The Shaman meets a Demon

It seems like this is a life that has obstruction, resistance, struggle, and competition everywhere. Some religious organizations have denounced “the flesh.” Others have gone after the human emotions or, worse, what it is to just be human. This self-criticism extends to academic and scientific institutions. Among them, some of the most popular beliefs are that humans are irresponsible,…

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My Ayahuasca Ceremony in Perez Zeledon, Costa Rica

My Ayahuasca Ceremony in Perez Zeledon, Costa Rica

I recently visited Costa Rica for the sole purpose of partaking in an ayahuasca ceremony for the first time and I had the most beautiful experience. After much searching throughout Costa Rica for a one night ceremony option instead of a week retreat, I came upon a small family run ceremony in Perez Zeledon. At their wonderful home, they call Sibu Wellness Center. Here, you can oversee the…

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Understanding the 4th house: natal and synastry

The 4th house is not easy to comprehend, and often not enough attention is paid to its interpretation. Reducing its meaning to “home, safety and one parent” completely discredits its merit in the entire picture, and leaves a vast area of ​​the natal chart almost opaque.

What is the 4th house indeed? And why is it so important to understand it when reading a chart, including the synastry?

The 4th house is the lowest point in the chart. Midnight.

The place where the border between the light and darkness lies. It is the point of the deepest foundations of one’s psychic universe. In fact, this is the place where psychotherapists and psychologists try to get, but most often they cannot, and end up in the 1st house. And this is a place where no one will consciously let another person in.

The 4th house represents not only the feeling of the inmost security, it contains all the data about a particular structure pattern inside of one’s psychic on which their universe is built. This is the basis of the spine, which runs through the entire chart up to the 10th house. The 4th house is the place where your inner voice lives. Looking at the sign and the planets in the 4th house, we can understand exactly how this voice of intuition sounds, what is your connection with it, and what it takes for you to hear this voice. 

The 4th house reflects the imprints that we received as a result of our after-birth condition and that have become the cornerstones of our sense of trust (or mistrust) to life. This is inevitably something upon which the huge part of our personality and all relationships are built. 

For some people, personal security is inherently linked with beauty and harmony (Venus/ Taurus/ Libra in the 4th house). For others, security means transformation and the ability to get to the depths (Scorpio/Pluto). Sometimes the security goes only with the sense of independence and freedom (Aquarius/ Uranus). Not rarely will the 4th house qualities remain a mystery for the person themselves until some good work is done on it. And it is almost impossible to work on the 4th house directly. 

The 4th house is the same area where we are entering during deep transpersonal experiences. In my work with plant medicine, in particular Ayahuasca, I was convinced more than once that all that is happening during the ceremony encompasses the 4th house domain, which is the reason why this work can be so disturbing but is unprecedentedly effective. Getting in touch with the material of their own 4th house, a person will not only experience fear, but the whole intensity of realising their own internal structure (or the absence of it), its flaws and disruptions, as well as its strengths and flawlessness. This contributes to the process which in psychotherapy is called "the integration of the personality”, or the return to the wholeness. Of course, all the houses of the natal chart are involved into this dynamics, but the footing lies precisely in the 4th house.

The same as a talented actor would have a strong 1st house, the good psychotherapist usually has an emphasised 4th house.

With all that in mind, the importance of this area in the synastry can’t be overlooked.

To begin with, it is hardly possible to imagine an intimate situation between the two where the 4th house would remain “switched off". The 8th house is invariably considered the house of sex, but never it is the only house involved at the moment of physical intercourse. The turning on of the 4th house occurs in all the transformational experiences including physical intimacy. Our openness to receive sexual pleasure and the ability to merge with another person are totally linked with our deepest security (the 4th house), which in many ways is unconscious for us ourselves. In addition, any sensual pleasure involves egoism, but NOT the egoism of the 1st house, or the 5th house, it is the egoism that is so elemental and even primitive that it is totally beyond our control. The 4th house egoism is almost animalistic.

The 4th house cannot be ignored when looking at the synastry of the two people whose relationships are meant to be long term. Not only it brings some structure into the relationships, but also reveals if these relations can endure time. The 4th house provides the basis and cements the connection.

Aspects to the 4th house that arise between the two may reveal the potential for the deepest healing (and deepest wounds as well) that one person can bring to another. This is the place where it is possible to get to the inner altar of another soul, to the sphere that the person who owns the 4th house does not know consciously themselves but feels its power in most life-changing events. 

It is especially favourable if the Venus and/or the Moon fall into the synastry 4th house. This can be an opportunity for a planet person to illuminate the 4th house person’s deepest fears with love and care, thus repeating the experience of unity with one of the parents, but in a more conscious form.

If we consider the 5th house to be the continuation, the body of the 4th, or the zone of “its possession”, then we see that, in fact, our personal creativity, our romantic preferences and our games (both in the childhood and and in the adulthood) are completely saturated with the material of the 4th house, i.e. our emotional imprints and our connection with the subconscious.

Drop me a line if you want a personal look at your chart ...

