So, recently I have decided I wish at some point in the next year, to make my own Ayahuasca brew, a friend of mine has become increasingly worried, stating that I shouldn't be making it or taking it without the express experience of a shaman, e.g. going to Peru or into a rainforest in general and learning the plants, the icaros and taking the brew "properly". He stated that shamans have been doing it for thousands of years and learned from others and from his own research this is how it should be done. I have much respect for this person, he is older than me, has experienced far more psychedelics and is quite at home in the psychedelic space.

I however feel differently, I have been having dreams about the plants, the brew, even taking ayahuasca and smoking changa/DMT in my dreams, feeling very drawn to making it myself and creating it with my own vibration and my own feeling. He believes I am speaking from ego but I feel he is supressing me in some way with his own ego, saying that "This is how it should be and this is what I know, what I know is correct" etc.

I honestly feel that exploration is self evident, how did the first shamans learn of these plants and the spirit realm, if they didn't jump in head first. They knew nothing of the plants or the place they were about to explore, nothing of the Icaros. The same goes for much religious teaching and meditative teaching, in the beginning these people knew nothing of what they were getting themselves into and I feel the same way, I want to learn for myself and not at the heed of others. I want to experience for myself and I do realise I'm saying this with a sense of I. It's not a sense of real "want" though, I feel a certain way about this and don't feel I would be experiencing the kind of dreams I am having if I hadn't heard the call and the call is what I feel I am experiencing.

What I really want to know, is if someone can give me some honest advice, this is my own journey and my own path which I need to find, is it right of me to tell my friend I feel he is wrong? I am listening to his words and honestly appreciate his worry and his care but, I don't feel he has the authority to say the way I am finding is not the correct way.

Please, could someone give me someone advice, who has experience with Ayahuasca and experience with this kind of subject.

You are in your right to have your own truth MysticO.
Making your own brew is a wonderfull thing to do.

There are no absolutes about whats is right and what is wrong.
Your friend has his own sets of believes and it seems he is trying to convince you of them.


You should not tell your friend he is wrong.
I can respect his opinion.
But on the other hand he could respect your opinion more.

You know, there are shamans that say western people should not make their own brew and drink without their presence.
But their are also shamans who say western people should make ayahuasca them selfs, in solitary or in a group.

So again, a difference in opinion.


Make your own brew its a wonderfull proces,

Thank you, that's honestly how I feel about it, I don't want to tell my friend he is wrong but I honestly feel asif he is forcing his beliefs on to me, what he feel's is the right way isn't the right way for me. I told him that there are many paths to the same thing, truths within truths and this is the truth I have come to feel. He's frustrating to deal with some times.

Thank you for the advice.

You could ask your friend to sit, or even join your trip. If he is experienced he could be of help during the re-entry, its always nice to talk to friends on the way down. It could be a good opportunity to expand your relationship.

I think this is what I'm going to ask of him, this journey is for me and for me alone. He feel's shamanism is learning to heal others and to help them through experiences, he doesn't feel asif I should be doing it without guidance but I honestly feel I want to face my own fears, the parts of myself I've never faced. I need to do this and I feel he is experienced enough to realise this, maybe the guidance of a shaman is what he needs but, I keep dreaming about these thing's, I keep dreaming about DMT and Aya, I need to do it, not for anyone else but me, perhaps one day I will know enough to help others through the same experiences.

I think you've hit the nail on the head on this one. Also, you say he's more experienced with psychedelics, but does he have any experience with ayahuasca itself? If not, it's all hearsay.

I know what you mean about wanting to face your fears alone. I cant tell if its possible for someone to truly know what your felling and sometimes misguided help can be an obstruction. I want a solo aya session, but I lack the environment. I could go out to the hills, but I am not yet so bold.

he has more experience than me with DMT/Mushrooms/LSD etc but no experience with Ayahuasca, it's also irritated me as he's said it doesn't matter where I've got my information from as it's from forums and such yet he get's his own information from the same places? I'm very confused about his actions on it at the minute, if he feel's it should be done the shamanistic way I believe he should go do that, I feel I am finding my own way...

