The story below is not my own. It was written by a man who I met while backpacking in Europe years ago. While I have settled into the monotony of life, he has continued to travel almost non stop. Eventually his travels led him to south america where he has taken part in many different rituals and ceremonies. His most recent ceremony resulted in the tragic death of one of the participants. While others left after the death, he was one of the few that continued the ceremony. I have spoken to him and made sure that it was ok for me to post his story.

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:: Travel Update ::
Gualaquiza ---> Saraguro
~Ecuador
An experience like no other.
Death. It is inevitable. No matter how much we want to live long, healthy lives, it does not matter. We are all dying and death can come at any moment. Natem in the Shuar language means, "birth - death - rebirth," but more in the spiritual sense. An EGO death. Natem helps you have a spiritual rebirth. At our first sharing circle I expressed how I wish I wanted to die and that I hope everyone here at Natemamu will die. Everyone laughed and thanked me. Natem, Ayahuasca, Yage, Miracle Plant, or whatever name you would like to call it is also not only for a spiritual rebirth, this jungle juice, this drink of the gods, vine of the soul, this plant medicine cures diseases & illnesses. A small group of people within our group had come to be healed. Blindness, MS, crohn's, spinal degeneration disease, cancer, and for a personal demon to be removed.


This Natemamu ritual has been going on for thousands of years within the Shuar community. Within the world of plant medicines there is nothing quite like a Natemamu ritual. This is not a normal ceremony. Natemamu is were you drink only the ayahuasca vine tea in huge quantities in a short period of time for 4 days straight. The end result is a deep cleanse, cellular deep.


The first few days we enjoyed our days at the jungle compound of Miguel Chiriap, the Maestro, a Uwishin. At night we formed a medicine circle, drank Natem, traveled to other dimensions, and sang medicine songs. Before Miguel opened the Natemamu ceremony, we went for a silent walk into the jungle. Hiking with a blazing Ecuadorian mid-day sun, dense jungle heat, we made our way to a sacred waterfall where the Tsunkis live, waterfall Spirits. Miguel lead us in the ancient ceremony of Tunakaramamu. Placing a tobacco leaf in our mouths we prayed to the Spirits to come to us in our visions, to show themselves to us, to heal us. Then diving into the water we swam under the waterfall. Pachamama baptism. Screaming out, energy pumping, primal instincts rising, we all climbed up onto a rock and placed the tobacco leaf down on the rock along with our intentions. Facing away from the waterfall we prayed again to the Spirits and walked away, making sure we never turned around and leave whatever negative energies behind. Back at our jungle camp we had a tobacco ceremony. Each one of us had to drink a cup of tobacco juice. The tobacco juice goes down and comes right back up, hopefully. Otherwise you are going to have a long night. The sounds of people purging filled the jungle. I went back and drank more and purged more and felt extremely energized with strength. That night we slept out in the Amazon. No protection besides the Sacred Fire which burned all night.


When we returned back at home base, Natemamu was to begin. 4 days of cleansing. We all took turns playing the massive wooden drums, scrapping the bark off of the ayahuasca vine, and putting positive vibrations into the Natemamu tea with group singing of medicine songs. Finally the time had come. Day 1 of Natemamu. Miguel gave each one of us a Shuar name. I was named Shahroop. Miguel's sons painted our faces. The women's face paint is for the Tsunki Spirits and men the Jaguar Spirit. When we enter into the Spirit world the Spirits can recognize us with our painted faces and call us by our Shuar names. Facing each other with women on one side and men on the other, a line of bowls filled with Natemamu tea in between us, Miguel lead us in a prayer, spoke words of wisdom, then him and his sons called out, "Marta, Marta, Marta!"


Drink, drink, drink!