Yours,

AlSheren

omg will you tell us about your ayahuasca experiences some time 👀 an ayahuasca retreat is on my bucket list but I've never met anyone who has tried it before

yeah absolutely, I am p sure I’ve talked about it before actually, I’ll link to that ask once I find it if I can find it. there’s different styles of ayahuasca ceremony based on the indigenous tribe/peoples whose shaman is holding said ceremony, because each will have their own practices and traditions surrounding how to take ayahuasca. I highly recommend the book Rainforest Medicine by Jonathan Miller Weisberger

This is gonna be really long im sorry in advance I wish I could put a “read more” but I can’t on mobile

Firstly if ur interested in doing it so much that it’s on your bucket list, you quite easily can do it particularly if you’re in the Western Hemisphere especially the states or mexico. and Aniwa is the group to do it with. I recommend following Aniwa on instagram and signing up for their emails thru their website. because their insta and their emails are gonna tell you of upcoming ceremonies but their website isn’t updated very well. there are other groups that hold ayahuasca ceremony to make profit, without any care for cultural practices that need to be respected in making, serving, and holding space for the ayahuasca. (for example, avoid a group called Imago, at all costs. evil people run that group). every summer for the past few years, Aniwa has brought shamans of different Amazonian ayahuasca-using tribes to California to hold ceremony. all money goes to the tribe of that shaman as Aniwa is not-for-profit and its ceremonies are held with genuine respect to the peoples and their customs, and the ayahuasca itself. everyone involved in ceremony knows what they’re doing too so they’re all very helpful, very good ppl. Aniwa also has scholarships for ceremony for people who cannot afford it.

anyway sorry to ramble there — just wanna give you access to a source for ayahuasca that is honorable and I trust completely.

moving on, the ceremony I did was held by a shaman of the huni kuin tribe of brazil. it involved two separate ceremonies really. each was held from sundown to sun up. each involved the holders of the ceremony singing, guitar playing, and drumming, the entire night. after being told the rules — advising that this is a medicine and you must work with it so staying conscious is important, and that ayahuasca is a spirit so you may talk to her and ask her questions, you must also do no talking to anyone else, not touch anyone else, and you absolutely cannot lie down, you must sit up or dance or sing — and after much prayer and giving thanks and establishing spiritual protection through chanting and singing by the ceremony holders, each person comes to the shaman to receive their first “dose” of the medicine which is like a shotglass filled with the ayahuasca mixture. (you are offered three doses throughout the night in all, and a “hummingbird dose” aka a small fourth one. the taste of it was somewhat bitter, yet also like honey.) then more singing, drumming, guitar playing, while we sat on the ground (on things like yoga mats/cushions) around the huge fire pit at the center, in the desert night, waiting.

First thing I noticed was this vine-like energy snaking upwards through the bottom of my body going upward into my extremities and head, noticing different sensations in different parts of my body as this energy met different energies inside me. feeling intense urges to move, shudder, or shake when it would meet parts of my body that needed the energy shaken loose for it to pass through, like meeting a block, for lack of a better word. the overwhelming urge was I needed to dance around the fire to shake this all loose. dancing around the fire is highly encouraged in a huni kuin style ceremony, as well as singing. so I went up and danced and felt it helped tremendously with getting the energy flowing through my body. after we all got called up for the second dose of medicine, i sat again, and I focused on the fire and my intention while I was there. I asked ayahuasca questions. she answered with intense visions. I’d describe them, but, they would not be very significant to you. Flashes of images repeatedly and with clarity of feeling of what they symbolized energetically. They signified to me a lot of what was going on with the seat of power within me and the imbalances in my emotional and spiritual energies that were manifesting in physical visions and had manifested/been manifesting physically in my life in my body. my main reason for being there was to deal with my drug addiction and depression. once the third dose hit I had a very intense experience facing my demons, for lack of a better word, and seeing clearly 2 paths lay ahead of me: addiction suffering and death was one, and the other was joy and life. I began experiencing spirits (one spirit in particular), whispering in my ear to let go and give in and go to spiritual sleep, and every time I could hear/feel ayahuasca respond NO! DO NOT GIVE IN! FIGHT! and for hours I, so tired, fought with every ounce of my strength, over and over and over each second, drawing strength from the fire, and from ayahuasca’s encouragement (she felt a general in a war, and she kept telling me this is my battle and she couldn’t fight for me I had to fight myself.... i could feel her exasperation), forcing myself to get up to dance to fight this spirit, all the while witnessing this battle take place within me, yet also being part of it. it was very exhausting but it brought me clarity ... some of that clarity was daunting and difficult.

the second night of ceremony the ayahuasca was much stronger. Most people danced that night but I resisted dancing after a little bit. i struggled a lot that night. one thing that happens if you resist ayauhsca’s help is she will, quite mercilessly, not force her help on you and she will instead let you deal with it alone, “it” being a disorienting intoxication of mental traps and delusions that you feel are real. I asked help from one of the ceremony-holders to purge — many people as you probably know, purge during ayahuasca, or “get well”, meaning they vomit. It’s normal, it’s not scary, and everyone who does feels better afterward. (it’s also kind of funny sitting in a group of like 50 people and hearing them start to barf at the same time). sometimes if you don’t follow dieta (the diet ur supposed to eat in the weeks before ayahuasca) you’re prone to purging more than if you had followed dieta before ceremony. also some ppl purge by crying, laughing, screaming, or shitting (although shitting is rare and there’s bathrooms so it’s ok lol). I didn’t purge the first night and didn’t feel any need to. I had done kambo ceremony the day before which is specifically to purge. I couldn’t purge the second night either only I felt I needed to, badly. the man said to me that he could help me purge with hapè or by me drinking a lot of water but that he had a feeling that my issue was emotional, and wouldn’t be relieved with purging bc I didn’t need to purge. I felt he was right so I denied the hapè. but it was very distressing this second night cuz i was resisting everything ayahuasca wanted me do because I was so tired and for some reason stubbornly refusing to go w the flow. and it made me have really crazy thoughts and delusions that were lies. the flashes of images with the meanings of them like the previous night, only they were lies my mind was trying to make me believe were true. I felt so ungrounded and distressed. and it showed me the more I resisted things for the sake of wanting to not suffer or work, out of fear of suffering and laziness, the more suffering and more work i was causing myself to experience than I would have if I had just decided to let go of the fear of suffering and the fear of hard work. at the urging of my sisters I ended up doing hapè in the morning at the end of ceremony because I still felt extremely ungrounded, and it helped tremendously. (as an aside, the huni kuin style of ayahuasca ceremony involves ayahuasca, hapè, and sananga; all three medicines are offered during ceremony. I did sananga both ceremonies and hapè only the second).

