know if I’d be willing to risk wandering through Peru on my own look for your friendly, local shaman. I’ll stick with a group, even if it might take something away from the initial experience. The company in the Nat Geo article looks interesting, and they do groups, but i’d like to try one i came across where you get to be in your own open air hut while you’re drinking the ayahuasca…so you have a more private experience.

lifeontheroad

@ Ameya, many talk about a war on consciousness. but as Andrei says, Peru is not that far, and it is such a lovely country with fantastic people that you have an excuse to go there anyway!
http://joshywashington.wordpress.com joshua johnson

I read about Daniel Pinchbeck’s experiences with this substance in the Amazon and recently sat down with my traveling buddy Sheldon to hear his account of an Ayahuasca ceremony…

the common thread is soul wrenching revelatory truths being revealed about the nature of the self and the individuals purpose on earth…

I have never consumed Ayahuasca but have faced the widening doors of perception through other naturally occuring substances, having both spiritually profound and terrifying experiences.

I wouldn’t recommend doing any intense psychoactive substance for the hell of it. Be with people you trust in an environment that will not distress the naked mind.

http://www.spiritualmind.com Alex Andrei

Yeah, I’d read that it can basically amplify whats already going on in your head. so if you’re in a bad place right now, there’s a chance you’ll get freaked out.

http://thecactusconnection.com David

Ayahuasca is the miracle medicine. I came across it about a year ago, and I feel so blessed to have it in my life. Long story short: my life was complete shit, I was very spiritually, emotionally and physically sick, and on the verge of suicide, I remembered reading an article about spiritual cleansing with ayahuasca on Erowid.com, and I decided it would be my last shot at attempting to save my life. I made some money, went to Iquitos, Peru and did an ayahuasca bootcamp. Purged out so much dysfunctional energy, illnesses, spiritual wounds… My god it was painful, but so so so so worth it. At the time, I seriously couldn’t believe how much progress I was making. It felt like I finally found the way to salvation after living a pretty hopeless life.

Since then I go back and forth from the US to Peru, doing apprenticeships with ayahuasca and whatnot. It will definitely remain a big part of my life. This stuff is spiritual gold.. the atomic bomb of healing tools. It is extremely powerful, wise, and tough loving.

Don’t mind the fear mongering stuff you read about confronting your dark side and inner demons. It is definitely worth it; your demons and inner baggage will subconciously controls you 24/7 until you face it. And since your demons already live inside you, when you actually confront it, it isn’t really a big battle or anything, it’s more like you see it’s role throughout your life and human history, and if it is no longer positively functional in your life at the moment or in the future to come, you just release it. Fear, ego, etc, were the survival mechanisms that helped humans survive in the past, but now, they are dysfunctional as we are adapting to the unified, peaceful, harmonious world to come.

I encourage everybody who reads this to look into ayahuasca. Unless you are Jesus or a buddha, ayahuasca will benefit your life in one way or another.

Purge!

http://www.spiritualmind.com Alex Andrei

Wow, sounds like you had an amazing, life-changing experience!

lifeontheroad

Iagree with you David, ayahuasca is a fantastic healing tool with which I’ve been working for the last 3 years and wouldn’t stop working with ayahuasca for any reasons. All I meant when I said that you have to face pretty hard stuff is just that you really have to know what you get yourself into. Any kind of spiritual path would force you to examine yourself, and let’s say that ayahuasca has a way to make you do that that is not always so gentle… which is one of the reason it is so effective I believe.

I have no intention to be part of the “fear mongering stuff”, hell, I used to say to everyone I knew to go to Peru and experience it! But since then,I’ve seen many people having a hard time after taking ayahuasca, mainly because they didn’t really know what they were getting themselves into,or didn’t do it in a safe setting in which they were comfortable or did not have the right support to integrate their experiences.

