I'd been soaking the rootbark for a month according to the ways of the peoples who resurrected/were resurrected by the brew; no heat, no acids. I have taken to preparing my bark this way to preserve the particular spirit (phytochemicals) of the plant, finding jurema prepared in this manner to be an equal to Ayahuasca and experientially unique, rather than another DMT admixture.
The liquid had gone from the usual lovely clearish garnet color it takes on after a week or so of soaking to a dark red-violet that appeared almost black. This batch was extremely full of tannins, probably defeating the purpose of the cold-water extraction, other than yuramamine and tradition. Purging was basically a requirement of drinking the stuff.

After taking 3.5 grams of ground harmel, encapsulated, along with 4 seeds of what I have tentatively ID'd as Datura wrightii, the Sacred Datura, collected in Arizona. I waited an hour before drinking ~100 ml/9 grams of the brew. This batch fights from the moment it touches the lips. I have taken various anahuasca brews around 25 times and have begun to develop a psychological revulsion and resistance to taking them, in that the upper sphincter of my stomach refuses to let the swill in, and I regurgitate only to swallow it again. This happens most with jurema, and makes taking it twice as difficult. (better believe I never spit it out! I'd rather swallow and puke than spit it out).
I held the stuff from thirty to fourty-five minutes before la purga, singing a little song to myself- "O enchanted, enchant me". The purge was strong, but afterwards I drank another ~90 ml of brew along with a small unweighed amount of harmel. By this time I was feeling the general "piquing" that is the initial stage of tryptamine intoxication/illumination, and within five minutes things started shimmer and the activity behind my eyelids began weaving braids of red plasma.

The first stage was this:
Sitting on the rubbery beach grass, watching the pacific crash into the north american continent, soaking in the warmth of the sun, while it is still there. The radiance warming my back, I sang a song to myself that I don't quite recall to a tune that sounded very much like an english nursery rhyme. The jurema began opening up parts of my mind, thumbing through my memories and thoughts, as if it were slithering into my brain and searching methodically for something in my psyche or perhaps just getting to know me more intimately. The grass began to take on form, symbols revealing themselves in what normally seems like the random arrangement of blades. I couldn't read it, but there were clearly very strange symbols appearing in the grass. From the opposite angle, the grass all shifted and became an artistic image that was just abstract enough to be indiscernible.

Standing on a stone in the middle of the small creek, the stream of runoff making its way to the pacific, to the mother ocean. The jurema pulls me deeper into its enchantment. I stood perfectly still, balancing on the stone and gazing out over the robust plantlife. My face began to twitch, taking on what I believe to be the facial expressions that I would have if I were raised in neolithic times. More animal-like, more sharp, direct and closely observant. I began to get an impression of pre-chinese asiatic thought, the times before the dynasties and their eternal wars for the mandate of heaven. Pre-confucian, pre-buddhist, pre-taoist. The colorful times, of furs and skins.

The camp. The girls are tying strings in their hair, beautifying themselves in a timeless art, and the dogs, and the ocean. I saw us as a band of nomadic hunter-gatherers on the northern coast of europe. I saw rainbow-feathered puffin-like dragons, their sharp gaze, brilliant orange scleras. This, and a dazzling display of the ineffable parts of it that we all fail at describing.

This went on for some time, until at some juncture I was taken into a particular world. I had been taken to the realm of properly hunted animals, a darkly-lit place full of blood, rivers of blood in bone canyons. I contacted a group of skinned deers, and asked whoever was running the show to "please leave them their eyelids", and was surrounded by a troupe of skinless deer-deities dancing in a circle around me, but with eyelids closed. Eventually the eyelids were removed as well. They downloaded a timeless moral code of hunting and killing in the natural world which was paralleled with the unconscionable industrial agriculture system of the modern world. While it sounds awful and scary, the predominating emotions were awe and reverence for these properly-hunted animals and an understanding of the pact of blood that exists between animals in nature, that hunter and hunted are allies against the industrial world.

Another swig, 1.5 grams more harmel. The harmel was a rock in my gut, and after maybe half an hour there was another even more violent purge. I laughed and pounded the earth as I wretched, cleaning my stomach and my psyche. With the weight in my guts gone, the energy flowing correctly again, I found the most comfortable yoga position. I wish I know its name. More color stuff, keeping my eyes closed. A man drove down onto the beach and started collecting a massive amount of kelp. At least 150 pounds, enough to fill the back of a bronco anyway. Hilarity over that. The beginnings of a headache, not enough water. I go for a walk to say "till next time" to the jurema as it evaporates away from me. When I come back the dogs freak out, barking really intensely at me and scaring the shit out of me.

