Showing posts with label AYAHUASCA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AYAHUASCA. Show all posts
13/11/2024
09/01/2024
Greece 4
We need you for the war! We still need you for the awakening! You signed on for this. You knew the terms and conditions.
Yes, I sigh, in a sort of resignation. This deal is a ball and chain, no offense. Tell me about the attacks, about the hyper-sensitivity that nearly drove me off the cliff. I'm no coward but there are limits to what my mind can handle. I'm of no use to the war effort when psychologically and spiritually burnt out.
Ever the dramatist, the drama queen!
Their laughter is like a spring, a waterfall. As always they seem good-natured and yet detached. Lacking physical vessels of course. How can you tell?
You are important for the war, for the war on consciousness!
You walk among humans as a servant of the light. A lighthouse. You work as an antagonist for the shadow of man, yes that means you are always under some form of attack. See it as proof of your radiance!
Where is your sincere desire for ultimate freedom gone?
To once and for all transcend the wheel of death and rebirth?
Yes, you are needed for the war, for the great awakening, yet you do this for your own redemption.
Can you reconnect to that calling. That mission?
This is starting to sound like a distorted Ayahuasca ceremony guys. I'm caught up in this grand duality play and I want out. The whole thing seems frightfully futile and yet here I am getting asked to go back into the play and put on a good show, be a good sport. I want out!
Take me back to the island. I need to stay in Greece.
You are karmically bound to the fate of the earth. You are a generator of the new. Going through with your plan will only tighten the grip of your fate. If you succumb to this victim-hood you will lose your lead, lose your way, lose your ticket to play. Lather, rinse and repeat dear friend.
My plan. My fate. This was not going well. The past was seeping in again. The pain. The trauma. Wake up! Wake up!
02/03/2023
Earliest use of hallucinogen Ayahuasca detected in Andean mummies dated to 750AD
Analysis of hair from 22 mummies found in southern Peru has revealed the earliest known use of San Pedro cactus, a source of mescaline, and the psychoactive plants that make up the drug ayahuasca. The majority of the mummies were unearthed in Cahuachi, a religious center used by the Nazca people starting around 100 B.C. Coca plants and the Banisteriopsis caapi plant, better known as the liana vine, are among the substances detected in the mummies' hair.
The plants are not native to the region and were probably transported across the Andes Mountains. Researchers found that the drugs of choice changed over time. Ayahuasca and mescaline became less favored and coca consumption became more common after the Wari Empire conquered the Nazca around A.D. 750.
This shift may indicate changes in religious rituals surrounding human sacrifice. The find included four trophy heads, including one belonging to a child, who were sacrificial victims, but there is very little evidence of what role psychoactive substances played in the rituals. Bioarchaeologist Dagmara Socha of the University of Warsaw believes the antidepressant effects of the drugs may have been an important reason for their use. "In the case of the children that were sacrificed," she says, "they were given Banisteriopsis caapi, probably because it was important for them to go happily to the gods."
This shift may indicate changes in religious rituals surrounding human sacrifice. The find included four trophy heads, including one belonging to a child, who were sacrificial victims, but there is very little evidence of what role psychoactive substances played in the rituals. Bioarchaeologist Dagmara Socha of the University of Warsaw believes the antidepressant effects of the drugs may have been an important reason for their use. "In the case of the children that were sacrificed," she says, "they were given Banisteriopsis caapi, probably because it was important for them to go happily to the gods."
02/05/2022
30/01/2022
10/01/2022
26/08/2021
Ayahuasca use associated with greatly improved anxiety and depression symptoms in large international study
Despite their illegality and a tendency among the media and politicians to demonize their use, psychedelics have been shown to have transformative effects on individuals suffering from mental health problems, including depression and anxiety. At the same time, drug use more generally is a powerful predictor of mental health issues and the line between recreational and medicinal use is often thin.
Ayahuasca is a psychoactive Amazonian brew which holds a central place in healing rituals and popular syncretic religions, especially in South America. Despite its widespread use in these contexts and growing interest globally, however, large-scale studies were lacking until very recently.
The Global Ayahuasca Project was conducted from 2017 to 2020 and is the largest cross-sectional study on Ayahuasca use to date, taking the form of an online self-reported questionnaire. A portion of its results are published in the Journal of Affective Disorders Reports, and tell the story of a significant connection between Ayahuasca use and improvements in affective disorders.
The study included more than 11,000 respondents, 7,785 of whom reported suffering from symptoms of depression or anxiety at the time of consumption. The authors made use of a variety of measures to assess mental health outcomes among Ayahuasca users, as well as their subjective experience both during and following consumption.
The results of the study show an impressive amelioration in depression and anxiety symptoms nearly across the board. 94% of respondents experienced some (“a bit”), great (“very much”) or complete resolution of depression symptoms; the same was true in 90% of cases for anxiety symptoms.
