About Ayahuasca | Spirit of Peace Healing

Ayahuasca

"aya" - soul, "huasca" - vine

Banisteriopsis Caapi and Psychotria Viridis

Mother Ayahuasca, Vine of the Soul

Ayahuasca is a visionary brew with profound healing properties, made by by cooking the Amazonian vine Banisteriopsis caapi with leaves from the chakruna plant, Psychotria viridis. Known affectionately to many as 'Mother Ayahuasca,' and very often experienced as a conscious, intelligent and incredibly loving spirit, Ayahuasca has the remarkable ability to illuminate what is usually unseen, bringing to the light suppressed traumas, emotions and unseen/shadow aspects of ourselves for healing, self-understanding and liberation.

The active component in Ayahuasca is dimethyltryptamine, or DMT, which is contained within the chakruna leaves and which facilitates the brew's visual effects, The Ayahuasca vine contains enzyme inhibitors called MAO Inhibitors which allow for the uptake of the DMT from the chakruna leaves into the brain, and the vine is also considered to be responsible for the healing potency of the brew. The effects of Ayahuasca generally last for three to five hours.

Ayahuasca's Super Powers

Cleaning: Ayahuasca faclitates a deep cleansing process, clearing away unhelpful energies that do not serve our greatest health and wellbeing on every level. Physical toxins, suppressed emotions, residues of past events and unneccesary/unhelpful thoughts, beliefs and spiritual energies can all be released during an Ayahuasca ceremony. Release through 'purging' is probably the most univerally common effect of Ayahuasca and may happen through vomiting, diarrhoea, shaking, yawning, crying or other forms of release.

Illumination: Exposing the things that we usually cannot see, Ayahuasca can show us the root causes of our problems and dis-ease. Events, traumas and emotions that have long been buried deep within our psyche can be brought up for release and our shadow or unseen parts of ourselves may be illuminated for integration and healing.

Spiritual Connection: Shining a light into ordinarily unseen places, Ayahuasca can bring us an awareness of the spiritual energies and worlds that we don't often perceive in daily life. Connections may be experienced with plant and nature spirits, ancestral spirits and other spiritual beings along with a perception of spiritual energy or even a glimpse of other spiritual worlds and dimensions.

Patterns and visions from Ayahuasca ceremonies are a central part of the Shipibo culture, with designs being embroidered into tapestries and onto clothing, pottery and other items.

Expansion and Liberation: Through the altered state that Ayahuasca gives us, we have the potential to see beyond the limited thoughts and perceptions that may be holding us back in our lives. Ayahuasca can show us new, more liberating perspectives to help us to break free from the beliefs and ideas that keep us feeling trapped or suppressed, and can inspire a greater depth of creativity, openness and mental expansion within us.

Is Ayahuasca Your Medicine?

There are some medical conditions and medications which Ayahuasca is absolutely not compatible with. Those aside, Ayahuasca is suitable for most people who are feeling the call to drink it. There are, however, some situations that Ayahuasca is an especially good medicine for:

If you have experienced a lot of trauma in the past or have a long/deep family history of trauma: Ayahuasca can facilitiate a release of the physical effects of stored trauma from your body and can bring up memories and stored emotions from past traumatic events for release, healing and insight. The medicine's ability to move deeply into the subconscious and unconscious levels of the mind mean that forgotten traumas and inherited generational traumas can be revealed and released, leading to a profound experience of healing and freedom.

If you're struggling with an illness or addiction and haven't found the results you're seeking from other therapies or healing modalities: Because Ayahuasca works on every level, including the spiritual and energetic levels, energetic or spiritual root causes or contributing factors to a condition that may not have been considered in other systems of healing can be exposed and released during a ceremony. Ayahuasca has the ability to show you the root trauma or significant issues surrounding your condition, to illuminate subconscious or unconscious beliefs and patterns you have been previously unaware of, to help you to release unhelpful energies, to give you the tools to move forward in a healthy and productive way, and to show you the interconnection between different aspects of yourself and your life. The thoroughness and depth with which Ayahuasca can work mean that it is often an excellent option when other treatments haven't worked, or when they have been less effective than you were hoping for.

If you're feeling stuck, at a crossroads or that you've lost your way in life: It is said in Amazonian traditions that the plant spirits are able to show us to our best path in life and guide us to realignment when we've lost our way. When we feel unclear about our next steps forward or are feeling a lack of direction and purpose, Ayahuasca can help us to realign with our passion and vision and show us potential and possibilities that we may not have previously considered. When an attachment to the past is holding us back, Ayahuasca can help us to move on from what is no longer relevant and make steps towards a more fulfilling and pueposeful life.

