DOSE:

3 cups

oral

Ayahuasca

(tea)

BODY WEIGHT:

55 kg

I made a complicated journey to the ayahuasca centre, with three chaotic buses into the countryside from Bogota, Colombia, and was already pretty tired out when I got there. I had not eaten much or had any caffeine that day as preparation, and was very nervous. I had a headache, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea even before the ceremony. I asked the English-speaking assistant shaman if it was OK to proceed in this state. 'Sometimes the purging begins before drinking the yage,' he said, and advised me to go ahead with the ceremony. We stood to listen to the shaman's introductory remarks and I was almost too worn out and sick to keep standing and listening, but I was determined to go ahead. The assistant shaman had told me that sometimes there are forces that try and stop you from taking the yage.

I was very frightened. The mixture smelled and tasted floral yet astringent. Not pleasant, but not as bad as I had been told. I drank half the cup and looked at the shaman, asking with my eyes if he really meant for me to drink all of it. He looked amused and gestured for me to finish it.

Very soon after drinking I began to need to vomit. I tried to hold it in as I'd been instructed but didn't succeed. I rested for a while. The headache and the anxiety had gone but the nausea and the diarrhoea had intensified. I asked the assistant shaman if I should drink it again. He said yes, so I did. I succeeded in holding it in for a few minutes longer, but nothing more than that. I repeated the process - resting, consulting the assistant shaman, and drinking more yage. I got braver at drinking each time, which the shaman noticed. 'Bueno,' he said on my third time. Again, I was able to hold it in a few minutes longer.

The diarrhoea was extremely watery. It was less like watery shit and more like shitty water. I drank water so as not to get dehydrated from all the purging. Soon it was the end of the ceremony, and the shamans sprayed us with perfumed water, wiped us with a cream, and beat us with dried leaves, all while playing music.

I went into the ayahuasca experience very afraid - perhaps of a nightmarish trip or dark revelations about myself that I was unprepared to stomach. But the experience turned out to be challenging in a totally different way. It was several hours of purging and no hallucinations at all. The assistant shaman told me this is a common type of experience.

I felt unusually collected and at peace after the ceremony and felt glad I did it. I would definitely like to do it again.

Exp Year: 2018	ExpID: 111657
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: 24
Published: Feb 23, 2018	Views: 1,782
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