Beware ye pilgrims who be messing with the sacred medicina!
It is well past time to call this out: real people ARE dying in ayahuasca ceremonies – and not all those deaths are accidental. The Vine of the Dead always came with a curse, so beware the cup you drink from!
For more insight to Ayahuasca; its safe use and abuses FOLLOW ME
This time it came by email:
Another one is dead. Hundreds are in trouble and they do not understand. Thousands have been lured into black magic!
There is war in the spiritual worlds, we are losing the trust of the Great Goddess.
Help us! We have no voice!
… this, from one of the leading healers using the powerful, psychotropic San Pedro cactus in all Ecuador. And the third such message to find me in three decades.
For the second time in all the years I have been working with traditional healers in the plant medicine world, I am stepping into this story to beg for caution and respect among those of you using sacred plant medicines for any reason.
On behalf of jungle healers and curranderos, I send this as a warning to the ‘ayahuasca community’, and all those seeking ‘ceremony’. The covenants are breached, the chemistry gone bad – the dark omens around the sacred plants of South America are well in force so beware the cup your drink from!
** ~ **
In late 2012, the 18-year-old body of American, Kyle Nolan, was scratched out of a shallow jungle grave in the remote jungle of Peru. The man who had hastily and secretly stuffed the corpse into the ground, shaman Jose Manuel Pineda, who also calls himself Maestro Mancoluto, was the same one who handed the troubled teen the dose of ayahuasca that led to to his lonely and unimaginable death.
But Kyle’s was not the first death in ayahuasca circles. And it certainly wasn’t the first to be lied about. Kyle Nolan, who went to Peru in search of direction, meaning and help in his young life, is most certainly not the last one who will die in a shamanic ‘healing’ ceremony.
Others have already, and many more will follow them as murder, mischief, abuse, injury and rape contaminate the so-called ‘ayahuasca community’.
British teen, Henry Miller, was found dumped by the side of a jungle road after paying 50 pounds to join a tourist 
adventure drinking the brew, yage, in Colombia in 2014. The gap year traveler is believed to have taken ill, been removed by the tribal ‘shaman’ and disposed of while the other tour members were kept out of sight. His story is reported by The Guardian here.
Two men died after consuming ayahuasca in a massive “purification” ceremony in the north of Colombia in 2011. Prosecutors said the two were part of a group of at least 80. They were said to have ‘passed out’ but when taken to hospital, believed to be ‘in trance’ doctors declared them to be dead.
A 71-year-old Canadian, Jane Maiangowi, died after being served ayahuasca by Ecuadorian shaman, Juan Uyunkar, in Canada. He was tried and given 150 hours of community service.
And Leslie Allison, a fit, vibrant young woman traveling in Ecuador suffered horrific injuries during an ayahuasca ceremony near Vilcabamba in Ecuador in 2016. She died in that ceremony, with many people watching. The cause and surrounding events remain unknown because even the other tourists there, Western participants, mostly refuse to speak up.
This is hardly surprising, given what is passing for normal in this, and other ‘medicine’ towns. You can see the sort of ‘club’ that prospers in places like this, here, in article about silence, secrecy and violence in Vilcabamba, and here, in a story about how the indigenous are persecuted for fighting back.
You can be pretty certain that here, as well as in most places where you can dabble in ‘sacred ceremony’, if things go wrong, NOBODY WILL HELP YOU! And if things go really badly wrong, you will be abandoned. This will likely be interpreted as a special experience for you to meet your angels, fate, karma, animal spirit, whatever….
In Leslie’s case, despite s0 many witnesses, her case remains unsolved and a close secret. What is known is that, on January 14th something went seriously wrong at a ceremony facilitated by persons of extremely dubious character and history from the afflicted gringo village of Vilcabamba.
These people were already known to have been involved in a myriad of misdeeds. Leslie was participating in some sort of shamanic ‘exercise’ by which she possibly received her fatal injuries and may have ultimately been left alone, suffering an agonizing death while others watched on. Some later said it had been beautiful. And that she had turned into a butterfly.
The shaman, Miguel Chiriap, a Shuar ‘healer’ who is feared by other medicine workers, and well-known across the region, refuses to comment and remains at large, pending investigations. His team did, however, post this comment on his website.
But Leslie’s case is what inspired long-time, highly trained and experienced workers with plant medicines to contact me in an appeal to get the word out – that things have gone very wrong. That even ancestral ayahuascaros are scared.
That it is possible that the plants and the spirits they summon have become malicious. That people are being ritualistically sacrificed. That there is a very dark story in the lucrative skirts of ‘ayahuasca tourism’ and its New Age shamanic cult.
In Kyle’s case, as in many others, the details were at first hidden. It is likely that other dead bodies remain undiscovered. And it is a fact that sexual abuse, possession and other serious problems are rife in ‘ceremonial’ circles.
After Kyle’s ceremony, no mention was made by anybody that the journey had gone bad, that Kyle was dead, or even missing. It wasn’t until the shy triplet failed to make his return flight to California that his family knew something was wrong. When his mother and sister flew to Peru to find him, they headed to the Shimbre Centre, 9 miles from Puerto Maldonado, where Kyle was last heard of, and were told, to their faces, by the men who had disposed of his dead body, that he was last seen wandering off into the jungle.
The shaman shrugged his shoulders.
The center owner, Roberto Velez, a derivatives broker from New York City, had been warned already that Maestro Mancoluto had gone maverick, that people were at risk, that the ayahuasca ceremonies were dangerous. But he just shook his head.
Crazy kid! Just… “wandered away, disconsolate, walking down the dirt road out, pulling his wheeled luggage.”
Mixed up Americans!
Yeah…… we get a lot of em.”
But that wasn’t how it went down.
After Peruvian police got involved Mancoluto broke. He fessed up to the death. He told authorities that he was a direct descendant of aliens from Mars, and had sent Kyle out into the jungle by night, under the effects of ayahuasca, to make a quest which he would oversee telepathicly from the shelter of his hut. He told them Kyle had died. He told them he had dragged his dead body out into the jungle to get rid of it. He took them to the shallow grave.
Velez closed the centre, though you can still see it online and apparently book a ‘transformational tour’ here. Maestro Mancoluto got 3 years’ probation for secretly burying a body, and who knows what hell Kyle’s family went through, but you can read a message from his dad, Sean Bruce Nolan, here.
Meanwhile, loud, apparently stupid, and unfathomably cruel people from the ‘ayahuasca community’ had a field day on social media, saying Kyle should have been more careful, being out in the jungle. If you follow the comments here, you can see how deluded and viscous this cult has become. You will likely see a similar thread following this story too.
Why? Easy. Money! Influence. Power. Those are the main reasons the ‘community’ so viciously defends itself, and why it is not more transparent.
And why do people even venture down this path? That’s easy too: because it works.
There is no doubt that ayauasca, its associated ceremonies, allied plants and ‘shamanic’ care do work. I can attest to it myself. And I have the medical evidence to prove it.
In 2008, by sheer accident, I ended up in the care of an ayahuasca healer – on advice of American medical doctors, after a 3-year health crisis that ended up as crippling arthritis, systemic swelling, loss of muscle mass, welts, depression and ‘irreversible’ joint deterioration, chronic fatigue, memory loss and extreme pain returned while I was at work in the Amazon.
The plant worker diagnosed me in hours, cured me in a week, and in nearly 10 years I have never had a remission, despite being assured by professors of Medicine from three different disciplines at three leading hospitals in Australia and the USA, that I would never be cured.
He never called himself a shaman. He made most of his earnings as a photocopy repair guy.
But this stuff works.
It works like a plane can fly – in the hands of a pilot, and not just in the hands of somebody who has, you know, flown alot. In the same way that getting a heart transplant does not make you an expert on doing a heart transplant. But that’s not what the new wave of ‘shaman’ seem to think. They propose that taking the plant medicines or hanging out with the powerful healers who use them actually entitles them to step up and market their own new powers, cashing in on the massive depression, addiction, illness and brag value of ‘ceremony’.
