Ayahuasca Ceremony: What It Is, How It Is Performed, And Risks To Consider
Ayahuasca is a concoction that has become famous in recent decades for how mysterious it is. This substance is credited with being able to remember and confront our most traumatic past, overcoming it on a level of consciousness that is difficult to reach by conventional means.
Ayahuasca ceremonies have been gaining popularity despite the fact that their celebration is a legally thorny issue In them, a shaman administers this drug, which is attributed therapeutic properties, to his visitors, carrying out a ritual typical of the ancestral cultures of America.
Today we are going to investigate a little about how ayahuasca ceremonies take place, the phenomena that occur during their course and also some risks involved in carrying them out.
The ayahuasca ceremony is the name given to an ancestral practice of the native peoples of the Amazon. Is about a ritual practiced by healers and shamans of native pre-Hispanic cultures and is considered part of the traditional medicine of these peoples Those who practice it assure that it serves to heal the body, mind and soul, even helping people with mental disorders and contributing to the development of the consciousness of its practitioners.
Originally, ayahuasca consumption among Amerindian peoples was part of various rituals practiced to ask the gods to satisfy the needs and desires of their believers. Ayahuasca was present in rituals in honor of the gods, rituals of passage to adulthood, to go to war or to go hunting Also, and very related to what it is used today, this substance was consumed in rituals to heal diseases that, according to the beliefs of the natives of the Amazon and other regions of America, were the product of curses, black magic, envy and revenge.
In current ayahuasca ceremonies, according to their defenders, it is possible to experience a non-ordinary state of consciousness that allows us to connect with our inner wisdom and experience a process of self-healing and self-knowledge. With it you experience intense catharsis, physical and mental purges that allow you to release emotional, psychological and spiritual blockages.
What is ayahuasca?
Ayahuasca is a concoction that It is made through the decoction of a liana that grows in the jungle, the ayahuasca plant (Banisteriopsis caapi), along with leaves of another plant, the chacruna (Diplopterys cabrerana). The result is a potion with powerful psychoactive effects and, for those who consume it and defend its use, it has healing powers. When drunk, it causes alterations in perception and cognition or, in the opinion of those who drink it, it opens doors that the mind had closed as a self-defense mechanism.
The shamans in charge of the ayahuasca ceremonies start from the idea that, throughout our lives, we accumulate various traumas and conflicts Far from solving them rationally and effectively, what our conscious part does is hide them as if they had never existed. Thus, the problems do not cause conscious pain, but they continue to affect us in one way or another as they are still unresolved. They are still there, unknowingly conditioning many aspects of our lives, relationships with others and with ourselves.
Consuming ayahuasca would bring those conflicts to the surface, usually through clear visions. It would make hidden memories stop silently blocking us and, by being aware of them, we could resolve them actively and effectively.
For example: imagine that when you were little on a trip to the mountains you fell and hurt yourself. This was a traumatic experience for a small child, which was hidden somewhere in your unconscious. Ayahuasca consumers would argue that, in this specific case, taking it could clearly show you that memory and, now that your mind is adult and mature, it is capable of putting it in its place. This childhood trauma would be judged by our adult thinking seeing that it wasn’t a big deal and that that would be the explanation why today you don’t like nature or heights at all.
However, what often happens is that the memory that surfaces is not so simple. After taking ayahuasca, intense episodes of all kinds of memories, experiences, sensations and emotions appear that help us see what is the cause of our life problems, what is not working in our partner or if we were victims of some type of abuse in our tender childhood.
It is not a drug for fun or a pleasant taste. In ayahuasca ceremonies there are unpleasant sensations, since the journey made with them is often not pleasant at all. However, those who use it affirm that it is a very powerful tool to reconnect with oneself, to get rid of those repressed emotions, thoughts and memories that prevent us from being happy and to discover a plane of existence that cannot be accessed from the earthly plane.
How is the ceremony done?
Each shaman has his own method. Nevertheless, In most ayahuasca ceremonies we can see a series of common steps that facilitate, according to their practitioners, introspection and the release of traumas and memories entrenched in the depths of their mind.
As many people as you want can participate in these ceremonies, but it is ideal to do so in small groups. There are shamans who do sessions with seven people and others with up to 25. It all depends on their experience and ability to manage any problem that arises while their visitors manifest the effects of ayahuasca.
The ritual is usually held in closed spaces, ideal in case there is any inconvenience These spaces must be enabled so that they are pleasant, clean and spacious. In the room there are musical instruments, pieces of ayahuasca vine and any tools that the shaman considers necessary to carry out the ceremony. Participants should wear comfortable clothing, usually offered by the shaman or retreat leaders in charge of the ayahuasca ceremonies.
Each participant will be placed on a mattress, mat or rug, sitting in the lotus position and waiting for the ritual to begin. It is essential to give each attendee a roll of toilet paper and a plastic bucket or basin, since there are many things that the human body can expel after having ingested ayahuasca.
1. Start of the ceremony
The shaman places himself in the middle of the room and prepares for the beginning of the ritual, but not before explaining in a very specific way what is going to happen Participants should know from the beginning that they are preparing for a very emotionally intense situation, in which they will release many things. This is both in a literal and figurative sense, since with the concoction not only emotions are released.
