Between reality and dreams: Ayahuasca

A drink made from an Amazonian plant with hallucinogens

Hallucinogens are substances that cause strong chemical reactions when they enter the human body. Their main target is the human brain. These chemical reactions alter a person's perception of the world for a shorter or longer period of time, with consequences for his or her future life in one way or another.

Some researchers are reluctant to refer to these substances as hallucinogens, i.e., they do not recognize that they cause hallucinations. This is one of the fundamental questions: is it real or fake? Firstly, is what these people see, hear, smell, and feel real, does it really exist? Second, are these sights, sounds, smells, and sensations the product of altered brain chemicals, is it fake? Probably both.

These researchers tend to call such substances entheogens and stress their profound meaning since translated from Greek, it would mean the manifestation of divine providence within you. We could simply call them psychoactive substances without wishing to diminish or exaggerate the significance of their use.

A lecture on these issues was given to members of the Anthropotheosophical Society in Vilnius. A large number of people were interested in the topic, and it was decided to extend the lectures to other cities and post some information on the community's website.

The reaction to all this was immediate among hallucinogenic substance users. From an anthropotheosophical point of view, a person who uses ayahuasca will not be enlightened because this substance closes the path to evolution. We have been told that such statements by us anthropotheosophists giving a lecture are null and void and should not be taken seriously because we have not used hallucinogens.

It would follow that only former and current heart attack sufferers and heart attack survivors can talk seriously about heart attacks, and only alcoholics can talk seriously about alcoholism. For the users of hallucinogenic substances, their experience is the main trump card, but we call their views manipulative and continue to try to present these phenomena to people as objectively as possible.

Spiritual journey or nature's medicine?

Of course, it is always interesting to listen to those who have used some psychoactive substances for "familiarisation" purposes and those who are still using them and continue to "walk the spiritual path because they are sincerely meditating to be better than they were yesterday".

This is simply the way the spiritual path is understood: people receive a certain dose from outside, i.e. a "nudge", and imagine that they are on their own. Or maybe the nudge was in the wrong direction; maybe it was the plan of the ONE who gave the nudge?

It is also interesting that we now have the opportunity to compare the experiences of those who have used Ayahuasca. They say they felt a distinct drop of energy down the spinal energy channel. The upper chakras were emptied, but there was an obvious increase of energy in the lower chakras. This is what we observe in resonance studies: for a certain period of time - longer for some, shorter for others - the upper energy centres close down, as if they are blocked, but at the same time there is a significant increase in the energy in the lower ones, sometimes with pronounced medical symptoms.

AYAHUASCA IS A PLANT, AND THESE ARE THE ETHERIC, ASTRAL (PROBABLY LOWER) WORLDS. THEY WILL NEVER LEAD TO THE SPIRIT, HIGHER WORLDS, TO GOD. THEY WILL SIMPLY CLOSE YOU OFF IN THE LOWER WORLDS, WIDEN YOUR HORIZONS, TAKE AWAY YOUR AWARENESS AND PERCEPTION OF HEIGHT.

Recently it has become popular to call psychoactive substances natural medicine. It emphasizes that they are natural because they are found in nature, and completely ignores the fact that there are countless poisonous and deadly plants and mushrooms that also grow in nature.

DMT - dimethyltryptamine, which is an effect of the plants used to brew the drink ayahuasca

The psychoactive substances found in plants and mushrooms are varied: DMT, or dimethyltryptamine, as well as psilocybin, psilocin, muscarinic, harmaline, harmine, mescaline, and others.

Beatricė Kiguolienė, a physical medicine and rehabilitation expert, comments on the fascinating ayahuasca. From this point, the article directly highlights her research and knowledge. For many years this expert relies on nontraditional healing methods, the philosophy of East medicine and homeopathic treatments, and individual ways of healing.

In this article, I would like to examine DMT, dimethyltryptamine, which has an effect of the plants from which the drink ayahuasca is brewed. I am certainly not going to fight this global phenomenon, which has recently been rapidly spreading in various countries, especially with people who, I think, very sincerely promote it. I had the opportunity and the necessity to study those phenomena compared to the research of other specialists, so I want to share my opinion with those who are determined to follow the path of self-knowledge, with the seekers of the Spirit. I am a doctor, the word health is understood and perceived by me as the harmony of physical, mental, and spiritual health. In addition, it is the ability to be harmonious, not to conflict with society, nature, or the elements. There are many definitions of health, but the point is how harmony itself is perceived. That's my position.