People – sensible people, hopeful people, and many vain and lost people – in their hundreds and thousands go to ayahuasca ceremonies all over the world – looking for cures for physical, emotional, spiritual and social pain. It is also why thousands of people ‘dressed’ as healers prey on their hopes and dollars, and why things are going extremely bad in the plant medicine scene.
But there are deeper, darker and more ancient reasons too. As the true plant workers themselves have warned, and as I have been asked to write about, to warn all of you playing with the plant medicines, or considering taking your own quest to seek their powers – the medicine is dangerous! She does not suffer disrespect.
The rules have been broken.
The sacred circles breached.
The goddess is on the warpath ~ and she is taking her revenge!
Not all of which will be deadly.
Shaman, several of whom made contact with me to ask me to write this, are all too well-aware that the powerful sacraments they have used for generations to heal, inspire, educate and initiate their communities are themselves alive. They are living liquids, alive with the intelligence and also the character of the Goddess – the prime creator. She has the face of an anaconda, and sometimes a puma. She has the body of a bird, and sometimes an alligator. She turns up as fairy, demon, devil or virgin, and she does not like to be messed with.
Ayahuasca, it is NO secret, has a relish for revenge.
And the curranderos who work with her include among her punishments for misuse, disrespect, or breach of etiquette such
things as madness, bad luck, confusion, accidents, delusions of grandeur, lustiness, perversion, sickness, and a headlong plunge into the sometimes hardtoputafingeron realm of the deadly sins; avarice, greed, sloth, lust, anger, pride. Surprisingly, perfectly correlating with the Christian and even Buddhist pathways to suffering and evil.
They say that while people posing as shaman, even if they really believe they have that gift, are putting others at severe physical risk. They are exposing them to a ferocity of magic, degradation of character, and profound spiritual violence. They warn of a psychic war well beyond what the Western imagination is prepared to cope with ~ no matter how many tattoos it boasts.
They say those who use the sacred medicines for profit, for cultivating beauty, influence, attention, power or the allegiance of other narcissistic energies or entities are making pacts with a force of darkness likely beyond their worst nightmares. And they are sucking everybody they work with down the same hell-hole. Let’s call it the A-hole.
In short, they warn there is a war over souls that has avalanched into ayahuasca circles, once a safe and scrupulously defended ritual ground.
They say that incompetent, uninitiated, power-focused imposters are being used by forces beyond their capacity to suck hundreds of thousands of unwitting souls into a dark spell of confusion, vanity and malice that is ignored as silly and hysterical and anti-competitive by the very same charlatans who got us into this mess.
You can take it or leave it. But I am here to warn you – not all is anything like what it even remotely seems in the fantastic, powerful, mysterious world of ritual ethnogen use. In the years’ of research I have made into plant medicine and the horrific emergence of the plant medicine tourism industry, and it’s twisted cousin, the New Age ayahuasca cult, I have heard countless stories of molestation, of terror, abuse, meddling with sacred recipes by adding speed, acid, mushrooms and alcohol to the mix, and stories of people fleeing ‘ceremonies’ in Bali, Australia and the US for fear of their lives or sanity.
If you believe these plants have the power to help you, then you need to consider that they are equally able to harm you – and the worst fate might not be death.
For those who have lost a child, sibling, loved one to the dark side of plant ceremony, there may be no greater loneliness. Cases are unreported, unpunished and ‘shaman’ are profoundly, gob-smackingly UNaccountable, despite their grand promises.
Here’s a simple case study of how some ‘shaman’ are created.
In 2009, American lawyer, runaway dad and pancreatic patient, Scott Fisher, (now selling himself as a ‘yoga teacher; in Wisconsin, USA) left his partner and one-year-old son secretly, overnight, to make a quest for health and vision in Peru.
He had been experiencing hostile encounters with aliens, sickness and loss of meaning. He had been profoundly addicted to pot for a long time. He indeed got well in Peru. He became strong, well and ambitious. He went to Australia where his vision for his life as a shaman and worker with plant medicines crystalized more and more as real employment began to seem less likely.
By 2015, Fisher had returned to Ecuador, where he did set himself up as a ‘shaman’ giving the hallucinatory cactus, San Pedro, to tourists and expats for US$50.
He was never trained by any shaman or even met an actual shaman. All his experience came from experimenting with recreational drugs, and associating with gringo-turned-shaman as a living. He was becoming increasingly remote, violent and paranoid. But he was making the threads of a living.
In that year I went with him to make ceremony, after having worked with plants and been healed and inspired by them for more than 2 decades, and had one of the most violent, miserable, dark experiences of my life.
Here are the images of what Scott looked like before and after the two years he got involved with entrepreneurs in the healing movement, and began working with plants – so judge for yourself. And know that it is not only those who take the medicine, but those who give it who put themselves in danger if they do not understand the boundaries.
What I want you to consider, and what many others with deep respect and confidence in the powers of ayahuasca and the other plant medicines is that there is no doubt that extremely dark and dangerous realities are afoot in the mystic realm.
You have been warned.
Take care.
Passionfruitcowgirl 
Thank you for your article!
I’ve been healed from my depressions by Ayahuasca and went to a retreat in Peru to get healing for some other health problems. Although the centre and the people there were very nice, I’ve had some very very dark and even traumatising nights, where dark spirits tried to lure me to “their side” by promising me money, power and “everything I could ever imagine” The shaman later said, that his centre was under attack from jealous Shamans. I don’t think he was deliberately “dark”, but I think, he got a bit lured away from the pure and good side, because he was a lot into money and I also think he enjoyed to be a powerful shaman. But obviously, he was not powerful enough to protect the tourists in his centre from dark forces. I still have the feeling, something dark is trying to block me from unfolding my spirituality and I’m trying to find ways to clean myself from it.
I think, Ayahuasca has great potential, when treated with respect and with the right intentions. You pointed it out very well.
We’ve had so many people come to us for help after or during an ayahusca adventure. The problem is always the same. The shamans used black magic to extort blind obedience, money, sex or free work out of innocent,ignorant participants.
The magic is extremely powerful and quite damaging on all levels -physically, mentally, energetically, emotionally and Spiritually.
One woman from California is so addicted to the ayahusca experience that she keeps participating in the ceremonies for the high and just pays us to clean out the black magic later. Crazy???
Yes, the Spirits are angry. They’re angry because the shamans are abusing Spiritual power for personal gain in a way that is very harmful to all.
Since so many of the comments are on various facebook threads, I am posting some here to preserve the conversation here, where it can be more easily found by all..
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Comments
Jesse Lee
Jesse Lee Jade Richardson, this is one of many reasons to always go to something where you might not be you for a while with someone who is capable of chilling and babysitting if possible 😉 however it would be a disservice to those whom are not ‘assholes’ (lets reserve fake for later) if we did not do a little more than post a scary article. “In late 2012” a couple deaths are deaths indeed but the inflammatory nature of the title of your post’s article implies that it’s a common (perhaps even more than average) occurrence to be raped or killed. and, as this place isn’t ripe with tales of the same, i can only think (even after reading the article) that this is just meant as inflammatory fuel.
if i might take a moment and say if you and yours personally experienced this and all you were thinking of is another’s safety then that’s nice, but one must also remember how one’s message is able to be received. most people do not listen to conspiracy theorists, so to be the only dissenting voice is hard, or even one of a minority can be hard.
With that in mind, would you have any specific tips, tools or skills, that one might be able to utilize to _help_ determine their retreat or shaman is not such a bad human?
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Ivan Vostlojevitsk
Ivan Vostlojevitsk There’s no such a thing as authentic healer. Just healers with good intentions and healers with not so good intentions and backthoughts. Happens everywhere where money or power is involved.
Like · Reply · 8 · 14 hrs
6 Replies · 6 hrs
Tor Ragnar Lodbrok
Tor Ragnar Lodbrok A really good read!!
