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dwpineal
Psychedelic Artist



Registered: 07/20/06
Posts: 4,667
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Ayahuasca Jungle Juice Goes Global 1
#17426257 - 12/21/12 06:03 AM (11 years, 2 months ago) |
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http://santacruz.patch.com/articles/ayahuasca-jungle-juice-goes-global
Ayahuasca Jungle Juice Goes Global
The ancient hallucinogenic beverage from the Amazon is becoming increasingly popular in the West, and it’s is having a profound influence on American culture.
My good friend, and fellow Patch writer, Maria Grusauskas recently loaned me a copy of the November issue of Elle magazine, which featured a fascinating and surprisingly accurate article about the author’s experience with ayahuasca.
Ayahuasca is the sacred visionary/hallucinogenic jungle juice, that has been used by indigenous Amazonian shamans in healing ceremonies for at least 4,000 years.
Recently, “ayahuasca retreats”--where Westerners can sample the psychedelic beverage--have become popular tourist destinations in Peru, where ayahuasca is legal.
It seems that sacred pilgrimages to the Amazon are to current generations of spiritual seekers in the West what journeys to the East, to India or Tibet, were to previous generations.
Outside of the Amazon, for most people elsewhere in the world, ayahuasca is illegal to consume, due to its “dimethyltryptamine” (DMT) content.
Despite the fact that DMT is found naturally in the human brain, in the United States the endogenous molecule is classified as a dangerous “Schedule 1” drug, along with heroin (and just about every other psychedelic drug).
This means that, according to the dubiously-qualified medical experts on Capital Hill, it has no accepted medical use, and supposedly has such a high potential for abuse that it can’t even be safely administered under qualified medical supervision.
In fact, they say, it’s so dangerous that people should be imprisoned for merely possessing it!
This is unfortunate, considering the sacred tea’s scientifically well-established safety, and it’s long tradition of use, for its healing and spiritual benefits, among the indigenous people of the Amazon.
Although not an easy experience to endure--drinking ayahuasca can be quite physically and psychologically challenging--many people claim life-changing transformations and profound healings from their experiences with it.
I found the Elle magazine article intriguing, as I have been both astonished and delighted that the ancient shamanic healing rituals with ayahuasca are becoming a part of mainstream America.
Just 15 years ago, hardly anyone outside of the Amazon, and a small group of anthropologists and psychedelic enthusiasts, were even aware of the existence of ayahuasca. Now its influence can be seen throughout popular culture.
In the television show Weeds, Nancy Botwin takes part in an ayahuasca ceremony, musicians like Sting and Tori Amos have praised its benefits, and in the Hollywood film Wanderlust even actress Jennifer Aniston drinks what the Peruvians refer to as the “vine of souls.”
Although Aniston’s ayahuasca experience in Wanderlust was grossly misportrayed in the film, I think that the fact that the sacred visionary tea was in the film at all is significant.
A much more accurate portrayal of the effects of ayahuasca can be seen in Jan Kounen’s film Renegade. However, what’s important to recognize is that ayahuasca use is seeping its way into Western culture.
Many people suspect that in James Cameron’s popular film Avatar, the Na’vi’s “Tree of Souls.” was symbolic of ayahuasca. (See Erik Davis’ thought-provoking essay about this: http://www.maps.org/news-letters/v22n1/v22n1_12-13.pdf)
When I interviewed botanist Dennis McKenna he discussed the thought-provoking possibility that the widespread use of psychedelic plants and fungi around the world today could be the biosphere’s decisive response to human patterns of ecological destruction.
McKenna suggested that an intelligence in nature may be utilizing psychedelic plants as catalysts to increase human ecological awareness, hopefully, before it’s too late.
There’s interesting evidence to support this commonly-encountered idea in the psychedelic community.
Many people in the West–including numerous environmental leaders (such as the late Arne Naess)–-credit their increased sense of ecological awareness to their use of psychedelics, such as LSD, magic mushrooms, and ayahuasca.
Additionally, indigenous cultures in Central Mexico and South America that integrate psychedelic plants into their lives appear to live in greater harmony with their environment.
According to mycologist Paul Stamets, psilocybin-containing fungi---i.e. “magic mushrooms”--tend to grow in areas that are disturbed by ecological upheavals, such as where roads are cut into a forest, the grounds around a construction site, and landslides.
They seem to especially proliferate in areas where there has been a lot of human activity, almost as if they are a reaction to our use of the Earth.
It almost appears as though psilocybin mushrooms are a response by the biosphere, like a chemical signaling system within the body, to help teach the wayward human species how to become more symbiotic with its environment.
Can it really be a mere coincidence that a fungus reported to increase ecological awareness specifically proliferates in those areas that are ecologically damaged?
Once restricted to very narrow ecosystems–-thanks to human activity–-these mind-expanding mushrooms now flourish all over the globe.
Psilocybin mushroom munchers and ayahuasca-using cultures, also once restricted to a few areas in central Mexico and South America, are also now spreading all over the Earth, like a growing mycelium network.
There are now hundreds of ayahuasca churches established throughout the world, and the U.S. Supreme Court even allows one of them to operate legally within U.S. borders.
According to anthropologist Luis Eduardo Luna, studies done in Brazil suggest that, like magic mushrooms, ayahuasca use tends to make people more sensitive toward ecological issues.
Fieldwork among members of the syncretic churches, for example, reveal that many of them decided after participation in ayahuasca rituals to change their professions so that they could work with natural products or environmental issues.
In a recent MAPS Bulletin that I edited, environmental sustainability consultant Shena Turlington reports on several additional scientific studies that shed light on this important connection between psychedelics and increased environmental awareness.
To read Turlington’s reports see: http://www.maps.org/news-letters/v19n1/v19n1-pg53.pdf
I realize that there isn’t much time left to rescue our endangered biosphere from serious damage, and that things look pretty grim here from an ecological perspective, but I’ve personally witnessed just how quickly psychedelics can psychologically transform people and open up their eyes.
I agree with Dennis McKenna, that the planetary mind, the Gaian matrix that we’re immeshed in, is far more intelligent than we are, and this intuition helps motivate me to harmonize with it.
I like reflecting upon a message that McKenna brought back with him from one of his shamanic encounters with ayahuasca, “You monkeys only think that you’re running the show.”
I believe that psychedelic plants can help us heal the damage that we’ve done to ourselves, and to the Earth. There isn’t much time left before our biosphere starts to unravel, and we may only have a small window of opportunity to save our fragile world.
It is my hope that psychedelic drugs and plants can not only help to increase ecological harmony on the planet, but they may also open up a doorway to untold and unimagined new worlds of possibility.
This coming July, from the 21st to the 27th, in Iquitos, Peru, I’ll be speaking about how psychedelic plants can help to increase ecological awareness at the 9th Annual International Shamanism Conference.
There will be a wealth of information presented at the conference about ayahuasca by experts in various fields. To find out more information see: http://www.soga-del-alma.org/2013/
If you register for the conference, please be sure to mention that you heard about it through me. Once there, you will have the opportunity to legally and safely try ayahuasca, if you wish.
I’ll also be co-teaching two workshops at the conference about “navigating altered states” with psychotherapist Meriana Dinkova. Hope to see you there!
To learn more about the relationship between psychedelics and ecology, see the MAPS Bulletin that I edited on the subject: www.maps.org/media/bulletin/special_edition_psychedelics_and_ecology/
If you enjoy my column, and want to learn more about psychedelic and cannabis culture, “like” my Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/pages/David-Jay-Brown/115740098445882?ref=ts
and follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/DavidJayBrown About this column: Catch the Buzz is a weekly column that explores news about cannabis and psychedelic culture
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4HO-DMT


