Ayahuasca: The Sacred Elixir

Ayahuasca is a mystical brew with deep roots in the ceremonial traditions of the indigenous peoples of the Amazon basin. At its core, ayahuasca is a synergistic mixture of two sacred plants: the Banisteriopsis caapi vine, rich in Harmine and Harmaline, and the DMT-infused leaves of the Psychotria viridis shrub, known as “Chacruna.” In the northern reaches of its range, the Chacruna is often replaced with the Diplopterys Cabrerana plant, called “Chaliponga” or “Chagropanga.” The legacy of ayahuasca is intricately woven into the cultural, spiritual, and healing practices of various indigenous communities in the northwestern Amazon, particularly in Peru, Brazil, Colombia, and Ecuador. You can read more about the cultural history of Ayahuasca in a previous blogpost [Insert Link], where we do a deep dive into this fascinating subject.

Trying to talk about “what Ayahuasca is” is not a simple task as ayahuasca is not quite a singular thing. Ayahuasca is a vibrant and evolving practice, embedded in multiple dynamic and diverse traditions. Each indigenous group brings its unique approach to the preparation and use of this sacred medicine, so its hard to give a simple answer regarding what ayahuasca is for.  Instead, like we cover on this blogpost [LINK], ayahuasca uses are shaped by historical context and human ingenuity and, some would say, the desires of the Spirits of the plants themselves. The term “ayahuasca” comes to us from the Quechua language, and it is just one of many names used throughout its vast range. It translates to “Vine of the Death” or “Vine of the Soul,” capturing the profound, transformative experiences it facilitates. People often compare the ayahuasca journey to a journey to the realm of pure spirit, yet with the assurance that the journey is temporary and as the medicine wears off, we will come back and rejoin our physical vessel — the human body we inhabit.  The vine is that rope that allows us to go on our journey, while remaining tethered to our material reality.

You may have noticed that ayahuasca is sometimes referred to simply as “the medicine”. Often times, we will simply hear references to the medicine, a testament of its deep, curative potential. The medicine is integrative, in the sense that it addresses all the dimensions of our humanity: from the physical to the emotional, the psychological, the spiritual and the relational. Ayahuasca is not only a strong purgative agent to keep our bodies clean, or a tool to help us understand how our unique mind functions, but also a divine conduit, a spiritual lifeline guiding us through the spiritual realms and beyond, where spirits and archetypes dwell. Indigenous cultures across the Andean highlands and Amazonian lowlands have thus long revered ayahuasca for its multifaceted purposes, as a cornerstone of local healing practices, utilized for spiritual communion, divination, and holistic healing. Shamans and healers partake in this sacred brew to enter altered states of consciousness, enabling them to diagnose and treat ailments, communicate with their spirit guides, receive ancient wisdom from ancestors, and enhance the diagnostic gaze to help heal and cure illness and disease.

In the realm of healing, ayahuasca facilitates profound physical, emotional, and spiritual cleansing and growth. Often referred to as “Mother Ayahuasca” [LINK to post], this medicine is said to embody a feminine spirit. As such, she is nurturing but fair when needed, and doesn’t shy away from delivering some tough love. Sometimes, ceremonies can be hard; this often happens when ayahuasca is showing us some parts of who we are that we have refused to acknowledge or accept. It can be painful to come to terms with our own darkness —yet thats the path that leads towards true growth. In that sense, we can say that Mother Ayahuasca acts as a mirror to the soul, revealing hidden truths and unresolved traumas —to those willing to really see. This powerful medicine helps us confront, process and release what no longer serves us, paving the way for deep personal transformation and growth.

Because of its power and cultural significance, Ayahuasca ceremonies are sacred rituals, conducted with great respect and reverence for the plant spirits and the natural world. These ceremonies are conducted in carefully curated and skillfully facilitated spaces, making sure that participants can feel safe and free to dive deep into their inner journeys, supported by the nurturing presence of the Divine Feminine. Going through the occasional emotional turmoil necessary for growth is made possible by the safe and compassionate environment, lovingly held by human facilitators and our spiritual allies.

Embracing ayahuasca means honoring the timeless wisdom of indigenous cultures, their cosmologies, mythologies and deep medical knowledge. Despite centuries of colonizing violence and systematic suppression of native traditions, amazonian people have been able to keep this knowledge alive. Honoring ayahuasca is also honoring the resilience of the people who have ensured these wonderful traditions are available to us today, helping us reconnect with our inner selves, heal our emotional and psychological wounds, and awaken to the profound mysteries of existence.

Trauma: Fragmentation and Separation

In recent years, trauma has entered the popular discourse with full force. People from all walks of life are becoming increasingly aware of the impact that traumatic experiences can have in the unfolding of our lives. And we are not necessarily talking about trauma from the perspective of major catastrophic events that emotionally and psychologically mark us for life —although ayahuasca can help with that kind of trauma too. We are talking about moment in life that, even though might be considered normal things that happen during the course of a human life, can nonetheless leave their imprint in our body mind and soul.