Like · Reply · 3 · 14 hrs
Ivor Buckett
Ivor Buckett Interesting article
Like · Reply · 2 · 14 hrs
Erik Bullon
Erik Bullon plastic shamans and wikipedia experts looking to make a living of this,maggots in a rotten corpse
Like · Reply · 5 · 14 hrs
1 Reply
Eric Edwards
Eric Edwards Certainly true, but this article is a little misleading
Like · Reply · 2 · 13 hrs
Romeo Mationg Marquez Jr.
Romeo Mationg Marquez Jr. I adore the drama
Like · Reply · 2 · 13 hrs
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Pavel Chmátal
Pavel Chmátal It is truth that in place like Iquitos and Pucallpa 5-10% of medicine people trust and follow Medicine
Like · Reply · 13 hrs
Mitch Davis
Mitch Davis Jack Kimble Davis
Like · Reply · 1 · 13 hrs
Pavel Chmátal
Pavel Chmátal Do you have a contact for authors ?
Like · Reply · 1 · 13 hrs
Neil Lawrence Joy
Neil Lawrence Joy If a person were particularly concerned about such rare instances, then you could always opt to seek the sacred plant medicine in Brazil within the confines of the Santo Daime church or one of the other similar like organisations.. it would much likely be a better approach since this is a society of people whom worship the plant and cherish it’s wisdom,without any of the unknown influences of poverty, sin and or incompetence.Let’s just remember that the plant doesn’t lie to nobody.. Aho!!!!
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1 Reply
Helle Kaasik
Helle Kaasik All strong medicines can be dangerous if used improperly. No surprise that taking a strong psychoactive medicine of unknown dose and composition from a financially motivated stranger is not safe.
Unfortunately this article is one-sided and fear-mongering. Feeding paranoias about “revenge” and scaring people with ugly pictures does not do any good. After having received one’s healing with the help of ayahuasca one could promote positive use of it, not seek attention with scary stories.
Like · Reply · 10 · 12 hrs
5 Replies · 1 hr
Tor Ragnar Lodbrok
Tor Ragnar Lodbrok 👏 wise words
Like · Reply · 11 hrs
Howard Ferrer
Howard Ferrer Why do people take long trips to the jungle when you can do it here?
Like · Reply · 4 · 10 hrs
17 Replies · 2 hrs
Susan Raby-Dunne
Susan Raby-Dunne I just say what I always say, “Do your homework, or yer askin’ for it.”
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1 Reply
Manon Chamberland
Manon Chamberland Great article, Wise word….. won’t stop the fake/charlatan of this world and so on but Life will in due time….not mine to judge
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2 Replies · 10 hrs
Jonah Licquid
Jonah Licquid I will not deny any of this as that would be foolish I’m sure it happens and by no means am I blaming any when I say I feel the simple fact of matter is use common sense. This shouldn’t be a weekend thing this should be something you prepare for something you research and study as well as prepare yourself and get to know your shaman. Maybe it’s just a gift of mine but I’d like to believe it’s not when I say I can feel people out I won’t goes are far into auras but on a simplistic level I could sense if my shaman. Was good or evil and if he was evil or I felt just something was off other then the normal slight awkwardness of the moment I would not put myself in that moment to begin with and wait tell the time was right. This is something I personally need to do in my life and I feel that it will come when it’s right not when it’s convenient or I think it’s right, I will know it is
Like · Reply · 2 · 10 hrs
Susan Raby-Dunne
Susan Raby-Dunne I agree. Preparation is critical; diet, mental, emotional – and then researching where you’re going and who you will be with, in my case by word of mouth. I was thinking about taking Ayahuasca for about 25 years before I did it.
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1 Reply
David Villarruel
David Villarruel Not surprise and wont stop except something great happens. Ayahuasca is a channel where transit Good and Evil, so its part of life tha we have to cohabit with this kind of things.
Like · Reply · 1 · 9 hrs
Derek Snider
Derek Snider This article has a lot of misleading information. Yes, there have been some deaths, but I’m not sure if any of these deaths were from “standard” ayahuasca. Most involved other factors — the brew that Kyle Nolan had contained tropane alkaloids from brugmansia (aka toé), other brews, like the one that killed Jane Maiangowi had large amounts of tobacco leaves (nicotine overdose), and she had also been quite dehydrated from participating in a sweat lodge, some deaths attributed to ayahuasca in the media were actually from drinking purification brews of tobacco.
While I am certain that Grandmother Ayahuasca is not impressed with charlatan shamans misusing sacred medicine, I am not of the option that Her wrath is directed towards those seeking Her out rather than those desecrating Her.
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3 Replies · 51 mins
Federica Muller
Federica Muller It is super important to know your shaman, I have had the opportunity to know a few and the misfortune to see a ceremony go wrong where a shaman did indeed offer a soul. This was done secretly and we all watched, it was horrible. But what was more terrifying is that the person did struggle with madness until he had a car accident. He almost died, it’s a miracle he survived. The shaman went on to use his power to get two girls in bed with him, one of the girls went missing. There really is a war going on in the spiritual world, one where the fight must be done with light, good intentions and prayer. Ayahuasca gives you the power to know and each individual does with that what he pleases. The problem is the distribution of ayahuasca has gotten out of control. Shamans no longer hold the responsibility of the vine. I urge you to be careful.
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11 Replies · 1 hr
Jesse Lee
Jesse Lee never fear, you can only give what you choose. one ‘must’ never lose anything in any ceremony no matter the agent except that which one is willing to give
Like · Reply · 1 · 9 hrs
2 Replies · 9 hrs
Ted Morris
Ted Morris I’ve experience a lot of what you speak of, now I feel like I have a mark on my head from those Ayawaska Aliens…yea it feels like they are waiting for me on the other side…when I do ceremony of my own, I have to call on strong spirits to insure those bad ones leave..yes I’ld say there is some kind of psychic war going on that is much larger than anyone could imagine..I made it back in my waking life ok…but I will never take ayawaska again
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3 Replies · 48 mins
Meike Rieger
Meike Rieger Really????
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Gustavo Caldarelli
Gustavo Caldarelli It is public knowledge now that most known so called shamans are in the bizness for profit and fame
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1 Reply
Meike Rieger
Meike Rieger Shamanism is about Power. And most men cannot handle power as we also see in politics. So I can imagine what’s going on there. They should all study about what is real power and what isn’t. Real power is NOT raping a woman. Real Power is what kundalini yogis do or tibetan Buddhists.
Like · Reply · 1 · 9 hrs
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Eric Edwards
Eric Edwards And what was that ayahuasca cult following comment? That was what fucked with me the most
Like · Reply · 8 hrs
Enri Ventitre
Enri Ventitre
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Angel Majao
Angel Majao Hey dont slut shame Ayahuasca!!!
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1 Reply
Christian Gomez
Christian Gomez This is true. Some of us are working hard to flush out these predators
Like · Reply · 4 · 6 hrs
Tyler Gosnell
Tyler Gosnell Spiritual authority is an oxymoron. No one knows what’s in your head better than you do. If you absolutely have to take it with other people, take it only with those who you’ve known for a long period of time and have earned your trust.
