Over the holidays I undertook a short trip to the Upper Amazon. The goal was to find adventure, go where the wind blows, and see where I ended up - in previous travels this always worked well, and it proved to work well on this trip once again. I spent one week traveling around the Andes, visiting various important spots - the markets, ancient architecture (whoever built some of those megalithic structures obviously were a very intelligent and very skilled people), and lots of fun to boot. I then descended into the Upper Amazon basin, again seeking adventure, as well as a couple of plants that weren't available in the highlands, including mapacho, the preparation made from Nicotiana rusticum, the potent jungle species of Tobacco that contains far greater amounts of nicotine and harmala alkaloids than the Nicotiana tobacum variety used in almost all North American and European varieties of cigarettes. In addition, I wasn't going to the jungle solely to drink ayahuasca, but I did have the name of a well-respected ayahuasquero in the region - I got his name through a very high quality South American vendor whose name, in turn, I got from someone on the Nexus, so ultimately what led me to the monte, the jungle, or at least this part of the jungle, was a connection made through the Nexus. The Nexus has interacted several terms with the concrete aspects of my life, in very positive ways, so thanks again to all who contribute here...I was particularly interested in this particular gentleman, since when I typed his name into google, I found a video interview of him, in his early eighties, where he explained that the first time he drank ayahuasca, in his twenties, the ayahuasca told him, "learn from me, not from other people". I was very struck by what he said, since it implied, first, that he was the "real deal"...a faker would not know to say something like this, that he was a direct apprentice of ayahuasca. In addition, through smoking changa I've had similar encounters with entities, though in retrospect none of these, I believe, were with "Mama Aya", the womanly voice (or 'entity' that appears so powerfully during the ayahuasca session.

Anyways, I ended up in the Upper Amazon basin after a very long, crowded 12 hour bus ride down from the highlands. The transportation in South America is something of its own; public transportation, including buses and taxis (which come in the car, mototaxi or motorcycle-hackshaw, and pure motorcycle varieties), is very inexpensive there, to the point that having a car is unnecessary for the traveler. On arriving in the jungle, early in the morning, I was first struck by the intense heat felt before 7 AM. In addition, there were many mosquitoes and other bugs I wasn't used to, so I wore long clothes. Very hot and sticky.

I asked around in the city for directions to the ayahuasquero's place - all I had was his name and his community - and eventually found out it was a 45-minute combinado ride (like a taxi, but combinados are cheaper since they only leave when the car is full) into the bush, the rainforest. By 11 AM (the sun rises early), I was on my way. The dirt road out to the community was surrounded by trees, bushes, flowers, of all colors. After 45 minutes, we arrived at the community, population probably a few hundred people, with traditional thatched houses mixed with thatched tiendas advertising Inca Kola, a local refresco of choice. I asked for the gentleman's house, and soon encountered his son, who showed me across a small wooden bridge and through some tall grasses, to the place of Don Luis*, curandero, maestro, and expert on plants of the Upper Amazon. I was surprised at the simplicity of the guest houses, the ceremonial house, Luis' house - it was adorned by a couple of portraits of him, very calm and dignified, obviously a well respected man. For a man of obviously great knowledge, wisdom, and power, he was remarkably humble, and for a man of 81 years he displayed remarkable health; where I live even many people in their twenties are overweight or experience myriad related health problems, and by the time people here reach 81, very few of them hold their health as did this man. I already knew, but on meeting him I confirmed that "this man is the 'real deal'". I was soon given a key to the quarters (a cabin with lightly padded beds and mosquito nets), a bowl of rice and cucumbers without salt, and introduced to Austin*, the Turkish fellow who was staying there at the same time. Austin explained that they drank the ayahuasca every other night, and that that night - which coincidentally turned out to be the night of the Solstice, Full Moon, Eclipse, and DMT Nexus SHE - we would be drinking. I didn't expect to be drinking so quickly, but I had begun something of a diet before leaving for the jungle, so I knew that my body was fit for drinking the medicine that night. I retreated to rest, after two long nights aboard crowded and hot buses, then awoke as the Sun sank below the horizon, around 7 PM. Within an hour we would proceed to the ceremonial house, approximately 30 feet by 50 feet, with traditional thatching and no mosquito nets. I mentioned to Austin that I was concerned about the possibility of catching malaria from the mosquitoes, but he reassured me that malaria was very uncommon there, and that the ayahuasca is very powerful antibiotic medicine and could kill the malaria, according to what he was taught. Upon hearing this I was very reassured that I had come to the right place.

