Ayahuasca, Spiritual Cleansing, Enlightenment, and Change

Ayahuasca, Spiritual Cleansing, Enlightenment, and Change

Hello everyone,

After watching the DVD, "The Pharmacratic Inquisition 2007" I have been very interested in Amanita muscaria (the mushroom), its effects on the mind and consciousness, and basically wanting to experience it myself. I have never tried any "drugs" my entire life, including pot, so I have nothing to compare an experience of DMT (the active alkaloid). After researching on the web I came across what is known as Ayahuasca. Wow. Again I say...wow.

So I've been looking into this amazing plant drink used by the Amazonian Rainforest Shamans. In doing so I found this wonderful blog by Bernhard (http://www.myspace.com/bguenther) called "Ayahuasca and Machu Picchu" and wanted to share it with you all. Please read it. It is amazing. One of my main goals now is to go on a journey like Bernard and experience the healing and consciousness-opening effects of Ayahuasca. Here is the blog:

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=2065889&blogID=162771346

Ayahuasca and Machu Picchu

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Ayahuasca and Machu Picchu

So it's been about three weeks since I came back from Peru. It took me some time to re-adjust and I'm still "there", not in Peru but in that state of mind I've experienced on my ayahuasca journey on the last weekend in Peru.
It's very interesting, to say the least. I knew the journey (inner and outer) would be profound but it was beyond my expectations and the transformation I've gone through seems more far-reaching than I can intellectually grasp at this point.
It is as if my whole being has been re-arranged from the inside out, as I'm floating on this cloud of complete contentment and love and being very grounded at the same time.

It was a group of total 12 people plus the group leader Hala, an excellent yoga teacher...which makes it a total of 13 people, a sacred number by "coincidence". We flew over Lima to Cusco, then we got picked up by a bus who took us to a little village close to Pisaq called Calca. That's where the retreat was, hidden in the sacred valley, protected by the majestic Andes and a beautiful waterfall. The energy of this place was breathtaking. It took me a couple of days to get adjusted to the altitude but after that I was just in a continuous state of awe. The retreat is owned by the wonderful Mama Kia, a native american woman in her late sixties, who came to Peru 8 years ago, realized that no one was taking care of the many homeless and parentless children in the villages outside of Cusco and decided to take care of them. Through her vision, intent and dedication she raised money, got support and built an orphanage just outside of Calca. Today about 30 children live on this beautiful estate.
The retreat, where we stayed at, is a couple of miles away from the orphanage and serves as an income source for the homeless kids.
It also is a beautiful place with the main house, a huge garden, and big Teepees where we slept. For ten days, every day, we did yoga in the morning, had organic vegetarian food (straight form the garden, homegrown) cooked by Kia's daughter Leisha and went on hikes to the different sacred sites in the valle sagrado de los incas.
We all spent one day at the orphanage with the kids and I got to play soccer with them, which they loved. Some of the boys' rooms looked like mine used to look, with posters of soccer players all over. The kids especially dig Rhonaldinio and Eto from FC Barcelona these days.
Mama Kia is also the midwife for Woody Harrelson's children and he is one of the main sponsors of the orphanage.

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Then there is Machu Picchu. Well, what can I say, one has to see and experience it in order to grasp the intensity and magic of it. We stayed two days there. The first day we got up at 4am and hiked up to Machu Picchu at night. It was a full moon. It took us about 3 hours , quite a steep and tough hike, and we reached Machu Picchu right at sunrise.
The whole two days at Machu Picchu are beyond words for me. Mama Kia hooked us up with the local Shaman, who gave us the non-tourist tour, leading us to sacred sites in the jungle close to Machu Picchu, performing rituals in the honor of Pacha Mama (one ceremony including chanting and prayers to honor Mother Earth lasted for two hours and was one of the most touching experiences I ever had), talking about the Inca prophecies, the time of transformation we're in right now, hinting at the similarities to the Mayan culture, the "moving lights" at night over Machu Picchu, how the Inca's were looking for the 4th dimension, and other mysteries the official tour guides don't dare to talk about, as it would disturb the official crap we get spoon fed in school. No doubt this ancient culture was far more sophisticated than mainstream archaeology likes to make us believe. One just needs to look at the ruins and with a little background in sacred geometry and understanding the power of vortexes one realizes that Machu Picchu (however they built it...a mystery in itself) wasn't built by the Inca's because of the nice view.
Time didn't make sense while being there. It didn't seem to pass at all. Everything slowed down. I found some nice spots in the ruins, off the path (and surely not allowed), for meditation. Again, I cannot put into words the energy and power, the love and bliss I experienced during this time. My pendulum was circling in the biggest circles I've ever seen it move, confirming the high energy of this place.
Cucho, our shaman, also does San Pedro ceremonies on full moons at Machu Picchu. Hala, our group leader, did it last year she was there. Of course it is officially not allowed to be at Machu Picchu at night, but there are ways to hide out until the guards are gone and then meet up again and perform the ritual in the Temple of the Moon. San Pedro on Machu Picchu at a full moon sounds like an experience I surely want to do when I'm back again. However , this time, we decided against it, since we were having our Ayahuasca ceremony in a couple of days.