Like · Reply · 2 · 2 hrs · Edited
Ted Morris
Ted Morris many of us are aware of male homosapien predators..but one should also be forewarned of the spiritual predators that one might encounter in ayahuasca experience, I have seen first hand many people arrive at a higher state through the medicine but I have also first hand seem someone who perminant lost their mind through the medicine…let me say I am not here to try and convince the atheist or purely psychological ayahuasca taker..but their are bad spirits out their in the aya world..as well as good..and some people do get taken by the bad..the worst advice I have ever seen is when some one has a horrible experience and their community tells them the solution is to keep taking the medicine to over power the ill experience…their is brain chemistry involved and brain chemestry is not dependant upon will power
Unlike · Reply · 2 · 1 hr
1 Reply
This subject is huge & many facets… I have been witness to many people’s ” hangover ” to their Ayahuasca adventurous discovery ceremonies….Many times my comment was well chalk that one down to experience & thank god your still here to tell me about your adventure!!.. As a qualified Medical Herbalist & registered nurse I have always stipulated & lectured on the subject of plant medicine isnt safe in the wrong hands…. just because your taking a natural medicinal plant doesnt mean it is safe!….I studied formally for 6 years in the herbal world some 20 years ago…each & everyday I learn something new about plants…such a vast diverse subject.. The best advice to give anyone about plant medicine is respect mother nature!!… Jade’s article is a brilliant touch of this truely freaky powerful plant & people’s “fascination” for Ayahuasca to try & conquer its power…. Brilliant insight!!
many of us are aware of male homosapien predators..but one should also be forewarned of the spiritual predators that one might encounter in ayahuasca experience, I have seen first hand many people arrive at a higher state through the medicine but I have also first hand seem someone who perminant lost their mind through the medicine…let me say I am not here to try and convince the atheist or purely psychological ayahuasca taker..but their are bad spirits out their in the aya world..as well as good..and some people do get taken by the bad..the worst advice I have ever seen is when some one has a horrible experience and their community tells them the solution is to keep taking the medicine to over power the ill experience…their is brain chemistry involved and brain chemestry is not dependant upon will power
It does not matter what community you go to to take it. Heed the warning..Daime whatever. The message is clear and true. I have been watching the circles here in the L.A. area for 4 years now.
Again the message is true.
Great Article filled with important truths..heeding this warning. I have witnessed some of these things in Los Angeles, over the past 4 years. It does not matter if it is Daime…heed the warnings.
GREAT ARTICLE! – Scott Lite, Ethnobotanist
From an Ecuadorian author and academic, JJJ – Question is why the majority of ayahuasca or san pedro users are americans?…I know that substance since i was a kid, here in Ecuador, but recently I can see waves and waves of american pilgrims dragged to the jungle to ayahuasca trips conducted for crooks dressed as “Chamanes”. Is there any info about the “real” thing and this fake trips?…and why you want to try it?…that is NOT for everyone, specially if you come from a city. That experience may get you killed.
And from another Ecuadorian, who knew Leslie Allison and is afraid to expose herself, but writes…. Again you nail it !! Being involved in this circles in my early youth, and after investigating the Chiriap’s and the other shamans involved in the death of my friend Leslie, the horrific injuries of her body and the level of secrecy, involving people in the government and high authorities covering out the event; I can say with no doubt she was sacrificed in this black magic ceremonies.
I feel a need to push back a bit on this article.
There are certainly problems with the growing use of Ayahuasca that include: unscrupulous guides, incompetent and/or untrained facilitators, uninformed participants, cultural miscues and mixed effects of ayahuaca “tourism”, commercialization and marketing, and much more.
Yet, Ayahuasca is not “taking her revenge”. There is no “being” named Ayahuasca. There is a plant admixture that humans produce. Our minds, bodies, hearts, and cultures are in relationship with that plant admixture. That relationship is varied given time, place, individuals and groups.
Sorcery and malevolence are not new to the relationship people have had with Ayahuasca. They have been part of the human experience in the Amazon and the rest of the world for a long time.
We can reify Ayahuasca into a specific image of a mother who heals, protects, takes revenge, facilitates murder or whatever. Yet, this is about us not the plants that make up the mixture.
Psilocybin is a similar case. A beautiful medicine yet not so beautiful when used by the ruling elite of the Triple Alliance (formerly called the Aztecs) in their class stratified culture that ritualized ripped out the living hearts of surrounding peoples they dominated and oppressed.
Psychedelics manifest our psyches. All the manifold aspects of our complexity. Pacha Mama, the Holy Mother, the Divine Feminine are very real aspects of the reality we inhabit. Yet, that can’t be easily quantified and qualified in our projections and reifications about Ayahuasca, other medicines, gurus and numerous personages.
Life is full of suffering and dissatisfaction in ways minor and tragic. There is a path of kindness, equanimity, wisdom, power, protection and beauty we can walk regardless of the vicissitudes and shadows we encounter. Reifying and deifying plants and personages won’t help us take the next steps (My view of course is just that. My view. Not the best, only or final word about anything).
People it is very simple.
Ayahuasca opens the doors. Psychically and energetically. It opens things by force!
Not in a gentle way, but by force. This is of course noticed and taken advantage of.
This planet, since ancient times, has harbored fallen angels and demonic entities. “Bad spirits” if you will. (This is whole subject onto itself, which 99.9% of ayahuasca takers know not much about.) Because Earth is an infested planet, taking any psychedelic plants or using psychic powers through other practices, astral traveling and channeling, is a bit like playing Russian roulette, whilst being bitten by a snake and walking on a tight rope, 1000 meters above ground.
You’re going to fall eventually. It’s only a matter of time, not an “if.”
On other planets, in other creations, it might be safe to do many things, but it is not so here. This is why even spirituality is corruptible, even “sacred practices” are corruptible, even the most pure of intentions can end in tragedy. All of this was warned about in Biblical texts, but not many people take heed and thus suffer the consequences. By having to hit the wall full speed first and learn the hard way. No one wants to be told not to do something, but perhaps there are reasons for it. Just as it is good to tell a child when to cross the street and never to place their fingers inside electrical sockets!
There are many people who have studied the more energetic aspects of the nature of reality, in tandem with history, they have very pertinent knowledge which is unfortunately not reaching into the ayahuasca communities. And this is leaving ayahuasca newbies open and ripe for the taking. And even the so called shamans, have limited knowledge and many times distorted knowledge, with biases inbuilt.
Humans tend to think that they can handle it. But it is a bit like an ant saying to a human, that it can “handle it”. We all know how quickly the human can squash an ant.
Humans think that “bad spirits” will not happen to me, I am a good person. Well that kind of thinking has never worked, and only prevents you from educating yourself, on what is really out there, before seeking to have “an experience”. It is not by mere coincidence that humanity was warned about various practices, especially those concerned with spiritual and energetic realities, in some religions and spiritual traditions. But people, especially “ayahuasca tourists” like to think that this is all a bit of a joke and that there are no demons, no devil, no other realities…. Like children they do not know, until the hard experience of life teaches them otherwise. Some never make it through, just like in real life.
Some seek spiritual experiences but do not know of the influences that have been infused into them, because the experience itself is not entirely under your control. You are within, undergoing it, and various mental programs may be inserted whilst you are in that vulnerable position. These programs can be destructive.
Energy points may be manipulated on the body, to open it to control of negative entities, in order to lead you down a path towards ever more occult based practices, which may lead towards alien channeled material, or other programs and practices, which I would rather not list. (Tons of people are coming out of all this, with horrendous stories of what they went through.)
Those coming into ayahuasca ceremonies, from an atheist point of view, are like sheep, their very world view being both their protection and their weakness. Depending upon the person, some are targeted for who they are, it does not matter what worldview they hold in their mind.
People sometimes do not believe things. But all it takes is for them to have 1, just 1 “mystical” experience and this is akin to a child receiving the greatest toy they could imagine, or akin to seeing your parents after a very long time. For a child there is nothing greater. So the human mind is impressed by “higher reality” demonstrations of knowledge, technology and “magical” powers. All norms, but which destabilize and create obsession inside most people. Even though they never were interested in such things prior. That’s how sensitive and easily led the psyche of most humans is, it does not matter, if you are a young adult, or mid-aged or older. Everyone, everyone, has there weakness. Reading each individual is no problem for fallen beings, they are masters of taylor made deception.
They need people to influence and/or possess. And for those people to bring more people to places and practices which open those new people to the same.
As much as ayahuasca has done good for many, the fact that we do live on a very infested planet, attempting healing through this means, is a 50/50 chance. Real healing comes gradually, gently and appropriately, time-wise, and it does not need psychedelics to force its hand.
