Shamanic Healing & Ayahuasca

Shamanism

When I first came across shamanic work, it was during an energy healing session where I was taken on a journey to the Underworld. It was a much needed journey, where I met my underworld guide, and visited past lives contracts that gave me insights and awareness to my shadows, limiting beliefs and take back my power to be a more complete being.

When it comes to spiritual journey, it is inevitable that we will come across Shamanism as a spiritual practice. Is it a religion? or is it a way of life? To the tribes, it is a religion and it is also a way of life.

Having been trained briefly by a shaman, one will know that shamanism is a calling. We work with Spirit Animals for soul healing, working with plants for the medicine, and be in harmony with the seasons.

My other shamanic healing journeys was when I had the privilege to experience the Ayahuasca Ceremony twice with different shamans.

Note: Before taking Ayahuasca, a responsible facilitator or shaman will insist on a screening process. Especially if someone been suffering mental illnesses, heart problems, high blood pressure, or a drug abuser.

My First Ayahuasca Experience

Facilitator - Don Roberto 

Cost - USD600.00 for a 4Day 3Night Retreat

What you get - 2 Ayahuasca ceremonies, 1 Cacao ceremony, Food and Boarding

My first experience was with a traveling Shaman - Don Roberto (who I interviewed for my Youtube Channel - Links below) in Oct 2018.

There were 16 of us in the ceremony, and while I was in my own journey, I was aware of what was going on around me. There were people purging into their buckets, and making their way to the toilets and there were people like me - channeling and some were speaking to their own encounters of spirits or masters or other souls. There were also others who couldn't get into their journey. In the ceremony, there was music to accompany your journey, I find that extremely comforting. I later learnt that the songs are known as Icaros. 

For Don Roberto, he was quite firm that we should all be on Dieta before the ceremony. Dieta is not pleasant for me. 

Dieta is flavourless food (no salt, sugar or spices, especially hot peppers, onions, and garlic), no sexual stimulation, no alcohol, no caffeine. no pork. no fermented food, no red meat, no chocolates, no alcohol, no aspartame, no protein shakes, no no no no no .. I seriously just boiled water and boiled my vegetables, and rice. 

The concept is based on 2 levels - clean the system 2 weeks before ingesting the medicine so that the essence and the spirit of the medicine can do its work without distractions. This is especially important given our modern day diet, we don't know if there are any synthetic drugs or chemicals that may be fatal when mixed with ayahuasca. And secondly, it is a spiritual preparation. 

For Don Roberto,  the ceremonies begin when the sunset.

Before the ceremony, we were given a briefing about the medicine, the journey, and also state our intentions for working with the medicine. While many first timers were curious, many stated their intentions for clarity in life, and healing parts of their lives. Don Roberto also let us know that we can ask for second dose of the medicine, but he will decide if we really need it. 

The ceremony has begun. Don Roberto opened with prayers and  got into our space, laid onto our mats mentally prepared ourselves for this possibly a life changing experience.

As we each prepare ourselves to receive the ayahuasca, we were also given the option to share rapé. 

 Rapé is  made up of powdered medicinal herbs, with tobacco. The powder is blown through the nose, with a small V-shaped applicator by a practitioner. Rapé is considered to be a sacred, shamanic medicine.

I took the rapé, the sensation shot right through my brain, and for a moment it stung, and then - fresh like menthol for the brain. Its like when you accidentally took too much wasabi. One time, and I couldn't forget that stinging sensation.

When we each ingested our ayahuasca, we went back to our space and waited for the ayahuasca to do its work. 

For me, the mind wandered aimlessly, semi-dream state, while some of my fellow compatriots started to make some strange noises. Someone was purging into the bucket, another person was starting to speak. I was just lying there, minding my own business. From a distance, I was aware of some singing, some drumming, and it was time for the second dose. I thought I better go for it, since I was just daydreaming. 

I don't know how much time has past. We were advised to put our phones and watches aside. 