Many of us are tried to be impressed by the perfect performance of these psychoactive substances, offering a quick solution to accumulated problems, which, by the way, is why most people are on this quest. Users of this so-called natural medicine share their experience on TV shows, Facebook, and YouTube, give lectures, organize seminars, question and answer evenings. They also talk about possible "enlightenment".

I write not to explain what is good and what is bad, but because I, too, have many questions and many answers. That's what I want to share.

Thus, ayahuasca is a hallucinogenic drink made from plants growing in the heart of the Amazon jungle. Of these, the leaves of the climbing tree Banisteriopsis Caapi and the plant Psychotria viridis (chacruna) are most commonly used. Why two? Here's the whole point: most plants, in this case, chacruna, contain the hallucinogen DMT, which the human body cannot absorb, because the substance is simply broken down by digestive enzymes in the stomach, so another plant must be added to the drink, in this case Caapi, which contains the so-called monoamine oxidase inhibitor - MAOI, a substance that breaks down the stomach enzymes that activate the DMT hallucinogen. In such a mixture, DMT (dimethyltryptamine) bypasses the protective barrier of the stomach and enters the brain, namely the pineal gland, through the blood.

DMT is also called a spiritual molecule. It is the strongest naturally occurring hallucinogenic substance in the world, found both in the human body and in many plants. In the human body, it is produced by the pineal gland. This substance is released during sleep, in the REM phase - during dreaming, meditation, and the highest amount - during death. Philosopher, ethnobotanist T. Mckenna, who has tested many psychoactive substances, says: "It (DMT) is the most complex, enlightening, astonishing, terrifying, joyful and strange thing in the world. I don't want to scare anyone, but these are the strangest dimensions of incredible beauty and power. People have to be careful."

This substance has been used by the local population for thousands of years, and now it is spreading rapidly in North America and Europe. This substance can cause ecstasy, a state of trance, the ability to communicate with spirits. It is important to say that for thousands of years, the local population used this drink simply for healing purposes, but they did not heal themselves; shamans did it. The shaman, in a trance, could ask the spirits with the person what the cause of the problem was and what herb in the jungle would be suitable for treatment. An additional effect - the drink helped to cleanse the body: ayahuasca also contains the alkaloid harmine, which has a strong, vomiting and diarrhea-causing effect. So, it is a way to cleanse the body of worms and other tropical parasites.

For thousands of years, tea has not been a way to get enlightened. After all, even now the inhabitants of the Amazon jungle or the local people of Peru and Brazil are not enlightened, but the current promoters of ayahuasca emphasize that the ceremony of drinking this tea gives it that. Yes, it provides an opportunity to meet other worlds. It is a spiritual experience that can be described with the word spiritual, but it is not a part of the spiritual path to God, because the latter is called by another word - divine.

Thus, the effects of DMT are hallucinations. It is difficult to distinguish the real from the fake, because it is an intense vision with open eyes, a kaleidoscopic image, bright colors that we could not even name in life, various real and unreal sounds; all senses are heightened, spiritual, religious and mystical experiences are possible. This is a meeting with the inhabitants of the etheric world. Changed sense of time: it speeds up or stops. It is like a journey, which can be good or bad, but once it has started, one cannot stop.

DMT is produced by our brain. Our mind transmits it through dreams, it is actively produced during meditation. Ayahuasca acts as if a person is dreaming while awake. It's like a lucid dream. It's like accessing limitless information that probably comes from our subconscious or spiritual world. It puts the brain into expanded vibrations, and the person reaches a state of expanded consciousness. It is not a medicine. No chemical dependence, no loss of consciousness. But the feeling of being TOTALLY CONTROLLED, the center of someone's attention, never leaves you. Ayahuasca users refer to this as the supreme spiritual being, MOTHER AYAHUASCA, the spirit of all spirits.

Ayahuasca causes psychological dependence

Yes, there is no chemical addiction, but there is another - psychological addiction: before the ceremony, a person prepares with all his subtle bodies for an event that will give him what he could not get by other means. Scientific research conducted with various psychoactive substances shows that the strongest response of the pleasure centers in the brain is precisely BEFORE the use of the substance, because it WILL BE GOOD. It's trying to repeat because it "carries".