Real healing always comes from God.
But try telling that to many, who first need to hit their head, and hit it hard, for 20 or more years, before they come to the same conclusion.
One is always encouraged to ask God for healing, rather than to always think that it must come from the self solely, through one’s own deeds. Sometimes we do not even know, what needs healing and what needs to be addressed first.
Thank you very much for writing this. I know ayahuasca since quite few years, and even despite my many experiences, I still fell into a trap… I went to a very well known shaman from Peru and was abused sexually. For long time afterwards I needed psychotherapy and other forms of help, as he manipulated me to believe that I made it up and I was “in a process”. This was extremely difficult and confusing for me. Later on I found out that there are many other like me, who had the same experience with this shaman, but not much can be done about it… And he continues to work and travels all over the world with his “medicine”, using ayahuasca to get women, power, money, fame… I wonder how the spirits don’t stop him?
From a facebook thread in Bali…
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Christine Zimmer Ive done it last year in Peru (altho I didnt intend to first) and it was probably THE most healing and profound experience I ever had. But at the center there was talk about “black magic”and “evil shamans” in the area. But maybe it was just competitive “fights”between rivals.I dont know.
Without a doubt, you are very vulnerable in that state, and receptive. I would NOT recomment Ayahuasca to people who havent done much inner work yet (as you descend in sort of an underworld and you dont want to face your worst demons without a solid spiritual knowledge) and obvs choose your shaman/center carefully.Do research, ask around, listen to your gut feeling. Know how to prepare and protect yourself, ask for guidance and protection, set a good intention (ask Ayahuasca to be “gentle”) and it should be fine.
Anna Marie Inglis Is Ayahuasca available in Ubud?
Keith Hancock That looks frighteningly like Tony Blair.
Wen her other writing about Vilcabamba sounds significantly like the Bali bule phenomenon
Jeremiah Abrams Everyone wants the gift of the gods, few are willing to pay for it. The payment is in the requisite moral effort for such inquiry. Sensational this story is, but missing the point, not the right account by any stretch for those seeking the gift. The m…See More
Jeremiah Abrams Btw, anyone who calls themselves a shaman is likely not.
Jade Richardson Jeremiah, you are well on my list of people who over-state their abilities, and draw in the vulnerable to make a dollar. I would be VERY careful sizing up against me if I were you. I am WAY out of your league when it comes to credentials to make these sorts of judgments. ie – I am not compromised by either marketing or profit. Your activities verge on the shameful.
Jody Branson where is the part where Jeremiah is sizing up against you Jade?
Jade Richardson First off, I think,working with some of the parent and friends of the dead and the ‘lost’, this story is far from ‘sensational’. It is under-stated, if anything. And secondly, when the topic falls into the hands of either the profiteers, or their potential customers, then that is exactly the moment when journalists should turn up. And thirdly, what the xyz is a ‘download’ anyway?
Shely Ourana There are better, more authentic paths to self awareness, self knowledge, healing and transcendence, than substance use (whatever psychedelic you choose), if that’s your intent.
Awakening is a slow, natural process…. ripping the doors off the Otherworld, and prematurely opening own psyche to it, is a dangerous and often debilitating game.
There’s more mischief behind those doors than most people have any idea of…
And being “forewarned” is no protection or shield… the number of entity tainted gurus, “healers”, shamans and mystics plying their trade is beyond description.
Beware the glamour…
Anna Marie Inglis Bunch of dangerous trippers.
Shamans my arse
Crystal Dev the medicine is here to help us.. it’s not for everyone but if people choose that path……. here’s to tolerance for every path to awakening including the wisdom from our dear plant kingdom..
Josh Roberts This article is very pertinent, and several years overdue. It’s no secret that the western shaman oh so rarely carries the wisdom of the lineage.
Yes, the plants are incredible healers.. Yes, many western shamans are desperately in need of healing….See More
Jade Richardson Well, I would really love to see the coverage on the death of Leslie Allison. And so would her parents.
Anna Marie Inglis AGAIN I ask:
Is Ayahuasca available in Ubud?
Like · Reply · 22 hrs
Jade Richardson Nobody wants to answer that, I am afraid, because it is illegal in Indonesia, upon penalty of death.
Crystal Dev all plant parts are legal. Australia & US are currently contemplating legalizing outright..
Anna Marie Inglis All plant parts are legal. Can you expand
Crystal Dev the plants themselves are legal…only when combined does it change that..
Anna Marie Inglis Combined?
Crystal Dev yes ayahuasca is a blend of two plants..
Anna Marie Inglis The other being?
Crystal Dev chacruna (psychotria viridis)
Jade Richardson That’s not true, Crystal Dev. That is absolutely misleading. Ayahuasca is not a plant. It is a recipe. And it is not just a mix of two plants either, as anybody who works with this ‘medicine’ should know. I thought you’d gone off in a huff anyway?
Jade Richardson Australia is absolutely not looking to legalise this concoction. it is a class A banned substance, which is one reason why the people who sell it hide themselves here in Aus and in most other places too.
Crystal Dev nope i’m here.. ayahuasca is a plant…again get your facts straight. it is banisteriopsis caapi vine but the word has come to mean the combination of the two plants that i mentioned: vine & chacruna. some dark shamans might mix in datura or other plants but that is irresponsible and their own prerogative.. true ayahuasca is only these two plants period.
Crystal Dev http://www.hangthebankers.com/australia-legalise…/
Australia to consider legalising ayahuasca and DMT
It’s the hallucinogenic compound that’s…
HANGTHEBANKERS.COM
Jade Richardson Please could you step aside from this dialogue – you are not adding anything useful. Like I said, bickering is not useful, nobody enjoys watching it, and I think perhaps there are other conversations you might be more productive in.
Jade Richardson You can see the proper debate here. The issue is that the law is racing to keep up with the problem. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayahuasca
Ayahuasca – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ayahuasca (UK /ˌaɪjəˈwæskə/; US /ˌaɪjəˈwɑːskə/), also commonly called yagé (/jɑːˈheɪ/ or /jæˈheɪ/), is an entheogenic brew made out of Banisteriopsis caapi vine and the Psychotria viridis leaf.[1] The brew is used as a traditional spiritual medicine in ceremonies among the Indigenous peoples of Amaz…
EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG
Jade Richardson However, to get back on track, what I have explained in the article, and what most decent people in this field agree on, is that the gringo ‘shaman’ who use this sacrament have stolen it from its rightful custodians, smuggled it to land where it was ne…See More
Jade Richardson DMT is a class A illegal substance, and that is why some of the most active salesmen of it in USA and AUS carry it secretly, and have been placed in Interpol lists. Should I remind you that in Australia, bringing any foriegn plant material into the country is a criminal offence, whether it is airport flowers of mystic rocketfuel. You guys are out of order, whichever way you look at it.
Shely Ourana The raw plant material can be legally imported into Indonesia.
They only got around to criminalising mushrooms last year or so…
What the Ubud Bubble is brewing with the herb is probably of little interest. … it doesn’t affect local politics.
Crystal Dev
Crystal Dev Jade Richardson so your asking me to step aside from the debate.. first of all anyone is free to express their views and when i see someone post information which is misleading others then i feel to also present the side for the plants. and so you normally ask those to step aside when they challenge your mistatements? again a display of your tolerance for others and their personal chosen path to awakening? as to the idea that this medicine has been stolen from its rightful custodians..we are all custodians of this planet and this is univeral wisdom that we are talking about. it would be like saying you cannot do meditation in the west but need to go to thailand to do so or yoga should only be done in india. it’s a ridiculous idea and many shamans support that the plant travels across the whole planet (as well as fulfilling an ancient prophecy of indigenous elders) and helps to awaken all of it’s residents. many things are illegal around the world but have you looked into the underlying reasons…or should we just trust that the governments and authorities only have our best interest in mind so better just get in line and follow them without any protest?