The large sample size allowed for the authors to draw a number of significant conclusions about the kinds of Ayahuasca experiences that correlated most strongly with important improvements. Those who reported more profound mystical experiences, for example, tended to experience the greatest improvements. A greater number of insights into one’s personal relationships also correlated strongly with improvements, suggesting one cognitive pathway by which the drug may reduce anxiety and depression symptoms.
Not all respondents were so lucky, however. A small minority of individuals reported worsened depression symptoms (2.7%) and worsened anxiety symptoms (4.4%). Of course, depression and anxiety symptoms evolve over time and it may be that the Ayahuasca use was unrelated to these changes, but there is at least some evidence of its implication. For example, feeling disconnected or alone; nervous, anxious or on edge; or depressed or hopeless in the weeks immediately following consumption were all predictors of worsened symptoms.
One major limitation of the study is its cross-sectional nature, meaning that we can’t reliably confirm a causal relationship. It’s also worth mentioning that self-reporting, and especially historical, affective self-reporting can be unreliable. Finally, delivery of the questionnaire via Ayahuasca groups and forums, where individuals with positive reactions are more likely to be active, may have translated to some significant selection bias.
Overall, the study suggests an important relation between Ayahuasca use and improved affect among individuals suffering from depression or anxiety, and very little evidence of negative mental health effects. Understanding the cognitive, emotional and even social pathways by which Ayahuasca and other psychedelics work is an important next step.
The study, “Ayahuasca use and reported effects on depression and anxiety symptoms: An international cross-sectional study of 11,912 consumers,” was published in April 2021.
DMT, active component in ayahuasca, aids in the growth of new neurons
Ayahuasca is a psychoactive Amazonian brew which holds a central place in healing rituals and popular syncretic religions, especially in South America. Despite its widespread use in these contexts and growing interest globally, however, large-scale studies were lacking until very recently.
The Global Ayahuasca Project was conducted from 2017 to 2020 and is the largest cross-sectional study on Ayahuasca use to date, taking the form of an online self-reported questionnaire. A portion of its results are published in the Journal of Affective Disorders Reports, and tell the story of a significant connection between Ayahuasca use and improvements in affective disorders.
The study included more than 11,000 respondents, 7,785 of whom reported suffering from symptoms of depression or anxiety at the time of consumption. The authors made use of a variety of measures to assess mental health outcomes among Ayahuasca users, as well as their subjective experience both during and following consumption.
The results of the study show an impressive amelioration in depression and anxiety symptoms nearly across the board. 94% of respondents experienced some (“a bit”), great (“very much”) or complete resolution of depression symptoms; the same was true in 90% of cases for anxiety symptoms.
The large sample size allowed for the authors to draw a number of significant conclusions about the kinds of Ayahuasca experiences that correlated most strongly with important improvements. Those who reported more profound mystical experiences, for example, tended to experience the greatest improvements. A greater number of insights into one’s personal relationships also correlated strongly with improvements, suggesting one cognitive pathway by which the drug may reduce anxiety and depression symptoms.
Not all respondents were so lucky, however. A small minority of individuals reported worsened depression symptoms (2.7%) and worsened anxiety symptoms (4.4%). Of course, depression and anxiety symptoms evolve over time and it may be that the Ayahuasca use was unrelated to these changes, but there is at least some evidence of its implication. For example, feeling disconnected or alone; nervous, anxious or on edge; or depressed or hopeless in the weeks immediately following consumption were all predictors of worsened symptoms.
One major limitation of the study is its cross-sectional nature, meaning that we can’t reliably confirm a causal relationship. It’s also worth mentioning that self-reporting, and especially historical, affective self-reporting can be unreliable. Finally, delivery of the questionnaire via Ayahuasca groups and forums, where individuals with positive reactions are more likely to be active, may have translated to some significant selection bias.
Overall, the study suggests an important relation between Ayahuasca use and improved affect among individuals suffering from depression or anxiety, and very little evidence of negative mental health effects. Understanding the cognitive, emotional and even social pathways by which Ayahuasca and other psychedelics work is an important next step.
The study, “Ayahuasca use and reported effects on depression and anxiety symptoms: An international cross-sectional study of 11,912 consumers,” was published in April 2021.
25/03/2021
Researchers believe the drug might help loosen the brain's fixed pathways, which can then be "reset" with talking therapy afterwards.
A powerful hallucinogenic drug known for its part in shamanic rituals is being trialled as a potential cure for depression for the first time.
Participants will be given the drug DMT, followed by talking therapy.
It is hoped this could offer an alternative for the significant number of people who don't respond to conventional pills for depression.
Psychedelic-assisted therapy might offer longer-term relief from symptoms, some researchers believe.
A growing body of evidence indicates other psychedelic drugs, particularly alongside talking therapy, are safe and can be effective for treating a range of mental illnesses.
This will be the first time DMT is given to people with moderate to severe depression in a clinical trial.