Oh, the taste. The taste was horrible. Indescribable. We are suppose to drink as much as possible until the massive pots of Natemamu tea are finished. I was able to get 2 liters down before my first purge. This continued on for 16+ bowls for me. More than 4 galloons of Natemamu tea and all of it purged. It was extremely difficult & tiering, especially mentally, to continuously drink a foul tasting tea then projectile vomiting it all out over and over again. Some people in the group were only able to get a few bowls before they vibrated away and went to lie down.

It becomes very difficult to stand & walk. You actually need a stick to keep yourself up. I powered on and took a cup of the ceremonial Natem medicine after the drinking & purging. Oddly enough I had very little effects. But other people had some of the most intense experiences. My new friend Leslie was one of them. Leslie was on her knees, jerking up, and quietly going through a process. Miguel worked on her tirelessly. Other healers worked on her tirelessly. They were doing their best to calm her down, to take away the energies, to turn down the power of the medicine. A few of us stopped and sang to her. I sung to her and watched over her for awhile. She continued to repeat the movements. Up on her knees, throwing herself down face first, arms spread out, then back up onto her knees.

As I watched her I knew this was very strange and serious. Her movements were precise, repeated, and bizarre. But what do I know? I walked away, hours passed and she still hadn't stopped. I figured everything would be okay, she was going through a process, a deep spiritual cleansing. In the morning she would share this experience with all of us. We would be all amazed at be story. The next morning we received the news. Leslie had died. Our group was shocked. People were crying. I was in total disbelief. This is beyond rare. People don't die drinking this medicine. How could this happen?


The group split up. Fear was in the air. Distrust was in people's hearts. When people drink medicine together, purge out the negatives together, sing together, and share their experiences with each other, the bond that is formed is tight. Having Leslie die, even though many of us had just met her was heart breaking. Sadness like no other. A dozen people out of the 32 in the group left and the rest stayed. I chose to stay. To see it through, to finish the process, to take on the challenge, to face the fear, and to summit a mountain of death.


We only completed 3 days of the Natemamu. We weren't aloud to make the medicine. The drums weren't played. Things were different. Our group was in mourning. In the 30 years Miguel has been practicing, this has never happened. Miguel has served probably thousands of cups of medicine to people and no one ever died. He's held Natemamu for years and never a death. On the second day of Natemamu the entire Chiriap family participated in the ceremony. In the Shuar tradition if there is a death in the family, a day of Natemamu is held to purge out any negative vibrations. I was only able to get down 2 bowls but the vibrations & effects were super strong. Visual trails, body vibrating, continuous purging, diarrhea, weird sickness/nausea and closed-eyed visuals. I was wrecked.

The third night, an impossible to swallow 2 bowls, but no effects. Very strange & not predictable results and effects. Our group had finished what we started. Natemamu was over and our medicine family was tighter than ever. We went through one of the toughest processes a person can go through: death. Plus Natemamu.


It is still not clear how Leslie died. Rumors are spreading. We will have to wait and see what the autopsy says. You should be aware of the potential dangers of drinking this medicine. This is not a recreational activity. This is serious.


The following ceremonies after Natemamu kept getting better, the medicine got stronger, the visions more clearer, the downloads more profound, and our group continued to get closer. Everyday it was something new. Nature walks were I learned about other plant medicines, jungle hikes, deeper conversations, the family caught an anaconda, I found a new best friend, and everyday I felt better & better. We had a ceremony on a river beach where the Shuar have been having ceremonies for thousands of years. A Shuar holy place and many people had visions of this sacred Shuar spiritual temple. Tsunkis came and showed themselves to people. Three Uwishins were present that night, singing songs, and preformed cleansings. It was one of the best ceremonies and experiences of my life.


Natemamu. The entire experience, from the beginning to the end, the ups and downs, the process, the challenge, it was life changing. We even had a Shuar wedding! After I finished the 3rd day of Natemamu I said I would never do that again, now I can't wait to complete another Natemamu. Maybe even organize one. Interested?


