I had my first experience with Ayahuasca last night… and it was incredible. It’s difficult to describe the experience, it was on another level; fast paced and full-on. But I will try, so here’s what happened.
I made my brew with 50g of Banisteriopsis caapi (white shredded bark) and 50g of Psychotria viridis (chacruna - leaf). I don’t know if this is considered a lot, but to me the effects seemed strong. I covered the caapi with 1.5 litres of distilled water and a tablespoon of distilled white vinegar, and the chacruna with 5 litres of water and 5 tablespoons of vinegar. I brought both to a gentle simmer, and was careful to avoid boiling the brew. I decided to leave the lids on for the first three hours, at which point I took the lids off to evaporate some liquid. After five hours the caapi was ready to come off the stove, and I used a nut milk bag to squeeze out the liquid, returning the plant to the pan and went again with another 1.5 litres, etc. This time I left the lid off. This process give me half a litre, which I put into a mason jar (via a tea strainer to keep out the sludge) and then into the fridge.
After six and a half hours the chacruna was ready. This time I had more liquid, about 1.5 litres. I put the plant back into the pot and covered with another 5 litres of water and vinegar. I probably had too much water because it took a long time to reduce. The second batch of caapi was ready after 11 hours so I sieved it off and put another half litre in the fridge. The chacruna wasn’t quite there, but I decided to take it off anyway. I ended up with about 3.5 litres of the chacruna liquid.
The next day, the liquids had settled; there was a dark black/grey layer at the bottom of the jars. I didn’t want to consume this, so I carefully decanted the liquid back into my pots and brought to a gentle simmer. It took about three hours to get both liquids down to a manageable size. The caapi was ready first; I had about 100ml of light brown liquid which I put into a glass. After a while the chacruna was done; this was much darker, almost black.
Now the brew was ready I prepared my space; candles, lava lamp, fairy lights, incense, bucket, paper towels, water, and music.
I drank the caapi at 20:30. It tasted ok. Not pleasant but passable. I returned to the living room and sat upright, leaning forward with the bucket clamped to my chest. I tried not to move… drank a little water. I felt something, but no nausea or difficult effects.
Just after 21:00 I decided it was time to drink the chacruna. It tasted disgusting, and I almost threw up immediately. Thankfully, I managed to keep it down. Now I know exactly how bad it tastes, I will reduce it to a smaller quantity next time.
I returned to the living room and resumed my upright position with the bucket. This time I felt I needed it. I sat listening to the music, waiting for signs that something was happening. Trying not to move. Trying to relax. After 30 minutes or so, I began to notice electric blue lines worming across the fireplace brickwork. They appeared to move at right angles. When I closed my eyes I could see faint fractals that were circler and kaleidoscopic.
Soon the effects became much stronger, and I knew my brew was a success. It’s difficult to remember and describe specifics, but psychedelic visuals were over everything. All of a sudden, I needed to vomit. Fortunately, the bucket was within arm’s reach, so I grabbed it and emptied my stomach. The foul taste of the chacruna filled my mouth and took a few moments to wash away.
I felt much better after that. Now I could sit back and enjoy the show, which was incredible. James Blake on the stereo worked perfectly with the experience. Out the corner of my eye I noticed a person standing to the side, but she disappeared when I turned to look. The African mask on the wall became the head of an invisible fractal man who briefly swooped into view. Faces seemed to pop out from the painting on the wall, the telephone, the light cast by the candles. The visuals were fast, chaotic, pouring over every surface. Nothing stood still for longer than a moment.
The visuals seemed to cover the walls and surfaces. Unlike mescaline, there were no noticeable tracers, nothing floating in the air. Just psychedelics rushing over everything. Close inspection of surfaces (i.e., the inside of the bucket) showed wire-frame structures like in a computer animation, or a cut diamond. In general, the visuals seemed very linear.
I wandered into the kitchen to fetch some water. The lights were off, and in the dark I could see a vivid uniform grid over everything. A bit like a massive sheet of LSD, each square an exact copy of the others. Closing my eyes I could see coloured squares on intersecting flat planes, which rotated. The squares reminded me of signs you might see in Tokyo, bubble gum pinks and neon yellows.
I went upstairs to explore, and almost fell down the stairs on the way back lol. Note to self: remain seated with your safety belt securely fastened.
I lay on the sofa under a blanket and enjoyed the experience. After an hour or so the peak passed and the effects began to diminish. After 3 hours things were back to normal. My body felt heavy, I felt sedated and sleepy. I went to bed four hours after taking the chacruna. I felt good.
I had expectations about what would happen after taking Ayahuasca; I thought I’d have an out of body experience, that closing my eyes would take me to another dimension. I thought I might feel like I was dying, I thought reality would be skewed as with Salvia, or that I might spend ages obsessing about my faults as with LSD, I thought I would spend the entire trip feeling sick.
None of these things happened.
The purge was simple; I drank something that looked and tasted like ditch water, so I expected to vomit. I have a similar experience with cactus; it sits uncomfortably in my stomach, but once the drug takes off, there’s no reason to hold it in. After being sick I felt “fine”; no continued nausea or discomfort.
I felt relatively clear minded through-out the experience. During the peak, I don’t remember thinking about much at all; it just “was”. I didn’t receive any great insight into the workings of the universe, and the experience didn’t contain any spiritual component, which surprised me given DMT is sometimes known as the spirit molecule. In any case, it was an amazing experience, and I am looking forward to going there again in the future.
Peace. Love. Unity.