Effects and Uses of Little Known Drugs DRUG # 6 AYAHUASCA

You may have heard this name in the last time or meet someone who has tried the plant, in Argentina or abroad. The truth is that ayahuasca is very old and used by indigenous peoples thousands of years ago. Anthropologists say the trend has to do with the beginning of a "new consciousness."

WHAT IS IT

"Ayahuasca" is a Quechua word meaning "vine or rope of the spirits". This is a preparation made with plants that grow in the Amazon: one is the ayahuasca - which is a vine - and another is the chacruna - a shrub with long, green leaves. To reach the final drink, the mixture is cooked with water for several hours.

The incredible thing is that four thousand years ago, and without any chemical knowledge, the Amazonian tribes already knew that the combination of these plants produces effects that today are studied by anthropologists, psychiatrists and scientists from all over the world.

Almost fifty years ago, it was deciphered exactly what this drink generates in the body: while the chacruna contains DMT, a compound related to "dream imagery" that causes visions, ayahuasca inhibits the enzyme that would degrade this substance in the stomach and Allows it to reach the brain.

Although we all have very small amounts of DMT in the pineal gland, its accelerated increase produces certain physical and cerebral effects that lead to an altered (or expanded) state of consciousness. Something important to keep in mind is that this is not a drug or a hallucinogen.

According to Carlos Martínez Sarasola, an anthropologist specialized in shamanism, this plant connects people with other planes of reality, but does not provoke hallucinations. "In any case, they are visionary plants that allow people to connect with certain dimensional planes. Vision is something that the person sees, without being in a pathological state," he explains.

WHAT IS IT FOR

From the traditional indigenous perspective, the plant acts on the conscience to rebalance the person. It should not be forgotten that, from this point of view, disease is always a spiritual imbalance and, consequently, what is sought is self-sufficiency. A ritual led by a shaman or specialized guide is necessary as a fundamental and complementary part of the process.

For native peoples, the plant is a living being that enters the body of another living being, and that link, fundamental, is in charge of the guide. In the psychiatric aspect, the barriers of containment of the unconscious are completely demolished. In an ayahuasca experience there is no filter, and that makes it an absolutely cathartic practice.

A doctor worked with 100 volunteers, they concluded that, in 92 percent of cases, ayahuasca worked as an emotional amplifier. Hence, the accelerated resolution of conflicts at the therapeutic level that both recommend as a complement to other types of therapies. In Peru, without going further, there is a center called Takiwasi that treats the recovery of drug addicts through the plant.

HOW IT IS TAKEN

The taste is very bitter and acidic, not taken in large quantities, and its effect lasts between five and six hours. The ideal is to ingest the equivalent of a well of coffee. That yes: it is essential to do it in a ritual, with the guidance of a specialized person; In most cases, he is a shaman. Many times produce vomiting, which is why they recommend a diet of three or four days based on fruits and vegetables, as well as a total fast on the same day of the ceremony.

The idea is to reach that moment with a light stomach and calm mind (meditations help). Always take it at night: shamans insist on making the intake in a natural area, with certain characteristics of a sacred geometry.

What does this mean? They must be octagons or natural circles that function as sound boxes and generate perfect acoustics. Thus, as one takes the preparation, the guide begins to sing Icarus (healing songs) with repetitive notes, in the manner of a mantra. In this way, the whole group begins to vibrate in the same tuning to enter into the mystical experience.