The
first time I participated in
a Yage [ayahuascha] ceremony I was pretty green. Almost literally
fresh off the boat from Panama. Well,
that's a lie.
I already had a few months here in Colombia, and a few of years in diverse Latin,
Asian and European countries. But even as a relatively
experienced psychonaut
I had no idea what to expect.
I
was introduced to the legend of Ayahuascha a few years back (on my
way to Santiago de Compostella) by a young gringo, and ever since;
it was my interest to experience this at first opportunity. Making my
way slowly south from Oaxaca (Mexico),
I had expected to first encounter the
medicine in Peru, but when
an earlier opportunity presented itself,
I grabbed at the chance.
Chachaui
is sort of in the middle of nowhere. The place, a beautiful resort,
just a little too
perfect; the shaman, even with my zero-experience, seemed to me more
of a more of a showman than a shaman.
I’ve done my journeys with psilocybin,
LSD&ETC
and I was somewhat disappointed
as, after shitting (a yage-ceremony is literally a shit-fest) and
puking I experienced a buzz equal to 5 beers, 2 joints and a mushroom
cookie.
But
I was excited to meet my people (deep travelers); and I was even more
excited to see that this ceremony drew not only psychonauts
young and old, but also children and the elderly.
The
morning after I heard a very interesting exchange of opinions between
my guide and an unnamed young yagezero
(I think the bloke was Finnish, but who
knows, I didn't ask). My guide had a few criticisms
concerning the ceremony, there were
a few thinly veiled insults, but «shamana
pirata» was the one that
stuck out for me. The yagezero norteno reacted with a zeal one only
sees in acolytes.
'Don't speak bad about my master. You two are not welcome here no
more'.
I
was neutral. Listening. This was a new world for me, and while my guide came
highly recommended,
I did not know her very well and I had never even heard of such a
thing as a «shamana pirata». But the moment my guide swayed my mind
and I lost faith in the acolyte
was when she asked the young man 'In
more than one hundred people at the ceremony, why am I the only
Colombian here? We are in Colombia, no? Shamanism is an integral part
of our culture, no?'
I
went on to Putomayo and Sibundoy, in part for the Fiesta del Perdon, but also to visit the renowned
shaman Taita Florentino 'Floro' Agreda. A couple of days after the
ceremony with Floro I somehow ended up doing a 'purging' with him –
which in essence is a medicine that makes you feel like those moments
of alcohol poisoning that
you can hardly remember and after puking you pass out. But this lasts for six hours, and you do not black
out.
I
was not very impressed with Yage or Shamanism. I did not really
achieve
anything close to what I have achieved
with other 'drugs'. (Once God, or some succubi who lie well, or a
drug induced psychosis,
fucked me on LSD while I was journeying alone in the mountains, and I
had a 45 minute
orgasm. That might be a tad personal: but just so you can keep the
perspectives in mind: GOD fucked me on LSD. On Yage I felt vaguely MDMA'y.
But
over the next few months I did notice a few changes in my self. I was
more healthy, physically and mentally. And independent
on your spiritual standpoint, if you belive in God or Alchemy, I was
attracting more attention. Maybe only because I was losing
weight and gaining a more appealing complexion – maybe because,
like the new-age-freaks told me: I had cleaned my energy.
OJOS
DE JAGUAR expedition II [Eyes of the Jaguar]
A
few months later I was invited to an expedition in the Amazonas,
to do Yage
at the source with
my guide from earlier, Berenice Tari Leon Salazar. And while I was
not very impressed with Yage, and had my well founded fears of guerrillas, robbers, fevers, deadly animals and whatnot,
I was now under the impression that Yage was a medicine and not a
drug, and that my physical and mental change over the last few months
was ample proof that whatever this medicine did to me was working.
More
than that, I was damaged by books as a child. I read stories of
adventurers and wanted to be one. And dangers aside, sailing the
amazon river, living in a jungle village more or less like the locals
do:
shitting in
the jungle and washing both clothes and bodies in the river really
does sound like a lot of fun to my damaged mind.
And
they told me Yage would be stronger at the source. I didn’t
believe them. I don't believe
in magic. The holy ganja is much the same in Kathmandu as in
Kingston. Ibuprofene strikes me as excactly the same in Bangkok and
Bogota. (Only in New Mexico there are different drugs, but after
the tragic demise of Walther White this
is only legend and not reality, 'They' tell me.)
Also,
it has been claimed by my guide – obviously selling her expedition
- that 96 year old Abuelo Guillermo Lucitante is (one of) the best shaman(s) in
the world. His fame is great in America, he lectures in countries far
away (last I heard he was down Mexico-way lecturing to the masters of
peyote), and he is sought out by many a sick person and shaman in
search of healing and wisdom.
There are
even stories of tibetan monks and European shamans coming a-long
way looking for his counsel. (Follow-up story coming on Abuelo Lucitante...)
But
the experience was indeed different. My scientific mind tells me I
was better prepared. I had a more profound understanding
of what is this Yage. And for whatever reason my body and mind were
cleaner. Objectively because
I was doing fewer
drugs like, alcohol, and, whatever, and eating fewer
hamburgers and more salads and fruits
I was thus far more susceptible
to the medicine. Subjectively,
I had improved my ability to navigate during the journey.

I
had some interesting experiences and one of the grandest adventures
of my life. Faced some dæmons. Did some magic. Changed my face and
quite possibly my fate. Not that there weren’t
some sketchy moments. People die doing
this. (See next post «Yagezero ProTips»). And one night I to met
with Death
in a journey. It was not a 'bad trip', not at all. But I had faced
two of my dæmons, and I was exhausted. And I talked to Yage
and said,
“I am
exhausted, I only want to sleep.”
And Yage told
me «If you want rest, I will grant it to you.» But implied was my
death; there would be no rest. Not that night. But I do sleep better
now.
Ojos
de Jaguar III will leave from Bogota the 14th of December 2014 and
return the 22nd. Expedition IV will be held from the 28th of march til the 5th of april in 2015. If you need healing and adventure, change or just a plain miracle... contact me for help.