The people with the illnesses. Crohn's: did not finish but his symptoms went away and he only has minor pains in his stomach. MS: did not finish, but no symptoms. Cancer: She could literally feel the medicine eating away at her cancer and then pooped out the cancer. She was able to feel the cancer before the Natemamu, now she doesn't feel it as much. Im going to see if is she has been cured after her doctor visit. Blindness: Twice in the past two weeks she regained her vision monetarily from drinking Natem & the work of the Uwishin. There's hope! Demon: Sometimes its best not to ask.


I watched the documentaries, I heard the stories, now I am able to say with first hand experience that this planet medicine can help cure/ fight against major diseases. I was only here for 2 weeks and I witnessed healing on a holy level. Miguel has been working for 30 years. How many people has he healed? Not even mentioning my own inner spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical healing along with other's personal healing. The best benefit I found instantly: my heart is burning with Love. Literally my chest was constantly burning hot. I could feel it and other people could feel it when we hugged. An amazing sensation and to know that my Love has developed deeper & raised to a whole new level. What a blessing. I can't wait to feel the other positive results.


Over the past 2 weeks all Miguel spoken about is how to heal yourself in positive ways, how to find, cultivate, & spread love, the importance of responsibilities, how to create & maintain relationships with people, Mother Earth & Great Spirit, and you own Spirit, how to develop into a person of positive energy.


What a lesson this was.

Here is a post from a Facebook Aya group claiming first hand knowledge and which goes into this deeper. It's disconcerting to say the least.



This is, as the person says, second-hand anecdotal information but it sounds like there's a good chance that it's accurate. Some of the details are downright chilling.

The various details, from allegations that antidepressants, apparently SSRIs, were planted in her bag to lead investigators astray, which leads to the idea that the drugs were on hand at the retreat before anything happens just for that reason to the serious wounds the girl suffered supposedly post-mortem are easily proven and the facts will emerge after an autopsy.

This is tragic. These things happen (as if that's some poor excuse, "it is what it is...": ), but never should and this sounds even more egregious than the other well known incidents.

It's been said here that the psychedelic tourist trade is populated by thrill -seekers and the naive curious. From what I've seen this seems to be the case with a portion of travelers (and local participants) , while the majority are thoughtful about their intent. Those who take the time to research and make contacts are well rewarded, from what it appears.

Unfortunately, those that think that healing (whatever that is, all these places sell it, they must have a good grip on it.) is a mouse-click and a credit card transfer away are eagerly served by wanna-be shamans, all over the globe. Here there are people like the guy offering "legal ayahuasca" in Washington state to potential huge crowds, if he actually does it.

People that go this route seriously risk their safety , both in the immediate and long term sense. Personally I don't support Aya tourism at all, and have other issues with it beyond safety. But that has emerged as a serious issue which deserves to be paid attention

I received a PM asking if I had been contacted by the person who wrote the Facebook post that Null24 posted. I could not respond due to my new member status. I have not been contacted yet and I would be more than happy to try and connect my friend with him. If anyone has any contact info and would like to PM it to me I will pass it along.

This absolutely horrific to read.
How something like this could go on, especially considering Leslie was obviously in need of medical attention & ignored.

I`m hopeful that her family sees the justice they deserve after enduring this. My prayers go out to Leslie & her family

IMHO the way they went about this ceremony entirely was negligence. Why was that much brew being consumed over extended periods of time with absolutely no consideration to the fact that every individual responds differently to this type of medicine & sensitivity can vary to such a large degree?
No thought of dehydration or problems like weakness & fatigue, hunger or malnourishment etc. Due to continuous vomiting for days on end?

So sad

Of what I've read in ayahuasca forum it can be served in less concentrated form and in large volumes as a kind of flushing therapy. This is not drinking large volumes of the more concentrated brew normally taken in the smaller shots. It is different use of ayahuasca for specific type of therapy, literally flushing the body with a lighter style of drink.
If this is what was going on there, we should not jump into conclusions too fast on this particular topic of drinking volumes.