As I walked in the house, I was again impressed by the simplicity - Luis wore very simple clothes, no fancy props - only a candle, a simple chair, a cup for drinking, and the 1 liter soda bottle containing the watery brownish liquid. After Austin and I both sat down, Luis proceeded to pour out a cup of the medicine, blew several puffs of tobacco smoke over the cup, then offered it to Austin, who drank the small amount of liquid quickly, but evidently it was quite nasty! Luis repeated this - poured a cup of the ayahuasca, blew tobacco smoke over it, then offered it to me. I scooted up to where he seat, took the ayahuasca, smelled it (surprisingly sweet, almost like Chinese vegetable noodles), then drank. It had an underlying hint of sweetness, though with a strong bitterness; obviously it contained significant quantities of alkaloids, but again, it was surprisingly sweet, "Dulce". I returned to my pad, in the center of the house, and Ignacio blew out the candle. Darkness and silence overtook the room. After perhaps 45 minutes of sitting and laying there, Ignacio began shaking the "rattles", made of dried leaves of a certain fan-like plant found in the area, as if to call in the ayahuasca. As he shook the rattles, a thunderstorm brewed, and we were soon in the midst of a very heavy jungle downpour. At this point, Ignacio asked how we were, and I replied "Bien", and "No estoy barracho"...(I'm well and I'm not ayahuasca-drunk). Ignacio poured us both a second cup, and once again I drank, surprised at the sweetness of the ayahuasca.

Within 10 minutes, I purged; the vomit had the consistency and smell of the ayahuasca, but whereas I drank a mere two 3-4 ounce cups of the medicine, I vomited at least 3-4 cups worth of purge, as if the ayahuasca had absorbed toxins or other bad contents in my stomach/system and expelled them. After the purge, I felt much better, and laid back, in the dark and silence, with rain on the outside. At this point, a strange thing happened: the ayahuasca took effect, with a beautiful woman appearing in my vision, with her body coming out of what appeared to be a vast ball of radiant light inside of the Earth. The woman beckoned me with her forefinger, inviting me into this brilliant ball of light inside the Earth. This "beckoning" was familiar with the alien beings commonly encountered during changa sessions, but the vast ball of light was unfamiliar. I feel at this point I could've "gone with" the woman, inside that ball of light, but was too fearful at the time. Going into this ball of light, I feel, would leave what I refer to as "me" as no longer intact. I would be dissolved, and at this point I did not feel comfortable taking this plunge into death and rebirth. I continued there, laying in my pad, fully aware of my body but immersed in a DMT-like space of closed-eye patterns, jaguars, birds, flowers, colors. Later, a second woman appeared, this one cloaked in a black cape, with an appearance like the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz. Luis later mentioned the two aspects of ayahuasca - the good and the bad - and I interpreted these visions as the two aspects of ayahuasca revealing themselves in visual form.

At a couple of points I felt immersed in what Shpongle so aptly describes as a "Divine Moment of Truth", enshrouded in a sort of state of marriage with the Way or Truth of the Universe at that time, free of the usual anxieties and concerns that plague my day-to-day being. I soon got up and moved closer to Luis, to converse with him; unfortunately I could only understand maybe a quarter of what he says - I am not fluent in Spanish and in addition, he spoke a dialect that was very difficult for even native Spanish speakers to understand. He talked about the first time he drank, about how the local people feel about the ayahuasca - he says they do not know about it, and have accused him of practicing witchcraft or black magic - he insists he takes part in none of that 'mischief', but tells me there are brujos, sorcerers, who are pure evil, on the more isolated other side of the river.

What I found unique about my first time drinking ayahuasca was not the DMT effects - Divine Moments of Truth, and distinct DMT-like visuals. However, here, for the first time, I felt the strong female voice of ayahuasca. Ayahuasca is described as a female by all of the shamanic practicioners I'm aware of, and my experience was no different. My first encounter with her showed her to have multiple aspects - both 'good' and 'bad' - but primarily good. The good aspects are no less than divine, able to connect one with powers far greater than one's own; "entheogenic" is a most accurate word for this aspect of ayahuasca. The bad aspects - well she's apparently very jealous, particularly with what foods are in one's stomach when the ayahuasca enters, whether one is having sex, and so forth. This was the first out of what would be five sessions of ayahuasca in the jungle. Delicious! Reports to be continued...