Thank you all for the advice again, I think I just needed some confirmation on my own thoughts

I think there's a pretty interesting hypocrisy in taking mushrooms without a shaman, but then they are so required for ayahuasca. If your friend were himself familiar with ayahuasca, he might discover that it's really not too far phenomenologically from mushrooms, and if one can go through a high dose mushroom journey alone, then for no reason other than cultural bias would I see a reason that ayahuasca must be taken in the company of a shaman.

So beautifully put, thank you for that. It really has helped so much.

Your friend is not wrong but he is pútting more emphasis on what, where, and Who rather than the experience itself.

I learned right away in the beginings days of drinking here in Peru traditionaly that things like, wearing robes, surrounding yourself in crystals and shakers, having brown people singing icaros, and frogs chirping on the Amazon river banks doesnt mean as much compared to the personal experience.
The above mentions are all lovely and very special but the only thing that matters is the relationship between you and ayahausca.

In my time there I saw a lot of people come and go. One fella was concerned about his intentions and reasons for attending the upcoming evening ceremony. I told him it really doesnt matter. If ayahausca comes to you, trust me...ayahuasca is going to make all the needed adjustments and put you on the right path then and there.

Drinking at home and drinking in ceremony are very unique and different experiences both have there good points. Do what your called to do and certainly dont put a persons, who has never been there done that, opiniuon before your calling.

If fasting for days and spending hours in meditation wearing fine white linnens in the rain forest is what you need to do that is beautiful and Im happy a person pound their way, but what irks me are those that do these types of things then judge other peoples methods for self exploration. This includes vaporizing dmt btw.

EVERYONE....EVERYONE, has the right to explore their consciousness and selves in the manner and method they see fit!

R

You're after my own heart I swear, this is what I tried to say to him, there are many paths to the same goal. What works for one may not work for others. Respect to you my friend, absolute respect.

I have been dreaming about Ayahuasca, my friend seems to think this is because I have been thinking about it a lot recently. I'm not entirely sure, I felt the same call when I tried DMT, it spoke to me in so many ways and I knew when I took it, it had found me and not the other way around, I feel a calling toward Ayahuasca and I feel I must answer it in whatever way or form, everything in life is a personal journey to me. No person on this planet or in existence can ever know what you are experiencing and I feel personal exploration of consciousness is the ultimate goal.

All this advice has helped thoroughly, thank you very much, I appreciate every second of your time.

You sound ready to experience ayahuasca.

My recommendation is to make a low-dose caapi-only brew and just drink it by yourself. After that, you can increase doses and include admixtures as you desire.

The worst that could happen is vomiting. Just be prepared for that and you're all set, IMO.

you dont need a shaman, aya is on its own a shaman, and the most wise/healing/guiding shaman of all. I have done bout 20 alone sessions and not one do i regret and felt didnt gain from the experience. It is true traditional shamans have learned from the plants ways to make the most of the medicine and stay protected and heal, so my view is we should borrow as much of this sacred knowledge as we can and use it in our own ceremonies. First thing is ritual, no experienced shaman would go in without some sort of ritual, and i in the beginning didn't either and suffered for it.

So i started doing lots of research on some of their practices. First thing is preparation for the experience known as dieta. Theres variations on this from culture to culture and u can go way deep with it like no salt, citrus, meat, sugar...but this is not necessary though the times i have done it i reaped the most benefit due to its purification effect and sensitizing of myself to be able to better communicate with the plant spirits. But the three that id say should be a must for at least few days before and after experience is abstaining from sex, alcohol, and pork, meaning these can completely screw up ur healing and they have for me when starting out. If you want to partake in dieta you should do some reading with all the info and guidelines.

Next is setting, somewhere u can feel comfortable and imo nature is the best, our true original home, were just so separated from it from society that it doesnt seem that way, but aya helps break those boundaries. Now the ceremony. I like to always clear the space and my body with sage, palo santo, or mapacho. I like having certain music that synergises and heals with the aya, any shaman will agree that music is one of the most important aspects of the journey, it is a guide and can be deeply healing. Music i recommend are shamanic icaros, carbon based lifeforms, couple of my songs, couple ott tracks..nothing fast.

