OneIsEros, it is true that while diet is crucial for psychic potency, talented people can still wield power in the absence of it. However psychic potency and shamanic healing work are two different things. İf your intention is to purify your body and soul and align with Spirit/God/Higher Consciousness (in a non temporary way) then following dietary guidelines cannot be skipped over.

I think the sex thing applies to any other "distraction" as well. Ayahuasca and other psychedelics often work best when you are not being distracted by all kinds of stuff. Music can help and even guide your experience, but something like watching TV on ayahuasca would be an utter waste of the ayahuasca experience imo. Going in with a blank mind is realy recommendable.

Ahhh, intriguing. I think you might be on to something there, possibly. Like, scrubbing for surgery. I think that’s plausible.

But in terms of soteriology (Spirit/God/Higher Consciousness) - here I would have to put my religious cards on the table. Though it may not be immediately apparent because of my username, as time has gone on I’ve gotten more and more committed to Buddhist teachings, and while East Asian Buddhist traditions do indeed follow dietary prohibitions reminiscent of “dieta” (even abstinence from spices/pungent foods) - this is far from universal. Go to a Thai Forest monastery sometime, and they will eat literally anything - and you would be hard pressed to find a lineage as relentlessly dedicated to soteriological practice as the Thai Forest tradition (or one that reports success in that pursuit as frequently). For this reason, I tend to separate out soteriology from shamanic healing, though I do not think these pursuits are in contradiction to one another. But, that’s just my personal religious commitments. I honestly do not know enough about cultures that use psychedelics traditionally to know whether shamans pursue soteriological ambitions in the same sense that traditions like Neoplatonism, Vedanta, or Buddhism do (each of which is, to be sure, distinct - but similarly lofty in aim).

I will offer a non-psychedelic magical healing story though that a monk I spoke to who lived in Ajahn Chah’s monastery in Thailand told me, which might poke a hole in your theory. Bear in mind, an Ajahn Chah lineage monk is… not likely to lie. There was a monk at the monastery who was bitten by a poisonous snake. There were no doctors around. So, a local Thai witch doctor was summoned to the monastery. He was drinking from a flask. The monk’s leg was swollen, badly - horribly coloured. They thought he was going to die. This guy comes in, laughing, making off colour jokes, and gets to work. He does some sort of weird Thai version of reiki (I am sure not actually what we call “reiki” - just some local rural Thai magic thing). Supposedly the guy’s leg swiftly lost the inflammation and stopped being sick, and he walked away fine. Now; did this man actually magically heal this guy? No clue. But the forest monks respected this man enough to bring him in, and they regarded his efforts as having been successful. This dude was clearly not following what we refer to as “dieta”. And the monks DEFINITELY would not have looked at this guy as on the track to Nibbana, as they were pursuing - he was just a magical doctor, whom they respected as such.

Due to the diverse nature of approaches to some of these goals, I tend to wonder if some things are a huge benefit and mighty tools towards a certain end (such as what dithyramb has described), but isn't absolutely necessary to still reach the apotheosis of the goals of discussion.

One love

The term "dieta" can also be something like "an amount of time to affiliate with the certain properties/vibe of a given plant". A period of dedication towards a particular plant and I suppose they mean days/weeks? Anyone have an idea how long such a dieta with a plant is like?
For example to learn a language one could submerge one selves for a given time with that language. The efficacy rises if you don't mix that period with other languages/stuff/distractions. A dieta with a language as to say.

So if a shaman wants to heal patients, he better had dietas with many plants under his/her belt to work out of experience. These plants do not necessarily be psychoactive.
Google on dieta: What is a dieta in Peru?
The Peruvian-Amazonian dieta is a multi-purpose method for making use of medicinal plants, many of which (but not all), are psychoactive; the current work especially focuses on its therapeutic applications in conjunction with psychoactives.

I would take a small amount, then next time more if the first time wasnt enough. Id trust my intuition.

Nice explanation, Jees.

Google has its own worldview and is highly biased towards materialist, reductionist, pharma industry compatible sources when it comes to plants and energetically/spiritually involved topics.

So we have seen two different concepts here. First is roughly "asceticism" for the general purpose of purification and connecting and aligning with God/Higher Consciousness. Second is a specific practice to ally plants spiritually (dieta). Shamanic training involves both these elements, the former perhaps lacking with brujos.

For me the first concept (asceticism) is a science (mostly forgotten in today's world), a very old one in human culture and also a timeless reality pertaining to the relationship between the physical world and spirit.

OneIsEros's example is another one of a person having healing abilities which is said to not lead a "pure" life (because he was drinking alcohol?). İt is a complex matter and having certain healing powers are possible with imperfect adherence to purity. The person must have paid a certain price to gain/integrate healing abilities. Nothing is given for free. God given talent still does not allow to having a life dedicated to the pleasures of the ego AND having a manifested healing/spiritual vocation in this life.

Also, the emphasis on psychological healing is found in the modern world and it is not necessarily a part of traditional shamanic practices which focus on working with spirits. My own convinction is that for healing our own minds, hearts, spirits etc, adhering to a diet when engaging with psychedelic plants is very important.

İf you want to transcend your ego/the energetic matrix that make up your personal limiting world, then you have to let go of your ego and it's desires, your comfort zone, your routines. The deeper energies and going into the subconscious require exceptional focus and thus discipline is required.

If it bursts outside it's confining cages, science will eventually accept and understand energetic and spiritual phenomena. For now, just focusing on the physical dimension, it has recently discovered how fasting triggers a purification process in the body. I have come to understand that physical and spiritual purification go hand in hand.

As far as I understand the traditional cultures the purpose of dieta is to make you more "plant-like", so abstain from meat and sex and such "animal" stuff so that you can receive the wisdom of the plants.

In various religious traditions restrictions on eating are used with the purpose of freeing your mind from desire or exercising constraint in filling your desires.

The given reason for the practice is a bit difference but of course the effects on your psyche / spirit probably are similar.

My opinion is that priming your mind prior to psychedelic experience or intentional religious work is a good idea. I personally however want to avoid what I consider superstition in these regards, that is, it's necessary to do some things exactly right in order to get results. I believe that it's not good idea to get entangled with that sort of thinking even if you do get results. I think it's better to have a clear intention in creating a peaceful and open mindspace and apply methods to cultivate that.

For me the definition of superstition is a belief in something without having an understanding of it. Just copying a certain way is not ideal and hopefully the person develops an understanding in time. İf not, then breaking out is the healthy way. Life is a journey and everybody's journey is unique.

Plus there is the factor that "life happens" and never adheres to a perfect model.

Sainkho Namtchylak. "You are the Shaman of your Life. You are the Healer of Yourself"