As we sojourn into 2012 it becomes more and more obvious that our First World ways are seriously ill. We watch as all of our industries including government, medicine, finance, and health care all shift under their ineffective weight now that the baby-boomer lifestyle, systems of administration, and use of money become irrelevant to many people, bordering upon non-existent. What was once a comfortable lifestyle growing out of 1950′s North American government job-creation plans, no longer presents itself as a viable option for the youth of today. In fact, the early-retiring “middle-class” has already been experiencing cut-backs and forced leave from their comfortable jobs for decades already. Now, for the youth today we are at a place where “finding” long-term career employment can seem like a non-existent dream. So what do we do when the community support systems we grew accustomed to no longer serve us? We have to become creative, ingenious, and responsible for our own health, financial status, and well-being.
To do this we now have access to a number of wonderful healing gifts from the Earth. Gifts that come from the Amazon, indigenous jungle communities in South America. Though there are many powerful healing traditions that we will discuss in the following pages including Yopo and Kambo, the most important medicine for the purpose of this article is the gift of Ayahuasca. When combined with traditional, ritualistic shamanic practices passed on from shaman-to-initiate over thousands of years in ceremony, there is nothing I have seen in the material world that is faster, or more powerful for the cleansing of mind, body, and soul. It is clear we must recapture our Spirit, purge our physical bodies from toxins, our poor western diets, and release all our psychic and psychological pain. This must be done to make space for our divinity to recapture our attention. We need space in our lives for the divine cosmic and creative spark. It is our divine essence, our Soul, that is connected to all that is. Revered by every religion and mystery school from the beginning of time, and yet continues to elude most of the Western World. Is it possible that the Western mindset has detached us from the only thing that is quintessentially ours?
In addition to seeking out and reclaiming our divinity, we must listen to our surroundings, our planet, our waters, the wild plants and animals as we re-learn how to connect with our physical nature. We must become embodied spiritually in the lower dimensions of physicality to make our dreams come true. This means we must learn the ways of creation, and become inter-dependent co-creators with all that is, our divine source once again…
There is no place in your heart too small to explore. There is no illness too large to heal. In Brasil, during our ceremonies in 2008 my room-mate, an elderly woman from the UK, had the nerve endings in her ear grow back. She told me she came to the medicine after years of medical supervision, requests for surgeries that couldn’t be performed due to the size and location of the nerve damage, and having all her medical specialists turn her away basically saying nothing could be done! She happily told me she removed her hearing aid and threw it in the garbage after only two ceremonies!
Ayahuasca was part of my healing journey, my most profound healing miracle, and it is my great honour to share it with you. I can support you with my psychic and creative gifts if we are there together… adventuring to the edge of the Cosmos from within our own Heart & Soul. Ayahuasca is a wonderful medicine, but if you have read any of the experiences on the internet about ego-death or other archetypal journeys, you will know that ayahuasca is not for the faint of heart. I personally feel it works well for people looking for a dramatic healing miracle in their lives and who are ready to release into a world of Spirituality. People who are accustomed to eating a clean vegetarian diet and who are mentally prepared for anything seem to do well with the medicine. There are no guarantees with the medicine, some people come and experience no strong visions, some experience a physical cleansing. Some people experience strong, powerful and sometimes metaphorical visions.
I only recommend drinking Ayahuasca with the best Shaman and support group you can find. Look for a group of people who you feel have your healing and highest good at heart. People who you feel comfortable with, who have a history of responsible professional experience, who have done their research, know the chemical/medical details and/or are aligned with licensed medical doctors who know about the chemical influence of Ayahauasca on the body. Then you can ask them to confer about your desires and medical conditions before you enter the ceremonies. In addition to these practical factors, I would evaluate your team like you would evaluate an outdoorsmanship survival group. As you adventure into the hinterlands of the Spirit, not altogether unlike entering the hinterlands of the wild, you want to be sure you are with a group you feel safe with, and trust with your life.
Though this medicine can challenge one’s mind, you can also discover your Spirit, reclaim your intuitive spark, your divine essence of creativity as we take the shortest and most effective path towards various forms of healing. It is not an easy path for everyone; however, there is nothing comparable to ayahuasca healing in the whole world. My experience took me deep into myself, the Center of the Cosmos where I asked questions like “who am I?”, “what am I doing here?”, and “how can I be successful in my life?”. I received powerful and practical answers. Since then, I have been more productive, happy, and secure in my spirit than I ever have in my whole life. In fact, I think I now understand the value and purpose of my life. Ayahuasca encourages your creativity and healing through sacred ceremonies, prayer, and a variety of indigenous traditions from around the world including. Playful creativity and reflection are greatly encouraged and there are a variety of ways you can express your Spirit.
I have been exploring the many benefits of Ayahuasca medicine since 2008 with a team of explorers called Heart of The Initiate. As a result of my own personal healing experiences with Ayahuasca I have become an ambassador of sorts, helping people find their way to the medicine, comprehend it, and promoting the benefits. In this article, I will open some doors to the world of Ayahuasca, and link to some scientific research and medical articles for your consideration.