Dr Carol Routledge, the chief scientific officer of Small Pharma, the company running the trial said: "We believe the impact will be almost immediate, and longer lasting than conventional antidepressants."
'Spirit molecule'
The drug is known as the "spirit molecule" because of the way it alters the human consciousness and produces hallucinations that have been likened to a near-death experience.
It is also the active ingredient in ayahuasca, a traditional Amazonian plant medicine used to bring spiritual enlightenment.
Researchers believe the drug might help loosen the brain's fixed pathways, which can then be "reset" with talking therapy afterwards.
Dr Routledge likened the drug to "shaking a snow globe" - throwing entrenched negative thought patterns up in the air which the therapy allows to be resettled into a more functional form.
But this hypothesis still needs to be proven.
The team is consulting Imperial College London, which runs the pioneering Centre for Psychedelic Research.
As part of the study, they hope to investigate whether the drug can be administered as a one-off or as part of a course.
Subjects will be followed up for at least six months to see how long the effects of the treatment last.
‘The ketamine blew my mind’: can psychedelics cure addiction and depression?
Participants will be given the drug DMT, followed by talking therapy.
It is hoped this could offer an alternative for the significant number of people who don't respond to conventional pills for depression.
Psychedelic-assisted therapy might offer longer-term relief from symptoms, some researchers believe.
A growing body of evidence indicates other psychedelic drugs, particularly alongside talking therapy, are safe and can be effective for treating a range of mental illnesses.
This will be the first time DMT is given to people with moderate to severe depression in a clinical trial.
Dr Carol Routledge, the chief scientific officer of Small Pharma, the company running the trial said: "We believe the impact will be almost immediate, and longer lasting than conventional antidepressants."
'Spirit molecule'
The drug is known as the "spirit molecule" because of the way it alters the human consciousness and produces hallucinations that have been likened to a near-death experience.
It is also the active ingredient in ayahuasca, a traditional Amazonian plant medicine used to bring spiritual enlightenment.
Researchers believe the drug might help loosen the brain's fixed pathways, which can then be "reset" with talking therapy afterwards.
Dr Routledge likened the drug to "shaking a snow globe" - throwing entrenched negative thought patterns up in the air which the therapy allows to be resettled into a more functional form.
But this hypothesis still needs to be proven.
The team is consulting Imperial College London, which runs the pioneering Centre for Psychedelic Research.
As part of the study, they hope to investigate whether the drug can be administered as a one-off or as part of a course.
Subjects will be followed up for at least six months to see how long the effects of the treatment last.
Ketamine clinic
Meanwhile, a ketamine-assisted therapy clinic is set to open in Bristol next week.
First ketamine-assisted psychotherapy clinic opens
While the drug is already used for depression in clinics like the ketamine treatment service in Oxford, it is not accompanied by psychotherapy.
Rather, it is used to provide temporary relief from symptoms for people who have very serious, treatment-resistant depression.
So-far unpublished researched presented at a conference by professor of psychopharmacology at the University of Exeter, Celia Morgan, suggests ketamine accompanied by therapy has much longer-lasting effects.
Prof Morgan said there was mounting evidence that drugs, including psilocybin, LSD, ketamine and MDMA (Ecstasy), were safe and could play a role in the treatment of mental health disorders.
And there was some early evidence they could have longer-term effects than the medicines conventionally prescribed as antidepressants, known as SSRIs, but more research was needed.
They also worked using a completely different mechanism, Prof Morgan explained.
'Long-lasting change'
While conventional drugs may numb negative feelings, "these drugs seem to allow you to approach difficult experiences in your life, sit with that distress and process them," she said.
"It might be getting at something more fundamental" that was the root cause of the problem, Prof Morgan said.
"Through that we think you can get much more long-lasting change."
Prof Michael Bloomfield, a consultant psychiatrist at University College London, said although it was a "really exciting" area of research, caution was needed in overpromising the drugs' potential.
It was also a field of therapy that could be open to abuse and misuse, he said.
Prof Morgan also stressed the importance the drugs being used within the context of therapy as there were concerns that "people might think they can give it a go with some recreational drugs".
"But it's really not how it works" she said.
Meanwhile, a ketamine-assisted therapy clinic is set to open in Bristol next week.
First ketamine-assisted psychotherapy clinic opens
While the drug is already used for depression in clinics like the ketamine treatment service in Oxford, it is not accompanied by psychotherapy.
Rather, it is used to provide temporary relief from symptoms for people who have very serious, treatment-resistant depression.
So-far unpublished researched presented at a conference by professor of psychopharmacology at the University of Exeter, Celia Morgan, suggests ketamine accompanied by therapy has much longer-lasting effects.
Prof Morgan said there was mounting evidence that drugs, including psilocybin, LSD, ketamine and MDMA (Ecstasy), were safe and could play a role in the treatment of mental health disorders.
And there was some early evidence they could have longer-term effects than the medicines conventionally prescribed as antidepressants, known as SSRIs, but more research was needed.