So all I’m saying is that you should definitely give it a go, but be well prepared and be careful. I don’t think I would be the person I am today without it and the shaman who guided me on the way!
http://thecactusconnection.com David

True true, definitely be prepared and do your homework before you dive in to the ayahuasca world. Having a shaman is crucial to guide you through your early stages, in which the purges can be overwhelming and hard to deal with as the dysfunctional parts of your daily lifestyle and thought processes are brought into light. But that was just my experience. If you don’t have much demons, it shouldn’t be so difficult. My shaman’s 12 year old son always has blissful ceremonies, seeing butterflies and flowers and whatnot…

Ayahuasca is about to get real real big in the world. I remember Scott Petersen at the Refugio saying that over the next ten years, ayahuasca is going to become the next big spiritual “fad”, and many shamans are preparing to get a piece of that.
Andrea

I would be curious to know what concrete, lasting changes someone who participated in this ceremony made in their lives after the experience. Having lived through the psychedelic era of the 60′s and 70′s….it is not clear where it got “us”.
As David pointed out our “demons” and “butterflies” change with age, opportunity, experience, and life challenges. Purge one set and you are likely to find another!
Andrew Weil, MD in his book, The Marriage of the Sun and Moon: Dispatches from the Frontiers of Consciousness, describes that humans are addicted to new sensations and he got a scholarship as a young physician to travel the world exploring “consciousness changing” drugs. It is a pleasure to read. He describes coming to a village in Central America at the beginning of the ripe mango season see people high on mangos with the juice dribbling down their chins. The sum of the book is that we humans are addicted to change and stimulation and we will try anything to find it.
Aaron

I was lucky enough to experience Ayahuasca on my 5 month trip to South America which I just returned home from 1 week ago. I did it with a Shaman named Wayra in Cusco, Peru (I would highly recommend him, and will provide contact info at the bottom of this post). I had done a lot of research prior to my experience and have to say i was a tad skeptical about a lot of the first hand accounts I read.

It wasn’t until I had an Ayahuasca experience for my self that I truly understood what people were talking about when they said things like “its a spiritual cleanse”, “its a life changing experience”, “It’s a medicine”. Despite my scepticism, I went into my experience with high hopes.

I have never felt so at peace with my self, with the world, and with life as I do now post Ayahuasca experience. Since my experience, which was almost a month ago, I have never felt so physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually well as I do now. I truly felt like a weight had been lifted off my back after having the experience. I would highly recommend giving it a go.

Here is the contact info for the Shaman I saw in Cusco for those looking for a trust worthy and good quality shaman to have the experience with. http://www.shamanshopcusco.com

http://www.spiritualmind.com Alex Andrei

@Aaron – how long was your Ayahuasca stay with the Shaman? I’ve seen between 4-9 days on a few sites.

Brittany

Really interesting…I’ve read Pinchbeck’s book and a few others, as well as having my own set of experiences with psychadelics. I’ve have some powerful insights as well as some very disturbing experiences. Ayahuasca, which I believe is said to be the “Vine of the Dead” because of its ability to stimulate visions of your own death, seems like a powerful tool. There are many indigenous healing practices which use powerful plants such as these.

I agree with the posts about knowing what you’re getting yourself into. Powerful plants such as these are mind-expanding, but there is a point (any point) where your mind may just not snap back. I hated to hear this from a friend, but its true.

I certainly wouldn’t want to find myself in that position. Yet organizations like MAPS have proven that psychadelics such as West Africa’s Ibogaine, are immensely beneficial if taken in a therapeutic (or spiritual) environment.

