Ayahuasca

When i was in the jungles of Colombia i went to this ayahuasca ceremony.

i can't say it was very fun, as i vomited like i never did plus i had the worse diarrhea ever.
but it was so interesting, at the first part i had this amazing spiritual experience and even though i felt so bad after i think it was worth it.
it was 3 years ago and i found myself wanting to do that again.
do you know anyone in the UK who perform these ceremonies?
because i can't (or won't) go all the way back to Colombia just for that
Thank you!

Hello, Nicole.
May I ask what the amazing spiritual experience was? It must have been very deep for you to want to repeat diarrhoea and vomiting! Would it not be easier and safer to learn another method of contacting spirits?
Shamans in South America are working within a particular culture. They have spent years getting to know the very powerful spirits of Ayahuasca and are able to work with them safely. Here, we tend not to have that type of relationship with plants – and certainly not with Ayahuasca. This type of ceremony is, after all, only a method of entering non-ordinary reality in order to contact spirits. Would it not be better to use other methods more suited to contacting the spirits of this land?

Hello, Nicole.
May I ask what the amazing spiritual experience was? It must have been very deep for you to want to repeat diarrhoea and vomiting! Would it not be easier and safer to learn another method of contacting spirits?
Shamans in South America are working within a particular culture. They have spent years getting to know the very powerful spirits of Ayahuasca and are able to work with them safely. Here, we tend not to have that type of relationship with plants – and certainly not with Ayahuasca. This type of ceremony is, after all, only a method of entering non-ordinary reality in order to contact spirits. Would it not be better to use other methods more suited to contacting the spirits of this land?

I wonder if we ever did have that kind of relationship with plants? There seems to have been something like it at Findhorn... Have to say I've always felt very drawn to this part of shamanism, i.e. working with spirits of the land/nature.

I wonder if we ever did have that kind of relationship with plants?

have a look at biodynamic gardening/agriculture. There's a lot of connection, not just between the planetary/moon cycles, but also between plants, animals and humans (at least from what my better half has explained to me... she's the gardener, I just do the digging. 😉 )

She's also read up on Ayahausca, but I forgot to ask her about it. I also seem to recall Tori Amos mentioning it in her book, as I think she did the spiritual connection with it at some point in the past.

All Love and Reiki Hugs

I wonder if we ever did have that kind of relationship with plants? There seems to have been something like it at Findhorn... Have to say I've always felt very drawn to this part of shamanism, i.e. working with spirits of the land/nature.

have a look at biodynamic gardening/agriculture. There's a lot of connection, not just between the planetary/moon cycles, but also between plants, animals and humans (at least from what my better half has explained to me... she's the gardener, I just do the digging.

Taking “that kind of relationship” to mean shamanism, we haven’t had it (as a culture) since shamanism declined in these islands. However, as Giles has pointed out and as Mouse mentions with Findhorn, there are other ways of ‘being’ with plants. “Connecting” is not the same as doing a journey to converse with the plant spirit, but Findhorn was doing something, particularly at the start.

There are individuals working shamanically with land/nature spirits. I do, myself, and this is a lot of what I teach, as it is my speciality. This involves meeting and working with the nature spirits within this land which, unless you are going to go to live and work full time in South America, seems to me to be of much greater use than forming a relationship with Ayahuasca.

I had a friend and student (dead now, and much missed) who went to Peru with Eagle’s Wing. He was keen to try Ayahuasca and, after a long conversation in which it became clear that he was determined to do so, I advised him to first meet a plant here who could introduce him to Ayahuasca. He met Bindweed, which we later discovered is the nearest British relative of Ayahuasca. He worked closely with Bindweed for several months before going to Peru.

He went to Peru and the Ayahuasca ceremony was arranged for a particular evening. On that day he journeyed to Bindweed and Bindweed introduced him to Ayahuasca. Ayahuasca greeted him and said, “Why do you want to do this, when you can learn all you need to in Yorkshire?”

He decided not to take Ayahuasca. Everyone else spent the night vomiting – ‘tripping’ rather than journeying. He had a talk with the shaman about why he wasn’t joining in, then slept. The following day, as everyone else was sick and hung-over, the shaman asked him to return to England to set his affairs in order, then to return to be the shaman’s apprentice.
He declined, quoting Ayahuasca’s words.