Concerning large groups, its all in the holding space, I've been in such large groups that were simply splendid, it was like one big squadron up to success. Smaller groups have been disaster. So size is IMO not a good measure for better or worse, the holding space quality is more detrimental than size IME.

10 seconds of web cruising & Miguel Chiriap's name and a website calls his brother (?) and him (?) out for black magic:
http://www.ayahuasca-ceremonies.org/6.html

Did not mean to jump to conclusions. I am just point in out observations from what I am reading as we gather more information.

I was unaware of the more dilute brews being used as cleansing & have not partook in any ceremonies outside the comfort of my own home.

A little more information could be helpful though.

Edit: looks as if I was incorrect. Natem is just another name for vine used in certain regions.

this is awful..i'm sorry for the woman and her loved ones..
and this kind of incident is sadly becoming more common, whatever the actual details..

regarding the discussion of larger groups:

to the best of my knowledge, with the exception of a few indigenous whole tribe rituals, ayahuasqeros (maestros/curanderos) were not doing large groups (meaning bigger than 20) back in the 80s/early 90s (and before).. a number of very respected indigenous curanderos have said that it is not possible to do proper clearing work and attention to groups larger than this (this was also said at a talk given by Simon Green at Somara conference last year)
..larger groups are not in the 'curandero' (shamanic or whatever you want to call it) tradition ..they may be ok in cases, but the long history of the use of ayahuasca needs to be considered, i feel..which is about attention and healing..
the popularisation of larger groups seems to begin with the santo daime (neo-pseudo-christian), then the rise of ayahuasca tourism and western commercial practitioners (the dollars)

i appreciate what jees is saying...but i've been watching the sizes increase proportional to the damage in the past 20 years..

regarding drinking larger but more dilute volumes:

again, while i'm down with what jees is saying, and this can be a very good form of cleansing,
here again i have to echo the 'traditional' curandero approach, and say that here i think diet is even more important...the constant influx of even low level harmalas will gradually increase low level MAO inhibition...yes there have been many diet debates here...i'm just saying what the people i respect told me..the effect can be more dangerous accumulatively (rather than not watching diet for a drink or two)

..whatever way works for people, good...i feel compelled to say the above

lastly, regarding the SSRIs which the family say the woman was not on, and the accusations of negative sorcery..

while there is no evidence either way at this stage, i take this very seriously..
we know for sure that a dodgy shaman tried to cover up the death of a young man on aya a couple of years ago..
there could be an attempted cover-up here..

but what irks me the most about the above story, is the lack of attention to the woman...like an 'inconvenience', as was said...this to me gets to the heart of the corruption going on in some both peruvian and western world 'ceremonies'...it's greedy, it's cold, and it's dark...it's the corruption of the 'field' of ayahuasca..

I have known people, men and women just like this Leslie described and it is heartbreaking to hear of the nature of the treatment surrounding her death. My heart goes out to her friends and family, whoever and wherever they are.. but I have faith that this will not be a lasting encumbrance upon the spirit of the ceremony on the whole. And I really hope that it does not reflect accurately on what could be progressively happening as nen suggests.

its shameful and downright pathetic , that is what it is

this is not only the faliure of the shaman or the ayahuasca community in amazon , this is the faliure of humanity itself

its disgusting how the 12 people that left the ceremony never bothered to get leslie to the hospital but just escaped the situation

and others went on with the ceremony like it does'nt even matter

where is the tribe ? where is the spirit ?

edit :this ain't only the shamans fault , people are equally responsible for this tragedy

Good riddance. Another dead American in Ecuador idiot. Darwinism at its finest. Wonder of she was wearing her backpack when she croaked along with an "I Love Cuenca" t-shirt. As Forrest Gump's mother said "Stupid is as stupid does." To all American and European bohemians and narcissists ..... PLEASE go to Ecuador and/or Peru for the Ayahuasca thrill of your life. The big sleep.

moderator edit wrote:

account suspended due to unnacceptable attitude

Good riddance to you, blackiethecat.