They also worked using a completely different mechanism, Prof Morgan explained.
'Long-lasting change'
While conventional drugs may numb negative feelings, "these drugs seem to allow you to approach difficult experiences in your life, sit with that distress and process them," she said.
"It might be getting at something more fundamental" that was the root cause of the problem, Prof Morgan said.
"Through that we think you can get much more long-lasting change."
Prof Michael Bloomfield, a consultant psychiatrist at University College London, said although it was a "really exciting" area of research, caution was needed in overpromising the drugs' potential.
It was also a field of therapy that could be open to abuse and misuse, he said.
Prof Morgan also stressed the importance the drugs being used within the context of therapy as there were concerns that "people might think they can give it a go with some recreational drugs".
"But it's really not how it works" she said.
09/12/2020
Psychedelic drug DMT to be trialled in UK to treat depression
UK regulators have given the go-ahead for the first clinical trial of the use of the psychedelic drug dimethyltriptamine (DMT) to treat depression.
The trial will initially give the drug – known as the “spirit molecule” for the powerful hallucinogenic trips it induces – to healthy individuals, but it is expected to be followed by a second trial in patients with depression, where DMT will be given alongside psychotherapy.
Taking the drug before therapy is akin to shaking up a snow globe and letting the flakes settle, said Carol Routledge, chief scientific and medical officer at Small Pharma, the company running the trial in collaboration with Imperial College London.
“The psychedelic drug breaks up all of the ruminative thought processes in your brain – it literally undoes what has been done by either the stress you’ve been through or the depressive thoughts you have – and hugely increases the making of new connections.
“Then the [psychotherapy] session afterwards is the letting-things-settle piece of things – it helps you to make sense of those thoughts and puts you back on the right track. We think this could be a treatment for a number of depressive disorders besides major depression, including PTSD, treatment-resistant depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and possibly some types of substance abuse.”
DMT is found in several plants and is one of the active ingredients in ayahuasca, a bitter drink consumed during shamanistic rituals in South America and elsewhere. DMT is also available as a street drug in the UK, where it classified as a class A substance, carrying a maximum penalty of seven years in jail for possession and life imprisonment for supply.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approved the trial on Monday, and Small Pharma is currently involved in discussions with the Home Office, which must also give permission because DMT is a controlled substance.
The hope is that the initial trial, which aims to establish the lowest dose of DMT that elicits a psychedelic experience, could begin in January. It will involve 32 healthy volunteers, who have never previously taken a psychedelic drug, including ecstasy or ketamine. This will be followed by trial in 36 patients with clinical depression.
The treatment will be modelled on studies of psilocybin – the psychedelic ingredient in magic mushrooms – in depression. Here patients are brought into a clinic, where they undergo a “setting” session, during which the clinician primes them to open their mind to the drug, and ensures that they are comfortable and relaxed. Next, they are administered the drug, and once the psychedelic experience ends, the patient immediately undergo a session of psychotherapy.
The trial will initially give the drug – known as the “spirit molecule” for the powerful hallucinogenic trips it induces – to healthy individuals, but it is expected to be followed by a second trial in patients with depression, where DMT will be given alongside psychotherapy.
Taking the drug before therapy is akin to shaking up a snow globe and letting the flakes settle, said Carol Routledge, chief scientific and medical officer at Small Pharma, the company running the trial in collaboration with Imperial College London.
“The psychedelic drug breaks up all of the ruminative thought processes in your brain – it literally undoes what has been done by either the stress you’ve been through or the depressive thoughts you have – and hugely increases the making of new connections.
“Then the [psychotherapy] session afterwards is the letting-things-settle piece of things – it helps you to make sense of those thoughts and puts you back on the right track. We think this could be a treatment for a number of depressive disorders besides major depression, including PTSD, treatment-resistant depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and possibly some types of substance abuse.”
DMT is found in several plants and is one of the active ingredients in ayahuasca, a bitter drink consumed during shamanistic rituals in South America and elsewhere. DMT is also available as a street drug in the UK, where it classified as a class A substance, carrying a maximum penalty of seven years in jail for possession and life imprisonment for supply.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approved the trial on Monday, and Small Pharma is currently involved in discussions with the Home Office, which must also give permission because DMT is a controlled substance.
The hope is that the initial trial, which aims to establish the lowest dose of DMT that elicits a psychedelic experience, could begin in January. It will involve 32 healthy volunteers, who have never previously taken a psychedelic drug, including ecstasy or ketamine. This will be followed by trial in 36 patients with clinical depression.
The treatment will be modelled on studies of psilocybin – the psychedelic ingredient in magic mushrooms – in depression. Here patients are brought into a clinic, where they undergo a “setting” session, during which the clinician primes them to open their mind to the drug, and ensures that they are comfortable and relaxed. Next, they are administered the drug, and once the psychedelic experience ends, the patient immediately undergo a session of psychotherapy.
