Ceremony #4: Lost Knowledge

Today we would be drinking again so that meant we would only be eating breakfast and lunch, both of which were amazing. After breakfast we headed up the Amazon to visit a local village.




The village was actually quite nice and even had sidewalks.




All the kids came running out with their pets and no matter what the pet was, a turtle, a bird, or a sloth, they all had the same name, “Maria”. Even though my Spanish was extremely limited I knew there was not a language barrier here, they really named all their pets Maria. This is Maria the turtle.


This is Maria the bird and her owner, Maria.


This is another "Maria the turtle" and another "Maria the bird".






Here are some chickens, but apparently they had no names.


Maria the sloth.






Our guide with the flat head who was fluent in Spanish confirming every pet was named Maria.




Maria and her turtle Maria.


Apparently their parents took away their Xbox and everyone was bored today.










We all tried to chip in to buy them bread, however it was only two Peruvian soles so it was kind of hard to divide that up among all of us.








South American’s version of the longtail engine. Not as scary as the Macgyver mounted V8 found throughout Southeast Asia.


It was getting hot as midday approached. I’m pretty sure she was still alive and pretty sure her name was Maria. We had all successfully sweated through our clothing and heard the pool back at the lodge calling so we headed back.


When I got back I showered for mother Ayahuasca and then headed down for ceremony around 5pm. Totally sober I was scared out of my mind to drink Ayahuasca again. Malcolm explained how tonight was about exploration and the search for knowledge. The last ceremony was so life changing and so rewarding, however to get to that point I had to die and suffer through many dimensions of hell lasting thousands of years. Mentally there was no way my consciousness could handle this tonight. Maestro Alberto gave me a big dose but said to only drink half and if I felt I needed more then to finish it off later on in the ceremony.

Some people did not have an experience until ceremony five, others had an amazing experience in ceremony one and two and then never again, this was all in the hands of the spirits and tonight was going to be my off night.

Once we were all served I tried to consume half the cup of Ayahuasca. However Ayahuasca is like a really bad shot, it’s all or nothing, so when I tried to stop half way though, I gagged. The reflex did two things: First, it sent Ayahuasca up my nose and I would have to breathe through my mouth until 2am, otherwise every breath brought the foul taste of Ayahuasca back in to me. Second, because I only got a small portion it provided for a nice short but immediate journey, one that I could manage tonight. The master shaman had just started singing and my lizard guide was already dropping me off deep inside the Ayahuasca space.

This was not really an experience but more like it was downloaded in to my brain. While I was not thinking about it I’ve been told that no one really knows how the native people discovered this magic combination from 10,000 vines and 80,000 leafs to brew Ayahuasca.

I was taken to a very special point in history. A point when we understood that we are spiritual beings having a human experience and not human beings having a spiritual experience. A point when we understood our place in the universe and lived within it. A point when we could control our emotions and ignore our ego. In a way the trees told us about Ayahuasca, not that they spoke directly to us but that we felt them. If you are driving down the road and looking at houses you might see some that are nicely painted in well coordinated colors. While others might have you thinking who would choose those colors?. You would not paint your house pink and bright green because that would not look good, it would not feel right. As the ingenious people walked through the jungle they saw the plants the same way, this leaf went well with this one, but that leaf does not go at all with this other one, it does not feel right. They were listening to their hearts more then their minds.

This large spirit energy then arrived with seemingly infinite knowledge, it was Buddha. Like the archangel Michael this was not Buddha from ancient texts but rather his spirit without regard to any religious beliefs. Buddha was much more casual, no formal trumpets announcing his arrival but his light was brighter than anything I have ever seen. He was light hearted and jolly, his energy was pure and simple. Someone you were instantly comfortable with no matter who you were. He downloaded thoughts to me that I contained all knowledge but I was unable to access it because I was logically looking for it using my mind when I should be using my heart to feel it, to know it.

Just as I was starting to jump deep in to my journey it was ending. Either my nasal cavity was not as good ingesting Ayahuasca as my stomach was or that was all the spirits had for me tonight. They knew I needed a down night and that my logical mind would need at least a day to process this simple truth before I would be ready to continue.

Slightly disappointed in tonight’s journey I returned to my room and tried to fall asleep breathing through my mouth. I would drift off and then start breathing through my nose and immediately wake up to the awful taste of Ayahuasca. Maybe I would have to survive another dimension of hell tonight.