Registered: 01/11/11
Posts: 5,073
Loc: County Line Road
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Re: Ayahuasca Jungle Juice Goes Global [Re: dwpineal]
#17427040 - 12/21/12 11:10 AM (11 years, 2 months ago) |
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This is a great article! Thanks for posting. I think this is a good thing. Psychedelics are not for everyone, but as more opportunities arise for folks to trip under the guidance of an experienced user, I think there will be more positive experiences and more social acceptance. I was surprised when I read that there was an accurate account Ayahuasca portrayed in Elle. Great read!
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thedream
The Most High


Registered: 12/25/10
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Re: Ayahuasca Jungle Juice Goes Global [Re: 4HO-DMT]
#17427889 - 12/21/12 02:13 PM (11 years, 2 months ago) |
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I also believe this a good, however there must be measures put into place to sustainable harvest the necessary ingredients. I can imagine b. caapi vine is becoming more and more scarce in its natural habitat as it is becoming increasingly sought after, chopped and sold so us westerners can alter our consciousness.
I don't know about you guys but I think it would be in everyone's best interest to buy the seeds and grow it yourself in the mean time just in case it is no longer available. These vines and shrubs can take several years ,similar to cacti, to reach maturity.
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Grumpyorc
Ghost


Registered: 09/14/09
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Re: Ayahuasca Jungle Juice Goes Global [Re: thedream]
#17429354 - 12/21/12 07:20 PM (11 years, 2 months ago) |
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Good article except for all that "nature is trying to change humanity with mushrooms!" crap. i mean seriously it just makes us look like a bunch of tofu eating dirt hippies. there is no god. there is no higher power driving us and making us consume psychadelics. i think its cool that the plant is becoming more widely used, and i totally believe that the use of psychadelics can lead to important spiritual events, but that being said they seriously need to stop with that crap. and before someone burns me up for it spirituality and god are not neccesarily intertwined. oh and cant someone get DMT without this plant? iv never done it but i think u can just buy it straight :/ just my 2 cents
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fungus_tao
Hah Zah!