The moment I took the 2nd dose, I felt queasy, and needed to grab my bucket. I laid back down, and I wanted to whistle, my hands had involuntary movements, and my channeling started.  To respect the other participants' journey, I was asked to keep it down, someone threw a pillow at me to shut me up. It was very difficult. I was semi-conscious of what's going on, but when the surge of energy wanting to come to be expressed, keep my channeling down was not something the spirits wanted to do, and the flailing of the hands got wild. It was the same thing the 2nd night. This time the participant next to me kicked me to ask me to shut up. I got up to empty my semi-full bucket of my purge.  As I am writing this, I remembered clearly that the deepening of the journey with medicine was after the ceremony. I was in the kitchen, having a much needed snack on fruits and nuts when I felt the ground opened below me and i couldn't stop channeling. In hindsight, I think the spirits were careful to not to disturb the other participants during the ceremony, and went into full-force after the ceremony. 

Afterthought: It was my first experience, the journey reminded me of my spiritual gifts and gave me back the gifts that I denied. Don Roberto was a good facilitator and was happy share his knowledge and experience with us. I really enjoyed his singing that hauntingly guided us during our journey. I did find that 1 facilitator, for 16 participants to be a little crowded. I didn't expect this to be a comfortable experience and it wasn't, starting with dieta. 

Did my life change? My gift for channeling the light codes came back in full force, and the ability to channel energies for healing was something activated. Like an ancient gift remembered. It was humbling to meet me. After the experience, I love myself a little more. I acknowledged my gifts and decided to put them to good use. 

My Youtube interviews with Don Roberto

In Conversation with A Shaman

In Conversation with a Shaman Part 2

In Conversation with a Shaman Part 3

My Second Ayahuasca Experience (26th July, 2019)

Facilitated by - Innerlijke-reis Retreat Center in Netherlands https://innerlijke-reis.nl/?lang=en

Cost - 150Euro for Group ceremony, 50 Euro for 2 nights of boarding

What you get - 1 Ayahuasca ceremony

NOTE: Innerlijke-reis no longer offers Ayahuasca ceremonies as it is no longer legal in Netherland. However they do offer journeys with mushrooms, and kambo.

 I was traveling around Europe between June and August 2019, when a friend mentioned that a few of them signed up one Ayahuasca ceremony in Netherlands. I was curious to experience Ayahuasca in a different setting, and with a bunch of friends. So without any hesitation, I signed up.

When we arrived at the center, I can only describe it as a converted humble barn house. The ceremony area was laid out with clean mattresses, and beautiful center piece of the tools that will be used during the ceremony. There were buckets next to the mattresses and some tissues. It was summer in Europe (one of the hottest European summer ever recorded), so they had fans set up and I chose a mattress near the window. Before the ceremony, there were paperwork to sign off indemnity forms, brief explanation of the ceremony and all that entails. There wasn't any shamans with us, but there were guides. The ceremony began at 10am, and the ceremony to close at 5pm. 

There were three guides with us in a group of 13. The place was spacious and we were comfortable. We were each given an eye-mask and given the "tea". For the experienced participants, we were invited to share the rapé, which I declined. My first experience of the sharp tingling sensation in the brain was still fresh in my mind. 

The room for the ceremony. The bedding were strewn about as we have finished the ceremony!

Ceremony Altar

Once we drank the tea, we lay down on the mattress, put on our eye-mask and wait for Ayahuasca to do her work. The music was from a curated playlist, and it guided me as mind drifted.

As with my first experience, the first dose was only enough to get me to day dream. When the time came around for the second dose, I quickly downed mine, and sure enough, I started with whistling and my hands and feet started flailing in a fashion like it was dancing with specific moves. I didn't purge as much, and unlike the first experience, every time we purged into the bucket, they swop it with a clean one, that I didn't have to worry about cleaning my own bucket while still being in the journey.