In Canada, Ayahuasca is often misunderstood as a recreational psychedelic. The truth of Ayahuasca is much more serious, and challenges us to take a good solid look at Canadian Medicine, Canadian Mindsets, and the value of non-allopathic healing modalities from around the world. I don’t believe anyone who claims that Ayahuasca is a recreational substance has actually drank Ayahuasca. It is legal in Brasil, and officially recognized by the Peruvian government as a legitimate medicinal treatment, and has come under great scientific scrutiny for its chemical makeup, pharmacological and neurological benefits.
“Used for thousands of years by indigenous populations in the Amazon basin, ayahuasca is legal in Brazil, where it forms the core of three syncretic religions, and in Peru, for traditional purposes. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2006 that ayahuasca is legal for religious purposes. And the International Narcotics Control Board has ruled that ayahuasca is not considered a controlled substance under the UN’s drug-control treaties.
In 2006, a Health Canada study found no serious health hazards to using ayahuasca; instead, it reported health promotion and spiritual benefits.
On that basis, it recommended that a special exemption be granted, allowing a small Montreal group to drink the tea in a spiritual context.
In a 2011 doctoral dissertation on Canadian ayahuasca policy, Kenneth Tupper said the Health Canada exemption marked a historic moment in Canadian drug policy and human rights – the first acknowledgment of the legitimacy of using an illegal psychoactive substance for spiritual purposes.
However, the proposed exemption was contingent on issuance of export permits from Brazil. The permits remain the subject of bilateral negotiations.
“For a controlled substance to be used in Canada, there’s a process that needed to be undergone,” Health Canada’s Ms. Beaulieu said in an interview. “We’’d welcome scientists like Dr. Maté talking to us before they start their work. Our intent is not to stop research or treatment. It’s to ensure the safety of Canadians.”
In the meantime, the constituents of ayahuasca – derived from the vine and leaf of two separate Amazonian plants – remain illegal in Canada.”
~ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/new-health/health-news/bc-doctor-agrees-to-stop-using-amazonian-plant-to-treat-addictions/article2231413/
People in Canada are wise to consider the oft-labelled “primitive” experiences of jungle medicine people, their medicines, and their stories of survival. Surely we can see how our “modern” way of living is not all it’s cracked up to be, threatens our survival, our ecosystems, and our world. It appears that the realm of the Spirit, and prayer-based healing has a lot more to offer us than we may have previously considered…
Ayahuasca has many scientifically verified benefits for people dealing with mental health issues. In fact, many of it’s benefits have been identified as assisting the nervous system in repairing/improving itself, increasing the number of neurotransmitters such as Seretonin and Dopamine, both of which factor heavily in one’s mental health. There are a rather large growing number of healing centers in South America using Ayahuasca, such as the one in Peru run by French doctor Dr. Jacques Mabit, a legendary detox centre deep in the Peruvian jungle which uses Ayahuasca to help heal addictions. It is called Takiwasi.
“From 1980 to 1983, he served as director of a hospital in the province of Lampa, in the high plains region of Puno, under the sponsorship of Doctors Without Borders. Here he conducted research on environmental, cultural, and social factors in the design of an appropriate health care strategy in the central Andean plains, for which he received a research doctorate from the University of Medicine in Nantes in 1984. He received a further diploma in natural medicine from the University of Paris in 1986 — the year, coincidentally, in which he had his first ayahuasca experience.” - http://www.singingtotheplants.com/2009/01/jacques-mabit/
…Takiwasi, his Center for the Treatment of Drug and Alcohol Addiction and the Research of Traditional Medicines, located in Tarapoto. Takiwasi claims remarkable success in the treatment of addiction. It describes its treatment method as “innovative, unique in its field. It is characterized by a combination of psychological therapy and conventional medicine with the traditional medicine of the Amazon.
The Takiwasi healing model is described as a tripod — physical detoxification through purgative plants, baths with plants, saunas, massages, physical exercises, and a special diet; psychic detoxification through the opening up of hidden emotions such as sorrows, sadness, family resentments, and inappropriate lifestyle; and family, work, and social reinstatement through a program of furloughs to regain contact with family and especially with outside jobs. The typical stay is nine to twelve months.” - http://www.singingtotheplants.com/2009/01/an-ayahuasca-documentary/
CBC’s The Nature of Things did a small documentary with Dr. Gabor Mate from Vancouver called The Jungle Prescription on the use of Ayahuasca for treating addictions and mental illnesses. Watch the full show here: http://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/episode/jungle-prescription.html#
“Dr. Gabor Maté has worked for several years in Vancouver’s downtown east side with people suffering from severe drug addictions. Based on his own experiences with ayahuasca, Dr. Maté is convinced that the Amazonian shamanic medicine, if taken in the proper context, can help people cure their addictions. Visit http://vineofthesoul.com
The Jungle Prescription is a documentary film about ayahuasca and its encounter with the West – as played out through the story of two doctors, their patients, a team of scientists, and group of indigenous shamans.
The Jungle Prescription stars: a very special group of plants, the patients of Dr. Gabor Maté, Dr. Jacques Mabit, Humberto Piaguaje, the UMIYAC organization of traditional healers, Jordi Riba, Josep María Fábregas, Vancouver, Barcelona, the Amazon Jungle… and the deepest recesses of our subconscious minds.”
