So I heard this interview on a radio show once with a guy who had been to the Amazon and done ayahuasca at this centre where a shaman takes on a group for a spiritual journey in this place. Does anyone have any idea how I could find that stuff?
Just google Ayahuasca workshops. If you're willing to drop $2500 on a 'shaman' who makes 'Ayahuasca' then go for it. I'm not quite sure what kind of retard would do that though. I mean, theoretically you could just make it yourself, become the shaman yourself, and have your own Ayahuasca workshop with your friends, but what the hell do I know? Edit: Ayahuasca workshops/retreats. There are quite a few, I just think they cheapen the Ayahuasca experience by tainting it with money. It's more of a pop-culture trip if you ask me. They probably have the oldest/brownest looking person in the village chant some stuff in the local dialect because some soccer mom from Cali isn't going to know the difference between genuine spirit chants and "This white bitch paid me money" in their language. I can hear it now, "Oh it's so SPIRITUAL" Sorry for the rudeness, the workshops rub me the wrong way.
^I feel the same way about them on the whole. Not saying that there's no good ones (although never looked and found one), but there are lots of shambles making a while lot of money out of something inexpensive to produce with a bit of classic tourist bullshit bolted to the side. Also personally I'd not want to be with strangers, a small group of friends is perfect. I've heard of people consuming quite a bit of the drink and feeling nothing at all too. No idea how this is possible, never seen anyone go near my dmt without having a mindblowing experience.
Unfortunately Ayahuasca tourism is all too easy to find with a quick google search. At 1000-3000 bucks per retreat that's a pricey spiritual experience! Most of them operate out of Iquitos, Peru and are run by Americans and Mestizos looking to cash in on the spiritual void that the inhabitants of modern society come flocking in to fill. Somehow most people don't see something wrong with this type of blatant exploitation of Ayahuasca. In a culture where money can buy anything it's no leap to spend large amounts of cash for a "spiritual awakening". The real shamans, the Taitas or indigenous elders don't ascribe to this school of thinking at all. After living in the rainforest eating only fruit, plants, tiny river fish and drinking ayahuasca several times a week for 20+ years of your life your understanding is quite different from most of the world. There is also a danger presented by unscrupulous fake shamans in such places like Iquitos, Peru that have sexually assaulted and even robbed their participants for their hard earned cash claiming "spirit hands" made mischief in the night. It is very risky to go looking online for retreats and Ayahuasca shamans. You need to know someone in touch with an indigenous community in the Amazon like the Ashuar or the Shipibo who are open to let outsiders try Ayahuasca.This form of entheotourism is less destructive and helps preserve the cultures that have been using Ayahuasca for centuries. It is only for them a supplement to their humble income and not their main source, hence you wont see the indigenous folk out in the most remote areas charging hundreds of dollars. Maybe some supplies and food are enough in most cases. This is something you really have to be sure about and quite possibly may never really be ready for. If you really feel the call of ayahuasca you may not have to look far because the Santo Daime church performs similar rituals in many countries around the world including Australia. They are open to sincere people willing to come to drink with them.
iv traveled south america a bit. if your genuinly interested in an ayahuasca expirience just go to the upper amazon basin (iquitos is booming) and ask the women at the market who are selling plants and medicines which shaman they go see. who do they take their kids to? (understand that your encountering a culture in which the shaman is seen as a doctor. the majority of locals who visit the shamans dont go to ceremonies to drink ayahuasca, but to be healed by the icaros) also when you meet other gringo travelers on the ayahuasca trail, just ask them about their expiriences. with whom and where? there is somthing very unsettling about ayahuasca retreats to me, especially when i consider the sole to dollar ratio. you definatly dont need to pay thousands of dollars. standard local price is 25-100 soles per ceremony($7-$30). im weary of those who feel the need to ask for lots of money. there are plenty of good curanderos. just ask real people for information....not the characters who are trying to make a buck off a gringo. there is a huge difference. the facilitators role is immeasurable when you are in the hands of a competent healer who is intimatly familiar with the terrain you are traveling.
Completely true. You have to understand that the first people to ever encounter Ayahuasca were not shamans. It was a process learned within their culture. So, while having a *genuine* shaman helps, it's a process that can be learned here as well which is what I would want to promote.
certainly, the teacher-student relationship is with the plants. though at the same time, it can seem like the depth of an expirience may be in some ways linked to the depth and understanding of a good shaman. perhaps not all ayahuasca is brewed equally. thats the sence i got anyway. i had an expirience after expressing a frustration about not going as deep as i suspected ayahauca was capable of taking me. the shaman i was drinking with sang some icaros over me asking the other side to more fully open up.... the following cermemony was some next level shit that i couldnt relate to with any previous expirience. i thought i wasnt coming back from that one.
My father traveled to Peru looking for a guided ayahuasca experience. He said the guy performing the ceremony became ill enough to ask to go to the hospital, so he spent his trip driving this dude to the hospital.
Yep, I've not heard another exactly like it, but the potential for dissatisfaction exists wherever expectations are present.
ayahuasca is best done with a shaman present, you don't know what will happen to you. some things linger with you, that arn't good at all. that world is REAL and you don't want to fuck yourself over. and self trained shamans aren't always the best either. you should just go to an ayahuasca workshop. also if you don't want to and decide to do it at home by yourself like and idiot. be prepared for change you don't want.
Shamans are lame, they're just like you except they've been tripping their entire life. Guide yourself through uncharted territory, don't pay someone to help you. The DMT world is real... just like this one. Don't forget where you always end up after a trip. Back on Earth. Doing Ayahuasca, by yourself or with friends, at home is a fine idea. Shit, I've done it out in the woods by myself. All you need, is the right intentions and Ayahuasca will teach. Don't think "I just wanna get fucked up and trip!" Think "I'm here to learn, show me what you will mother Ayahuasca" and she will expand your mind in ways you never thought possible. Stop advising people to waste their money on bullshit workshops
Lol! that sucks man! Sorry if I'm laughing about it now - I'm sure it wasn't funny at the time, but seriously, that's ridiculous!
Well they could be shamans through other plant relationships and through the use of other plants discover the properties of aya. Traditionally shamans will diet hundreds of species in the rainforest, not just aya. If you ask the elders how humans came to know about aya , they say the plants spoke and divulged their properties to the shaman that can listen.
i dont think workshops are the way to go, but i would love to do a dieta with a legit shaman for at least a month sometime in my life. I agree with skizm when you say people can learn to navigate by themselves, but that kind of understanding only comes after alot of experience with the spirit realms, and without a guide of some sort it can be difficult to acheive. I would really like to study shamanism and perhaps guide people thru these realms someday, but i would want to spend alot of time with an experienced shaman before i would trust myself to be a guide. Workshops are shady, it shouldnt cost that much. I think you would be better off going on an adventure to south america, open yourself to the flow of energy, ask around, and find a shaman that you feel comfortable with. The universe has a weird way of putting you exactly where you need to be if you let it.