17/11/2020
Indigenous Colombians mount a spiritual defense of the Amazon
MOCOA, Colombia — The Union of Traditional Yage Medics of the Colombian Amazon (UMIYAC) brings together five ethnic groups — the Cofán, Inga, Siona, Coreguaje, and Kamëntsá — who practice spiritual ceremonies for individual and community healing based on ayahuasca, or yagé. But that’s not all that these communities have in common.
All five of these Indigenous groups are also classified by Colombia’s Constitutional Court as being at “risk of physical and cultural extermination.”
“Our strategy has to do with revitalizing and strengthening our spiritual connection with Mother Earth,” said Miguel Evanjuanjoy, advocacy and project manager of UMIYAC, in a video interview with Mongabay in October. He was speaking from his community of Yunguillo, in the department of Putumayo. “As stewards of the Amazon rainforest, we care for the land because it is she who nourishes us spiritually and through her sacred products.”
Spread across the Putumayo, Caquetà and Cauca regions of southern Colombia, with a small crossover into Ecuador, the 22 territories represented by UMIYAC are on the front line of the battle to protect the Amazon. A 2018 study conducted by the University of the Andes in Bogotá, for example, shows the annual deforestation rate in Caquetà alone is 0.77%, the highest in Colombia and nearly twice the rate for tropical South America as a whole.
Full article: https://news.mongabay.com/2020/11/indigenous-colombians-mount-a-spiritual-defense-of-the-amazon/
The ceremonial use of yagé opens participants up to ancestral knowledge, particularly the “natural laws” established by the ancestors that allow communities to “live in peace and harmony with other beings in nature,” Evanjuanjoy said.“The sacred plant of yagé is a spiritual nourishment for people,” Evanjuanjoy said. “Through this plant, our grandmothers and traditional healers receive the wisdom to heal the diseases that affect the individual, the community, and the territory.
“It is the light, the path, the guide, and the primary tool to continue defending our territories and to continue the struggle for the survival of our culture.”
UMIYAC is an alliance comprised of spiritual leaders from five different Amazonian ethnic groups deemed to be in danger of extinction.
The ancestral lands of these five groups are located near deforestation hotspots in the Colombian Amazon, making them the front-line defense for the rainforest.
Presided over by spiritual leaders, the traditional yagé ceremonies that tie these ethnic groups together reinforce the spiritual wisdom needed to retain their territories and autonomy.
31/10/2018
28/02/2018
Altered States of Entrapment: The Plant Medicine Manipulation - The Dark Side of Aya
Medicine plants are not a magic pill that miraculously heal all wounding and trauma, even though they can be of assistance in revealing what needs to be healed and processed (and can also be beneficial when dealing with intense addiction issues).
The deception – or rather, the misperception – my friend and I (and many others) have realized in respect to ‘plant therapy’ is similar to that which arises when one “intellectually” knows (or even “feels”) their issues, but has failed to work through them on an embodied level.
My friend had an interesting insight about this point: looking back, she felt that, during her ayahuasca ceremonies, the wounds opened up and “projected” all of her “stuff” and shadow aspects into her awareness. That experience – combined with the euphoria/bliss/ecstasy of getting “high” (based on the medicine/drug induced DMT rush) – can transmit the idea that a deep healing has occurred…a perception that can last for weeks or even months. Hence, many people keep going back to work with medicine plants when they feel “stuff” resurfacing, in order to have that “peak” experience again and again.
The deception – or rather, the misperception – my friend and I (and many others) have realized in respect to ‘plant therapy’ is similar to that which arises when one “intellectually” knows (or even “feels”) their issues, but has failed to work through them on an embodied level.
My friend had an interesting insight about this point: looking back, she felt that, during her ayahuasca ceremonies, the wounds opened up and “projected” all of her “stuff” and shadow aspects into her awareness. That experience – combined with the euphoria/bliss/ecstasy of getting “high” (based on the medicine/drug induced DMT rush) – can transmit the idea that a deep healing has occurred…a perception that can last for weeks or even months. Hence, many people keep going back to work with medicine plants when they feel “stuff” resurfacing, in order to have that “peak” experience again and again.
14/09/2017
29/06/2017
Every experience is valuable
1. You have nothing to fear
2. You cannot do anything wrong
3. You are always loved
2. You cannot do anything wrong
3. You are always loved
17/06/2017
The spirit of the plant puts people in touch with their repressed pain and trauma...
Ayahuasca: The power of a plant from the Amazon and the respect it demands
The spirit of the plant puts people in touch with their repressed pain and trauma.
As a Western-trained doctor, I have long been aware of modern medicine's limitations in handling chronic conditions of mind and body. For all our achievements, there are ailments whose ravages we physicians can at best alleviate. In our narrow pursuit of cure, we fail to comprehend the essence of healing.
Thus the popularity of ayahuasca, the Amazonian plant medicine that many Westerners seek out for the healing of physical illness or mental anguish or for a sense of meaning amid the growing alienation in our culture.