The ayahuasca plant has very intense effects on the human body. Shamans attribute purification powers to it and, it is not surprising because, by taking it, the body purges itself: excessive sweating, tearing, excessive urination and excretion and vomiting, a lot of vomiting. It is mainly for this reason that a cube is placed next to each attendee so they can release everything they need without making too much of a mess.
The effects of ayahuasca make people see clearly what they are expelling, their traumas or blockages, which they are getting rid of and leaving with their vomiting and tears. One may see in their vomit the metaphorical brick that represents their repression, another that their tears represent all the suffering that they have kept silent about during years of mistreatment. This step is unpleasant, but shamans assure that relief comes immediately.
Before starting the ceremony, Shamans recommend that no one panic if their trip gets out of control That is rare, although it is still a possibility. Good shamans who are experts in ayahuasca ceremonies have, or so they say, tools to re-center anyone who feels too bad. However, they also warn that to feel better than ever, it is first necessary to spend a very uncomfortable time, each person facing their own fears. You have to let the medicine work, something that is never easy or comfortable.
2. Harmal and the God Molecule
Curiously, the first thing taken in the ayahuasca ceremony is not that concoction, but a little bit of another drink that is based on the harmal or alharma plant (Peganum harmala). You drink because acts as an inhibitor of an enzyme in the human body that blocks dimethyltryptamine (DMT) the component of ayahuasca that causes hallucinations and which many call “the molecule of God.”
The shaman gives each assistant a little bit of this harmal drink. In principle, this concoction has no physical effect, other than making the DMT in ayahuasca take effect. It doesn’t taste good. There are those who say that it serves to relax a little before reaching the intense part of the ceremony. This concoction takes about ten minutes to take effect this period of time being the time necessary to begin the ceremony itself.
3. First intake of ayahuasca
What the shamans do from this point on is turn off the lights and light candles. With the ayahuasca bottle in his hand, the shaman Light a cigarette made from a tobacco plant and blow the smoke into the mouth of the bottle She stands up and says prayers facing the four cardinal points. The prayers are very varied, depending on the culture of the shaman and the religious current he follows. Their theme can be about the spirits of Mother Nature, fire and water, the protection of the golden hummingbird or the power of the jaguar.
It is normal that when the effects of the drug begin, more or less after thirty minutes, each participant rests on their mat and dedicates themselves to introspection. While the attendees huddle in their blankets and try to feel safe, at this point the shaman who leads the ceremony begins to sing the icaros, sacred compositions with a very repetitive rhythm that constantly allude to ayahuasca and other sacred and medicinal plants of the Amazon. Animals, spirits, and the healing power of the ritual are also mentioned. They help you relax.
But relaxation is interrupted by the effects of powerful ayahuasca It is at this moment when the first vomiting, cold sweats and an extreme need to go to the bathroom begin. The attendees greatly need to empty their bowels, so it’s time to use the bucket. This is normal within the context of the ayahuasca ceremony and the shaman on duty will not stop in his chants while the attendees are purging themselves, both in body and spirit.
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4. Second shot of ayahuasca
After an hour, it is time to take the ayahuasca for the second time. After this second shot the shaman can play instruments to generate a greater atmosphere of solemnity and self-reflection in the participants There can be emotions of all kinds: fear, anxiety, sadness, euphoria… The images that pass through the minds of ayahuasca consumers are of all types of form and content.
The experiences throughout the ayahuasca session can be very varied. Feeling like you are a character in a video game, remembering an argument with your late husband, remembering how you fell off your bike when you were 5 years old, re-experiencing abuse from a school teacher… all with a greater or lesser degree of realism, bright colors, almost otherworldly experiences.
After all these emotional experiences, comes calm and the end of the ceremony. The effects after this episode are usually mild, no more than those of a common alcohol hangover. In fact, the degree of lucidity and physical and emotional well-being of the attendees becomes so high that They usually talk about what they have experienced during the ceremony The ritual is concluded when the participants are all calm with themselves.
Ayahuasca is not for everyone
Although the experiences of many ayahuasca consumers seem to be positive, helping them reconcile with a part of themselves and helping them overcome problems from the past that they did not even remember, we must not forget that it is a drug. No matter how natural it may be, its consumption is no more advisable than going to psychotherapy and opting for true psychological treatments.
But for now Its consumption cannot be recommended given its real risks , which exceed the apparent therapeutic powers. Ayahuasca is not suitable for everyone. It is known that it can cause severe and irreversible psychotic symptoms, mostly in people with a history of psychopathology such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.
Taking ayahuasca is incompatible with taking psychotropic drugs such as antidepressants and anxiolytics, and not recommended combined with any pharmacy medication.
This recommendation does not mean that ayahuasca does not have true therapeutic effects, but there is still not enough scientific information to obtain safe therapeutic benefits from it. Their research is promising because, as with the cannabis plant, if it were able to extract its therapeutic active ingredients it would be used to manufacture useful drugs to combat mental disorders and psychological problems such as depression, anxiety or addictions.
