Ayahuasca , One Year On

Preparing the Laced Kool Aid

Just realising that today is one year since I took Ayahuasca in Peru, with Hamilton Souther and the  blue morpho team .

Totally unconnected photo, in Machu Piccu (which is also a great place, i wrote about it November 2009)

You can read about the experience here and if your brave enough, here . (theres a much longer version of it in this blog in the early December 2009 posts)

I was thinking, has it changed my life ? Are the effects permanent? For those who havent experienced it, Ayahuasca is a jungle vine, which is mixed with tree bark and drunk, in a seance like ceremony - basically traditonal Amazonian Shamanism. The aim is to spend a few days, ingesting the Ayahuasca, in special ceremonies, with the Shamans. The Shamans sing 'Icaros' which are gentle healing songs, and you get frightening visions, puke your guts up, get rid of all your bad energy, and hopefully have a life changing ephiphany (do you get non-life changing epiphanies?!!)

The Mighty Amazon, near Iquitos

There are many pretty badly run and less than genuine Ayahuasca 'experiences' for tourists in Peru, mostly in Iquitos , but some notable good ones and proper Shamans and so on, and price does not seem to be a good indicator of quality. The main thing to do is check around forums and so on for one that looks comfortable, as it seems different people find a place they like themselves, or get to know some Shamans out there in the jungle, if you are feeling brave.

Nightlife in Iquitos

Its a boom business now though, with everyone 'waking up' to themselves etc etc. , pretending to get rid of their Ego. However, joking aside, i'd recommend it as a truly life changing event. For sure, i had an ephiphany or two, and im sure my fellow travellers on that trip did also. But one year on, how does it feel?

The Promenade, in Iquitos

The more visual things have faded, like the 'wolf' who came into my life, doesnt hang out with me any more - I wonder, was he real or a construct of the 'medicine', or just my imagination? or is it that now my heart has hardened again and im not open or sensitive to the spirit world any more. I had some crazy times in the month after the 'Aya', coming to grips with a dive into the world beyond, and had some terrifying nightmares, too, if im honest, but now it all seems like a distant dream....

However, the medicine does seem to work on you in the background, deep in your core. Priorities in life change, your philosophy changes, you realise whats actually important in life, and what isn't. These kind of things stay with you forever. The only sad thing is when you come out and you see that no one else has changed - I can understand that though - what if a freind i'd known for 20 years suddenly started telling me they'd seen the light? that material possessions are irrelevent? that God has a plan for us all and not to worry too much?

The happy and content, and eminantly non-materialistic, Mr Shitty, of Iquitos, relaxing at home

Well its just as confusing coming out of this thing back to your old life (which in my own case is generally about making money) and realising that actually the money isn't really so relevant other than as a means to an end - But the Ayahuasca is strong. 3 weeks ago, I found myself locked out of my apartment one day, and i realised that there isnt a single thing in there that i really wanted, not a single thing. So profound a thing hadn't occurred to me before but anyway, for the first time in my life there was a temptation to simply walk away from it all, and keep walking...but of course I didnt, I packed a suitcase and went to USA, on business...so maybe another Ayahuasca tour is required, so i can end up happy as this guy..(who could forget mr Shitty, of Iquitos)

Ayahuasca diaries, part 5

Day 6

I slept much of the day away, and missed breakfast (wasnt missing much) i will eat lunch as its the only meal today. It's this horrible bony fish like somthing only Gollum would touch, rice, and a disgusting baked planten which looks like a banana but tastes like a bad bad cigar. Today again went slowly, and i was tired, especially since the Ayhuasca kept me awake most of the night.

The ayhuasca on this night tasted so bad that i was almost sick straight away. i think my body knows to reject it since ive vomitted and had diarea so much with it. Luckily Justin, two along from me, had a local hadrolled cigarette - just a puff or two takes the taste away (this is the only smoke ive ever had except at the secret place with Birgita :o) )

The nights experience was a little boring. I suppose ive become used to it. I was however a more pleasant experience all round, just sitting in a pleasant space for 3 hours, a little like the first ceremony. I guess the medecine was working on me and conslidating the previous nights in my head. some guys were really getting noisy again but in a good way. Mr psychic orgasmer was at it again albeit in a quieter way, and mr chicken was having his own personal farmyard party.

It keeps giving me this electric shock when i try to sleep, so by the time i was able to even doze i was exhausted as it was 5am and becoming light again. The next day was a day off so i could have a long lie at least.

Day 7

This day off was uneventful except for an inca fire ceremony in the evening, which was a total sham. you went up to a fire and made a wish. Big deal. Santa was as likely to hear it as the Jaguar God (well lets see, i wished that i won the Aston Martin DB9 in the competiton i went in for at the airport last month!) im getting used to the shamanic diet now, and i have lost a lot of weight. My beer (actually mostly food and laziness) belly has gone and i look tanned and sexy. I was swimming a lot in the lake until one women and a guy got parts of their toes bitten off. Seems there are some nasty fish in there, i must have been lucky (or they dont eat people on the shamanic diet as we taste awful!) hamilton and some guys fished for 30 mins and caught 2 pretty nasty little piranha like fish. Once 2 years ago i swam in a marsh full of Pirahnas (with a 6m long Anaconda in tow but thats a long and different story!) and i was scared shitless. Another of my 9 lives gone, as my mother would say.