all in all, there were many things I took away from the experience. For one, the above about the nature of suffering. For another, it was work, very hard work. Not a drug or a recreational fun anything. It was medicine that required my work and forced me to face my demons; it would not help me if I did not help myself too when facing them. for another, there was a lot of inner work I could have been doing prior to ceremony to go much deeper with the ayahuasca; specifically meditating. But it was ok that I didn’t go deeper, honestly, I experienced what I needed and was supposed to, I made peace with this. For another — ayahuasca truly is a sentient spirit, and will communicate with you if you try to have a conversation. Ayahuasca will answer. Experiencing and communicating with an intelligent spirit of a plant (really it’s multiple plants), this is something I’d never experienced before or since in my life (and I’ve done a lot of different hallucinogens). And in fact ayahusca made everyone aware of spirits that were all around us , some spirits were attracted to our ceremony and wanted to join (one of them poked my sister in the eye lol), others were spirits already attached to individuals like mine. Minorly, ayahuasca doesn’t do shit like distort visual perception. You can feel quite sober if you want to. Although walking was a bit stumbly, it is a completely internal experience. For another, i also know that each time you take it will be a totally different experience. And finally, after these ceremonies I completely lost interest in the drug I had been addicted to at the time. My relationship with it has never been the same and while I’ve technically relapsed just because of having used it here and there since being totally clean in the months after ayahuasca, i don’t count it as relapse because I never got readdicted and never felt the compulsion to take it (plus during panic attacks there’s no other drug that helps lol). It became as uninteresting to me as any other drug i have no interest in.

Most of my ayahuasca experience involved battling what I can only really describe as the spirits of my depression, spirits of laziness, spirits of addiction that were influencing me powerfully. So a very specifically mental and emotional focus. On the other hand, my husband was also with me for those ceremonies and he had some really wild stuff happen. He had spontaneous healings occur. For one he had had hearing damage due to a blow to one of his ears and during ceremony he felt what he described as a gear turn and click into place in his ear and his hearing damage immediately fully healed. Even weirder was he had been having a very serious and confusing problem that was affecting our lives pretty badly for a year, and no doctor could figure it out: he would faint daily, multiple times a day actually, even every 5 minutes, sometimes fully fall down but other times it was more like while he was talking his eyes would glaze over and he’d begin to breathe weirdly, start to lose his balance, and then he’d come to and have no recollection of what he was saying or about to say or what was going on or even where he was. it was disabling him, making it almost impossible to function (imagine you’re driving, and then suddenly you don’t know where you are what ur doing or where you’re going). but it was a total medical mystery, he got so many tests done and saw many doctors, and nothing. so he asked ayahuscha why he was fainting. And she took him into what he described as his psyche, and showed him in great detail there were life forms in it that were not supposed to be there or be seen by any humans ever, and she told him what to do to make it stop. What she showed him he told me in detail, and about the entities he interacted with and the “devices” that were life forms in his psyche that these entities were putting there.... and it was quite possibly the most incredible amazing bizarre thing I’ve heard in my life. anyway the next day he did what she (ayahuasca) told him to do to make it stop. and he has never fainted ever again since. not one time! Some shit ur just like “what the fuck” and you know there is so much in this universe you don’t know about and you were just lucky enough to get a glimpse of it but you will probably never understand it and this was for sure one of them.

Anyway so yeah personally I think everyone every single person should do ayahuasca , I don’t give a fuck how they feel about doing it, I really actually think it‘s necessary to do point blank

Ancient Rock Art May Depict Shamanic Music

More than 2,000 years ago, the Tukano people of the Colombian Amazon may have documented the soundtracks to their hallucinogenic experiences in petroglyphs on volcanic boulders. Consisting of what appears to be dancing human figures surrounded by zigzagging lines and other geometric forms, the enigmatic art eludes concrete interpretation, although a new analysis suggests that these abstract shapes may depict the songs that transported participants to other dimensions during Ayahuasca ceremonies. The pre-Columbian designs can be found at Toro Muerto, which contains one of the richest collections of rock art in South America. A desert gorge, the site is strewn with thousands of boulders, some 2,600 of which feature ancient carvings.

Describing the drawings in a new study published in the Cambridge Archaeological Journal, researchers explain that the artworks contain "an almost overwhelming repetition of images of dancing human figures (known as danzantes), unique in the region, and an extraordinary accumulation of geometric patterns, most often in the form of vertical zigzag, straight and sinuous lines varying in width, sometimes with accompanying dots or circles." Previous attempts to interpret these zigzags have suggested that they may represent snakes, lightning, or water, although the study authors believe they may have an alternative meaning.