The spirit of the plant puts people in touch with their repressed pain and trauma.
As a Western-trained doctor, I have long been aware of modern medicine's limitations in handling chronic conditions of mind and body. For all our achievements, there are ailments whose ravages we physicians can at best alleviate. In our narrow pursuit of cure, we fail to comprehend the essence of healing.
Thus the popularity of ayahuasca, the Amazonian plant medicine that many Westerners seek out for the healing of physical illness or mental anguish or for a sense of meaning amid the growing alienation in our culture.
An anthropologist's theory on shamanism and the origins of knowledge completely rewrites our understanding of dna
The shaman’s world is one of allegory, symbolism, metaphor and transcendence into the realms of energy and spirit. Their understanding of the universe and the abundant sentient beings which inhabit it is wildly foreign to the mind of the material scientist. Our best chance, therefore, at bridging the gap between science and spirit may lie in the anthropological study of those tribal cultures whose operating systems permit them to move freely in the metaphysical realms with the assistance of natural hallucinogenic substances.
The shamanic explanation of the origins of life and of the intelligent nature of the plants and animals which inhabit the rainforest are quite unbelievable to most, but a rational approach to understanding their perspective lends extraordinary insight into some of the greatest mysteries of human consciousness.
Author and anthropologist Jeremy Narby set out in the mid 1980’s to do just this, hoping to learn from medicine men of the Amazon jungle about how it is they claim to be able to communicate directly with plants and unseen spirit beings of the forest.
The shamanic explanation of the origins of life and of the intelligent nature of the plants and animals which inhabit the rainforest are quite unbelievable to most, but a rational approach to understanding their perspective lends extraordinary insight into some of the greatest mysteries of human consciousness.
Author and anthropologist Jeremy Narby set out in the mid 1980’s to do just this, hoping to learn from medicine men of the Amazon jungle about how it is they claim to be able to communicate directly with plants and unseen spirit beings of the forest.
09/06/2017
The Last Shaman - Ayahuasca Journey
James is an all American boy whose promising life is brought to a halt by acute depression. Turning his back on the most progressive western treatments and medicines, James discovers ayahuasca in search of healing in the Peruvian jungle. Over the course of 10 months venturing from Shaman to Shaman, James finds friendship, answers and a kind of redemption hidden deep in the Peruvian amazon. watch the-last-shaman
02/04/2017
Ayahuasca — The Fashionable Path of Awakening?
“Truth is a pathless land, and you cannot approach it by any path whatsoever, by any religion, by any sect.” These words were spoken by Krishnamurti in 1929 as he dissolved the global spiritual organization that had formed in order to promote him as the new Messiah. As I witness the growing popularity ayahuasca, I hope we do not turn this medicine into a Messiah that has to come to save us. Although I see ayahuasca as a powerful tool of individual and planetary awakening, I am also seeing it evolve into a spiritually-sophisticated brand that we wear and glorify. As any trend becomes more popular, authentic original impulses are replaced by unconscious conformity: we follow trends as unquestioning groups, rather than as conscious free-willing individuals.
The New Yorker recently published an article on ayahuasca, calling it the “drug of choice for the age of kale”. The author narrated her only ayahuasca experience, in a Brooklyn yoga studio, next to a “thumping dance club”. The article makes no mention of the rich cultural diversity of ayahuasca traditions or the countless stories of ayahuasca-assisted personal transformation. However, I thought her association of ayahuasca with kale was spot-on. Ayahuasca may be answering the call for a global paradigm shift, yet it also fulfills an obsessive craving for wellness, detox, and healing. Plant medicines can be powerful catalysts for healing, when approached with individual and social self-awareness, and these two forms of awareness – of ourselves and of our society – are difficult to cultivate when we do what the cool kids are doing. What we can do is learn to discriminate between self-expression and imitation, and between the authentic desires of our hearts and the chatter of our minds. Are we acting from our core or simply being blown around by the cultural zeitgeist?
When to take ayahuasca?
These distinctions are absolutely necessary. Powerful tools can be misused and have damaging effects. My original inspiration for writing this article was a botched iboga ceremony that left me so traumatized that I was forced to accept that 1) there were some highly irresponsible and reckless shamans/healers out there and 2) there were highly irresponsible and reckless individuals like myself naively attending ceremonies without proper awareness. I’ll save the details for a future article, but I will share that I experienced an abyss so unbearably painful that my only wish was for it to end, without caring what came after this end. I understood the torment of suicide. These realms of consciousness are real. I share them here not out of masochism, but to emphasize the importance of preparation, discrimination, and intuition.
We can sharpen our skills by coming back to the basics: set and setting. Set – why am I here? And how do I really feel in my heart of hearts? Setting – do I feel safe? Do I trust this environment and the people around me? It is crucial to critically evaluate the shaman by their “fruits”: what type of life has this person created for themselves? How do they relate to their family and partner? How do they relate to their assistants and workers? Have the workers been there a long time? Are they happy to work there? These questions reveal a lot about what kind of person the shaman is, and therefore what kind of shaman they are.
