i haven't given my opinion in this thread because i haven't had the time
but last week i saw a "lecture" with Guillermo Arevalo, the shaman that folias mentions
that was actually more of a serie of questions/answers
and although he seemed quite nice, it only fueled my scepticism about shamanism
so, maybe in a ceremony context he has useful advice to give to people, but this lecture was absolutely ridiculous
i'd like to be respectful of him because i liked that he didn't pretend that ayahuasca should only stay in the context of shamanism, but yet i couldn't help but laugh quietly at every vague and empty answer he was giving
i really don't think you need 30 years of experience to be able to tell us "maybe yes, maybe no", "for some people yes, for other no", "if you feel like trying, try it; he you don't feel like trying, don't try", and so on
there was just no substance at all in anything he said
i couldn't believe that people kept asking questions as if he had actually been answering anything of value
actually, since most of the audience where new age hippies, i suppose they couldn't see past "oh my god, he's a holy shaman from peru!" and would have also found it of great wisdom if he had sneezed
that said, i don't want to discourage people who want to try ayahuasca in a shamanic context
it will give a lot of colour to the experience
but don't believe that the experience will be more true, rich, intense, easy, whatever... in a shamanic context than in your apartment
the setting will just be more colourful. and maybe that will placebo you in a more receptive state, but that only depends on your personal expectations towards shamanism, not on the "power" of shamanism itself
darthmom, you're right not to look forward to purging, as it can simply abort the experience if you vomit before the dmt has enough time to be absorbed (once you've vomitted, you really don't feel like drinking some more)