Ayahuasca

Table of Contents:

• What is Ayahuasca and how does it work?
• Is Ayahuasca a Science or a Spiritual experience?
  • A Neurological perspective
  • Spiritual View of Ayahuasca
• Dieta: Avoiding danger associated with Ayahuasca
• How can Ayahuasca be useful?
• Ayahuasca preparation Courses and Communities

What is Ayahuasca and how does it work?

Simply put Ayahuasca is a psychedelic tea made from 2-3 (usually) plants boiled for several hours and reduced to a thick green, very bitter tasting beverage. It’s ingredients are usually (but not always) The Ayahuasca Vine (MAOI), Chacruna Bush leaves (DMT), a little tobacco, water and is often prepared alongside magical ritual by a Shaman(a).

The Ayahuasca Tea is psychedelic because The Chacruna Bush contains Dimethyltriptamine (DMT) which is a known psychoactive compound commonly found in many plants as well as produced naturally our bodies under some circumstances. Normally DMT, when ingested by humans, is not able to pass into the bloodstream because our stomach has an enzyme which neutralizes it before it can do so.

The Shaman of the Amazon somehow understood that if you combined The Ayahuasca Vine with The Chacruna Bush leaves then this combination would be capable of passing through your stomachs normal “defenses” allowing the DMT to pass from your stomach, into your bloodstream and across the Blood-Brain Barrier where it is able to give psychedelic experiences via your brains Serotonin Receptors.

Evidently, your body is very familiar with these compounds it seems and knows exactly what to do with them. I don’t think this is a coincidence.

The Ayahuasca Vine has a Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitor (MAOI) in it which neutralizes your stomachs default mechanism which stops DMT from passing into your bloodstream.

According to the Shipibo (a native tribe of the Amazon) traditions I am familiar with Ayahuasca is drunk in a ceremonial fashion for various reasons but often to heal physically and psychologically. Psychedelics in general have a long history of use for many reasons in various cultures who have roots in pre-christian history.

The aim of this site is to understand and teach people how to use Ayahuasca safely and effectively to help them achieve various goals around spiritual development, psychological healing like from that of trauma, anxiety and depression, PTSD and so on.

Psychedelics like Ayahuasca allow you to build new Neurology which bypasses or circumnavigates your existing trauma filled ‘Old Neurology’ and and create new structures free of trauma that you will use in the course of your day to day life – effectively bypassing, curing or significantly reducing trauma.

Is Ayahuasca a Science or a Spiritual experience?

You could look at Ayahuasca from either lens and in fact they are related in my understanding. The scientific view leads me to understand how the spiritual aspects are possible from a scientific framing of the world.

A Neurological perspective on how Ayahuasca leads to spiritual experiences:

I described briefly the mechanism with which allows Ayahuasca to cross your blood-brain barrier above so here I’d like to talk more from a Neurological perspective as I understand it based on my 6 or so years (at time of writing in Nov 2024) of experience and reading on the topic.

It turns out that your Ego (aka sense of self), thought by modern Neuroscientists to be housed in ‘The Default Mode Network’ (DMN) of your brain, is an obstacle stopping you from perceiving ALL (both material and immaterial) of the information around you at any one time. This is because an adults Ego filters out certain information that isn’t immediately required for survival. Communing with Deity is slightly down the list of priorities in terms of survival. The Ego is more concerned about food, shelter, sex, status, children, providing or caring for family etc etc.

Under the use of Psychedelics like Ayahuasca The DMN is temporarily, ie for 4-6 hours let’s say, reduced in activity allowing other areas of the brain to be active. These newly activated areas of the brain do not filter out immaterial reality and you can experience many things such as telepathy, communion with La Madre and being able to talk to immaterial beings of various kinds who may be around.

Note: Experienced and high quality Shaman take unique precautions to ‘clean and protect’ ceremonial spaces prior to you being there and as such you are protected from the negative immaterial energies which could be around. One example of this is that Shipibo Shaman I have had ceremonies with will get you to take a ‘garlic water’ bath prior to ceremony as garlic has powerful energetic protection abilities.

Spiritual View of Ayahuasca:

Western modern (ie the material and measurable world view exclusively without the immaterial) people might prefer the scientific lens however, any experienced Ayahuasca user or Shaman will tell you that in ceremony you are communing with a Deity or higher being known as,

• ‘La Madre’ or
• ‘Abuela’ or
• ‘Rhea’ as the Greeks called her.

Ancient and traditional cultures call her different names but I suspect she is one and the same entity The Greeks, Romans, Vedics, Shipibo and many other cultures knew of and are still able to contact today.

In addition to the DMN being temporarily dialed down, allowing for you to perceive the immaterial world, The Greeks have a notion in some of their Theogonies (stories of creation of the universe and hierarchies of Deity) that Psychedelics play an integral role is being an avenue for humans to escape the material world as they slowly evolve spiritually. In Vedic terminology this would be something akin to ‘Moksha’.

It is said in Greek Theogonies that Zeus, taking pity on his creation (ie Humans), gave to them a way to leave the endless cycles of birth and re-birth (ie Samsara in Vedic parlance) and that way was psychedelics. In the Theogonies Dionysos is representative of psychedelics and plays a key role in ‘The Mysteries’ of Ancient Greece which were more or less Shamanic rituals of a kind specific to The Ancient Greeks.

In this way we can see that psychedelic experiences can allow for us to progress spiritually by beginning the process of waking up to a fuller spectrum of reality where we may progress, over many lifetimes, to a point where we do not reincarnate anymore. This is unlikely to happen in any one or even many ceremonies of Ayahuasca but it starts a very gradual process in that direction.

