Renowned ethnopharmacologist, Dr. Dennis McKenna, discusses the origins and the pharmacology behind the powerful South American hallucinogenic brew called ayahuasca.
He says that the pharmacology of the brew, and how it works, are well understood, but that Western scientists are baffled by the question of how the indigenous shamans, or curanderos, discovered the precise method for creating the decoction–where are the roots in history of ayahuasca origins?
In late 2010, two Australian scientists were invited by colleagues from Norway to experience “a real adventure” at an Ayahuasca center outside of Lima, Peru. They traveled together to the center, far from populated areas in the mountainous region, for a 4-day Ayahuasca experience with a Peruvian curandero.
The curandero is a traditional healer dedicated to curing both physical and spiritual illnesses, and may also play the role of psychiatrist along with that of doctor and healer.
The scientists participated in the Ayahuasca ceremony on the first night at the center, with decidedly mixed results.
Would the trained scientist stumble upon evidence that could be considered ayahuasca science?
“If you can’t see it then, you’ll never know it. I feel sorry for you.”
The fight for psychedelic consciousness has been an ongoing battle in the Western World for ages. A recent event highlighting the oppression of psychedelic consciousness is the TEDx censoring of Graham Hancock’s ayahuasca talk.
Yet, as you will see from the video below, there has been massive oppression of psychedelic consciousness for decades–if not ages.
Find out the details of how psychedelic consciousness can be utilized to enhance the world in the video below.
With the right ayahuasca recipe and proper shamanic guidance, the ayahuasca journey can best be categorized as a Level 5 Psychedelic Experience.
A psychedelic experience is an altered state of awareness induced by the use of psychotropic drugs such as psilocybin, LSD, and mescaline. Many spiritual practices utilize psychotropic drugs to achieve states of mind unhindered by normal mental filters.
Timothy Leary’s book, “The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on The Tibetan Book of the Dead,” describes characteristics of increasingly deep levels of awareness induced by psychotropics.
For more than forty years, Steve Beyer has been motivated by the alter states of consciousness provided by visionary and entheogenic plants. He is an independent researcher in ethnobotany, shamanism, ethno-medicine, hallucinogenic plants and fungi. Steve Beyer has doctorate degrees in Religious Studies and Psychology and will be presenting at the Multidisciplinary Associations for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) Psychedelic Science 2013 conference primarily as an Anthropologist.