Anyway, I definitely won’t be taking Ayahuasca any time soon! Will save it for a time when I’m more in control and aware of my SOBER mind. Andrea’s post mentioned that when we purge one set of demons, we find another. But I think people can change how well we adapt to new demons. In that sense, I think there can be a “right” time to take such a substance.
http://www.travelpod.com/members/travelbug15 Danielle

I’m going to Peru in a couple of months and my main reason is to do ayahuasca. I’ve done quite a bit of research on it and from what I understand, it’s best to do it in the jungle, close to where the vines were picked. It is also said to be an experience where you feel closer to nature and mother earth so doing the ceremony in the jungle is highly recommended.
Not to take away from the experience that the previous poster who did it in Cusco, since he mentioned that he had a fantastic experience and I haven’t yet tried it myself.
I did find a place where I’m thinking to go, they have 7 day retreats and they do it out of a jungle lodge near to Puerto Maldonado. Here’s the link if you’re interested but it’s quite pricey. http://www.nixipae.com/ayahuasca%20retreats.html
They hold their ceremonies at this lodge which I’ll probably go to http://www.cortomaltes-amazonia.com/us/ayahuasca_en.html
I think I would just do one of their short tours and then stay for an extra couple of days to do ayahuasca. The price is much better that way as well….

justatraveler

I’m glad to hear that you are going to take Ayahuasca! You are a fellow Traveler. Anyways, here’s a few pointers.

Vomiting is not as bad as it sounds. This type of vomiting purifies the body and the soul.

Treat it like a church. Have the utmost respect, but don’t mistake FEAR for respect. Ayahuasca is loving and you don’t have to be afraid.

You need to prove your intent. Everything that you put in is what you’ll get out. You can help prove your intent with sticking to La Dieta before the ceremony.

Enjoy your time! If you are worthy, then your life will change drastically!

http://www.aaronneilsonbelman.com Aaron

@ Alex Andrei, – My experience was a one night visit – 12-hours from sunset to sunrise. I paid roughly $100 USD. It was very close to the end of my 6 month trip and therefore money was getting scarce. Many of the 4-9 day retreats are well over $400 USD and some are even in the thousands, from the research I did.

That’s not to say they arn’t worth the extra money, all i can attest to is that after having my experience, I don’t feel I “cheeped out” at all. Sure it wasn’t in the Jungle, however it was in a really cool traditional round house on top of a hill on the outskirts of Cusco in close proximity to the “Temple of The Moon” (a place of great spiritual significance). The shaman didn’t seem like some corny commercialized guy, he came off as very authentic. His chanting and musical skills (he played a traditional peruvian flute and a drum at certain points) were incredible.

One thing you should take into consideration is that Ayahuasca is a very inward experience. I don’t think your physical surroundings are as important as the shaman and your own mental state, as well as the actual ayahuasca its self (various shamans use different recipes, the Banisteriopsis caapi vine is only one part of the concoction). I felt incredibly close to mother earth and nature, I think that is just an inherent trait of the experience, not the actual geographic location of the ceremonial hut.

My ceremony was carried out in almost complete darkness, only a single candle lit. Much of my ceremony I had my eyes closed, the visuals you get are incredibly intense when you close your eyes, although you also have quite extravagant visuals with your eyes open as well.

Another thing I liked about my ceremony was it was just me and the shaman, no one else.

Anyways where ever you choose to do it, just go into it with a positive attitude and you will be in for one of the greatest experiences of your life.

Another great resource for information about the plant is http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/ayahuasca/ayahuasca.shtml
George

To not spend any money and still experience these visions is meditation. You do not need a drug for a conscious trip of the inner mind (though marijuana does quiet the mind). Trust me you’ll be just as enlightened, possibly more once you achieve the goal.
http://www.etstudio.net Emily Townsend

as a student of shamanism, I just want to point out that there are many avenues to the mind altering state achieved very quickly by Ayuhausca. Repetitive drumming is also a way to access alternative realities that can show us deeper truths, there are many practicing shamans can help with this in an ongoing way. I recommend Sandra Ingerman’s list of practitioners from all over the world – and perhaps a way to prepare for such an intense experience before going to Peru, would be to work with a local shaman to orient a bit and set intention. http://www.shamanicteachers.com/practitioners.html
hazza