The experience that you have, taking Ayahuasca as a tourist, is not the experience that the South American shamans have.

There are individuals working shamanically with land/nature spirits. I do, myself, and this is a lot of what I teach, as it is my speciality. This involves meeting and working with the nature spirits within this land which, unless you are going to go to live and work full time in South America, seems to me to be of much greater use than forming a relationship with Ayahuasca.

I would love to do this.

Hello, Nicole.
May I ask what the amazing spiritual experience was? It must have been very deep for you to want to repeat diarrhoea and vomiting! Would it not be easier and safer to learn another method of contacting spirits?
Shamans in South America are working within a particular culture. They have spent years getting to know the very powerful spirits of Ayahuasca and are able to work with them safely. Here, we tend not to have that type of relationship with plants – and certainly not with Ayahuasca. This type of ceremony is, after all, only a method of entering non-ordinary reality in order to contact spirits. Would it not be better to use other methods more suited to contacting the spirits of this land?

well, it was something that changed my life and my career path.
it wasn't that spiritual but i did see things from a different angle and it was good for me.
i ate mushrooms once too, it wasn't that life changing but it has something to do with my state of mind in that period.
what do you mean by other methods more suited to contacting the spirits of this land?

what do you mean by other methods more suited to contacting the spirits of this land?

The whole point of taking Ayahuasca (for the shamans, at any rate) is to be able to contact and negotiate with the spirits of the land where they live and the spirits of animals killed for food. (And any other spirits who need speaking to for whatever reason.)
Ayahuasca is a spirit who knows the other spirits of that land. There isn’t a lot of point working here with a spirit who cannot introduce you to spirits here.
Most shamans, shamanic practitioners and those who ‘do some shamanism’ here use a rhythmic sound (usually drumming) to enter non-ordinary reality and to journey to visit and to converse with the spirits.
I use drumming or rattling. They are easy and safe and have no vomiting side-effects.

Using ayahuasca is not about using a psychedelic, it's about connecting with the spirit of the plant to receive healing, teachings, or guidance. In my opinion it doesn't matter if the plant is native to our shores or not, as with everything in shamanism it's foremost about intent. The spirit of ayahuasca is intrinsically connected to the spirits of all plants that live on our planet and as such there will always be a connection with the place of origin.
The fact that you felt very sick is in itself a form of healing, it is purging your body of what it no longer needs or what is causing imbalances.
When you prepare for an ayahuasca ceremony there are certain things you must follow. There is a specific diet that you need to follow for the few days leading up to the ceremony in order to prepare your body and mind, you should clear your body of any prescription medication you may be taking such as anti-depressants, and you ensure the person holding the ceremony has the knowledge to understand what's going on.
I am taking part in a ceremony in the next 8 weeks and I know that the shaman has worked with and has been taught by Peruvian shamans. This person has more than 20 years of experience with ayahuasca and I fully give this person my trust.
Ayahuasca has the ability to change lives and to heal at a very deep level. I really get a bit annoyed at people that simply see it as an easy ride into the spirit world, or see it as way to "trip balls". It is much more than that and if the OP is seriously interested in using ayahuasca in the proper shamanic and spiritual way then the opportunity will present itself when the time is right. I had to wait over 10 years, but now the time is right.
[url]Ayahuasca, homepage of the great amazonian medicine[/url] is a very good site that dispels a lot of the misconceptions around ayahuasca

In my opinion it doesn't matter if the plant is native to our shores or not, as with everything in shamanism it's foremost about intent. The spirit of ayahuasca is intrinsically connected to the spirits of all plants that live on our planet and as such there will always be a connection with the place of origin.

I do agree with this to an extent. But shamanism, wherever it is practiced, is done in harmony with the local spirits.(People who teach workshops often miss out this bit, because there is a huge ‘New Age’ influence in the way much shamanism is taught here.)
And I agree about intent. But intent is not the only part of journeying.

Do you do much work with land spirits local to you?

The purge (vomiting) from ayahuasca is part of the healing process. It is expelling toxins from the body.

Most people I know who have done it have been seeking shamanic experiences, not specifically healing. Isn't expelling toxins to do with healing a this-reality problem?

Most people I know who have done it have been seeking shamanic experiences, not specifically healing. Isn't expelling toxins to do with healing a this-reality problem?

I didn't say it wasn't.

But shamanic healing addresses the spiritual causes.