THE NATURE OF AYAHUASCA
WE HAVE ALL HEARD OF TIMOTHY LEARY HANGING OUT IN OAXACA, MEXICO EXPRIMENTING WITH MAJIC PSYDELIC MUSHROOMS and the book "THE ELECTRIC KOOL-AID ACID TEST" and the Hollywood actors CHEECH and CHONG AND THE RECENT MOVIE WITH JULIA ROBERTS, EAT PRAY, LOVE LIVING IN BALI WITH SHAMAN HEALER AND YOU ARE NOW CATAPULTED INTO THE JUNGLES OF PERU FOR A MIND EXPANDING EXPERIMENT USING NATIVE JUNGLE NATURAL DRUGS AS MEDCINE TO CURE DEPRESSION AND A HOST OF DISEASES THAT MODERN DOCTORS CANT CURE.
Tom Wolfe's The Electric Kool‑Aid Acid Test kickstarted a PSYDELIC revolution.
At the dawn of the 1960s, Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters were dropping LSD and kickstarting a revolution – and Wolfe went along for the ride, capturing the birth of the counterculture.
Tom Wolfe’s "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" is a literary “gateway drug” – a hallucination of a book that introduced a whole new way of looking at the world.
You may have heard stories of people traveling to foreign destinations to experience taking Ayahuasca, a psychoactive brew. Typically, these anecdotes tend to focus on the immediate effects that take place during an Ayahuasca “trip,” some of which are enlightening, while others are downright distressing.
However, scientists have uncovered several long-term health benefits of taking Ayahuasca. This article reviews Ayahuasca, including its negative and positive effects on health.
What is Ayahuasca?
Ayahuasca — also known as the tea, the vine, and la purga — is a brew made from the leaves of the Psychotria viridis shrub along with the stalks of the Banisteriopsis caapi vine, though other plants and ingredients can be added as well .
This drink was used for spiritual and religious purposes by ancient Amazonian tribes in Peru and is still used as a sacred beverage by some religious communities in Brazil and North America.
Traditionally, a shaman or curandero — an experienced healer who leads Ayahuasca ceremonies — prepares the brew by boiling torn leaves of the Psychotria viridis shrub and stalks of the Banisteriopsis caapi vine in water. The Banisteriopsis caapi vine is cleaned and smashed before being boiled to increase the extraction of its medicinal compounds.
When the brew has reduced to the shaman’s liking, the water is removed and reserved, leaving behind the plant material. This process is repeated until a highly concentrated liquid is produced. Once cooled, the brew is strained to remove impurities and groups of people begin to inbibe.
What is an Ayahuasca Retreat?
An Ayahuasca retreat is an opportunity to work closely with an indigenous shaman through a guided journey into another dimension. The natural healing power of ayahuasca and other medicinal plants help ayahuasca retreat participants to reconnect to nature and to their true selves.
A Truly Magical Opportunity
Ayahuasca Retreats at the Ayahuasca Foundation help people realize the power to make profound changes in our lives and achieve health and happiness. The rainforest is ancient and wise, beyond human comprehension, and it contains the answers to questions that we sometimes struggle to ascertain by ourselves.
During the Ayahuasca Retreats, participants attend ayahuasca ceremonies and they also receive a variety of traditional plant remedies. Receiving treatment from an authentic indigenous shaman, or curandero, is an opportunity to discover, empower, and motivate our true selves to achieve our highest goals of health, harmony, and happiness. Retreat participants are able to replant their spirits in nourishing soil, free from the environmental, mental, and emotional toxins that caused their illness or sorrow.
Healing Treatments
Much more than just ayahuasca ceremonies, healing retreats feature a multitude of additional treatments outside of the ceremonies, including plant baths, vapor baths, smoke baths, inhalants, purgatives, poultices, massage, counseling, and any internal or topical medical treatment that might be needed to heal particular illnesses or afflictions.
Retreats are led by an indigenous curandero from the Shipibo culture. The curandero, don Ronor, learned from his father and grandfather, a vegtalisto and an ayahuasquero. He is the youngest of three brothers who are all experienced healers. He has a humility that brings a calm gratitude to his presence.He has extensive plant dietas with noya rao, bobinsana, marusa, chiric sanango, and chullachaqui.
Don Ronor is constantly developing his own understanding and methods for healing, learning more icaros through his intimate connections to his dietas and plant spirit guides. He is also a father and his wife and children are usually with him on retreats, providing a wonderful light to the group experience. He works hard to provide the greatest level of healing, always wanting to prepare and administer as many remedies as he can during the ayahuasca retreat. All of the facilitators are so thankful for his dedication and willingness to share and teach the tradition. He is a true maestro.
THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW: REPLANT YOUR SPIRIT. Apart from treatment of diagnosed conditions, Ayahuasca Retreats can also be an amazing way to regain the connection that so many people have lost, the connection to our true selves. At our core, we are truly spirits. We are not just bodies, minds, or emotions. We are spirits that have bodies, minds, and emotions. Our spirits are divine vessels of universal energy. It is this mysterious energy that motivates life to blossom. It is what turns a seed into a plant, what gives birth to consciousness, what makes love a reality.
Healing Retreats provide the opportunity to nourish our spirits, to plant our roots in healthy soil again, so they can grow and blossom as they are meant to do. By remembering the truth of our divinity, we can reconnect to the source of all life, and begin to cultivate our true selves, and lives, as we move forward in growth, happiness, and health.
THINGS YOU MAY WANT TO SAVE: Only the good stuff in your memory bank...get rid of the rest simply delete and start fresh.
ZENTRAVELER SAYS: Using Italian phrase "forget about it" Choose a Panama style hat, some loose fitting jungle clothes, good footwear and hat off to Peru for a life changing Retreat.
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