Examples of "danzantes" at Toro Muerto. Image credit: Tracings: Polish-Peruvian research team, compiled by J.Z. Wołoszyn/Cambridge Archaeological Journal/2024 (CC BY 4.0)

To build their hypothesis, the researchers point out the striking similarities between the drawings at Toro Muerto and the traditional artwork of the Tukano culture in the Colombian Amazon. In the case of the latter, geometric designs have been linked to the visions induced by the hallucinogenic brew Ayahuasca, which has been ritually ingested by Indigenous Amazonian communities for millennia. According to the Tukano these drawings were 'yajé images', meaning that they showed patterns they had seen while in an altered state of consciousness induced by consuming entheogens. Concentric circles, dots, wavy lines, zigzags and crenellation motifs dominated among them.

Anthropological analyses of these rituals have repeatedly highlighted the importance of music, with songs known as icaros being sung by shamans as a means of communicating with the gods and journeying through the spiritual cosmos. Ritual in many human cultures involves music; it is a key social technology for building and sustaining community. Ritual music is a universal way to address the spirit world and provide some kind of fundamental change in an individual's consciousness or in the ambience of a gathering. Experiences of ego loss and trance are important for integrating the individual into the group and maintaining community, and music is a significant element of such ritual activity.

Intriguingly, studies into the significance of zigzags in Tukano artwork have revealed that "the Tukano saw in them the representations of songs which were an integral part of the ritual, having also agentive power, and constituting a medium for transfer to the mythical time of the beginning." In other words, within a Tukano context, these shapes depict the shamanic music that mesmerizes ritual participants under the effects of Ayahuasca, delivering them to an alternate reality in which they are able to reconnect to their ancestral mythology.

Admitting that their theory is somewhat speculative, the researchers nonetheless conclude that these pre-Hispanic drawings "illustrated a graphically elusive sphere of culture: singing and songs. The interpretation we propose is of course hypothetical, but the conclusions it leads to constitute a logically coherent counter-proposal to previous interpretations of some of the Toro Muerto petroglyphs. We suggest that zigzag lines could be representations of songs, which seems particularly intriguing given the repeated juxtaposition of these patterns with the figures of dancers at Toro Muerto, not only in the more complex compositions but also in the less complex as well."

Some of the most renowned examples of sacred plants include ayahuasca, peyote, and psilocybin mushrooms. 🌿 Each of these plants holds a rich history of ceremonial use in indigenous cultures, revered for their profound spiritual and healing properties.

Ayahuasca, known as the 'vine of the soul,' has been used for centuries in Amazonian shamanic rituals to facilitate deep introspection and spiritual growth. Peyote, a small cactus native to North America, is revered by indigenous peoples for its ability to induce profound visionary experiences and connect individuals with the divine. Psilocybin mushrooms, commonly referred to as magic mushrooms, have been used in traditional ceremonies worldwide for their ability to evoke spiritual insights and healing. At Soul Tribes, we honor the sacredness of these plants and their potential to guide us on transformative journeys of self-discovery and healing. 🌟

Why do they call it alternative medicine when it is the original medicines that have been used for thousands of years? When you heal with ancestral medicines, you help heal the 7 Generations of your ancestors & the 7 Generations of the future children’s children. 🐸🗿🌌🐸Kambo can be a powerful tool to increase physical absorption of ayahuasca and prepare both mentally and emotionally for the experience.

Purging is a significant aspect of using both kambo and ayahuasca. With ayahuasca, though, it is often thought of as a side-effect or something endured during the initial phases of the experience in order to reach the peak. On the other hand, purging while using kambo is one of the main goals. And when kambo is used to purge your system before taking ayahuasca, it can increase the speed and efficacy of the absorption of ayahuasca, giving you a cleaner, more intense experience at a lower dosage.

🐸

Kambo and ayahuasca have been used together traditionally, and now more Western practitioners are beginning to understand the benefits of preparing your body with kambo shortly before an ayahuasca ceremony.🐸

Kambo is non psychoactive, so there’s no hallucinating during the Kambo experience. It’s just a mind, body, & spiritual cleanse.

Final Day of our Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Featured Author Interviews, continuing with Ze Hai Lu!

Ze Hai Lu, one of authors of Chronicles of Tal’Dun: The Remainder

(VN)

This is a story of two magi, Vyn and Ilar, who find themselves trapped in a collapsing tower with their only hope for salvation being a difficult ritual. Or at least that is what Ilar tells you. The thing is - you don’t remember anything, and Ilar’s story makes less and less sense the closer you are to the ritual. Are they hiding things to protect you from the bitter truth, or are they deceiving you for some more nefarious reason?

Guide Vyn’s actions to death and beyond and uncover Ilar’s truth. Are they your colleague, lover or something completely different? Read between the lines of what they are telling you, explore your surroundings for clues and use hands-on deduction to break the viscious circle and set them free.

Read more about Chronicles of Tal’Dun: The Remainder here. Play the Game on Steam or Itch. Tags: Fantasy, Mystery.

[INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT UNDER THE CUT!]

Q1. Hello! Could you tell us a little bit about to yourself and your project?