Jade Richardson Honestly, you are really beginning to bore me now.
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From Ubud, Bali, where ‘entrepreneur’ ‘shaman’ who have arrived via the ‘medicine’ scene in South America and eastcoast Australia have established a strong underground ayahuasca movement, claiming they are under instructions from the plant to spread her ‘healing’ across the planet.
Indonesia has a death penalty for drugs. However, they remain rife, and their use is wildly escalating among the Yoga, dance, healing crew, mostly on the cache of ayahuasca, and the ‘cool’ of those who claim to be capable of managing it….
Wen – i’d like to thank you Jade, for bringing this warning from those you work with. i’ve suspected something dark, malevolent, and deceptively clothed in “light” for a long time now, and noticed it’s prevalence in Ubud.
i agree with Shely to a degree too, although I wouldn’t say the plant paths are any less authentic than non-plant paths. entheogens have long led us to meditative paths into the unseen world. merely reading Terence McKenna on DMT (it was many years later before it came to me gracefully) decades ago was enough to set my feet on a path of sorts.
and to all the detractors, read the article again, the author is by no means saying that the plant path has no value. it’s a cautionary tale. and many of the blessed naive in Ubud would do well to take heed.
Shely Ourana There’s a lot of “hijacking” going on behind the “love n light” scene nowdays… that’s also polarising in the “Split”… there’s an old joke…. “Where’s the best place to hide the Devil?” “In a church”. More relevant than ever… less obvious than ever….
Thanks for the post. I’ve only skimmed through it, and didn’t read it “word for word”, but I got the jist of it. I did know about the young American man who was buried out in the jungle, and I think that there was some sort of accident involving his death, but can’t recall. The others, I’m not sure of, but I’ll look into this a little more at a later date.
Not taking the time to fully understand the article, please excuse me for shooting from the hip here. As you know, I never used a shaman when I took Ayahuasca. I didn’t go to Peru, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, nor any other country. I also didn’t utilize one of the few locations here in the USA which administer Ayahuasca to those interested. Had I a vast amount of funds to my avail, I wouldn’t hesitate going to an Ayahuasca retreat, but I think that one of the “known & trusted” retreats would be of great benefit.
There are several ways of making Ayahuasca. Any plant, bush, or tree with a significant amount of dmt present would suffice, along with any plant part that contains a significant amount of the second substance, or ingredient which contains a MAOI, or RIMA. These 2 things (the dmt, and maoi or rima) make up the basic ingredients for making ayahuasca. A well-versed shaman usually adds ‘other’ substances or ingredients to the soup (tea), and these added ingredients may or may not have side effects, or may be capable or fatality. Any given Ayahuasca brew can have many other ingredients added to the brew, and may be tailored to various stages that one might be involved in with their Ayahuasca experience. In my case, all I took was the bark of a tree, and crushed up Syrian Rue seeds (considered a RIMA, and not an MAOI). There are dangers with eating certain foods while taking an MAOI.
A shaman can be of great benefit, though, for other things involved with an Ayahuasca experience. There is definitely a possibility that one might encounter an entity of less than good character, and a shaman can notice this happening to someone, and steer them away from such entities. A shaman can also invoke certain entities, for most legitimate shamen have been trained, and curtailed by a mentor, or another shaman, and more likely than not, a shaman’s mode of practice & instruction has been tried & proven to be effective. These are not yo-yos with feathers in their hair. They know what they’re doing.
I could really go on & on with this subject, but mind you that I’ve but one Ayahuasca experience under my belt, and am in no way an expert on the subject, but probably know a little more than most who have never had any hands-on experience with it. Having said, I can say that I know what I know, and my personal knowledge of Ayahuasca is not speculation. Ayahuasca, the anti-drug, is the only substance for which was capable of giving me a fair analysis of who or what God is. Is this worth the risk of an encounter with an evil entity, or being the 1 in every 25,000+ of the possible people that have reportedly died from their Ayahuasca journey? For myself it was, and it is.
❤ I send love to you all. I create LOVE for us all and I am thankful, first for this article that expresses a lot what I felt and never said, while reading my bell of truth was ringing. Second I am grateful to be still alive and third that my experiences (and with the help of other light workers) reminded me that the medicine we are looking for is already here and now within us all … It's LOVE.
Thanks for writing this article!
I’ve been involved with ayahuasca in 2009 with a group in Belgium. I had a really horrible experience. I would never recommend anyone to do ayahuasca & whenever I say that to people, they always try to convince me that it is all fine. ‘It is all fine, love & light’, was what those shamans also told me when after a ceremony I wasn’t able to go back into my body. There was no compassion, help or even the slightest understanding of healing and knowing what to do when things got wrong.
Those “shamans” can tell you to trust them, to trust the process, but really most of them are just out to enlarge their group, raise their income and gain more power over people who seek healing through ayahuasca. It messed up a really beautiful part of my life & cost me the loss of trust in people in situations where you are at the verge of death itself.
Spend time in nature, be creative, write, have good conversations with kindred spirits… You will evolve as much in life or even more then when trying ayahuasca. It isn’t worth the risk of becoming totally mentally messed up!!
From personal experience dealing with severe possession and dark shamanism in the jungle, I am glad to see more posts like this coming out. Keep in mind you need to be careful with what you think is communicating to you, for those aware of psychic communications in ceremonies.. they can be coming from anyone or anything and pretending to be a benevolent intelligence or the “spirit of ayahuasca” and that is how a lot of people are getting ensnared. You become so vulnerable after opening up with the entheogen that anything or anyone can really find their way in if they try.
Here’s two other great articles on the same subjects:
http://jonathanevatt.com/warning-dark-side-ayahuasca-1390/
https://veilofreality.com/2014/04/23/reflections-on-ayahuasca-psychedelics-marijuana-and-a-critical-look-at-the-psychedelic-movement/
This is really beautiful. I have tried Aya once and felt that strong force. I didn’t like it. In my life, God has indeed provided some strong awakening experiences in the form of traumas. It felt like people who were really drawn to ayahuasca were trying to self-induce these almost traumatic experiences. Go and violently be shown the dark and the light in an intense experience that is hard to integrate into daily life.
Discipline is what’s needed in the spiritual path, not big horse pills of spiritual experience. Day-to-day healthy choices and practices are where it’s at. Those are sustainable growth, with lasting power.
That being said, I do believe the brew has potential to really help someone. It will work best though for someone who is really doing their daily work. Just like psychedelics of the 60s, many will come to it as a spiritual quick fix and get caught up in the rainbows without ever doing their own deep work out in the real world.
These sacraments are something to be respected for sure. Most of the youth of america doesn’t really know what respect is. To be offered these ceremonies is a gift and one should really do something with the gift and hold it in reverence.
In regards to shamans, I prefer to work with medicines that are more gentle in their workings, that way I don’t need a shaman to guide me. If you’re going to use a medicine that is so strong it needs a shaman to guide, please do your homework and choose wisely. Sometimes you get an unsettling gut feeling about someone. Trust it. Don’t just let your ego talk it away as being nervous about the ceremony or something.
My mom had schizophrenia. I have always shied away from intense medicine journeys. Always been super moderate in dose and frequency when ever I do partake. Maybe that’s just my inner wisdom respecting the power of the plant and not asking for trouble. People can and do go crazy. A profoundly intense experience like with strong plant medicine journeys can tip the scale for someone who might be weak and teetering in their psyche.
It can tip the scale towards crazy, or tip the scale towards ego maniacal tendencies or power/money hungry trips. Shamans were living their simple roles as village healers before ayahuasca tourism started. They had healthy positions within their communities, then the westerners came and blew it all up. I can imagine it being hard not being seduced by the ideas of money and power when you’re used to such simple ways of living.