During these last few months I took one of my clients to drink Ayahuasca. He came to me in a real crisis. It was a real doozie, one of those times when everything in his life started falling apart and re-organizing itself. This re-organization included death after death in their family, a really traumatic time. I myself have been through several of these emotionally challenging life-transitions, and I could totally relate to his experience. What do we do when everything we have been doing so far is not working out for us and we feel we are in transitional crisis?
I knew this client needed a miracle, and was too fragile to do one-on-one catharsis therapy or make the mental shifts required to see things differently. I also knew that he had expressed a very serious and academic interest in the healing medicine of Ayahuasca. Instead of doing ongoing daily counseling, I decided to take him on a long-distance journey to Colombia where he could safely work with the plant medicine under the supervision of an experienced team of drinkers, a wonderful shamanic healer named Warinei, and his two talented apprentices and assistants. I look forward to sharing some of his thoughts post-journey, and my own reflections 4 years into this process. I also hope I get to join some of my fellow Vancouver healers in helping vulnerable people work with ayahuasca for addictions, sacred and religious purposes, and mental health improvement.
Here are some research documents for your consideration
USP Tests Santo Daime Tea Against Depression (english)
The therapeutic potential of harmine and ayahuasca in depression
Ayahuasca – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, March 24, 2012
How Shipibo Healers Cured My Brain Tumor with Ayahuasca
“Then, there’s the impatience. Thirty-three years old already, for chrissakes. And in all that time, after all that therapy, only one thing worked on my depression—an ayahuasca “cleansing” with Amazonian shamans.” - http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0603/features/peru.html
Perhaps more importantly Ayahausca is a conduit to a Sacred,
Higher-Power
“Ayahuasca is an astonishing brew made from two different plants that don’t even grow anywhere near one another. Its creation is a feat of extraordinary pharmacological inventiveness – especially when you consider there are more than 80,000 different plant species to choose from. The knowledge of how to use ayahuasca is passed down through apprentices, and some of these apprentices are now from the West. With the arrival of ayahuasca, the Western medicine cabinet has just expanded, and we shouldn’t lose the opportunity to learn more about its benefits.
In fact, the vast majority of Westerners who drink ayahuasca either in the Amazon or abroad are not going for addiction treatments: They are seeking self-knowledge. They are more spiritual pilgrims than medical patients. Traditional ayahuasca ceremonies provide the safe and guided context to enter into an expanded state of awareness where participants lift the veil on ordinary reality – freed temporarily from the ceaseless chatter of the busy mind – and experience a deeper connection to the world around them. For many, this leads to a spiritual epiphany, a state of being described as “ineffable,” what religious people would call a mystical experience.Well, that’s powerful medicine, by anyone’s standards.
At the core of all Twelve-Step programs for any addiction, it is the spiritual connection to a “higher power” that is the ultimate key to sobriety. Ayahuasca is ultimately a plant-based technology of the sacred and must be used with great care and respect because it allows people to access
the most vulnerable and precious part of themselves – their true natures. Historically, we have always seen this as an area of religious inquiry, and we find it hard to imagine it could be available through indigenous knowledge of nature’s own pharmacy.To be fair to Health Canada, they have opened the door a crack in this regard.
They have already granted a conditional exemption for the “sacramental” use of ayahuasca for a Montreal chapter of the Brazilian religion called Santo Daime. But that’s because the burden of proof for a religious exemption is lower than that required for “medical” use – years of scientific testing, double-blind studies etc.
So I wonder, just wonder, if Dr. Maté and his shamanic practitioners were to present their case to Health Canada as a sacramental use of ayahuasca, might they have a better chance of receiving an exemption? The centuries of shamanic use of ayahuasca within the Vegetalismo tradition has been recognized by the Peruvian government as part of the national heritage.
But that could put Dr. Maté in a tricky position, since he could no longer be the medical doctor offering therapeutic help, but more of a priestly figure offering spiritual guidance. That, of course, is what shamans and good doctors are supposed to be – healers of body, mind and spirit, the whole person. I notice Dr. Maté always wears black. Richard Meech is an award-winning documentary filmmaker whose film, Vine of the Soul: Encounters with Ayahuasca, was released in 2010.”- http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/opinion/dont-shut-the-door-on-natures-own-pharmacy/article2234175/
For more information on small non-profit healing engagements in Colombia for a small number of people who are seriously interested in experiencing ayahuasca and other traditional medicines in a ceremonial context, please email Zoraah at viia.adores@gmail.com. We can confer with a highly knowledgeable, credible, and experienced licensed South American doctor, regarding any safety issues you may have if you have a medical condition before your journey. Zoraah is available to chaperone first-time drinkers from Canada, who would like to work with the medicines in a sacred, traditional, and legal way.
The Mamos (the High Authorities) of the Kogi will be in Sedona, AZ in June to share their knowledge of creating a sustainable life for all on Earth (see video below).
http://youtu.be/MKJcmyUUTLo
Here is a link to the BBC documentary on the Kogi:
http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-521537373096312859&hl=en&fs=true