Chronicles of Tal'dun: The Remainder is a dark fantasy mystery game. I made it because I really wished that more games existed that focused on story, characters, mystery and surprises. My partner and I made it together, we learned how to write, produce music, script, and design in the process of making this game

I was a game artist for several years before this. I've always played casually with building stories and worlds, but never made a complete project until now.

I used to feel like I wasn't ready to create a compelling story, and was waiting until I became ready to start creating one, but making the Remainder has taught me that I'm ready when I decide I am.

Q2. What inspired your current project?

Games: Dark Souls, Hades, Dragon Age

Writers: Lois McMaster Bujold, Joe Abercrombie, Robert Anton Wilson

Film: Miyazaki

Q3. Do you pull from your own identity for inspiration? How has that been reflected in your work?

I've moved every few years for most of my life, from several provinces in China, to Canada, to Germany, to America, to Croatia. I shifted through many worldviews, atheism, agnosticism, buddhism, christianity, agnosticism, sufism, liberalism, conservatism, anarchism, and more. I played with changing my body and my mind, and I never settled on one thing and said 'I am this'. I guess you could say I had a fluid identity. I think that's why the Remainder's story has a lot to do with change, and its characters are very diverse and weird. They're non-binary, they're non human, they anything but normal. Normal is a concept, an illusion. 

I've also dabbled in a few different spiritual practices and philosophies, and had a number of mind-altering experiences. A near-death experience, heroic doses of psychedelics, ayahuasca ceremonies, and deep meditative states. I borrow liberally from these to enrich the world and the story. The most inspiring one to me is Buddhism and its marks are all over the world and culture.

Q4. What are you most excited about your project?

I really enjoy the fact that since only two people work on the game, and we have no obligations to investors or publishers, we're free to experiment on many unconventional mechanics, subjedt matters, and storytelling techniques. We ended up with a story unlike any other I've read.

Q5. What has your experience writing an IF and with the IF community been like?

We didn’t know what to expect at first, but we're positively surprised at how helpful and friendly people have been. 

Q6. What changes in the IF community would you like to see?

We're relatively new to the community but we either got very lucky or the community is just very supportive and nice. We have no complaints at all.

Q7. What piece of advice would you give to fellow creators?

I've heard a few people express a desire to write a story but struggle with some sort of inhibitions that stop them from doing so. I hope they will give it a shot in spite of these fears. Even if it doesn't turn out perfectly at first, improvements will come. So long as you put down one word after another, you'll get better. There is no perfect, but all you need is good enough.

Not everyone will like your work, not everyone will care, but that's OK, the world is so big and filled with so many people that you will find those who will love it, and they will make it worthwhile. 

Amazon: San Rafael Rio Amazonas

To my surprise, the breakfast on my final morning at Maniti Camp was pancakes served with sugar cane syrup and butter, as well as the usual spread of bread and jam, oranges and bananas. I sat with an Australian guy for breakfast and he told me about how he was living in the Netherlands at the moment, I shared about my time living in Amsterdam. He was quite full of himself though so this 20 minute exchange was more than enough! I took a quick cold shower and got ready for my last little excursion which would be to San Rafael Rio Amazonas, a village just down the river. It was a functional “large” village with power from 6pm to 12am (so fancy!). They also had a school which taught from kindergarten to age 17-18, several shops, a butterfly breeding facility (which brought in the tourist/government money). Rodrigo told me how teachers can live in the village for free with housing provided by the school, earning around 2500-3000 soles ($650-800 USD) per month but trips to Iquitos cost 20 soles (about $5 USD) each way making it a very isolating experience if they are from the city and not used to jungle life. Rodrigo bought us a couple cups of an orange coloured juice that a lady was selling in the town centre. I was a little hesitant to try it at first but it was delicious and refreshing! We then walked all around the town, seeing trees with starfruit, coconut, more giant limes, and the ayahuasca root. When the root is cut, the pattern inside looks like a flower or rose. It doesn’t grow naturally, so the shamans will plant the root where they need it to grow and easily harvest for their ceremonies. We reached a water tap at the edge of the town, they have a communal filtered water tap where everyone can fill up their daily water allowance at 6am and 6pm when the tap is unlocked. Once back at the camp, I finished packing up my bag and had lunch of spicy fish nuggets with yellow rice, plantain chips, and watermelon then went to sit and wait for the boat back to Iquitos. I took my seat opposite the American couple and spent most of the ride judging them. She put on a baby voice and seemed very immature so I am not surprised they back out of the ayahuasca ceremony. He was still wearing his heavy black jeans, but had finally ditched the long sleeve shirt for a singlet. Besides us tourists, a bunch of locals rode the boat with us to the city, there was even a guy who brought a chicken with its legs bound and was laid down under the seat for the journey. Once back in Iquitos, Rodrigo arranged a mototaxi to take me to my next hotel, I bid him farewell and I could then enjoy my air conditioning and comfortable bed at last!

https://perushamans.com/

Embark on Life-Changing Ayahuasca Retreats in Peru

Our Ayahuasca retreats in Peru offer a unique opportunity for individuals seeking profound spiritual growth and healing. Nestled deep within the Amazon rainforest, our retreat center provides a safe and supportive environment to experience the magic of Ayahuasca.

Led by experienced shamans, our Ayahuasca ceremonies are conducted with utmost care and respect for tradition. Through these sacred rituals, you can explore the depths of your consciousness, release emotional burdens, and gain valuable insights into your life's path.

