Has anyone done an ayahuasca ceremony?

I'm not saying you're wrong when it comes to using certain substances (heroine, meth, cocaine) at all. And abusing other substances, I mostly mean psychedelics, I recognize they can be very dangerous when used recklessly or for anyone who has family members with or a history of mental illness. But have you seen any of the studies about how much MDMA and psilocybin can help with PTSD and depression? Or how LSD can help with overcoming alcoholism and other addictions? What do you think about these studies?

 

Yeah I know they're only given a small amount of MDMA, I'm not saying it's a good idea to go to a rave and ask some weirdo for ecstasy. Also did you research any of the lsd and psilocybin stuff or did you just automatically decide "no that's dumb. I know best of all"? And while personally I love a good conspiracy, how would the researchers profit from telling us that there's positive sides to certain psychedelic substances?

 

I may vary well be wrong because this is pulling up a memory from very long ago. I believe I recall reading that back in the day when LSD was legal researchers in the UK were having some success treating paranoid schizophrenics with it. When it was about be banned they begged the government authorities not schedule it to ban research as well. No such luck.

 

That's interesting. I've never heard of that before.

 

Hi, interesting topic, I like to share my story.
I have done ayahuasca once, and shrooms multiple times. To be honest, the ayahuasca didnt have much effect on me, maybe because i was a lot younger (early twenties) back then.. however in my experience mushrooms are very potent and have strong effects, and with every substance.. it depends on dosage.
Also, back then (7-8 years ago) I did shrooms a couple of times with friends, but the whole intention and mindset was more "just to experience" and looking back, i was too naive and immature at the time. It resulted in either "tripping balls" and just laughing and feeling loose, or frightening bad trip experiences. Later on i lost my interest..
However.. a while ago.. i was getting more into self improvement material and mindset, and that's when shrooms catched my attention again. I read a lot about it, and decided to experiment again with it, starting with very low dosages, not for recreation purposes (i had other addictions at the time.. just for the high/recreation) but this time with a mindset for therapeutic/self improvement/spiritual reasons, not just for a pleasurable feeling. I ate them very slowly.. whilst doing relaxed breathing.. meditation.. some incence.. candle burning, getting very relaxed, writing things down on paper, you get the idea.
Im not gonna lie, these experiences have been life changing to me, in the way that i had some issues and beliefs from the past (from a very influential crazy person in my life when i was young, a "spiritual" friend of my parents who did a mindfuck when i was young so to say).. which still had a very negative influence to me later in life (i already dropped a lot of those weird ideas.. however then i went in opposite direction, like some rebellious lifestyle, so i was actually still affected by these ideas, i just thought i lost them, but it was like an anti reaction (comparable to someone who is raised very religious and sexually restrictive for example, and then completely goes the other way, sexually completely loose... i would argue that that person hasnt found themselves yet, but is more like an "anti reaction" maybe). Long story short, in early years, I was raised with all kinds of weird beliefs, and during the shroom experiences i saw how these ideas and beliefs were holding me back... i experienced life and language from a totally different angle so to say. I understood a lot better, what had happened to me when i was younger, and why certain "spiritual" beliefs i had were false and were messing me up. As a child i went vegetarian (before all the crazy bs) but during later life i ate a ton load of meat, and during a shroom experience i strongly felt that consuming meat is not a good habit, almost felt like getting back to a "pure childhood me".. it has been very benificial to get rid of my addictions (i was smoking during a trip, and i felt the pain in my lungs way more strongly than when i normally smoked and instinctively i put the cig aside, i felt really stupid for hurting my own body by smoking).. from that point i lost my interest in this habit of self harm, smoking.
I have to add.. not all my experiences were smooth rides.. i also had some very confusing "trips" where i felt very confused.. but also experiences where it helped to open up more emotionally so to say.. i cried.. but was actually happy about that, because before.. i wasnt able to feel.. i was too blocked emotionally before.

