This subject is not intended to start a war about which is better, but, to compare and contrast the subtle differences and nuances of each. This has been a hot topic on my mind.
There is definitely so much smoking vs. drinking talk, too, so I want to share my experiences. The two, in my opinion, are equally necessary. They both have advantages and drawbacks. They both push evolution in different ways.
I am utterly sworn to Ayahuasca. She saved my life and my soul. I worked vehemently and exclusively with her for two years, before the world of changa opened up to me. I am in love with Aya. She loves me. When I don't drink, I feel a sadness in my heart. I feel her calling, feel her telling me that she loves me and asks why I am not in her arms tonight. She recycled all the emotional baggage I carried my whole life and reintegrated my lost self back into the world with a creative, positive, innovative, and inspired sense of purpose that has resulted in much help to humans and planet.
When I make changa, I invite the spirit of Aya. I've stirred and poked around extractions while fully under the influence of Ayahuasca (after she permitted me movement and her lessons and adjustments were done), and have had some AMAZING communications with Mimosa bark. The spirit of Mimosa loves the attention and wants to teach humans who will respectfully listen. Mimosa has a hell of a personality (but I would have never noticed without Aya, so catch 22).
On Christmas Eve, when I began my extractions, I also had the holidays off and wanted to dedicate them completely to spiritual endeavors (which, I did, I even broke my foot so I was literally on house arrest and had nowhere to travel BUT the bardo). An interesting experience with Aya happened.
I can say now, that when I smoke DMT, the first ignition propels me through a kind of "ring of pass not," beyond which all the great teachings lie. This ring pissed me off initially, because in the beginning, I would get stuck in it and not blast through: it is like an orbit. Blasting through the orbit always includes "getting attacked by geometry," lots of fractalesque visuals (Alex Grey's Bardobeing?), extreme dislocation from body, buzzing, a kind of being overwhelmed that can only be navigated by breath. The first is always the most senseless and abstract voyage, in breaking the initial barrier. Undoubtedly, methodically, reliably, my first changa smoke always puts me through some degree of this experience. I tried my best to describe it, so hopefully everyone can relate.
This Ayahuasca experience was interesting, because I felt she said to me, "Do you REALLY want to see hyperspace? Do you want to go further? Little monkey?
Are you ready?" What I experienced was literally that extent of smoked-DMT dissolution, for about 4-5 hours, nonstop. Not, "intense visuals and stoned body load, oh shit, there's a jaguar, but I think he will let me crawl to the bathroom, I should be careful not to randomly topple against the wall," this was PURE HYPERSPACE. Mama took me there and left me out to dry to let me know who was really in charge, and what to expect. On the comedown, I spoke in tongues.
This was all wildly significant to me. Also, of all Ayahuasca admixtures possible, Mimosa always seemed to jive with me the best. I have the deepest and longest relationship with Mimosa, so it seems fitting that I started to make the changa with that plant. (Even if I can have my own completely sustainable patch of Phlaris, I love Mimosa and will always commune.)
Blah blah blah. After ~70 changa journeys since then, I've arrived at some interesting observations about the relationship of the two together in a path of spiritual growth.
Ayahuasca tea works from the ground up. All of my Aya experiences have started with the root and push energy UP. Kundalini moves from the root to the heart, from the root to the head. The wisdom of the earth is channeled up through the body and eventually blossoms through one's entirety, healing the body, opening the heart, and then illuminating the mind. With Ayahuasca, the Earth is an extension of my body: trees, plants, animals, sky, are all an extension of me, and I am a part of the earth.
Changa works from the crown down. Kundalini starts at the crown and travels down the spine, channeling cosmic wisdom of spirits first into the mind, then into the heart, and finally, through the body. I think this is why one is less likely to purge with changa, if purging for spiritual reasons (*I had some dry heaving after intense emotional stress, which is usually the only cause to make me purge with the tea). The magic starts with the mind, and the body is the final destination. With changa, my body is only a byproduct of the mind: physical states--which I am exploring in great depth with yoga--can be COMPLETELY TRANSFORMED through transforming the mind. Heal the mind, release the mind, and the body *absolutely* follows, as it is a holographic extension of the mind.
After a cosmically euphoric afternoon of bathing in sunlight while surfing the eighth dimension, I distinctly received the message, the changa straight up TOLD ME, that it could do NO FURTHER WORK and its effects would be incomplete without the presence of the tea--flash forward to intense visions of the spirit of Ayahuasca inside my body working on my DNA. I try to always have a bit of Caapi tea before changa, if not smoking after a fullblown Aya session. Mama Aya possesses the strength to hold back the veil for an extended period of time while changa does its work.
As much as I love traveling to the underworld, with a particularly strong tea, sometimes, the morning after, yes, I am happy to be home, but I find myself on earth again, six feet under. I feel like, the next day, I have to dig my way out with my bare hands, and who wants to do much of anything besides absolutely rest and reflect after such an experience? I am not complaining, but sometimes it is extremely solemn and I feel very withdrawn.
*Smoking changa at the beginning of an Ayahuasca session chases the spirit of Aya away. I do not receive her teachings, only the changa's teachings.
*Smoking changa at the END of an Ayahuasca session invites the clouds to descend upon a clear body and mind: the mixing of yin and yang energies is like warm rain falling on a fertile earth, and at the end, I am always energized. Changa seems to pull the energy in an opposite direction, and 100% of the time obliterates the overly withdrawn, "uggghh, physical body is such a heavy thing for spirit to drag around" kind of feeling that sometimes comes the morning/day after a strong dose of purgative Aya that involves straddling dimensions.
The two HIGHLY compliment each other.
(I have no idea what smoking changa at the peak of an Ayahuasca session is like, because during the peak of a great tea, I tend to get so immobilized that if I tilt my head 45 degrees to the wrong side, I will projectile vomit a scourge of bile.)
Aya has connected me to the earth and cleared a lifetime of deep childhood trauma (abuse, neglect, etc.) that changa does not seem to address as directly. (Though I am emotionally much clearer now than when I began work with Aya.)
Changa seems to foster a kind of neuroplasticity that I have not experienced as frequently with Ayahuasca. I have spoken in tongues with Ayahuasca, which I experienced as a complete dissolution of some of kind pattern/schema/program in my mind: but I experience this regularly in the afterglow, repeatedly, with changa. Perhaps the non-body-stoning effects of changa simply allow me to explore plasticity more clearly: I have had some amazing experiences with yoga, guitar, and song, to name a few. (*Interesting to note the yoga poses that revealed themselves to me are all specifically geared to open the crown, or a byproduct of an open crown.)
Both help problem solving and cognition equally. They seem like a fantastic balance of up and down. Both are sacred, precious, unique, and irreplaceable. I highly recommend exploring them together.
Love. <3
Some things will come easy, some will be a test