Our Ayahuasca retreats are designed to provide a holistic healing experience, incorporating meditation, nature immersion, and integration support. Whether you're new to plant medicine or a seasoned explorer, our retreats cater to all levels of experience, ensuring a transformative and unforgettable journey.

Join us for one of our Ayahuasca retreats in Peru and embark on a life-changing adventure that can lead to profound personal growth, healing, and spiritual awakening.

For more details visit:https://perushamans.com/

What is the significance of plant medicine in shamanism ? Shamanism In India

Plant medicine has a long and cherished history in shamanism, and continues to be a vital part of this ShaGuru’s Shamanism today. Throughout shamanic practices, plants are used to promote balance and equilibrium in the human spirit. www.ShamanismInIndia.com

In Shamanism plant medicine is used for healing and to induce altered states of consciousness. It is believed that consuming plant medicines can help to open the mind to spiritual communication and to connect with the spiritual realm. Plants can be used to induce visions and aid spiritual practices like astral projection, dowsing and scrying. Certain plants such as ayahuasca (banned in India), serve as powerful tools for self-exploration, healing and personal growth. They can also be used in rituals and ceremonies to provide participants with a heightened awareness of the spiritual world.

During ShaGuru’s Shamanism transcendental ceremonies, shamans use plants to stimulate spiritual communication. The effects of the plant medicines, combined with the spiritual guidance of the shaman can lead participants into deeper realms of consciousness to explore ancestral wisdom and divine guidance.

Furthermore, plant medicines can be instrumental in the spiritual healing of individuals. The active components found in plants are believed to clear energy blockages in the body, allowing the body’s natural healing processes to kick into action.

Plant medicine is also used to connect participants with their ancestral wisdom and the natural cycles of life. It helps to foster balance, harmony and connection with the environment, as well as opening up energetic pathways to promote healing. Plant medicine is, undoubtedly, an invaluable part of the shamanic experience.

For Shamanism courses/healing visit www.ShamanismInIndia.com

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Throwback to drinking Ayahuasca by the Gate of The Gods in Peru. Nobody knows how or when this 7x7m piezoelectric gate was carved into the mountain side, but the legends are intense, the locals fear it, and the experience of camping here for two weeks and having multiple ceremonies is one that’s had a profound effect on my life. The smaller gate is what they refer to as ‘The Gate of the Human’ - it has a platform to kneel on, platforms on either side to put your hands on, and a small indentation at exactly the height of Ajna / your third eye. Kneel, clear your mind, watch through your inner eye, and see what happens… I will talk about my full experience here, what I encountered and the being I met one day, on a podcast or something; it’s too transcendental for an Instagram post. #aramumuru #aramumurustargate #Peru #Puno #LateTiticaca #Aliens #AlienLife #Ayahuasca #ayahuascaceremony #MadreAyahuasca #Holyplace #Spirit #Transcendental #LASZLO #JungleLaz #Spiritual #SpiritualQuest #spiritualawakening #SpiritQuest #GateoftheGods https://www.instagram.com/p/CqJgVFALLYo/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Reddit comment on Ayahuasca

“Yesterday afternoon I spent the entire ceremony witnessing the unbelievable power of what were are dealing with when we take this medicine. I don’t see it as negative at all, Ayahuasca is powerful, Pachamama is powerful, I got a glimpse of that power without the distraction of having my own personal experience through visions. I sat with the medicine and endured the discomfort, it was almost like I saw the realm that is normally reserved for the shaman, but was never lulled into some kind of vision or journey. It’s a power that I am now not sure we have enough respect for, it allows us to be, but doesn’t have to. The visions good or bad are gentler than the reality of where we actually go when we enter these realms.”

It’s not for everyone. Do not take it lightly. The center/shaman is extremely important. Aya can be very dangerous. It’s probably not going to be what you hoped for those who haven’t already done extensive inner work.

Do not try Aya until you’ve done mushrooms first.

Mushrooms can bring equal but often times much greater and more profound healing than Ayahuasca.

Do not try Aya until you’ve done mushrooms first.

hi : ) Just wondering have u ever tried mescaline? whats it like, whered u get it and howd u take it? i kind of want to trip a little but i dont really want to do acid. thanks so much and i hope u have a really nice night 🤍

preemptive apology for the length of my reply lol

ive never tried mescaline extract on its own, but i have done peyote in a native american church ceremony (and mescaline is the hallucinogen in peyote). the thing about taking a plant vs the isolated hallucinogen is the characteristics of the trip r different, affected by the spirit of the plant and its qualities. ie peyote feels slightly different from San Pedro even tho they both have mescaline, and both feel slightly different from extracted mescaline (from what I’ve learned from my experiences w other plant psychedelics and from ppls experiences w mescaline and mescaline-containing cacti). but I’ll share my experience with peyote since the differences aren’t super drastic.

