One of my favorite places on Earth is Peru. I have been twice in Peru,
the first time I visited most of the landmarks and travelled far and wide
inside the country. The diversity of the terrain is so incredible with breathtaking
scenery and the people were truly welcoming and friendly.
The second time I decided to go to a lodge in the Peruvian Amazon to
experience the plant medicine Ayahuasca under the guidance of a local Shaman.
It was a bit crowded there with other foreigners like me from all walks of life
both young and old, some had been there multiple times and just keep coming
back once a year. There are plenty of lodges like this in the Amazon mainly run
by westerners who employ a local shaman to conduct Ayahuasca ceremonies. I
believe they are run mainly for profit but at the same time if you go there
with the right intention you just might have a truly mystical and profound
experience.
I stayed there for a week and each night we had an Ayahuasca ceremony,
probably the most memorable one was the first one for me as I did not know what
to expect and had no previous experience with any mind altering substances. The
shaman begun by giving us one by one a small cup of Ayahuasca to drink some got
more or others less depending partially on their body type and whether they had
drunk it before. The extreme bitter taste of the plant medicine really
surprised me as well as the dark brown muddy color.
Once I drunk my bit I went
to sit on a chair and was waiting for things to kick in but nothing was
happening. Then once everyone drunk the medicine all the lights were switched
off and we were engulfed by the darkness of the jungle apart from the
flickering light of the mapacho tobacco smoked by the shaman, who then started
chanting the Icaros, shamanic songs calling on the spirit of Ayahuasca and the
spirits of the Jungle. Once he started singing I realized I could feel the
vibration of his songs throughout my body, such a strange sensation and then
the more he sung the more I started seeing these intrinsic geometric patterns
and they would change with the melody of the Icaros. Geometric patterns would alter
between visions of the jungle animals, birds, plants and aliens.
It was a lot to take in and then we had a few participants who were
just screaming their heads off as they were having a bad trip. One girl in
particular was something I could only describe as possessed and the shaman’s
assistants had to hold her down during most of the ceremonies. Some people even
left the lodge after a couple of ceremonies not sure why might have been the
screaming! I suppose its something no one can really control how Ayahuasca will
affect them.
Its called medicine for a reason as it does help each person in a
different way, for me it really opened up my senses its been years now and I
still see those geometric kaleidoscopic patterns in my dreams from time to
time. Ayahuasca is engraved in my mind forever and I am so very grateful.
After each ceremony I liked gazing at the clear night sky in the pitch
black of the jungle, I had never seen the stars shine so bright before. To this
day only in the Amazon have I seen such a starry night. Each time I was in Peru
I felt really connected to the land, its culture even the people.
Feeling nostalgic now, perhaps it might be time to revisit this
mystical country soon.
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