Than drink, aya will do the rest. Some tips, dont try to control the trip, just give in and let go as much as possible, meditation can be a lifesavor. I like to meditate right after drinking to help calm me and let go before it kicks in. try to let go of thought as much as you can, follow the breath if u ever get lost. Stay seated and calm, try to sit upright n never in fetal position, dont try to force the purge let it happen naturally, let everything happen naturally...Maybe best the first experience do only caapi brew, or little dmt, enjoy brother

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Its good to start sensibly low, not to over ride senses before you feel your way into the flowing depths, of course. The real fun before the work gets going is the Alchemical procces of learning to cook your brew, but as any cook knows that getting your concoction(recipe, technique, formula) to take you into the "elf nest" or just breaking into dimensions takes a serious investment of time. Its an art the just takes time to acquaint yourself into pulling "relative" informatiom to push you along the path little bit more clever aha :3.

Encompassing a technique with all plant brew has lots of extra goodies for your body(minerals, fats, essential amino-acids). So when your feeling really crappy from a flu, or just sick and tired, go hermetic and dive into making a brew away from confusion and this method will teach you more than just breath control when rolling(waves) in. You may not return the same, I haven't, I feel much better the morning after, surprisingly better! Though it may not happen over night the first time you try, a few shots doing this and its a nice thing to fall back on if your doesn't allow much time for being sick, lmao(certain stubborn facts of life).

Pin pointing effects the Pharmahuasca route will suite better, as pure weight is little easier to note while exploring. As with when learning to brew caapi is what to adjust to by itself before adding one plant at a time to build your "sky castle". The beta-Carbolines is what will guide/direct your trip in junction with Dmt boosts/jumps that come through digesting the brew, so reflection of conscious during the "lobby time" before it tickles you.
Reliable caapi source is needed, from same "crop", because it can hit a little bit harder than you expect when finding your way through to make "your" brew, when the %Harmaline content varies right when your planning to drive it up to what is "stand-able".

Honestly from my experience the whole vine has a certain potency that is its own unique touch, plus there's a lot of people who have nifty tips since it is the base beta-Carboline when many shifting minds find for the first time. So in Lamens terms its easy keeping grounded while get shocked by any electric feelings/fields(lol). So just enjoy the passing by of time in the mean time ;3!

**Oh yes, don't forget to smile like you mean it when the "lobby time" is inevitably turbulating the water of sea of ordinary mind, it helps a whole lot after just experiment with that feeling to set getting dissolved.

Anyways Cheers Mate with your Brewing Exploring!!!

^ Nice post, Baktun14. Where was this guy in the introduction?!

******FYI******

The nausea aspect is different how it affects some from others from the same brew, and since you brews will very, you can draw you own technique. There's two plants for me which carry me great distance when wanting to stand more, and not wanting to abort/premature purge, I find once that seal is broken it hard to "capture more" from the experience more than the moment before complete dis-ease.

A nice Allie to combat the sensitive stomachs is ginger root, easy enough as Gravol for us in developed areas, personally fresh ginger root and a touch of honey makes a very consumable brew for my duodenum. I find pre-ground ginger not to be as effective when dealing with the ripe root itself.

If you have any sort of relationship with cannabis, this would be the time to utilize it well. For me the combination of both sets a fine environment to have more controlled/less-sketchy trauma from even the bitterest most driven down condensed brews, keeps it to where you want it to go, into you . Although I will make an action of caution, make sure you are haveing a good day because the combination for me, is in the state impossible to abort till the waves go by, so like I said smile like you mean it!

Thank you for the information Baktun Cannibis is an anti ametic so yes, I'd imagine it goes very well with Ayahuasca brews. Ginger root also performs the same anti ametic action as far as I know, I'll keep these in mind for my brew creation, could I actually boil ginger root into the brew along with honey without ill effect on the ayahuasca? I'd imagine it also removes some of the so called bad taste of brews too.

Personally adding, let's say, teaspoon per dose, while condensing the brew of many hours hasn't caused the dreaded carmilization of sugars, so it goes down much better and IMHO activates more digestion then just the casual bitter brew. Its still nothing you'd sip for flavor but it does enhance the swallowing without that jaw numbing gag from which can hold feelings of nausea even before your internal organs even touch the magic brew.

Honey also varies from where your source of it is from, what's added and what's not. So keep that in mind, wonder if there's any Bee keepers around this site ahah.

personally id have to disagree with adding cannabis, found it clouds the experience like with smoking dmt, so if i wanted to counteract the nausea id rather go the ginger route, but everyones different this is just my experience

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