*I've changed the names to protect the innocent. If you'd like the name and location of this simple yet masterly ayahuasquero PM me.

That was a great Read friend, very inspiring! I look forward to future chapters Thank you for sharing!

Thanks for sharing man, great report. I first experienced ayahuasca in the Peruvian Amazon and feel very lucky to have been able to experience that. I have a friend who is setting up a centre in Brazil by the Amazon, and post uni I will definitely be getting involved with this.

I hope to read more from your visit there.

You say that there are brujos who're evil. I've heard that before and it surprises me because i can hardly imagine that ayahuasca as i know it could inspire people to any form of evilness.
Wich makes me think that it may not be ayahuasca existing of caapi and chacruna or chaliponga they're using, but things like high doses of brugmansia or shiric sanango which contains ibogaine, a substance that not nessecarily would make you evil, but that could make you careless.

There are probably many more plants used in brews than just the ones that are well known in the west.

Was your ayahuasca different from the brews you've had before apart from the sweet taste?

Yep I'll continue posting, for sure. The "brujos" Luis told me about, the ones across the river in the more remote areas, use the Black variety of ayahuasca. He says these people are "puro malo", "pure evil".

Also the only other "ayahuasca" I had was without a DMT admixture, made from the Cielo variety of Caapi. This one had a distinctly different taste, more bitter, and very strong, just like the smell of Cielo being brewed. I believe the vine used for this brew was white vine, with chacruna. Steve Beyer (Singing to the Plants) says that the difference between brujos and "wizards of the white path" is that brujos use the power they gain as a result of initiation for personal gain - they lack the self-control necessary to use the power, the phlegm, or the virotes (darts), for "pure" purposes, which, presumably, means towards the healing and well-being of the tribe (whatever that tribe may be). Also it wasn't sweet like candy, though it had a sweetness underlying the very bitter taste one would expect from a small amount of liquid infused with a significant proportion of alkaloids.

This is a really great read lysergify! Thank you for sharing your trip with us. James Kent touches on the difference between shamanism and sorcery a fair bit in Psychedelic Information Theory. The crux of it appears in this chapter, but very interesting suggestions are made here in the section on negative neuroplasticity.

Incredible report! And reporting!

Your description of the good and bad feminine sides of Mama Aya instantly reminded me of the many versions of the feminine in the Indian tradition. In particular, the "scary" goddess Kali presents herself that way only the scare the bejezzus out of our own demon/delusions. So in that sense, what comes across as bad is really for our own good.

Beautiful, thanks for the report! Indeed cant wait for more

Thank You for sharing. What a wonderful experience!

Great report lysergify. I can relate to the good/evil aspect of your journey. In my own first big Aya breakthrough, I was floating down a path that divided in two and I had the simple choice to follow the path of darkness or the path of light. I didn't even have to think about which way to go and yes it was heavenly. Anxious to hear more of your tale.

thank you for this my brother. i commend you on your courageous and adventurous spirit. sounds like you found a true 'maestro' to take you down the rabbit hole.

i'm looking forward to reading moar!!

L&G!!

Beautiful and inspiring post! I look forward to reading more.

I just finished to read all your beautiful report reports and I wanted to thank you.

It has been very inspiring to read about your adventures

Wonderful report lyserge:

A theory I have is there is potentially more than one ally that Ayahuasca can align you with.....I have always heard about the Ayahusca spirit being feminine and was suprised to find that the Ayahuasca Ally I encountered was masculine in nature.

Hmm; I've heard multiple people say something like this as well, which raises the question of whether the experience of ayahuasca as female is simply brought about by expectation. All I know for certain is...something strange is going on here...it's also been said that ayahuasca (ie: the vine, not the brew with DMT or other admixtures) is like the central plant ally, a gateway through which the entire plant world can communicate with the humans. I don't see how it's unique in this, since other plants, such as the p. mushroom species, can also have the effect of "squeegeeing the third eye", as Bill Hicks put it, which can in turn open one's mental faculties, or help to tune into parts of the universe not normally sensible.