Just 1 word of serious caution.. i have experimented with different dosages.. and one time on a high dosage it could have gone dangerous.. not because of a bad trip or feeling bad that time.. but because it almost made me lose control, and ended up in situations where things could have gone wrong terribly (accidents), because this 3d reality didnt feel so real anymore.. for example these stories about people jumping out of a window.. things can get very tricky, and one could make dangerous decisions during these moments, this is especially true for higher dosages of course.
So as long as you are using with the right intention, willing to "go/accept with the flow" (if you resist its effects, it can become a very heavy struggle.. you gotta be able to let it happen..), be very careful with dosages, and have some safety measures (for example a sober person who is availabe if there is any help needed), so that you wont take this 3d reality lightly or make any impulsive action.. the chances of danger should be reduced a lot thia. Personally, i have benefitted a lot, but feel no need now anytime soon to experiment again, because i feel like it helped me to gain insights, and using those insights to live a better life(style):good self care, leaving addictions behind, leaving old thought patterns and issues from the past behind. But also.. of course it depends a lot on the person, everyone is different, but all your senses, thoughts, feelings can become intensified.. And it can bring about some very unpredictable effects and feelings.. in the worst case that it feels that yourself/your mind/thoughts is completely taken over by another entity, which could lead to dangerous behaviour (not because of feeling bad or affraid per se, but just because it feels like "you" are not the one in control anymore, compared to some kind of dream state of confusion). So yeah, everyones journeys and experiences are different, and even though i experienced it.. it still remains a mystery to me, its also hard to describe, but if you are interested in experimenting, just be very respecting to the shrooms, make sure you're in a right set and setting (preferably at home, or in nature, it feels hard to act normal on that stuff, not good with a mass of people around in a busy street lol), have a good friend (maybe who is on the background, not like a disturbing factor ) who can keep an eye on it.. so no impulsive actions are taken (for example.. i was at home, but during a trip i felt a very strong connection to nature, wanted to go outside, but it was late and dark, and things could work out fine, but also could end up totally wrong, one can litterally get lost in 5 minutes.. not knowing where you are, who you are, what has happened, completely losing sense of time, forgot that u even took shrooms, and just feel like completely helpless and going mental.. not understanding or knowing when or if it will ever end etc.
Can experience all kinds of cunfusions and weird sensations..
So yeah, its kind of a double edged sword, but i believe it can be very benificial for some, for me it was, i was on such a lost track in life, that at a certain moment i decided i could try some unorthodox methods ie mushrooms, but i almost had an accident 1 time on a high dose, because of losing the grip on 3d reality.. which made me way more cautious, but i also had some very helpful experiences and insights about issues which a few years of talking to a psychologist were not able to solve (at all)... it didnt solve everything, like everything turned to gold all of a sudden, but because of some different perspectives, i could implement some things from that in daily life, mostly (not realising what is truth, rather what is not truth, "was shaken off" in my case) getting different perspective and feelings about addiction recovery.. unlocking certain emotions.. i feel that because of these experiences it has brought me closer to myself, so im very thankful about that, but i want to stress that i almost had an accident on it one time, and also that some trips were not enlighting but more confusing and frightening.. its strange, potent stuff! If you do it, my advice would be defintely to start with very low threshold dosages, not rush anything at all.. oh and just one more thing, these lifestyle improvements and learnings didnt only come from shroom experiences of course, but also learning a lot from inspiring people (youtube, books) and from life experiences with work, collegues and such .
Grtz & peace!

 

Ah, dude, you went vegan?

You should have (respectfully) eaten that cow, man, sucks to be you! Hahah. Can totally relate to having excessive irrational empathy for living things, especially when hitting the acid, but every thing is a living thing, ffs. Plants. Rocks. Clouds. You name it. Oh well, at least you get away from dairy, which seems to be quite the alien and addictive substance. I have been on and off vegetarian most of my life and it was such a mistake. Eating more red meats recently has done way more for me than any anti-depressant medication ever, which would not be hard, but still.

Red meat is on the no-no list for the ayahuasca diet, so if you do not eat, it is one less thing to think about. Dairy is also on the list, which I struggled with last time, until ayahuasca made it clear during a ceremony, during a particularly rough patch, that my difficulties were largely due to the cheese I had still been sneaking in, and that it would be clearer, cleaner and less of a hard time if I went without. Only then did I get the message and was able to break that addiction and have stayed clear of it since then.

Here's a diet list from the temple website, which is very thorough and has heaps of great info. I highly recommend following the recommendations as closely as possible and above and beyond where practical. It will help you immensely, making what are already extremely difficult journeys, just that much less difficult to make it through:

https://templeofthewayoflight.org/integrating-ayahuasca/dietary-information/

If you feel called to aya, then it is less of a choice, and more of just something you do. The plant spirit/s call those who are ready to receive it.

Following my first proper impressions, if I could describe ayahuasca in 2 words it is this: Powerful Medicine.

I knew only vaguely of aya and had opportunities that I passed up for around 10 years before feeling called. During that time, it seemed far too strange and tbh scary, hard work, which of course it basically is. I was also far too busy partying and tinkering about with shrooms, acid, weed, nitrous, mdma, and later on speed and meth, which fucked me up more than anything. (the amphetamines, steer clear)

When the icaros came through, that was a turning point that enabled me to proceed with ceremonies for myself. Even without the medicine, these simple harmonic structures alone healed many layers of my being for several weeks. I would not advise setting off from the shores without them. They are truly wonderful. Hard won gifts from the spirits of the plants. They are like the sails on the ships of our minds, without which we would drift about aimlessly and even a little dangerously.

