Friday, April 28, 2017

A secular commentary on Ayahuasca

Discussions about Ayahuasca often come saturated with mystical or spiritual overtones. This is particularly true of discussions that involve the discovery of Ayahuasca, the "intelligence" of Ayahuasca, and the concept of Mother Ayahuasca. In this post I'll go against the grain and take a very down-to-earth, nonspiritual approach to discussing these three aspects of Ayahuasca. (The video version of this post can be found here.)

My only goal here is to offer some different perspectives on these topics. I am no expert, and I'm not trying to prove anyone wrong, so take this for what it's worth.

Thursday, April 20, 2017

Preparing for an Ayahuasca Retreat, Part 4: the Psychological Effects of Ayahuasca

I spent twelve days in the Amazon rainforest attending an Ayahuasca retreat where we drank the brew on seven nights. It was both the most difficult and the most therapeutic experience of my life. In part 1 of this blog series I discussed some preliminary considerations regarding Ayahuasca. In part 2 I discussed the preparatory diet. In part 3 I discussed dosages and the physical effects of Ayahuasca.

Here in part 4 I'll be discussing the psychological effects, broken up into four phases: the come-up, the plateau, the comedown, and the residual after-effects. (The video version of this post can be found here.)