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After ten days of yoga, organic vegetarian food and meditating at sacred sites, the night of our ayahuasca ceremony has finally arrived. Everyone was excited (and nervous) to say the least. Some of the people who decided to do it never even had smoked pot before. Diego, our shaman took his time to explain to everyone the "basics". First and all he said, Ayahuasca is a medicine, nothing more or less, a powerful one, but it's that, a medicine, and used for healing, deep healing. He went over the details of the ceremony and then everybody had time to talk to Diego personal, ask him questions, etc. When I sat down to talk to him, the most striking aspect about him were his eyes, I've never seen eyes of such depth and light. There were no boundaries or walls, no pretense or judgment, just pure love was coming trough them. I've never seen eyes of such openness. It was breath taking.
I tried not to get lost in them and told him a bit about my experiences on psilocybin and DMT, which he commented :" DMT is fun but it only lasts about five minutes. How about five hours of of that journey?".....only later would I understand the intensity of that comment.

Then it was time. It was evening around 9pm and we went into the Teepee close to the waterfall. Everyone got blankets and sleeping bags (the nights are cold in Peru, especially on an altitude of 12000 feet). Diego and his wife Milagros (their baby was sleeping in the main house) conducted the ceremony. We all sat against the wall of the Tee pee, a bucket (for obvious reasons) next to each of us. He lit up a candle, saying the ceremony starts when he blows off the candle and it is over when he lights it again.
One by one everyone came up to Diego as he looked into one's eyes and then decided the amount he would pour into the cup. I was second to last. Again, when I looked into his eyes, there was this profound connection I felt. I nodded and so did he as he filled up my cup.......all the way to the top.
I made my intentions for the journey. It took a lot of gulps to finish it all. To my surprise I didn't think the taste was that bad. However, at his suggestion, I chew a coca leaf right afterwards as I made my way back to my place. After the last person got the medicine he blew out the candle. And so we were all sitting there in complete darkness, waiting for the effects to come in.
At first, as usual in my in my entheogenic sessions, I didn't feel anything for the first half hour, wondering if I got the right dose. The ego being un-patient. Meanwhile it starts to hit the ones who got the medicine first.
One of the girls starts moaning and crying in quite a disturbing way, the sounds she was making where quite sexual in a way, in a dark twisted way. No doubt she was confronting her shadow as the medicine worked through her. At this point Diego started playing his guitar and he and his wife sang the ayahuasca songs which are songs of love and healing. Next thing I hear is the girl throwing up into her bucket, but it was not your usual throw-up. The sounds she was making were otherworldly and deep, as if she was possessed by an entity which was being exorcised. Slowly everyone started to feel the medicine and other people (in particular the women) started to moan, throw up and let the medicine do its work. I'm usually not used to do these journeys with so many people and many of them processing intensely, so I felt a bit uneasy, thinking "this is going get nuts, especially the ones who have never experienced anything like that before". Still , the medicine had no effect on me yet. I needed to take a leak, so I stepped outside the Teepee. The moment I got up I felt it hitting me hard. Very unexpected. It was difficult to walk but I made it outside. As the ayahuasca brew was working through my body, the universe opened up and looking at the stars was breathtaking as they morphed into geometric patterns. I looked at the plants and they literally seemed to look at me. I could see and feel their aliveness, their consciousness. I had to piss very badly. I saw this rock and it was very much alive. Pardon me, I said, but I need to take a leak and as I released as it hit me even more. The plants seemed to move and turn at me, observing me. The stillness was breathtaking. It came on stronger and stronger. Finally I felt it deep inside and I started to gag. Here we go, I thought, as I purged and threw up. However, the most amazing thing happened. Nothing physical came out, no substance. Instead I saw energy coming out my mouth, energy in form of huge, oversized, bizarre insects. One by one they fell onto the ground and dissolved. After the purge I felt so relieved, as if I've let go of a huge weight. I felt energized. The medicine became stronger and stronger. Slowly I made my way back to the Teepee, to the sounds of cleansing and moaning of ecstasy and shadow work. Not being able to stand anymore, I crawled to my spot, covered myself in my blanket and closed my eyes, listening to the beautiful music and voice of Diego and Milagros. Their songs served like a save harbor to listen to if one gets lost in the ayahuasca world. So far the journey felt quite familiar. Having done DMT (the psychoactive Substance in Ayahuasca) in the past, the visuals and the feeling felt familiar, however, it was more intense and it became stronger and stronger. I remember Diego responding to my DMT experiences "how about five hours of that experience?". All of a sudden I realized, almost in panic, the weight of that statement. Five hours? Am I going to be able to handle this? Five minutes, no problem, but five hours?