The ocean of mind is deeper, darker and far more mysterious than any amount of acid or mushrooms ever prepared me for. Aya really is another level, or series of levels, and bravery and courage are things you cannot have too much of. It takes so, so much. But rest assured, when all is said and done, and the aya ceremony is winding down, there is an unfailing sense of it all being worthwhile. A deep, deep peace, and a loving glow sets in, that lasts one to two weeks afterwards.

Myself, I was suicidal, morning and night for 6 weeks straight, before kicking off into a round of 3 aya ceremonies at a properly worked out dosage level (thanks trial and error, and Terence McKenna, you fucking legend) and it was enough to lift me up to a level above that. Not high as the sky, but in my everyday life, just enough above that I did not entertain thoughts of topping myself day in and day out.

I have found the experiences to be very alien and far less loving or talkative than the mushroom spirit so far, but I am still very much a novice and only just barely established a relationship with the vine and the leaf. Whereas with shrooms, I have had hundreds of experiences and know the spirit in them very well. I love her, and she loves me, is about all i can say there : )

Aya quite plainly kicked my fucking arse. Many times. Far more brutally and powerfully than I knew was possible. Yes, the type of head stomping that can only occur in hyperspace. Outside the confines or ordinary time and space. Escape? Forget it. Struggle? You probably will, though it never helps. Learn to steer? You would hope so. Some places are outright terrifying, and not just witnessed, but felt on a cosmic scale. Up there with my most severe and off planet acid and shrooms trips and overdoses. I have never prayed for my life so sincerely. Singing and breathing are skills of the highest immediate value, and help to keep the energy flowing and moving faster.

The visions; I have found to be alien when there, and largely not there much at all. If and when they are present, there is often no sense to be made and no emphasis to be placed on them. It is very much more about the feeling, which has taken me around 7 - 8 decent ceremonies to learn. Enough with the vision chasing, boy. They say the spirit is female, though she has been very quiet and largely not spoken to me, at least not in the open, amusing, loving and mind blowing ways that psilocybin dialogues occur. I have accepted this to the point where I began to wonder if perhaps aya was 'not for me', yet deep down knew that hard work had to be done, and that I was not getting out of it so easily.

And so I intend to follow the path and trust, doing 3 - 4 ceremonies in a row, spaced 6 months apart. This is about as much as I can bare to enter into such deep, meaningful waters and carry myself energetically. I like to think it is because I cannot afford to do more, or cannot fit more in to my fairly lazy life, but the truth is, it scares the fucking shit out of me every time I intend to drink. It takes every bit of my strength and courage, and is more real than real. When it's all happening and you are out in the deep waters, clutching nothing but the tiny thread of an icaro, calling you home and pulling you through the darkness. You get humility by the bucket load. And occasionally, other things by the bucket load. (purging, seems to happen to everyone at some point)

It is a gift and a blessing to work with this medicine, and it commands the utmost respect. I respect mushrooms a great deal, but have never gone to the extent of setting aside 24 hours for uninterrupted ceremony, dieting for weeks in advance, getting clean from prescription drugs for years in advance, paying so much care and attention to set and setting and not least of which to the integration work that follows. This is the next main reason for spacing ceremonies 6 months apart, as it takes about as long to implement teachings into my life in a way that I feel honours both myself and the medicine.

Intention - My intentions are always very simple: To heal and to learn.

peace : )

 

Amusing note: For some reason I found this thread by searching the forums for: Pain In My Balls

Also, when you are deep in ceremony, it is very obvious that no pmo is a great and wonderful practice to be involved in. Both you and the medicine seem to appreciate it.

 

Reality is a crutch for people who can't handle drugs.

Then it is (not only obvious, but) indeed fair to say that you have no idea what you are talking about. If you really were grown up as you say, you would not feel the need to comment on topics that you have no actual experience with.

You sound like a 5 year old boy saying that everyone who has sex is dumb.

The only delusional one here is you.

Well done on beating your target of 6 days btw : )

 

Cool story bro.

 

God damn that article is so suggestive. Are they reporting on the personal fate of a young man or do they want to inform on ayahuasca? There are no statistics whatsoever, which makes me think they are just using this story to underline their opinion "drugs = bad" which they already had in advance. At least I get no reliable information out of it.

 

Wow! such an enlightened and spiritual post! I think my aura brightened from just reading it.

What? No patience and forgiveness for me?

 

If it's not a secret, could you tell us more about it please?
Or in PM, if that suits you better.

 

Sorry for my late reply! I do appreciate your appreciation . And its an amazing story you share here, thank you also!
All the best bro, peace !