The Way of the Psychonaut
The Way of the Psychonaut: Stanislav Grof’s Journey of Consciousness announces its highly-anticipated VOD release for October 14, 2020. The feature length documentary explores the life and work of Stanislav Grof.
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Art at 2019 World Ayahuasca Conference
The Conference gives a platform to Indigenous healers such as Manari Ushigua, ethnobotanists such as Terrence Mckenna, anthropologists such as Jeremy Narby, and many others to gather and share their work.
What is Rapé
Tobacco snuff is a sacred shamanic medicine or tool, that has been used by tribes of the Amazon basin for thousands of years and is an essential part of their tribal culture and history. Rapé is the name for one of many of these snuffs, and it’s foundation lies by numerous indiginous tribes in Acre, Brazil.
“Para Curar, Solamente Para Curar”
I lay down on the floor, on a comfortable mattress in the center of the room. And I waited. And waited. Eyes closed, I began to see things: patterns of light and energy moving in time with the music. This continued for about half hour, and then a thought came to my mind: “This is too much.” … nd then, something miraculous. I heard, as though from outside myself and within myself at once, a soft voice.
Plants of Ayahuasca Shamanism
Art – Caapi Dreams by Donna Torres.
This is an introductory beginners guide to several plants significantly connected to Ayahuasca shamanism.
An Introduction to Ayahuasca
Ayahuasca (aya-spirit/dead, waska-vine/rope) or Yage (ya-hey) are native Amazonian names for the jungle vine Banisteriopsis Caapi, and the medicinal (and visionary) tea prepared from it. Ayahuasca is used throughout the Upper Amazon to facilitate physical, mental and spiritual healing.
Communion With The Infinite – The Visual Music of the Shipibo tribe of the Amazon
Underlying the intricate geometric patterns of great complexity displayed in the art of the Shipibo people is a concept of an all pervading magical reality which can challenge the Western linguistic heritage and rational mind. The Ethnologist Angelika Gebhart-Sayer, calls this “visual music”.
Global survey of ayahuasca drinking
If you have drunk ayahuasca please share your experiences in the Global survey of ayahuasca drinking and help build understanding of the effects of this sacramental tea on the lives of those who consume it.
The Ayahuasca Defence Fund — Brief Introduction
The Ayahuasca Defence Fund (ADF) will be a worldwide, permanent fund providing defence funding for legal cases involving ayahuasca and other teacher plants.
Spirit Plant Realms by Yvonne McGillivray
The common motif across her vast body of work is the interconnectivity and conscious relationship of humanity with the plant realm.
New York times runs surprisingly balanced report on Santo Daime for rehabilitation of prisoners
“We are considered the trash of Brazil, but this place accepts us,” said Darci Altair Santos da Silva, 43, a construction worker serving a 13-year sentence for sexual abuse of a child under 14. “I know what I did was very cruel. The tea helped me reflect on this fact, on the possibility that one day I can find redemption.”
Decolonise
In a world where some have far more than a fair share, leaving others literally in the dust, we will still compete for gold, for sex, for water, for shelter. Traumatised from this process of ponerisation – the process where selfish, psychotic behaviours are in effect rewarded in a hierarchical ‘death race 2000’ situation of ‘grab yours whilst you can’. And now we sit in the circle, together, hoping we are not the bottom of this particular hierarchy. For a thousand years or more we have been in a system where we outsourced our method or craft of internal work to external figures, the church, the priests. Some people have always been considered ‘more holy’ than others, more pure, more in contact with the spiritual dimension of life. So we ask for the priest and healer to intercede for our departed ones, our suffering kin, our own fate. Because people can be unsure of the reality or competency of their own sacred connection to God and Universe, because the connection is a bit shaky, we …
The ESC and the Amazon: different thoughts are different worlds
To me it is very clear that the first objective of the ESC is power. And they don’t know very well where they are stepping. But I could say that of most of the organizations, regional, national or international, that work in the Amazon. Two different thoughts are two different worlds; and the Amazon world-thought and the Western world-thought, simply don’t match.
Ayahuasca and Creativity
Benny Shanon
Apparently, ayahuasca can push the human mind to heights of creativity that by far exceed those encountered ordinarily. I myself have realized this in conjunction with a vision in which I was guided through an exhibition displaying the works of an entire culture.
Responses to the Statement Critiquing the Ethnobotanical Stewardship Council
A group of more then 60 academics and other experts reject the Ethnobotanical Stewardship Council’s (ESC) “When I resigned from my (very brief) tenure at ESC, it was out of utter disbelief with how wrong-headed, fatuous, and fundamentally corrupt the ESC idea really is.”
Statement Critiquing the Ethnobotanical Stewardship Council (ESC)
A group of academics and others have published a letter expressing severe criticism of the methods and aims of the Ethnobotanical Stewardship Council (ESC), an NGO which has assumed the mission of ensuring the safety and sustainability of ayahausca and other entheogens. The letter is reproduced below. The debate continues… Statement Critiquing the Ethnobotanical Stewardship Council (ESC) (*) We, the academics and other experts undersigned, manifest publically our rejection of the ESC’s methods and goals. The following statement has been made public after more than one year of “dialogues” and correspondence with the ESC, as we do not feel our concerns have been properly addressed. The information below is a reflection based on the ESC’s reports and materials available online, in podcasts, in public representations and interviews, and from private letters and emails exchanged between us. All the information is supported by actual quotes from these sources, but these have been mostly deleted for the sake of space. The ESC has currently raised over $90,000 in a campaign to introduce ayahuasca use to a market-driven …
Chanting Down Babylon by Daniel Mirante
Painter Daniel Mirante explains some of the meanings and symbolism in his latest artwork ‘Chanting Down Babylon’ in a video journey through the artwork.
Codes of Ethics
Discussion about ethics and ayahuasca, primarily The Plantaforma Code of Ethics (also known as the Code of Ethics for Organizations which Use Ayahuasca in Spain)
Public Statement to the Ayahuasca Community
We offer our most heartfelt condolences for the Nolan family on the tragic loss of their son, Kyle. We, the undersigned, people who had direct experience with Shimbre, or have concern over what has transpired, believe Kyle was not given this medicine in a safe or supportive traditional environment. During the Shimbre ‘incident’ we believe this sacred medicine was administered by an irresponsible practitioner who did not follow the ancient traditional practice of staying with the seeker or student to insure physical and spiritual safety.
Ayahuasca: Beyond the Amazon – Risks and Challenges of a Spreading Tradition
By Stephen Trichter, Psy.D.
As the use of ayahuasca shifts to use outside of its original cultural context, we must examine how the spread of this healing practice can not only bring the benefits for which it was originally intended, but how its transfer into a new cultural framework potentially can also cause distress and harm.
(Painting by Augustin Lesage)