Reflections from an Ayahuasca Traveller

[londonreal]

Reflections from an Ayahuasca Traveller:

Visual art creative Alexander Ward joins us to discuss the film he produced and directed "Tierra Vida - An Ayahuasca Journey", how he spent years working in the gaming industry but no longer feels satisfied creating for "little plastic toys", why Ayahuasca is only something to try if you are willing to accept a large amount of change in your life, how smoking DMT brought him immediately back to his Ayahuasca experience, and his plans to walk the earth and spread his positive message.

http://youtu.be/TXkWSUvCPys

 

[Foreigner]

I agree that DMT can be game changing, but the whole ceremony and pseudo-shamanic culture around Ayahuasca is really annoying. I guess white people really need the ritual in order to convince themselves that they're not just doing a bunch of drugs, and that they're on "the right path", lol.

Just give me the ingredients and I'll do it myself, thanks.

 

[Ismene]

As Foreigner says, the religious rituals and shamanic nonsense surrounding ayahuasca are very off-putting. I think the whole point of ayahuasca is that it's between you and the drug - you don't need a native bloke in a loincloth telling you what to do. That's the exact opposite of what you need to be getting from it.

I'm not really sure what the guy means by "life-changing" - it may be life-changing in some internal emotional way, but most people arn't going to take it and go and live in the jungle for the rest of their lives. I don't look at psychedelics as a permanent life-changing thing because it leads to disappointment. Most peoples lives consist of doing doing mundane shit 15 hours a day for 70 years - 3 hours on ayahuasca every month or so isn't going to change that reality. I look at it as a few hours off from the rat-race, a few hours euphoria, a few hours laughter, a few hours emotional catharsis. And that's good enough for me. The day after I get up and go to fucking work.

 

[MyExcuse]

One question: Why is it that anyone who has had a "life-changing" experience on psychedelics and suddenly feels compelled to spread the word to others has to look like a grubby hippie? Is it written in the Akashic records or beamed directly from god? "Go forth and spread the message of Truth and Love, do this by growing your locks long so that they may know you are to be trusted."

I simply feel that the message attained through the ritualistic or recreational consumption of psychedelics is often incompatible with modern Western society. I see these people who say they have dissolved their ego or have experienced great feats of experience through psychedelic usage. Yet these same people go on podcasts, make websites, feel compelled to spread this "message", which is never anything new or novel and always involves the same re-hashed smorgasbord of religious ideologies.

Why post a shitty interview? Here's the actual documentary - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMqUfqYt_dc

Also: Paying thousands of dollars to go fly to an impoverished country to trip on drugs in the forest. Protip: Stay in your own country, go support your national forest, do drugs - Win.

 

[TheAppleCore]

I agree that DMT can be game changing, but the whole ceremony and pseudo-shamanic culture around Ayahuasca is really annoying. I guess white people really need the ritual in order to convince themselves that they're not just doing a bunch of drugs, and that they're on "the right path", lol.

Just give me the ingredients and I'll do it myself, thanks.

I pretty much agree. However, if you tried to argue that to a ceremonial aya drinker, he or she would probably strongly disagree. I think that he would argue, and truly believe, that the value in the ritual stems from the power of the ritual to guide the aya drinker through more constructive journeys. Now, whether or not this belief itself is simply a rationalization of drug use, remains in question.

 

[Foreigner]

^ I ultimately respect whatever way someone wants to do this. I'd rather entheogens be accessible in a number of ways and formats. I'm just saying that the "cultural experience" doesn't work for me. I've travelled the world and I know multiple languages - not meaning to brag, just saying - and it seems like it's always westerners who are trying to appropriate another culture's way of doing things instead of being creative and inventing their own process. I've been to South America as well, and I've heard different shamanic chants before. No way in hell would I want to hear a shaman chanting into my ear while I'm tripping balls. I'd rather play some soothing electronica and have a good friend as a sitter.

Watched the doc posted above... seemed like a glorified advertisement to me. And from the clips, it does not seem that "pure" of a culture experience anyway. Doing yoga and a raw food diet seems pretty western; so is building a shrine with icons from all over the world. "Terra Vida" is well known in my area and IMO it's just an expensive getaway. I've been to jungles and they are not my cup of tea. I guess some people are just looking for a package experience. I'm on the west coast and I've met enough people who've done ayahuasca the traditional way to know that there is major koolaid involved. I'm looking for an introspective experience, not brainwashing. Some of these groups even insist on a medical intake process, and a bunch of other koolaid hoops to jump through, before they decide if you are worthy.

Meanwhile, I just bought caapi, viridis, and mimosa on my own, and I am taking them separately in micro doses to experience the essence of the plants. These koolaid shamanic groups would never let you touch their "sacred medicine" in this way; not until the time of the ceremony when I receive some unknown dose that THEY decide for me, without me even having a chance to micro-dose in advance and experiment with tolerance levels.

Let's be realistic though... as illustrated in the video above, these plants are plentiful and grow wild in South America. You can walk along and pick it off trees. It's why I don't take this whole manufacturing process for the western world very seriously. I respect the ayahuascueros and their tradition, but I am not a member of their lineage or culture so doing it in that context doesn't hold meaning for me. And frankly, the less human ego the better.

 

[MyExcuse]

Just to add a bit more on to what has already been stated:
I've seen a handful of documentaries on Ayahuasca retreats with rich white westerners experiencing an indigenous ceremony. My only question is, would the chanting/singing have the same effect if it were understandable?

If someone was chanting or singing in English, would the effect be just as enjoyable or promote the experience in the same way?

I have a strong feeling that it would not and may even be unpleasant. Who knows though.