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Re: Ayahuasca Jungle Juice Goes Global [Re: Grumpyorc] 2
#17429416 - 12/21/12 07:35 PM (11 years, 2 months ago) |
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I believe the increase in demand will insure that these plants remain on the planet. Most of the vendors that sell these plants are just as concerned about sustainable harvesting. I think b. caapi is hard to kill once established. As long as the root system survives it keeps coming back, is my understanding. In other words, ayahuasca and it's admixture plants are a renewable resource. I am growing my own caapi from seed too.
Some pictures of this amazing plant from EG:


-------------------- Follow the light The Light is your guide.
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Grumpyorc
Ghost


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Re: Ayahuasca Jungle Juice Goes Global [Re: fungus_tao]
#17429474 - 12/21/12 07:50 PM (11 years, 2 months ago) |
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WOW! what a GORGEOUS plant!
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hardcorekid83
hardcorekid



Registered: 07/25/09
Posts: 250
Loc: pittsburgh pa
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Re: Ayahuasca Jungle Juice Goes Global [Re: Grumpyorc]
#17432317 - 12/22/12 01:03 PM (11 years, 2 months ago) |
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Quote:
Grumpyorc said: Good article except for all that "nature is trying to change humanity with mushrooms!" crap. i mean seriously it just makes us look like a bunch of tofu eating dirt hippies. there is no god. there is no higher power driving us and making us consume psychadelics. i think its cool that the plant is becoming more widely used, and i totally believe that the use of psychadelics can lead to important spiritual events, but that being said they seriously need to stop with that crap. and before someone burns me up for it spirituality and god are not neccesarily intertwined. oh and cant someone get DMT without this plant? iv never done it but i think u can just buy it straight :/ just my 2 cents
ya, your post made it very clear that youve never tried it! :b hahaha
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hardcorekid83
hardcorekid



Registered: 07/25/09
Posts: 250
Loc: pittsburgh pa
Last seen: 3 years, 9 months
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Re: Ayahuasca Jungle Juice Goes Global [Re: fungus_tao]
#17432344 - 12/22/12 01:09 PM (11 years, 2 months ago) |
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Quote:
fungus_tao said: I believe the increase in demand will insure that these plants remain on the planet. Most of the vendors that sell these plants are just as concerned about sustainable harvesting. I think b. caapi is hard to kill once established. As long as the root system survives it keeps coming back, is my understanding.Quote:
fungus_tao, do you know if it survives hard winters by any chance???
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fungus_tao
Hah Zah!



Registered: 05/10/06
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Re: Ayahuasca Jungle Juice Goes Global [Re: hardcorekid83]
#17436188 - 12/23/12 09:41 AM (11 years, 2 months ago) |
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No, I don't believe it will survive a hard winter. You'd either have to plant in a container and bring it indoors every winter, or grow in a greenhouse.
-------------------- Follow the light The Light is your guide.
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Grumpyorc
Ghost


Registered: 09/14/09
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Re: Ayahuasca Jungle Juice Goes Global [Re: hardcorekid83]
#17437698 - 12/23/12 03:17 PM (11 years, 2 months ago) |
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Quote:
hardcorekid83 said:
Quote:
Grumpyorc said: Good article except for all that "nature is trying to change humanity with mushrooms!" crap. i mean seriously it just makes us look like a bunch of tofu eating dirt hippies. there is no god. there is no higher power driving us and making us consume psychadelics. i think its cool that the plant is becoming more widely used, and i totally believe that the use of psychadelics can lead to important spiritual events, but that being said they seriously need to stop with that crap. and before someone burns me up for it spirituality and god are not neccesarily intertwined. oh and cant someone get DMT without this plant? iv never done it but i think u can just buy it straight :/ just my 2 cents
ya, your post made it very clear that youve never tried it! :b hahaha
what are you trying to say that doing drugs made you belive in god? i respect psychadelics and like i said iv had spiritual experiences on them but that doesnt mean theres a god. Especially some druid god trying to affect our collective conciousness with plants.
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