This experience was one of the most visionary experiences I have ever had, all a processesion of impressions and faraway times and places, fantastic images and spiritual guides. After this and the other experiences I had with that batch of jurema my relationship with the brew is strengthened. Jurema has now become one of my close plant allies, I feel, in a way that I have not yet achieved with ayahuasca. I really recommend CWE for mimosa if you want to get to know the medicine and not just have a potent DMT admixture. Once it gets to know you, jurema can be one of the most gentle of the powerful teachers.

why drink harmalas with jurema if your trying to drink jurema and have a jurema experimde that is traditional. Jurema is active on it's own. It was and is harvested fresh and freshly squeezed in water and drank with a LOT OF ALCOHOL during possession rituals. I've done this with just 30gm of mhrb cold soak in the fridge after a week... Harsh tannins lots of purge. But it's effective. Creates a powerful visionary experience.

Great report, Thanks for sharing! I am tempted to try this myself some day

@dorge: I have always been curious about the experience of jurema sans harmel, but haven't tried yet simply because with harmel its more economical (4-14 grams vs. 40 grams). I've also heard conflicting reports of jurema alone's effectiveness. I will certainly try it at some point in my future!

Also, I have never heard of mass alcohol consumption along with jurema, does it help with absortion rates? I have of course heard of the passionflower ingestion during the dance.

Great report,

Let me just say it is not necessary for something to be labeled "traditional" or non traditional, because all though the harmal seeds are not "traditionally" taken by ancient peoples using this beverage, you are not these ancient peoples, and are a unique individual. What im saying is that you can make it traditional for yourself, make it your tradition lol

Secondly, @ dorge, have you ever personally got Mimosa to be orally active on its own? What dosage did it take? how did the effects differ from when syrian rue is used? If you have done this or not i do not know, but you could just be repeating what you have heard, instead of speaking from experience.

To me mixing it with rue sounds so much better than trying to help absorption with lots of alchohol.

What they say about the reason alchohol is used is "to make offerings to the spirits"
They say that they consume much alchohol, but do not get intoxicated from it, because the spirits use it somehow.

Further ivestigation into this type of ritual (where alchohol is used) will show you it is not AT ALL TRADITIONAL.
It is just something these modern ancestors of these people are doing. Furthermore, the ritual isnt really about acheiving a far out trance state (at least not through dmt) at all. Its about trying to experience the culture of their ancestors, and gather together and create an altered state through the drink, the alchohol, and the chanting and drumming, but it is NOT THE DMT OR TRYPTAMINES that is the primary thing at work here at all.

Seriously you need to do more research about it, no offense.

Time evolves and people evolve too. Just because people may have used it another way, (cold soak and probably ingesting massive amounts of rootbark) doesnt mean that we havent found our own way. and this way is VERY efficient and produces FANTASTIC results. It is not necessary to reduce it by labeling it traditional or non.

Once i drank 30 grams of mimosa cause I had heard it could be psychoactive on its own. And it is, that is for sure, but it was very subtle, just like a subtle presence, not at all like the effects that would have been achieved at a fraction of that dose if harmala had been used.

I could be repeating what I've heard, but I'm not...
And yes swim has done it and yes it does work. Swim did a cold water extract for a week. Just left it covered in the fridge and strained and drank. The astringent properties of the tannins were harsh on the stomach for sure. Swim did purge. The effects were a very dreamy intoxication that lasted for several hours that gave closed eye visions, not visuals orcolor displays etc. Hard for swim to repeat due to the tannins yikes. Never drank while doing It might help, who knows. They do it.

Oh and it was 30gms btw....

I believe the umbanda find simply placing the root on the altar sufficient to invoke it's magic, which I don't disagree with.

Despite the fact that I use harmel to potentiate my jurema, I still prefer CWE mimosa over cooked. I feel the particular signature comes out more this way (or the yuramamine stays intact?).

This study is quite interesting and lends light on my motivation for using harmel with my jurema. http://www.maps.org/news...ters/v08n3/08327yat.html

It will be very interesting to see how the introduction of P. Harmala to the area and the ritual knowledge of the caatinga will affect the culture of those people who use jurema of either type (m. hostilis and m. verracuosa)...