Another thing, I know some plant medicine traditions the highly-trained and initiated shamans were the ones who took the medicine. They took the medicine for insight and diagnosed the client’s dis-ease. They didn’t invite the uninitiated client to take the medicine! Also, often times shamans had a “shelf life” so to speak and others would step in once a shaman had done their time. There was so much respect given to the medicine that one knew that it was dangerous to take it over and over and over for years and years. Another factor in this might be that the shaman had learned from the experiences and could take that wisdom and integrate it into everyday living, not needing a plant spirit to help diagnose anymore. The plant was alive in his/her psyche at that point.
I guess my main point here is that as usual, we westerners just walked into someone else’s culture and started messing with things before we really knew what we were doing. Now the world is reaping the consequences of our foolhardy actions.
With love and blessings. I’m not trying to judge, just sharing my perceptions.
Jaya
I think it is very important to make clear that it is not the plant that is ‘taking revenge’, she is not vengeful. She is the Life Force of Divine Wisdom which flows within and animates all things. What happens when we commune with Her is that we become hyper aware of those places that are stuck and stagnate as She flows through all aspects of our being. We can no longer deny or hide from our shadow side as this too is an aspect of Creation. As a Teacher Plant She shows us what we need to learn in order to see differently and bring about transformation trough the realization of the Truth. It is only through humility, compassion, and a heart centered intention that Her teaching can come about within the individual. That is the role of the Curandera. She/He has dived deep into the shadow, and has learned how to navigate it through the guidance and wisdom of the Teacher Plant. It takes many years to learn how to transform oneself in this way, and to integrate the Wisdom Teachings into ones being throughout daily life. Once accomplished, they then are able to hold a space for others to do the same, thereby aiding and assisting the Plant to do Her work through their awareness. What happens when a shaman has not undertaken this journey is that their unhealed shadow side becomes the predominate force that is coming through their leadership. Their shadow side is magnified and in turn magnifies other’s shadow side. And so the circus begins. It is the unhealed healer, not the Plant, who is reeking havoc. Traditionally, for thousands of years, women were the wisdom keepers of the plant medicines and mysteries of transformation. They were the ones who guided those in need through their journey of the rejuvenative cycles of death, re-birth, and liberation. This is the natural domain of the women, as she has an intimate relationship to this through her monthly moon cycles, childbearing, and nurturing the child, the sick, and the elderly during their time of transition. For thousands of years she was the one who tended the garden, made the food, gathered the plants, discovered and made the medicines; while the males were the hunters, protectors, and builders who care for the physical needs of the community. Both men and women were respected equally for the importance of the role they played within the survival of the community. I believe that for thousands of years we cultivated an egalitarian system of living. It was absolutely essential to do so for the survival of the tribe. It was not until a few thousand years ago that the role of women was usurped with the overthrow of the egalitarian system for the hierarchical system through patriarchy when women became something to be owned, and nature something to be conquered used for personal gain. I want it to be clear that this is not about man vs. women. Both men and women have been damaged by this overthrow, and each is equally in need of healing so we can return to balance. I am sure that each one reading this is well aware of the multitude of ways in which this imbalance is playing out in our world today and threatening the very existence of all life on Earth. So what we are witnessing within the “New age Ayahuasaca cult” is nothing more then a the same imbalance we see throughout all of society. We are in great need of restoring this balance. Ayahuasca, and all the Teacher Plants, carry the Wisdom Teachings that can show us how to do this. They are an incredible gift to all of humanity, and are very much needed at this time. They should not be confused with the unhealed ‘healers’ who claim to understand their teachings.
yes i have heard this time and again, so why would you not leave the name of the “shaman” and the name of where he works from here for everyone to see and be warned??? this is so odd to me, if you dont want it to happen to someone else, then tell people about it!
When one goes shopping for anything one needs to do one’s due diligence.
I drank Ayahuasca for the first time in Europe in 1999 and feel very grateful for the experience. I have not been to the jungle in all these years and I don’t have any desire to go. The sacrament until today has been a teacher and guide and has uplifted and deepened my life. I was lucky to have been introduced to the plants in a respectful way practicing discipline and meditation. I never had any ‘bad’ experiences which does not mean that this work has not been challenging. I don’t think Ayahuasca is for every one just because it is now worldwide available. All ancient and traditional practices with or without plant medicines need to be held sacred in order to benefit humanity. Anything else will have different causes and effects and these are not created by the plants but by the people using them.
Very interesting article and comments, thank you! I have never tried ayahuasca, but my daughter just asked me to channel an answer to her question about the explosion of plant medicine use. Her guides told her of the pros and cons, and concluded that there are “more profound and longer laster methods of bringing their whole beings into alignment with All That Is.”
“…we understand your question, your concerns, your quest for light and paths which follow only the light. We congratulate you on recognising that there are paths which use darkness to provide drama, to obfuscate the message, to entrap the initiates in a cycle of repetition and even addiction.
Yes the power of the plant’s own essence, its very chemical makeup, can be used in a way which follows the light, and has been used in this way by those who have been initiated by teachers who have studied for eons, as you might say. And we do see some experimentation with use in order to provide quick reactions, dramatic releases, supposed insights. Those people who follow this path, both the ones who are providing the initiates with the plant medicine, and the initiates themselves, are oftentimes not prepared to take the path of finding the light in smaller steps, in deeper investigation, in going within in a natural and now totally possible way due to the raising of the vibration of spirituality on your Earth planet.
Do not be concerned in a profound way however, for these practitioners, both the bringers of the medicines and those who are partaking of the medicines, are also benefiting from learning about the reactions and insights that are received. Some are sparking a part of their remembrance which will bring them more speedily to the path of the light that you refer to. The path of reconnecting the whole body, all the bodies — the energetic, the etheric, the emotional, the physical — and thus allowing full connection with the energies of your beloved Gaia and beyond. For some people will only come to this path after experimenting with other more popular and trending methods of provoking the senses.
Some do indeed receive profoundly affecting results which they can use to create their art, their scientific experimentation and inventions, and to reconfigure relationships which are in an endless loop of sadness and depression. You could say that this is a ‘kick start’ for some. But we also caution that it can be a ‘kick start’ to opening doors to darker areas of one’s soul.”
Full message here:
http://www.sandytatham.com/my-blog/2016/7/4/explosion-in-use-of-plant-medicines
THIS IS WHY WE SHOULD NOT BORROW FROM CULTURES THAT WE DONT HAVE A BIRTHRIGHT TO.
THIS IS WHY WE SHOULD NOT BORROW FROM CULTURES THAT WE DONT HAVE A BIRTHRIGHT TO.
THIS IS WHY WE SHOULD NOT BORROW FROM CULTURES THAT WE DONT HAVE A BIRTHRIGHT TO.
How many times do i have to say this before the world returns to some semblance of her natural order that was disrupted by colonialism?
How many people die from anti-depressant medication every year? How many people die standing on a cliff watching the waves? It is always pilot error! These people all made choices to be where they were at the time they died. Not such good choices apparently. The Ayahuasca opens the door to the spirit world. There is no good or evil, up or down. The door is open, what you do inside is up to you. You can conjure up almost anything imaginable. It isn’t the plants doing anything, it’s the consciousness of the person taking the plants. Guns don’t kill people, people kill people. Your life is your responsibility, your choices can kill you. If Ayahusca didn’t knock on your door I suggest you wait until it does, because if not, than it isn’t for you. Snake venom can kill you and it can also cure you.
If u want to drink medicine safely and legally in the US look up the Santo Daime church they are all over the us. You go sit with a shaman you don’t know you are risking your life!
Reblogged this on sideshowtog.
You’re right, Love can be extremely powerful!