I am saddened to hear this, but I'm also saddened by some of the comments of my fellow Nexians.

I attended few ceremonies led by Miguel Chiriap. I also attended dozen of ceremonies led by people he trained on Shamanic path, all of which turned wonderfully and provided very deep healing. These people are not greedy crooks, they are the real deal.
So we are speaking about healer with 30 years of experience working with ayahuasca. I'm sure all of his facilitators were well trained as well. But bad things still happen. Dont you think we should wait to hear a bit more, before passing judgements of recklessness? Personally, I know a few people that attended this ritual, and I'm waiting to hear their feedback before jumping into conclusions.

One more thing to bear in mind is the Shuar culture. These are though people, warriors. We should be careful in judging their behavior according to our standards. We may interpret something as lack of attention, but in reality it could have been completely different - maybe the shaman did all that he deemed necessary and it was not enough to keep Leslie alive.

As for the other people in the group, I believe they were busy with their own processes, so it's easy for me to imagine what appeared as lack of attention to one suffering person. This is extreme experience, and some people go through extremely hard time during it. It's normal, but remember - it was their choice. What others can do is usually pray for them, and believe that everything will turn out well, as it almost always does.

^..it is not part of 'Shuar culture' to be bringing 32 money paying tourists into ceremony..

i don't care who this guy is and how many years he's being doing it...if there is a death at ceremony he needs to be thouroughly investigated, like anyone..shuar or otherwise..

no final judgement has been made, but evidence and acusations have been made..
but being a south american called 'Don' someone who's been drinking a long time is not a get out of jail card..let's see what more comes in regarding this..

Sure, I agree that it needs investigation - we need to know and understand what happened.

I feel there is one more thing to clarify. Natemamu ritual is not a normal Ayahuasca ceremony that we are used to. It is much more extreme. People are pushed to their limits. I know two reasons people attend it: First is because they are deeply interested in shamanic work and feel a strong call to go deeper. Second reason is to deal with very serious illness.

I have several friends who went through this experience in the past, and several friends that went there this year. I believe they all belong to the first category. They all knew very well how extreme it is based on first person accounts, yet they decided to fly over half of the globe (from Central Europe to Equador) to join it. I believe they were inspired by other people who attended it, and benefits they saw on them (e.g. some of the people going through it decide to fully dedicate themselves to shamanic training and soon start leading ceremonies of their own)...

it probably was tobacco (ingested) which can be deadly. If true, it's got not much to do with caapi or chacruna. It is another tobacco death NOT an ayahuasca death. The Shuar use datura (instead of chacruna???)

yes the shamanic paths and the shamans ,the drug crazed frenzy that has been goin on forever

these shamans are truly miracle workers , not only have these shamans healed cancer and aids , these shamans have ended world hunger and poverty

is'nt Miguel Chiriap the guy that resurected jesus christ , inspired mahatma ghandi , killed hitler and taught buddha

edit : also miguel chirap is blackiethecat

yessssssssssssssssssssssss

In one of the above posts [EDIT: now removed] unfortunately some statements about me are made which are utterly nonsense. I am not a disciple of this man; actually, I can probably be qualified as exactly the opposite of that. What is also baloney is that the book that I am writing is about this man; at least it is not when it comes to what is in my view healing, good practice and integrity. Thank you in advance for correcting your post.

Paul
removed

Hello Paul, I apologise for incorrect statements, I have removed them from my first post.
I remember attending ceremonies with both of you, and reading some chapters in your book that also referred to Miguel (which I enjoyed very much). That left me with impression that you got some of your knowledge from him. That was the point of my post of my post, and I'm sorry if I expressed in a way that was misleading and incorrect.

BTW, I would be interested to hear your opinion about this entire situation. I'm sure it would give us new insights into what happened.