We also need to de-romanticize our understanding of shamanic traditions. We crave for more natural, organic lives, for health, and for wisdom, so it is not a surprise that we fantasize about Amazonian tribes and their psychedelic brews. But our colorful projections have consequences and can reinforce racist, neocolonial dynamics. Not all medicines are appropriate at a given time or compatible with a given person. Indigenous peoples are born into tribes, whereas Westerners self-select into their tribes. Not all shamans heal; some throw curses; others do both. And I have yet to meet a shaman who calls themselves a shaman. Shaman is a word from Siberia popularized by Western anthropologists to categorize a wide variety of seemingly related spiritual practices.
Our interaction with indigenous medicines is not a one way street – with us simply “gaining wisdom” from them. As any quantum physicist or modern anthropologist will tell you, observation entails participation. It’s a two way street: the massive influx of ayahuasca tourists to the Amazon impacts local economies, culture, and healing traditions. In addition to our own healing, we need to remember that indigenous communities have their own healing to do. Are we operating as co-creators or are we imposing ourselves on them? Am I giving as much as I am taking? And where is all this ayahuasca coming from? This is not a question of shame, but of awareness.
The reality of indigenous peoples is not a Jungle Book fairy tale. Their cultures are steadily declining in the face of consumerism, missionary activity, and the rape of nature by oil pipelines and industrial super-farms. Ayahuasca tourism is a booming industry in much of the northwest Amazon and its reality is more nuanced than we like to think. Explore the backstreets of Iquitos, Peru and see for yourself the shadow side of the Western appetite for healing.
Please don’t mistake my words for pessimism. The intention that infuse these words is for renewed awareness and courage. Charles Eisenstein writes that “no optimism can be authentic that has not visited the depths of despair…no despair is authentic that has not fully let in the joy.” The world is not ending. It is only changing, as all things change. Stop, breathe, be gentle. May all beings be happy and peaceful.
by Félix de Rosen
Félix de Rosen is a free spirit who aims to catalyze conscious planetary evolution. His long-term vision is to organize sacred arts festivals and create spaces of trust, spontaneity, and transparency. He was born in France, grew up in the US, and is learning how to let go and relax. He is currently based in California.
The New Yorker recently published an article on ayahuasca, calling it the “drug of choice for the age of kale”. The author narrated her only ayahuasca experience, in a Brooklyn yoga studio, next to a “thumping dance club”. The article makes no mention of the rich cultural diversity of ayahuasca traditions or the countless stories of ayahuasca-assisted personal transformation. However, I thought her association of ayahuasca with kale was spot-on. Ayahuasca may be answering the call for a global paradigm shift, yet it also fulfills an obsessive craving for wellness, detox, and healing. Plant medicines can be powerful catalysts for healing, when approached with individual and social self-awareness, and these two forms of awareness – of ourselves and of our society – are difficult to cultivate when we do what the cool kids are doing. What we can do is learn to discriminate between self-expression and imitation, and between the authentic desires of our hearts and the chatter of our minds. Are we acting from our core or simply being blown around by the cultural zeitgeist?
When to take ayahuasca?
These distinctions are absolutely necessary. Powerful tools can be misused and have damaging effects. My original inspiration for writing this article was a botched iboga ceremony that left me so traumatized that I was forced to accept that 1) there were some highly irresponsible and reckless shamans/healers out there and 2) there were highly irresponsible and reckless individuals like myself naively attending ceremonies without proper awareness. I’ll save the details for a future article, but I will share that I experienced an abyss so unbearably painful that my only wish was for it to end, without caring what came after this end. I understood the torment of suicide. These realms of consciousness are real. I share them here not out of masochism, but to emphasize the importance of preparation, discrimination, and intuition.
We can sharpen our skills by coming back to the basics: set and setting. Set – why am I here? And how do I really feel in my heart of hearts? Setting – do I feel safe? Do I trust this environment and the people around me? It is crucial to critically evaluate the shaman by their “fruits”: what type of life has this person created for themselves? How do they relate to their family and partner? How do they relate to their assistants and workers? Have the workers been there a long time? Are they happy to work there? These questions reveal a lot about what kind of person the shaman is, and therefore what kind of shaman they are.
We also need to de-romanticize our understanding of shamanic traditions. We crave for more natural, organic lives, for health, and for wisdom, so it is not a surprise that we fantasize about Amazonian tribes and their psychedelic brews. But our colorful projections have consequences and can reinforce racist, neocolonial dynamics. Not all medicines are appropriate at a given time or compatible with a given person. Indigenous peoples are born into tribes, whereas Westerners self-select into their tribes. Not all shamans heal; some throw curses; others do both. And I have yet to meet a shaman who calls themselves a shaman. Shaman is a word from Siberia popularized by Western anthropologists to categorize a wide variety of seemingly related spiritual practices.