I did a ceremony in Bolivia organised in the town of rurrebeque. The experience involved hiking through a national park in the amazon basin, (only for a few hours thankfully is it is very hot there) setting up camp and then the ceremony after night fall. My ceremony was only me and the Shaman, which made the experience much better I think. The Shaman was really friendly so I felt comfortable with him, which is very important from other stories I’ve read. Unfortunately he didn’t speak any English and my Spanish is pretty bad so a lot of info was lost in translation, which was a shame as I had so many questions to ask by the end of the experience. What I did understand is the place we stopped was his favourite for hosting ceremonies as it contained a lot of spirits. As a bit of a skeptic I found this interesting but wasn’t convinced. The shaman asked me what I wanted healing for, which can be pretty much anything really. I hadn’t really thought about this as I was more here for the experience. He suggested better luck with money or girls. I knew if I told him I didn’t believe any of this he would be offended, so I asked him for better luck with girls.

The day leading up to the ceremony you are not allowed food or cigarettes. The reasoning behind this is that the ayahuasca is supposed to cleanse your body and mind of all toxins. The drink itself looks, smells and tastes horrible. He had me drink it out of a small wooden cup, downing each cup in one go, which was fine by me as you really wouldn’t want to sip the stuff. As I drank he blew cigarette smoke all over me while chanting. I had read about the blowing smoke being for blessings against evil spirits but it still seemed strange at the time. After two or 3 cups he got me to lie on a hammock and concentrate. Unfortunately due to the language barrier I wasn’t quite sure what I should be concentrating on.

I lay there for sometime feeling fairly normal, I think less than an hour (didn’t have a watch). Just as I was starting to wonder if I had wasted my time and money, I started to notice orbs of light floating through the forest. At first I could only see them through the corner of my eye. If I focused on them they would disappear. Sooner or later more and more of them appeared and I could stare right at them. They stayed around 5 metres away just sort of hovered around. I began to feel frightened, not because I felt I was in danger, but frightened of the unknown. I’ve always been somewhere between an atheist and agnostic, but even though I knew I was under the effect of a psychedelic substance, the idea of jungle spirits didn’t seem too far fetched. Eventually my curiosity got the better of me and I shone the torch over the orbs to see if anything was there. As I did the orbs shattered into tiny little pieces, as if to dematerialize. The following minutes were the perhaps the saddest of my life. I felt incredible guilt and sorrow at the thought that I had probably killed these amazing entities. I began apologizing to them, not aloud as I figured they must be able to read my thoughts. Much to my relief they began to reappear, still hovering in a circle around 5 metres away, as if to protect me from harm.

The remainder of the experience is much harder to describe. The sounds of the jungle seemed to come alive. I felt somehow connected to the thousands of insects, birds and other wildlife that inhabit the amazon. It felt like I was a part of nature in its purist form. As I was on lying a hammock all I could see were gaps of moonlight reaching me through holes in the canopy. These morphed into strange shapes and images. At one point it I felt like I was going on a journey through the universe. Like I say, you can’t really explain it.

When you are heavily under it’s effects, ayahuasca can physically paralyze you. For what must have been hours I could barely move. I become paranoid that I would need to go to the bathroom and wouldn’t be able to make it. When I finally needed to vomit, it was a real struggle just to get my mouth over the edge of the hammock. The friendly shaman came over make sure I was okay and hadn’t made a mess. I found this very reassuring.

You seem to lose all sense of time and space as well. Logic would tell me I was probably under the effects for 5 hours or so, however it felt like it could have been years, but at the same time it could have been minutes. On several occasions I also lost sense of were I was. I would be conscious of my existence but then out of the blue realise I was in the amazon with a shaman, which brought a seemingly new sense of wonder. The shaman eventually suggested I get some rest, and surprisingly the next day I pretty good.

Two days later I met the most amazing girl in La Paz who I am considering moving over to Bolivia to be with.

Still not sure I believe that what is essentially a natural version of DMT is the “vine to the soul”, however I can safely say it was an amazing experience which I would highly recommend.

Ayahuasca Visions

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