And the ceremony itself? After about 20 minutes of drinking tea, due to the spontaneous awakening of neurons, the rhythm of human brain waves changes, their frequency increases, and mental and creative powers increase. Then gradually the mind becomes serious, anxiety, and fear decrease, the nervous system is harmonized and this allows the brain to gradually experience the state of beta rhythm, i.e. normal activity, then switch to alpha rhythm waves, relaxation, and continue to reach a deep state of theta waves, when mystical experiences and spiritual ecstasy appear.

A number of studies can be found that show that people who consume ayahuasca become more harmonious. They have relatively good health and memory, begin to respect nature more, and strive for peace and harmony. Their personality and identity change, a sense of temporality on Earth appears. As if it should be celebrated.

R. Harris - the danger caused by drinking is particularly high

Dr. R. Harris, a psychotherapist who has researched more than 40 scientific studies, wrote the book Listening to Ayahuasca, which treated depression, addictions, anxiety, PTSD, etc., posttraumatic stress disorder, claims that research on psychoactive substances began only in the last decade because, during the administration of President R. Nixon (in 1970), any scientific research on such substances was banned. Ayahuasca is called medicine, not drug. It is unique even among other psychoactive substances and is called plant spirit. She is also called Grandmother, and Peyote (cactus drink) is called Grandfather.

Harris describes indigenous stories about the uses of these plants. First is to cleanse the body of parasites, but also through hunting in the jungle to find out which direction to travel, where the game is, and simply to get answers to everyday questions such as where and how to find a suitable mate. Of course, plants are also used for telepathic and magical purposes. R. Harris, who has been researching ayahuasca for 25 years, emphasized how dangerous this drink can be.

In a program about ayahuasca, another psychologist asked R. Harris a question: if a person has a mental illness or is deeply emotionally disturbed, is it dangerous for him to use psychotropic substances that can increase anxiety or depression symptoms? According to R. Harris, we could call such a condition a "fall" into psychosis, a psychotic attack. It is actually psychosis and not what we would call mood swings. She believes that then they really shouldn't be used because there is a serious risk. Everyone has to decide for themselves, but it's a big risk.

In addition, there is another thing: for 4-6 weeks before using ayahuasca, like any other psychoactive substance, it is necessary to stop taking antidepressants, because they increase the amount of serotonin in the body and there is a risk of serotonin syndrome, which is accompanied by symptoms such as tremors, diarrhea, instability of the autonomic nervous system, hyperthermia, sweating, muscle spasms, even death can occur and require resuscitation, and after all, being in the jungle, the distance to any residential area is 2-3 hours away. However, the literature indicates one antidepressant that is not so dangerous, so its use can be stopped 3-4 days before the ceremony.

Dr. C. Cavnar - changes are possible in terms of personality

Dr. C. Cavnar wrote the article How Ayahuasca Can Dissolve or Strengthen the Ego. This is a particularly serious publication about what changes are possible in terms of personality.

It's a mystical, personal experience of God or a sacred source, which is what ayahuasca is usually called for. Mysticism is often described as an experience of ONE, CONNECTION, CONNECTION. This connection dissolves the supposed paradoxes. According to all those who have used ayahuasca, it is impossible to describe in words.

Many people emphasize the positive change in the perception of their identity and personality. Man tries to understand: WHO AM I? The sense of ME seems to be weakening. Some emphasize that when they look at objects, they think they are those objects. Others believe that they become people from their past incarnations. Still others feel transformed into kings, queens, shamans, or other archetypal beings. The sensation of being transformed into an animal or bird can also be experienced after drinking ayahuasca. For a South American shaman, transforming into a jaguar is a great honor and a particularly desired metamorphosis.

The boundaries between self and others seem to dissolve, and this can lead to a so-called mystical consciousness. When these boundaries are lost, the differences between people disappear or become minimal, a feeling of empathy arises. Identifying, merging, and realizing the new identity of the self emerges, and this is one of the greatest changes that only ayahuasca can help achieve. It can facilitate the GRIEVING process. There is a feeling that you have a MISSION on Earth, that you are a child of God.

On the other hand, ayahuasca can directly affect the EGO, which becomes inflated, abnormally large, exaggerated, with the feeling that you are very important (self-importance). A person sees himself as so important that he simply has to teach others how they should live and what to do, because he himself already KNOWS, and they DON'T KNOW.

These are the psychological changes referred to in the aforementioned medical articles.