Our interaction with indigenous medicines is not a one way street – with us simply “gaining wisdom” from them. As any quantum physicist or modern anthropologist will tell you, observation entails participation. It’s a two way street: the massive influx of ayahuasca tourists to the Amazon impacts local economies, culture, and healing traditions. In addition to our own healing, we need to remember that indigenous communities have their own healing to do. Are we operating as co-creators or are we imposing ourselves on them? Am I giving as much as I am taking? And where is all this ayahuasca coming from? This is not a question of shame, but of awareness.
The reality of indigenous peoples is not a Jungle Book fairy tale. Their cultures are steadily declining in the face of consumerism, missionary activity, and the rape of nature by oil pipelines and industrial super-farms. Ayahuasca tourism is a booming industry in much of the northwest Amazon and its reality is more nuanced than we like to think. Explore the backstreets of Iquitos, Peru and see for yourself the shadow side of the Western appetite for healing.
Please don’t mistake my words for pessimism. The intention that infuse these words is for renewed awareness and courage. Charles Eisenstein writes that “no optimism can be authentic that has not visited the depths of despair…no despair is authentic that has not fully let in the joy.” The world is not ending. It is only changing, as all things change. Stop, breathe, be gentle. May all beings be happy and peaceful.
Félix de Rosen is a free spirit who aims to catalyze conscious planetary evolution. His long-term vision is to organize sacred arts festivals and create spaces of trust, spontaneity, and transparency. He was born in France, grew up in the US, and is learning how to let go and relax. He is currently based in California.
06/02/2017
16/03/2008
shift in global culture and consciousness
by Daniel Pinchbeck
My view is that “2012” is useful as a meme if it helps us to catalyze a shift in global culture and consciousness. Rather than fretting about what may or may not happen on that date, we should concentrate on the work that needs to be done now, on an inner as well as outer level. My recent focus has been the outer level, studying social theory and political philosophy. If we were to have an opportunity to transform society, what could that transformation look like in a practical sense? How could it be carried out? I have been reviewing the ideas of thinkers like Macchiavelli, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Thomas Jefferson, Karl Marx and Hannah Arendt, seeking insight into the nature of politics and power.
How do we bring awareness gained through shamanic practice or yogic discipline back into the gritty realities of political struggle and the fight against global inequity of wealth and resources? It seems there is still a lot of denial among Western mystics and “New Agers,” as well as elitism and spiritual materialism. Whether someone does a flawless series of asanas, drinks ayahuasca with 20 different shamans or visits hidden monasteries in Bhutan has no value as a sign of spiritual attainment. How they live day by day, what they do with the psychic energy and time available to them and how their work helps to liberate others is what matters.
I see this tendency to ignore the social and political struggle in the works of wildly popular writers such as Eckhart Tolle, who has repackaged Vedanta for the masses. In Tolle’s recent book, A New Earth, he writes: “We are coming to the end not only of mythologies but also of ideologies and belief systems.” According to Tolle, the creation of the “new earth” needs no change in social practices as long as you make “the present moment… the focal point of your life.” Tolle exhorts his audience to “enjoy what you are doing already, instead of waiting for some change so that you can start enjoying what you do.” Whether you are an artist, teacher, Fox News executive or currency speculator doesn’t matter: “The new earth arises as more and more people discover that their main purpose in life is to bring the light of consciousness into this world and so use whatever they do as a vehicle for consciousness.” For Tolle, the effort to change our society’s inequitable and unsustainable practices has no particular value compared to the paradise of presence.
The popularity of this message is unsurprising. Some political thinkers argue that the adoption of Eastern thought in the West has given people a way to accept capitalism, and “Empire,” by finding detachment from it. For the critic Slavoj Zizek, Western Buddhism and Hinduism “enables you to fully participate in the frantic pace of the capitalist game, while sustaining the perception that you are not really in it, that you are well aware how worthless this spectacle really is — what really matters to you is the peace of the inner self to which you know you can always withdraw…” Zizek goes so far as to propose, “the onslaught of New Age ‘Asiatic’ thought… is establishing itself as the hegemonic ideology of global capitalism.”
The shift of “2012” could mean that Eastern mysticism, the earth-based shamanism of tribal people and the West’s pursuit of philosophical and scientific knowledge about the world come together to create a new form of consciousness. I suspect the West still has to realize its spiritual destiny — its dharma — in the transformation of matter and the creation of a truly equitable and sustainable world. As the design scientist Buckminster Fuller wrote, “No human chromosomes say make the world work for everybody — only mind can tell you that.” We may not need “ideology” any more, as Tolle says, but we still need good ideas about how we reinvent our society and its institutions to become ethically transparent and sustainable. Rather than escaping from society’s problems by embracing pure presence, we can use the awareness gained from spiritual practice to become more effective agents of social change.
Source: Common Ground
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