As the medicine worked on me and in me, I got pushed out far into hyperspace, loosing complete control and sensation of my physical body, only experiencing myself as pure energy floating in this universe of colors and shapes, all of them projecting a higher intelligence, almost like an extraterrestrial intelligence that guided me through this maze. At one point it seemed I had a blackout and felt like it was getting too much, too much to handle. Fear set in. Not a good thing. All of a sudden there was fear of not coming back, of finally having crossed over for good and staying in this confused sate of mind, which I can only describe as a psychedelic hurricane.
However, my past experiences on DMT and psilocybin have taught me to find the way back. So I was able to look at that fear more objectively and there I could see that it was up to me to create the experience, just as we creat our own reality. It was a fine line between giving into fear and panic or just to let go and ride it out, surrender to whatever may come. I was able to choose the latter. It was a conscious choice. The second I did, I started gagging again, as I grabbed my bucket and purged loudly. Again, no physical substance came out but I saw blocks of energy dropping into my bucket. I felt so relieved and took a deep breath , letting it out with a sigh. Whatever was inside of me giving me a hard time has been released. I regained myself, the intensity lessened a bit and I could relax into it, feeling the medicine working through me from the toes to my head and back and through. It came in waves. The intelligence of it was profound, as if I was being examined, broken apart and re-arranged, molecule by molecule. The visuals were so beautiful, like nothing I've ever seen before.
And then Mama Kia started to sing, one of her native american songs. Her voice was so beautiful, and the words (although I didn't understand them) touched me on a deep level, soothing me and guiding me through my healing process. I felt deep love emanating form my heart center, spreading over my whole body and from that moment I was in a sate of complete bliss, love and ecstasy for the next four hours. I was able to open my eyes, looking at the geometric spheres dancing in front of me. I looked across the room to Mama Kia and she was covered in layers of light, each of them a different color and density it seemed. As she was singing, colors were coming out of her mouth. Her face was covered with inca-like patterns and there were geometric spheres (resembling different forms of Metatron's Cube) hovering over her head and in front of her third eye. As I looked at her in awe and with love I realized that she resembled the archetype of a mother, pachamama in human form, pure feminine nurturing energy. It was quite profound and the love I experienced was almost too much to handle. I was warm, the heat was coming from within. I didn't need a blanket and it was about 40 degrees Fahrenheit. For the next hours I just soaked in the ocean of bliss to the songs by Diego, Milagros and Mama Kia, as I hummed along, just enjoying Being.
The moaning and darker episodes slowly vanished as well and we all met in the light. After 4 hours, as the medicine slowly lessened in intensity, Diego lit the candle, officially ending the ceremony.
Most of us were still "there" as we embraced each other with hugs and kisses and laid cuddled together for another couple of hours.
Funny thing was, for me it just didn't end. I never felt I was coming down. Even when we went to the main house and others started eating, food was the furthest away from my mind. Each time I closed my eyes, I could transport myself back to that visual maze. I did some yoga which felt like heaven and helped to move the energy around. Finally I got to embrace Diego and thanked him for the ceremony. He told me about his different Ayahuasca recipes and how to extract Mescaline from the San Pedro cactus as well has his experience of an ayahuasca experience in the jungle where they do five times ayahuasca in seven days on a special diet. No playing around there. While he was telling me that I still was pretty much tripping, even hours after the ceremony was over. He then told me, not to my surprise, that he has given me, himself and his wife the strongest dose. No wonder I was not "back" yet.
And I didn't really wanted to come back either...lol!....well....what can I say, I kinda got what I wished for, because ever since that journey, even three weeks after it, I still feel the medicine, no visuals or that intense. However, this deep feeling of contentment and love is still within me and I feel energized, having been healed on a very deep level. I also feel very connected to nature, like never before. Animals seem to come up to me even more trusting than before. I always had a good relationship with the animal kingdom, but this time the connection seems even more apparent.
Many people who took part at the ceremony feel the same, as we kept in touch afterwards, some even look physical younger, with lesser wrinkles, seriously.
Diego said that one good ayahuasca ceremony is worthwhile 50 years of psychotherapy work. No kidding. It's like a re-birth. And it's not like the western approach of medicine where everyone is looking for the "happy pill"
Ayahuasca is work, deep work and one will get confronted with his/her shadow and Unconscious. But that is true healing, as Carl Gustav Jung puts it :
"One doesn't become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious".

