We Who Solve Mystery, Become Mystery

Ayahuasca ceremonies are usually very structured rituals where the shaman or shamana holds the space and guides the drinkers on their journeys of discovery. The shaman is not just administering the hallucinogenic brew; he or...

Stripping away the scientific language, what you find is that our most eminent minds agree that on the subatomic and quantum scales the universe is full of invisible energies that not only affect our reality,...

…what science cannot explain is the psychic effect of this ‘mother of all plants,’ the sense of the numinous and the spiritual world it reportedly opens up. Those who drink say that each ayahuasca journey...

The Hindus believe that in the beginning was sound, a pure vibrational ohm, and as I surf these wave emanations I feel like I’ve locked onto the fundamental frequency. Seconds go by on the outside...

Outside, milling under the ubiquitous gaze of security cameras, are bright splashes of colorful souls wearing crystals, beads, and Native American Indian paraphernalia; middle-aged academics with “Erowid” drug website t-shirts; and passengers that give you...

I mightn’t be a shaman in the indigenous sense, but as a world-bridger between Western culture and the indigenous world, I knew I was playing a shamanistic role. Language was my medicine and with it...

Ayahuasca can heal, but it an also be used to kill,’ Carlos continues to translate for Juan… The key is remaining humble, being a servant of ayahuasca, not a master. ‘Give yourself to the benefit...

It is true ayahuasca that has the potential to change everything and allow you to see the world in a different way. It’s just that from within the perspective of the person undergoing the changes...

The sound of his purging next to me, long and deep and often was like a backbeat throughout the night. He’s been wrestling with visions of the spirit world, alien landscapes like inverted Photoshop jungle...

Are you seeing Jesus yet? Eric the ayahuasca virgin asks me this morning over a late brunch at the Yellow Rose… We’re trading visions like trading card stats, comparing our different curanderos and gossiping like...

The poor are so common they’re invisible, just part of the ambience of this place. I tuck a few soles under them as they sleep and walk off, feeling like a guilty tourist here for...

One must always be careful, for the art of shamanism is fueled by the power of the will, interacting with the power of the plants. And it seems all too easy for some shamans to...

I can feel myself gently slipping away into a light trance by the quarter moon light as the candles are blown out, and my last thought is that we have gone back to the jungle,...

Ayahuasca is a fickle mistress—she likes it when you put out for her, make a show of it, and put some effort in. But ayahuasca is also a plant medicine, and as such she reads...