Think for example of a bad breakup that took you a long time to recover from, or that one job that you lost because of a silly mistake. Perhaps a friendship that you cherished was withdrawn without much explanation, or you were ostracized and bullied by your peers. “You’ll get over it”, is often the answer that we get when we try to communicate our pain. “Its not such a big deal”, “S**t happens” and so on. But sometimes, it is actually a big deal, and what seems insignificant to others can feel personally devastating. This is particularly true of things that happen to us as children, as we don’t really have the capacity to contextualize things beyond our immature perspective, often personalizing and blaming ourselves for the outcome,

Adverse childhood events have been shown to have a negative impact on the developing of the nervous system, and contribute a lot to a wide range of adult dysfunctions. For anyone who is on a healing journey, working through our trauma is one of the most important priorities. We need to establish a good foundation before we can build a tall building, and healing our trauma is the most important foundational work that we can do. As we uncover and work through the real root causes of our dysfunction, we aren’t just slapping bandaids anymore. We are really making an effort —and a commitment— to navigate through the complex layers of our psyche, getting to the bottom of our maladaptive behaviors, self-harming belief systems and self-sabotaging relational patterns.  

Contemporary experts in the field tell us that trauma often results in fragmented aspects of the Self, where painful memories and emotions are buried deep within the subconscious. As a result of the painful event, we disconnect ourselves from ourselves, losing intimacy and authenticity with our own inner being. In many ways, the trauma is not the event itself —what happened— but rather that disconnection and fragmentation that happens as a result of the event. As such, it is important to know that we can recover from trauma— and ayahuasca can act as a catalyst for reconnection, allowing us to gather all the different fragments of who we are that have been scattered as a result of trauma. Furthermore, the medicine can help us access those traumas, some of which may remain buried under layers of repression and suppression, away from our conscious minds. However, bringing these hidden aspects to the surface, confronting them, understanding, and ultimately, integrating them, may be the best path towards true and lasting healing, transformation and growth.

Confronting painful memories is not a simple task. It requires the right environment to ensure that the experience is fruitful and the person is well-supported. An experienced, skilled and compassionate team of facilitators, working together with Ayahuasca and their spiritual allies, can provide a safe and controlled environment to revisit traumatic memories. Ayahuasca facilitates the process by allowing the person to relive these painful and traumatic experiences from a new perspective, often accompanied by a sense of detachment and heightened awareness. This non-ordinary state of consciousness, often imbued with self-compassion and kindness, helps the person process and understand their trauma without being overwhelmed by it —and without being re-traumatized by it. Under the care of mother ayahuasca and skilled facilitators, we can see the events of our lives more objectively, gaining insights and clarity that were not accessible before —while recalibrating our emotional reaction to them.

One of the most significant aspects of healing with ayahuasca is the opportunity to release suppressed emotions. Trauma often leads to emotional blockages, where feelings such as fear, anger, and grief are repressed. When this happens, its not that the emotions and feelings just go away. It means that they love within us, often controlling our behavior from a subconscious level, dictating the range of responses available to us as we navigate life. Emotions, when they are not felt and acknowledged, will build up. We have lots of metaphors for this — “bottled up anger”, “oceans of grief”. During an ayahuasca ceremony, people often experience a surge of these emotions as they surface. This can be deeply uncomfortable and even scary, if we haven’t been in touch with our inner selves for a long while. Mother ayahuasca is gentle — and the facilitators are there to hold space for the release and help the individual through the rough spots. While this process can be intense and challenging, it is a crucial step towards healing. Feelings want to be felt, emotions needs to be experienced so they can finally move through us. By accessing, feeling and finally releasing these pent-up emotions, we can free ourselves  from the heavy burdens we have been carrying. We can move on feeling lighter and with more spaciousness in our hearts to invite new things, new people, and new adventures.

Spiritual Insights and Connection

Healing trauma with ayahuasca is not only about addressing psychological and emotional wounds but also about reconnecting with the soul. Remember, trauma is not about what happened to us, but about the impact that the event had on our relationship with ourselves. Getting to the deep roots of our pain is important — but integrating those healing experiences so we can become whole once again is equally as important. Ayahuasca can help open the door to deep emotional healing and profound spiritual insights. However, like everything else in life, its up to us whether we want to walk through that door. And walking through that door means more than just the work we do during ceremony: it also means making the time and space to integrate those experiences and make sure they take root in our daily lives, so we can truly move forward towards new ways of being and relating, leaving behind those maladaptive patterns that are not serving us anymore. Since integration is such a crucial and important part of the  healing journey, we have dedicated a whole blogpost to the subject which you can find here [Link to integration post].

Lastly —for now— working with ayahuasca is not only about emotional and psychological healing, even if these are big pieces of the puzzle. Beyond our bodies and our minds, we are also spiritual beings, and getting back in touch with a sense of the sacred is an essential part of this journey. Ayahuasca can sometimes provide the sorts of experiences that some people term “mystical”, “religious” or “spiritual”. In truth, this is simply ayahuasca reconfiguring our perception so we can glimpse into the great Mystery, even if just for a brief while. With ayahuasca, people may experience a sense of oneness with the universe, encounter spirit guides, and receive divine wisdom from them. What is the ultimate reality of these experiences? Its not anyone’s place to really say. When we cross the veil and enter the realms of awe and reverence, there isn’t much we can do other than observe and feel the power of Source. The most important thing is not necessarily to constrict those experiences into any one narrow interpretation according to any one religion or spiritual approach, but rather, to be open and present to what is being revealed. These spiritual experiences can provide us not only with a fleeting sense of reverence and awe, but also with a sense of purpose, meaning, and connection, which are essential for our long term, integral wellbeing. Spiritual experiences can help us understand our own lives —our trauma, our predicaments, the challenges we have faced— in the broader context of the unique  journey of our  soul, helping us come to terms and embrace this precious human life, with all its ups and downs, challenges and opportunities, and all the beauty and terror that it implies. And that, in and of itself, is a miracle all its own!

‍