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So I'm back here in beautiful Topanga, under the trees, next to a creek, watching some Coyote puppies play with each other and a raccoon family climbing up the tree next to my house. I'm grateful to be alive, for this life, for this experience. I'm looking forward to apply what I've learned and experienced into my work as a healer and bodyworker. The people I've worked on so far already noticed change in my energy, as I'm giving my best let the medicine work through them as well.
Funny thing is, I don't miss Peru that much. It seems whatever I experienced there is within me, no matter where I am. But in any way, I made great friends over there and I'll be back next year, looking forward to learn more from Diego and ayahuasca, to see Mama Kia again (she'll be in LA in November for a fundraiser) and do some volunteer work at the orphanage, playing soccer with the wonderful kids.
On a note, the people I've met over there, the locals and families are the nicest and humblest human beings I have encountered in a long time.
Simple and what we would consider "poor" in materialistic terms, however rich in love and very content. Not that they don't have their own problems and set back, however, their whole live is based on the connection to mother earth, pachamama, and that alone takes care of most the problems we face in the "modern" world. Instead of forcing on them our world view, we should come back from our ego horse of "knowing better" and learn from them.
And ayahuasca is a powerful teacher. I can only recommend to take some lessons from her. She's a female, no doubt.

I feel this song by TOOL summarizes the medicine journey we all went through, for some more intense than for others.

"My shadow's shedding skin I've been picking my scabs again.
I've been crawling on my belly clearing out what could've been I've been wallowing in my own chaotic and insecure delusions.

I wanna feel the change consume me, feel the outside turning in.
I wanna feel the metamorphosis and cleansing I've endured within my shadow. Change is coming. Now is my time. Listen to my muscle memory.
Contemplate what I've been clinging to. Forty-six and two ahead of me.

I choose to live and to grow, take and give and to move, learn and love and to cry, kill and die and to be paranoid and to lie, hate and fear and to do what it takes to move through.
I choose to live and to lie, kill and give and to die, learn and love and to do what it takes to step through.

See my shadow changing, stretching up and over me soften this old armor. hoping I can clear the way by stepping through my shadow, coming out the other side. Step into the shadow. Forty six and two are just ahead of me."

-TOOL "46&2"

for more pics go to http://bernhardguenther.com/Peru2006/Peru2006.html

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Comments from MySpace:


kevin:

Wow! You continue to amaze me! I love what you`re doing! Thank you SO much!


Queen of Night:

Yes, she is female! And let me tell you, if you get to do Ayahuasca, make sure you do some cleansing before hand and go into it with as clear a body as possible...otherwise she'll kick your ass. The clearer you are psychically and physically, the deeper she can penetrate and awaken you on a DNA level. By far the greatest teacher and mirror I've ever had is this medicine.