When my friend Zel told me of a group who held Ayahuasca ceremonies in the jungle of Brazil I signed on instantly. I have consumed the brew of the “Spirit Vine” a few times before; Once in New York and a couple times at an ashram called Arca de Montaña Azul in Rio de Janeiro, but had never had the chance to have the experience in Nature.

Here’s a post from my experience at Arca de Montaña Azul.

Ayahuasca, also called “Grandmother Spirit," the "Vine of the Soul” or “yagé,” amongst other names, is a psychedelic brew composed of Amazonian plants that contain the hallucinogen DMT. For centuries, the indigenous cultures of the Amazon have drank the vision inducing brew to receive insights and instructions directly from plants and plant spirits.

The Ayahuasca vine. Photo courtesy of Wakingtimes.com

^{A cross section of the vine. Photo courtesy of Kerryfargo.com}

Orien, my love, who is visiting me from New York agreed to go with me. It would be his first time drinking the brew. He had heard a lot about it, but was put off by the New York Ayahuasca “scene,” and so had never ventured to experiment with it. New York has a way of taking authentic things, like Ayahuasca or elements from different cultures and making them trendy. The ayahuasca scene that I was familiar with in New York, while good intentioned, seemed to me to be a sort of fashion show, with people arriving for the ceremony in their best white flowing clothing, beaded necklaces and headbands, long feather earrings and sometimes even face paint. I can understand how someone might be put-off by it.

Orien and I took a bus from Rio de Janeiro to Baja and after about an hour and a half arrived at Sitio das Pedras, the site of the ceremony. Arielle, and Italo, our hosts had made a thin soup for dinner and we drank it as we sat with the other people who had come for the ceremony, about 10 in all.

Soon it was time to go and we each grabbed a straw mat and headed up a dark stone path. We were led through an archway between two large rocks to a house that was built in between several gigantic stones. It was breathtaking, one of the most awe inspiring houses I’ve ever been in. The walls were literally made of boulder.

The stone house in the daytime

We unrolled our mats onto the stone floor and prepared for a long night.

Arielle went around and lit a candle on the ground in front of each of our mats. The room flickered with anticipation.

One by one we were called up to drink the sacred slurry. Finally it was my turn and I went up to the front and accepted the little wooden bowl with the dark ayahuasca concoction filled nearly to the top. I closed my eyes and swallowed it quickly, chasing the bitter brew immediately with sour maracuja juice.

Then I went back to my straw mat to sit and await the Grandmother.

To be continued…