If you feel held back by fear: Ayahuasca can bring up our deepest, often suppressed, fears, and allow us to confront, understand and release them. Fear is a challenging emotion for many people and is often the biggest factor standing between a person's current life and the way they truly want to live. Through bringing up our fears, often very vividly and intensely, Ayahuasca can give us no option but to confront them and see the truth of what they really are, to create a healthier relationship with fear and to ultimately live with more integrity and freedom.

If you're struggling to process grief: Grief can be a challenging process, especially when difficult circumstances surrounded a loss. Ayahuasca can give us the space to process grief in our own ways, allowing for the release of suppressed sadness and often helping us to see a situation from a different, wider perspective that can allow us to make peace with the past. The connection that opens to the spiritual world also means that it may be possible (although certainly not guaranteed) to connect with the spirit of deceased loved ones during a ceremony and to communicate the things we wish we'd had the opportunity to say.

If you have a sense that there is 'something more' to life and a deep calling to explore what that may be: Ayahuasca is great at opening our minds, showing us new things, and revealing to us aspects of creation that we were previously unaware of. For those coming from a culture or background where the spiritual world has been largely ignored or denied, Ayahausca can open a connection to the spirit world and reconnect us with our spirituality. It is possible to gain a wider perspective on our lives, open ourselves to new, more fulfilling paths forwards, and find our deeper sense of purpose. Ayahuasca can invite us to explore our spiritual understanding of life, opening us up to different ways of thinking and experiencing the world, perhaps giving us a glimpse of what lies beyond this life, and guiding us towards a deep appreciation of the great mystery that we are a part of.

Ayahuasca in the Shipibo Tradition

Maestro Americo and Maestra Lidia in traditional Shipibo clothing, decorated with patterns inspired by Ayahuasca visions.

Ayahuasca's medicine is at the heart of the Shipibo culture with most of their artwork and traditional designs being based around representations of Ayahuasca visions. It is said that, during the Spanish invasion, the Incas passed their healing knowledge of the plants to the Shipibo, and also to the Q'ero in the Andes, and that the medicine of the Incas is carried within the Ayahuasca and through the Shipibo healing tradition.

Where Ayahuasca is deeply revered as a special and important plant, the Shipibo work with many Amazonian medicinal plants, seeing Ayahuasca as the bridge to the world of the plant spirits. Plant Dietas are central to the Shipibo healing tradition and a Curandero (healer) will complete dietas with many plants and trees, forming relationships with the spirits of each one, and it is through their dietas that they receive the knowledge of the healing power of the plants and the ability to hold the space for healing in ceremony. A Curandero capable of holding a safe Ayahuasca ceremony will have completed many dietas with a wide variety of plants and trees, each one bringing its unique gifts into the medicine space.

One of the most important philosopies around healing in the Shipibo tradition is that we become sick when we gather and hold onto energies that are not intrinsic to our natural selves. This can include thoughts, beliefs and ideas from outside of ourselves - from our upbringing or from society or other people, suppressed emotions from trauma or challenging life events, and it's also recognised that harmful spiritual energies can have an effect on our wellbeing especially when there is already some trauma or illness present. Much of the work in Ayahuasca ceremonies involves deep cleaning, or limpieza, on every level: physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually; making space for the natural healing process of restoring ourselves to wholeness, and then sealing the medicine of the plant spirits into our physical and energetic bodies.

Alongside Ayahuasca ceremonies and plant dietas, the Shipibo tradition also makes use of medicinal plant baths, steam therapy, induced vomiting/purging, smoke cleanses and massage as further tools for cleansing and healing, all of which may be included in your retreat if and as you need them.

Ayahuasca Ceremonies in the Shipibo Tradition

Ceremonies take place at night in complete darkness to allow for the visual effects to best be experienced. Usually we drink Ayahuasca at around 8pm and the ceremony lasts until 12-1am. Throughout the ceremony, channeled songs called icaros are sung by the Curandero. These healing songs come directly from the plants and are the driving force behind the ceremony, protecting the space, calling to the plant spirits for their assisstance and calling in the healing power of the plants for all of the ceremony participants. Icaros are sung throughout the night and the ceremony ends with every participant receiving their own personal icaro from the Curandero, specifically for them and their healing. Aside from the icaros, the ceremony takes place in silence and each participant is given their own space to sit and receive and enjoy the medicine.

Get in touch

If you're considering joining a retreat, or if you're thinking about drinking Ayahuasca but have some questions or would like to talk about it some more, please don't hesitate to get in touch! You can send me an email or make an appointment to schedule a short video chat.