Ayahuasca Dieta: avoiding danger associated with Ayahuasca

Under some circumstances yes Ayahuasca can be dangerous but we with proper guidance we can either safely prepare for or learn who should not take Ayahuasca to avoid danger. The main dangers that proper vetting and Dieta look to avoid are,

• Those with hallucinatory mental conditions: like Schizophrenia for example, are not recommended to take Psychedelic drugs. Even those who have it in their immediate family are at risk of a mental break from Psychedelics and these people are also not recommended to try. For these people more mild and similar DMN lowering activities like Yoga, Meditation and Mantra are more suitable in my opinion.
• Those with too much Tyramine in your the system: Tyramine can be removed via undergoing a Dieta in preparation for Ayahuasca. Tyramine is contained in certain foods (like red meat and animal products) and cause higher blood pressure. One of the main ingredients of Ayahuasca (usually the Ayahuasca Vine but can be another like Syrian Rue depending on the brew) contains an MAOI (Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitor) which also raises blood pressure. In combination Tyramine and an MAOI can be dangerous especially if you have heart issues already as they both raise blood pressure. As such Tyramine is reduced in your system by following a specific Diet (known as a Dieta) which removes foods and drinks which contain tyramine form your body.
• Pharmaceuticals for depression or anxiety: Many people these days take these pharmaceuticals and these act upon the Serotonin Receptors of your brain cells. The thing is that the DMT (N,N -Dimethyltryptamine), the psychoactive agent in Ayahuasca, also acts upon the same Serotonin receptors, and as such when both are in your system this leads to an overload of these Receptors. This is known as ‘Serotonin Syndrome’ and can be deadly in worst case or in ‘better cases’ debilitate you for weeks or months making daily life like work, relationships etc very difficult. A proper Dieta also avoids these issues. More info below.

Dieta:

A Dieta refers to a ‘diet’ of both physical (food and drink) and psychological influences of the person preparing to drink Ayahuasca. In terms of safely the physical aspect is of primary concern but in terms of thorough preparation both should be adhered to as closely as possible.

Physical Dieta:

The physical aspect of a Dieta removes various dietary inputs from your body like certain pharmaceuticals or foods and drinks is necessary to allow drinking Ayahuasca to be safe. I have taken the below information from Gaia Sagrada website which helped me prepare for my own Ayahuasca Dieta.

There are levels to a Dieta in terms of strictness but generally the aim is to reduce Tyramine and avoid certain pharmaceuticals.

First let’s start with things YOU MUST remove in preparation for Ayahuasca:

• Garlic
• Hot spices
• Fat from meat
• No pork, red meat, chicken, ONLY fish is ok
• Fermented foods
• Wine, beer or hard alcohol
• Processed foods (Nothing in a box, bag, or can with ingredients you can’t pronounce)
• Pharmaceuticals EXCEPT for heart issues, high blood pressure, diabetes and life threatening illnesses
• Absolutely NO pharmaceuticals for depression, psychosis or mental illnesses (Dangerous in combination with Ayahuasca) Antihistamines and sleeping pills are also prohibited. If you must use Ibuprofen for pain or inflammation, that is ok.

Very strict Ayahuasca Dieta:

ONLY eat and consume,

• Yucca aka ‘Cassava’ (organic is possible)
• Unripe green bananas (organic is possible)
• Boiled Plantains (NO oil, organic is possible)
• Fish (white, heavy metal free is possible)
• Rice (brown or less processed)
• Mineral water (non mineral water has no nutrients)

Less Strict Ayahuasca Dieta:

The light version is more or less similar to ‘Alkaline Dieta’. Here are the things you can eat also according to Gaia Sagrada who I used to help me prepare for my ceremonies. As usual go for organic and fresh ingredients.

• Olive oil
• Coconut oil
• Honey
• Stevia
• Salt & Pepper
• A little dairy but not a lot of dairy: yogurt, small amount of milk
• Rice, quinoa, amaranth
• Fish
• Fruits (no overripe)
• Vegetables (no overripe)
• Nuts
• Eggs

Psychological Dieta:

Ayahuasca Dieta, properly executed, also seeks to remove and replace ‘psychological influences’ on you in preparation for drinking Ayahuasca. This means, as much as is possible, removing or reducing things ‘negaative influences’ like pop music, social media, television, streaming, spending time gossiping etc etc.

Instead replace these things with ‘positive influences’ like meditation, mantra, listening to classical music, admiring beautiful art or a scenic view, spending time in and around nature like swimming in the ocean or walking in the forest, reducing screen time in general, spending quality time with loved ones.

The reduction of negative influences and the promotion of positive ones generally speaking is the aim here. i haven’t provided a full list of these things but I will endeavor to in future.

How can Ayahuasca be useful?

Ayahuasca has and is used for various reasons by Amazonian people including healing but from a western perspective I think Ayahuasca is most useful for dealing with severe PTSD, trauma, anxiety, depression, removal of addiction like alcoholism and is also fantastic for spiritual development.

Spiritual development comes from the Ego Dissolution experiences as Ayahuasca allows us to lower the activity in The Default Mode Network where our Ego is thought to ‘live’. It’s the Ego which is filtering out ‘spiritual information’ from the environment around us which is otherwise able to be sensed.

In relation to trauma, as I have described above, Ayahuasca allows us to create new Neurology in the brain which bypasses out previous, trauma filled, Neurological structures.

Ayahuasca preparation Courses and Communities:

I am in the process of creating free and details courses in, legally and safely, preparing for Ayahuasca, which you can check out if you’d like to really go down the rabbit hole!

You can also join my communities below on X (Twitter) and Discord at any time to ask about anything you’d like.