I’ll start w the where and how I took it bc that influenced my experience of it a lot: i did it as part of a Native American church ceremony held by a Lakota chief. this involved sitting in a circle w other ppl, in a big teepee (tipi?) in a desert, a fire was In the center, the Lakota chief and his nephew sang and played the water drum, singing of their creation myth of the world and animals and humans and singing prayers to spirit and to water, and this ceremony lasted from sunset to sunrise. the peyote was brewed into a tea and also made into a paste by the Lakota chief and his helpers, so idk where he got it. we ate the paste and drank the tea. they drummed and sang and we meditated and prayed (internally) into the fire all night. we’d get more peyote paste and tea in rounds, which we could accept or deny. I drank all the paste from the first round, it is EXTREMELY bitter astringent and gritty, so I didn’t have more, but did have two rounds of tea. Often there is a purging process (“getting well”) that will happen when you take a substance like this, this is normal, and it’s better to let it out not fight it. I did have a moment of nausea but, I had done ayahuasca for two nights earlier that week and kambo too and I was on dieta, so I didn’t purge. My dad purged a lot though. I think my mom did too?. U just do it on the desert sand. Then they shovel it, bury it in the desert, and put fresh sand over it.

I would describe it as much like shrooms but far less paranoid, less alien, less prone to things like fixating and intrusive thoughts/flashbacks, confusion, emotional distress/delusions. less getting “hit by a psychedelic truck”. it was more grounded, more of an earthling so it felt more familiar and gentler, there was more of an easing into it and out of it, and more mental clarity, less driven to extremes by emotional state. peyote specifically is a very short, small cactus and they call it “grandfather”. it felt like, while looking at the fire, I was a very short/squat small being, my perspective was shifted and it felt like I was seeing things from on the ground/horizon, the fire and other ppl were big and angled differently. I also tried talking to the peyote in my head (like, how you can talk to ayahuasca and she answers). the way he was, he didn’t answer directly, he was more elusive, he didn’t really care about my problems or want to answer, and he didn’t feel invested or obligated to do so. He was more interested in me experiencing the world from his point of view and I think for him that is as much as he could offer, and he was proud to offer it. He also would keep changing my prayer in my head! I had one I was repeating and he would change it to something else and I’d have to be like “wait — that’s not what I was tryna say!” He gave me the very strong vibe of “O! That Gnome” from the faeries oracle deck by Brian froud:

anyway the water drum and the singing music Is very droning and repetitive and the result is that it is extremely grounding. so it’s like an anchor, and makes the trip feel stable and safe and can even mask it entirely and make you feel completely sober except for brief moments. it was doing that and like, in the morning the women had to leave the teepee to prepare ceremonial breakfast of meat, berries, corn, and Water (as offerings to spirit and water) and serve it. as soon as I stepped out it was like the anchor was gone and I realized i was tripping more than I’d felt inside the tent. I felt giggly, machines like cars looked so alien to me, had squiggles in my vision, I was a little ungrounded and my headspace was kind of disoriented. one thing that no other psychedelic has done to me except peyote, is audial distortion. when anyone would talk, including myself, our voices sounded much lower than they really were; everyone’s voice was easily an octave lower. Our voices also took on this strange... quality... where certain notes would create or be heard in another realm almost, so everyones voice has multiple tones (like throat singing almost), as if our voices couldn’t be processed by our ears sometimes to the point where they left the realm of hearing and got turned into a weird warble of vibrational energy or like robot or alien sounds. even tho we could understand the words being said ofc. it’s hard to explain. some tones turned into noises that were completely new/unrecognizable and it was like my ears were processing human voices for the first time. I really feel we were experiencing (as well as we could) how humans sound to the peyote cactus. My baby niece’s voice was particularly musical and would go into the “other realm” of sound a lot more than everyone else’s, which was interesting. I think peyote has an affinity for babies or finds them curious or particularly strange. It’s quite possible that the “other realm” of sound was actually peyote’s realm of hearing and those notes were more familiar and understandable noises to peyote, and therefore more alien/new to our human senses, so maybe it understands/hears babies better than other humans.

anyway!

u mention acid, and I would say, mescaline (or peyote at least) is a lot less stimulating. acid is very hyper to me, and peyote is much more calm. acid also lasts a REALLY long time, and while peyote did for me too (words on my phone were still squiggly hieroglyphics well past noon) it was because I was taking it multiple times over the course of the night and had more tea than paste, and the tea is more visually psychedelic/longer lasting than the paste. taken once, I do believe it would last shorter than acid. what I particularly especially love about peyote/mescaline is there’s no weird crash that acid has where ur done tripping but ur still super wired but ur exhausted at the same time so you feel fried. With peyote i just went from tripping to the trip easing off and I felt physically the same, no drastic energy change or after-effect of “I’m both drained but wired” like acid. I could just go about my day as normal after the trip, and I could fall asleep w no issue.

i used to like acid a lot, I find it very predictable, compared to all plant medicines like cactuses, mushrooms, and ayahuasca, which have their own agendas/vibes. and I’ve had really amazing acid trips. but as I’ve gotten older it’s something that I don’t have the stamina for (14 hours of tripping and inability to sleep after...no thanks). I would rather do mescaline, if I had to choose between the two psychedelics. I think mescaline, while still satisfactorily psychedelic, is gentler and more intuitive and less physically taxing and less mental confusion, and these are things a newbie to psychedelics and a veteran would both appreciate. i think also, if you were to do mescaline, I would recommend also doing a whole plant medicine that has mescaline (meaning, something like peyote or San Pedro or Peruvian torch or Bolivian torch cactus) at another time, or doing one of those before isolated mescaline. i just think whole plant offers things extract doesnt, and extract offers things whole plant doesn’t, so to me experiencing both is important (or at least valuable/worth doing).