Have you had experience with black magic? If yes, I’d be grateful for some advices on how you managed to let the love win 🙂
btw: are you German? (Your name 😉 )
The entities – both life affirming and life consuming are everywhere around us. It is simply whether the door is open to let them in and whether one’s filter lets in life affirming or life consuming entities.
fortunately or unfortunately the spirit world dances both sides of the fence … the question that arises for me in this world is the need for a solid grounded being and its subsequent development .. the shaman that works with the spirit without being is subject to the sway of good and bad spirits …wholely subjective …the training for years is not in the ayahuasca but the development of discernment so as to walk honourably in this world and the other …. We stand at the beginning of a great learning process in the development of being … bad experiences are almost inevitable in order for us learn by out experience …. experience is not what happens to you but how you respond to what happens to you ….i personally sat 200 journey before i moved from my sitting position …. and when i did it was because i was told to do so.. this is not a weekend workshop … it is ones life …. peace blessings and great depth
Thank you for your thoughtful and interesting response. Just one thing I sincerely want to clarify, and that is that the plant, the ‘intelligence’ credited to the plant is indeed vengeful. As anybody who understands the protocols, the ceremony, the icara, all of the process of walking into her domain should know, she is feared for her jealousy. This is not my opinion, but the strict warning given over and over again by curranderos. Just as you would not abuse a Western ‘medicine’, or indeed a powerful person, or fool with the major arcana of recreational drugs – there are consequences. They are predictable. I feel it is important to clarify this point, because it is central to the whole crisis of the neo-shaman scene.
Oh dear…. there are so many reasons and ways to shoot this argument down. But I will leave it here to stand as an indicator for the kind of thinking and the ‘reason’ that got us into this mess in the first place.
Excellent article.
The only thing I would take issue with is the statement, apparently meant literally, from which you derive the title: “Ayahuasca, it is NO secret, has a relish for revenge.” Ayahuasca opens the doors to a lot of things, and Ayahuasca has been used to facilitate vengeful brujeria since time immemorial, but (IMO and IME) Ayahuasca (and Plant spirits in general) do not have revenge in them. (If the spirits of nature wanted to take revenge on us humans, there would be a lot more reason for them to take revenge than just the careless use of Ayahuasca, but you don’t see any sign of that — and if Ayahuasca was inclined to take revenge if “misused” by humans, wouldn’t she have taken revenge on people who have used it for brujeria?)
But Ayahuasca does open the doors to astral entities that can manipulate people, and they can claim to be anything or anyone.
this is a good phrase, one for the traveler, the explorer, the adventurer, the colonializer… never borrow from cultures that you don’t have a birthright to. kind of an analogy for the complexity and diversity of the universe.
“the protocols, the ceremony, the icara, all of the process of walking into her domain” I’d like to know more of this.
Thank you, yeh we know, the genie is out of the bottle 🙂 it’s good it’s bad it’s healing and it’s sad, those seeking power, mystical power & or the commercialisation of it’s use will be ass whipped, that’s usually the very 1st download she shares, if you take all the steps yourself for yourself for your soul never follow a shaman less be it for a dream he comes in. You can’t buy a set of Majik Toolz from a Shaman, the’re not his to sell. This is the last bastion of hope in the last dayz of time. It can’t be monetized as the monetary system itself is what she has been sent here to destroy all that bought ego or the worry you saved up for the pain you paid for all the way down to the funeral plan insurance. When you awaken tomorrow morning ask who was it you just paid to awaken ?
I wrote this response with complete awareness of of what the curranderos say, and I am not questioning their experience, just their lack of awareness. I have worked with the Medicine quite a bit. It is the essence of the Divine Mother, and there is no ego in the Divine Mother. I still hold true that the Plant is not vengeful or jealous. When you are in that field you have a direct link to all of creation, and more acutely, other curranderos who are sharing that field, regardless of where they are in time or space. . As I said above, what is being tapped into is the jealous and vengeful intentions of many of the curranderos who are directing the energy. It is not the Plant. This has a direct and inseparable link to the rule of the patriarchy who have suppressed the Divine Feminine in their jealous, vengeful takeover which is woven into all aspects of our consciousness and is what we are here to heal at this time. What we are seeing in the neo-shaman scene is no different than what we are seeing being played out all over the planet. This is a very multilayered and complex subject. Regardless, I feel it is a great disservice to blame the Plant. Curranderos need to step up and take responsibility for what they are doing to the hearts and minds of those who come to them indeed of guidance. Blaming the Plant does not support them in doing this. I have no doubt that we will see a great shift in all of this very soon. Let it be known that the Goddess is not a whore, nor is she vengeful. Quite the contrary. Thank you for this opportunity to share.
Claudette, I am not sure the curranderos would be all that impressed with your comments. And I am not sure either, if they would care too much that you think they have a ‘lack of awareness’. I wonder what you think gives you either the right or even the vaguest authority to make your comments? I wonder who you are to know the personality of the goddess so well? I wonder on what grounds you think you are so right, when you speak as a lone voice against a collective, who are reaching out to help others in what is obviously a shambles? And I wonder where on Earth you get your ideas? The goddess is very much a whore, as the whole of Tantra, and the deep fields of Hindu willingly explore. She is everything, all arising, including whores, and even irritating feminists, who try to turn everything into an issue of Patriachy…. yawn. Come on ladies – admit that it’s not really all about daddy…. the female aspect has just as fierce a shadow as the male, so let’s get sensible, respectful, humble, and simple. The message is; plant medicines are not toys. They are not a golden ticket to the Land of the Flutterby Elf Fairy Queen either – they are dangerous business, and should be respected as such.
I kinda like Claudette’s opinion but that’s because what I follow parallels her remarks on the nature of the Mother. Based on what I know she is infinitely more than anything known at present or conjured up by us so far and I would not slur an entity that is more loving and compassionate than as I said any concept of humans.
This is hugely simplified, you can find much deeper analysis of the idea of the “Terrible Mother’ as the balance to the Virgin, and the Mary ideals in Vedanta and Jung… but this is an easy summary
https://jenniferlinton.com/2012/05/14/the-great-mother-vs-the-terrible-mother-the-dual-nature-of-the-jungian-archetype/
Ayahuasca isn’t the problem, it’s the idiots who misuse it.
Ayahuasca isn’t a whore, but a tool. Greed and personal power are the main reason it is abused, simple fact is too many tourists are ready to throw around money in a poor country will do this.
The rise of malpractice causes deaths, not Ayahuasca. Also, most deaths reported due to Tobacco and poor on site treatment (if any!)
Yes, Ayahuasca can be used in negative ways, but NO, it’s not killing people.
My gosh, my anthropology teacher would probably cite this as an example of misusing cultural ceremonies, etc. In fact, that’s one of the first things we learned about: If you do not do something in its proper way or misconstrue it somehow, it will not work and/or seriously the gods or spirits you’re trying to contact.
It’s like when you don’t follow instructions on something, even if there’s a clear danger involved. *insert eyeroll here*
By the way, I was hoping I could respond to you through email although I’m not sure where it’s located on your blog. If you get the chance, could you direct to it? 🙂
I noticed a pattern: abusive charlatans often claim madrecita told them to do whatever it is they are doing, being becoming a “spiritual”leader, opening a church, conducting ceremonies for 50 people at once, etc., etc… They claim they are merely following madrecita’s will, they are listening to “the calling”! These kind of claims became so common that I began to doubt and question ayahuasca altogether, and moved on. BUT it’s still hard to see naive people being taken advantage of, AND then being victim blamed (she deserved it/she attracted it and should take responsability for it/she couldnt handle her bad trip, etc., etc.), so thank you for caring, and for raising awareness. 🙂
Sonia
Some say that people that fall for charlatons like that are ‘mugs’.
Simply put, there is no substitute for doing some proper research!
I too am concerned for the mislead within these so called healing circles. Just a few weeks ago a woman died in a Kentucky based Ayahuasca church? Cause of death still not released though.? Be careful out there! Prayer and fasting is a wonderful alternative!
I had many encounter with the dark side of ayahuasca.The wicked chamans are using the net building incredible and false biography.Also they use the language of love, them like evolution and consciousness,or the divine feminine and etc …they use everything to lure you mind goo d language;psychology and black magic included.