My channeling of the light language was getting louder and louder even as I tried to suppress the sounds that was coming out of me. However, unlike my first experience, the guides were gentle in coming to cuddle me, and let me know it is ok. The participant next to me was particularly irritated, and the guides came to her and asked her to check in with herself, and try and get back into the journey. And why did she allow external distractions to rob her of peace. I felt so safe, and my journey deepened. There were moments where I was so overwhelmed with the love, and needed to cry, and the guides were there again to cuddle me and let me know it is ok, and if there was anything that she can do for me. I continued to channel. And even when the ceremony closed, I was still journeying. Food was prepared and I could barely have any of the much needed food. I was in the journey for 9 hours. I was a mess, but from the eyes, I could see another pair of eyes looking back at me.

Afterthought: Given that I had the opportunity to experience the journey with different facilitators and guides, I prefer  my experience with the retreat center. Probably because I didn't have to worry about people kicking me, or throwing pillows at me. And having the guides there to watch over us, was much needed as now I feel that Ayahuasca has a role in masking us, and making us vulnerable that having guides there gave me much needed sense of safety. And even though the Icaros was from a playlist and not sung, I still felt the music threading between my journey like thread that guided me. 

Did my life change? After this experience, I don't think I need any more journey's with Ayahuasca. I am more certain of my spiritual gifts and that I can use them to support and make a difference to people's life. This was something that I've always been at cross-roads with. Ayahuasca gave me this clarity back to me and I am deeply grateful.

Conclusion and Recommendation:

Based on my two Ayahuasca journeys, I must say I was really blessed to be guided to be working with really good and reliable facilitators for my Ayahuasca experience. 

If your option is to work with a shaman - the shaman will be working with someone he trust to organise the retreat, book the facilities, and communicate with the attendees. The organiser is just as important as the shaman. You may need to bring some of your own personal things like - yoga mats, blankets, pillows, food, water, and maybe toilet rolls.

A retreat centre usually has a permanent team with all the needed equipments and tools in place, so you probably don't have to bring anything else. 

Checklist ✅❎

After you feel called to participate in a ceremony, it maybe useful to check off somethings before signing up.

Here are some questions for my checklist if I do plan to attend anymore Ayahuasca ceremonies:

1. How many people sit each night? How many attendants are there, in addition to the facilitator?
2. How much do the ceremonies cost? What is included?
3. What do sitters need to bring each night – yoga mats, pillows, food, blankets, water, etc.?
4. What is the preparation protocol? Diet restrictions? Lifestyle restrictions before and after ceremony?
5. How do you communicate medical issues, medications, or psychological concerns? Is there a medical intake form that each participant must fill out and sign as a pre-requisite to participating in the ritual?
6. What time do people gather? Does the work start at a specific time, or is the start time flexible, and based on the energy of the group? When is it OK to leave?
7. What is the referral process? Can you refer friends or family?
8. How do they handle discretion? Are participants asked to keep their experience private, and to refrain from mentioning the names of the facilitators – for spiritual reasons and/ or legal reasons?
9. What happens at the end of ceremony? Are snacks and fruit and water provided?
10. Is there any aftercare or integration assistance offered? What if you need integration support? Is there someone in the community you can call? 
11. This is personal, it is also important to note if Ayahuasca is fully legal in the country that you are participating in. If it isn't, what are they pre-caution taken.

And finally... 

for this post - one must be curious about what goes in to Ayahuasca. For this bitter concoction, sometime referred to as the medicine or also referred to as the tea. It does not have a pleasant taste, I usually just gulp it down. 

What is inside the medicine (the potion)? From wikipedia, this is how it describes the bitter brew - 

Ayahuasca is a South American entheogenic brew commonly made out of the Banisteriopsis caapi vine, the Psychotria viridis shrub or a substitute, and possibly other ingredients. In  layman terms - the native ayahuasca vine and chacruna leaves, which contain the natural psychedelic compound dimethyltryptamine or DMT.

Here are some pictures I gathered from the internet to show the actual image of the vine and preparation.

Banisteriopsis caapi vine

 

Brewing of the tea. In the modern facilities I been, it brewed in a ordinary kitchen, over the stove.