Not known Details About Ayahuasca Tour

Soul Quest church also has been a pacesetter in offering preparing and integration coaching for the last 10 years, helping you're feeling absolutely organized in your journey right into a deep healing encounter with mom ayahuasca. All important machines is going to be provided for your excursion, as well as gentle refreshments and snacks to enjoy on board. Your tour will conclude at its first departure stage. If you do not see manta rays on this excursion, reserve once again for another night--no demand. To reach at Lima, we recommend looking on on the list of big flight engines like google in your area, and afterwards comparing prices right With all the Airways. People who have eaten ayahuasca report having mystical experiences and spiritual revelations relating to their purpose on the planet, the accurate character with the universe, and deep insight into ways to be the ideal individual they probably can. Team sizes are pretty significant, Therefore if you're looking for anything a lot more intimate and one-1 time, this might not be the place for you. The plant medication ceremony begins at nighttime less than the stars when you hear the Appears of your Icaro get started. We've a ceremonial Area in which all are welcome to make use of through there remain. It overlooks a contemporary h2o swimming gap, wherever one can swim. You can find flushing toilets and composting toilets. Tiles loos with cold running water for showers. A place to stroll and find plant medicines in our gardens, a common area for taking in and studying, a canoe inside our laguna. Foods Afterwards that yr the PTO issued a call rejecting the patent, on The idea that the petitioners' arguments that the plant was not "unique or novel" ended up valid; nevertheless, the decision did not acknowledge the argument that the plant's religious or cultural values prohibited a patent. We have been a non-revenue Centre, the money you send to TheVine Centre is a donation and we make use of the funds to aid the middle along with the jungle. With private retreats, you get a hundred% of our awareness without the interruptions and social dynamics of group retreats. Attending an ayahuasca church is actually a lawful way for ayahuasca use while in the United states and can entail spiritual ceremonies. There are actually actions pushing ahead the. decriminalization of psychedelics, but we are not rather there nevertheless. Acacia maidenii (Maiden's wattle) – bark *not all vegetation are "Lively strains", meaning some crops can have little or no DMT and Some others greater quantities Turtle sightings are assured; if a turtle just isn't sighted, you will be offered a absolutely free next cruise. Following snorkeling, love lunch (if selection selected ) and two delivered drinks while you keep your eyes peeled for passing marine everyday living like dolphins and migrating whales. My knowledge with ayahuasca and what I discovered in All those 5 ceremonies has permanently modified my life. It is completely genuine that it’s a lifestyle time of therapy jammed into a person night time. Honestly there’s no way I would at any time have unlocked the traumas and insight I've with my therapist. With Behold Retreats, you might be supported right down to the detail from vacation preparations, superior-close accommodations, and the chance to acquire 7 weeks of private coaching for optimized preparing and integration.

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Probably you want to spark your creativeness and obtain your life purpose. Or you want to go down a path of self therapeutic. site of targets are really wide. How will you know when you have attained these ambitions? What's going to it feel and appear like? We’ll satisfy you at 10 AM exterior Fizcaraldo which is a restaurant over the "Boulevard". There are a number of places to eat within the Boulevard which happens to be a park fronting the river that’s a block from the Plaza de Armas. From there el ayahuasca es una droga ’ll be transported on the Hummingbird Heart. Treat habit, therapy-resistant depression, and put up-traumatic stress disorder: Some scientific studies carried out in North America affirm that usage of Ayahuasca in depressive men and women can lower their levels of nervousness and depression in one session and with long-lasting consequences. Also, a review by the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs At times the messages are clear: “do yoga and perform with your body.” Other moments, you’ll get a dreamlike vision that you might not know how to interpret. You may be proven patterns and fears. One of a kind to our ayahuasca retreat are two talks about perception methods and our subconscious minds, and the way to alter the generally unproductive programming we acquired as small children. Ayahuasca is really an ancestral plant medicine through the Amazon, reverred as One of the more precious gifts from Mother Earth. It has been employed for A huge number of yrs for It truly is outstanding healing Rewards that penetrate the brain, system, and spirit. ayahuasca experience explained that Ayahuasca provides could be positively daily life-shifting, and as the psychedelic motion expands, the choices for choosing a retreat may be mind boggling. Looking for the top ayahuasca retreat centers in Peru? Keep in mind, you're putting your consciousness in someone else's hands. Hence, if someone (Majority of these citizens) features to guideline you within an Ayahuasca ritual as a result of your tourism in Peru, you are able to start to question. Only a local amazon learn can perform this kind of ritual. Disclaimer! it vital that those using a drug dependancy or on prescription drugs (MAOIS Primarily) are monitored by Medical doctors or similar professional right before any ayahuasca ingestion for security purposes. “The main element to our transformation is solely this: the higher We all know ourselves the greater equipped we is going to be to generate our selections correctly.” – Gregg Braden Their ceremony Room is situated within the midst of gorgeous indigenous plants and trees that may help you link with Mother Earth, using an personal placing of highest 16 retreat individuals. observed the normal β-Carboline alkaloid Harmine of Ayahuasca promotes the growth of brain cells, avoids growing older. You’ll get there within the ayahuasca center with more than enough time and energy to get your home assigned, acquire a while out to relax after which you can have lunch. An orientation Assembly will start at 2 PM inside the maloca, accompanied by a plant bathtub to get ready for your 1st ayahuasca ceremony. People who have eaten ayahuasca report acquiring mystical ordeals and spiritual revelations regarding their function on earth, the true mother nature from the universe, and deep insight into ways to be the top particular person they potentially can.