For a few twilight hours in a remote jungle of the Spanish Caribbean, I ceased to exist. On my first-ever ayahuasca retreat, a medicine journey that was facilitated by a local healing couple I met while travelling, I curled up inside a sleeping bag beneath a canvas tent structure, with a warm heap of wool blankets on top of me, and was lulled into one of the most transformative awakenings of my life. Over the course of one night, I was transported far and wide, and into a realm I never knew existed.
I didn’t go to the Caribbean seeking ayahuasca; it found me. After befriending a medicine woman who introduced me to the two experts, I ended up extending my trip by a week in order to experience the substance for the first time. Though the word ‘ayahuasca’ wasn’t part of my vocabulary before this 2016 experience, I’ve since participated in other ceremonies. I’ll always regard this initial experience as a new starting point of my life. It was the moment that set me along my spiritual path, into a life full of big adventures and endless wells of creativity – and I have the learnings of Indigenous experts with cultural and spiritual connections to ayahuasca to thank for that. The Western world’s recent scientific research on ayahuasca's benefits prove what Indigenous cultures in the Amazon Basin have always known: The plant is a highly powerful, transportive substance that can be used to treat physical and mental ailments, and experiencing it with the help of those practiced in its traditions can expand the mind in ways you might have never thought possible.
My first ayahuasca experience went something like this: After a shaman cleared my nostrils with rapé – a dried, powdered tobacco snuff that’s shot up participants’ noses with a pipe to begin a ceremony – I drank my first of three cups (the plant is brewed into a tea and ingested). Little did I know, as the bitter, mud-like brew slid its way into my system, that I was about to go on the ride of a lifetime. Over the course of about six hours, I took on a series of forms: a nameless bird; a snake in a pit of other snakes. I even lost all concept of my own appearance – what qualities my face had, from my nose to even the colour of my eyes.
I mentally travelled back in time to meet the first ancestor of my entire lineage, who danced in the woods morphing between two forms – that of a wolf and a man – before being suddenly transported to a cave full of drawings I couldn’t decipher but somehow understood. Next, I was whisked away in flight, sweeping across the snowy peaks of the Andes as the mountain range broke apart below me, almost like a game of Tetris. I saw Machu Picchu spinning on an axis of geometric cubes, twisting and turning as what appeared to be Lego-like warriors jumped in and out of the structure. Then, in a moment of engulfing hilarity, I lay in a fetal position completely consumed by laughter.
The ayahuasca plant recently became part of a greater movement to decriminalise psychedelics in the United States, which has seen a rise in acceptance of the substance and others like it. Popular shows like Netflix’s How to Change Your Mind (or any of Michael Pollan’s psychedelic-therapy books, upon which that TV series is based) question why many psychedelics were considered to be some of the most dangerous drugs in the first place (as ayahuasca still is) and examine how they can be used to treat mental illnesses and expand the mind. The substance is also seen by many as a spirituality tool, and according to the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life, nearly 27 per cent of Americans considered themselves spiritual – not religious – as of 2017. Though there are still many unknowns regarding the full effect of ayahuasca on the human experience, if my own is any indication, the mental and emotional gates this plant can open seem promising. But how does it actually work?
The Indigenous origins of ayahuasca, and how a ceremony works
It’s important to respect the use of the plant, and Indigenous people who have used it for centuries, as the cultural harbingers of its healing qualities. Ayahuasca is considered medicine, and should not be used recreationally or without the supervision of practiced healers who have studied the medicine in countries where it is legal and there is a cultural connection to the substance – such as Peru, where the plant originates. The same is true of Mexico and Colombia.
According to the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), ayahuasca's psychoactive properties are most commonly derived from banisteriopsis caapi, a vine containing monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), and the leaves of Psychotria viridis, or other plant containing N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT). It’s believed that the DMT found in ayahuasca activates the DMT naturally found in a person’s pineal gland, often considered the third eye portal amongst the spiritual set and Indigenous healers. Many healers and shamanic practitioners believe this leads to the vision quests that ensue after ingesting the brewed version of ayahuasca, and why participating in ceremony is a way to connect deeper to your truest self.
Ayahuasca journeys can range from one-night events to multi-day ‘dietas’, which usually require a participant to refrain from any intense physical stimulants such as sex, alcohol, and rich foods for a period of time. Most ceremonies are held in a maloca – a wooden ceremonial structure with a thatched roof – and begin at sunset and end the following morning before dawn, lasting around five to six hours. In my experience, a ceremony usually includes fewer than 20 participants and begins with some type of cleansing initiation through the use of tobacco snuff, such as rapé, or mapacho. After ingesting the medicinal tea, most participants will experience a purging reaction, which could include vomiting or even a bowel movement. Participants can drink three cups – each about the size of an espresso shot – throughout the night. Shamans and healing elders usually sing icaros, or prayers through song, to facilitate a sense of calm and tranquility. While some ceremonies observe a practice known as noble silence, many rituals encourage participants to emote as necessary: crying, screaming, and purging included.
While no two ceremonies are the same, an ayahuasca retreat will typically follow a spiritually-similar thread that’s meant to evoke the utmost calm and protection of participants. If you do feel called to take part in a ceremony, it’s important to do your own research to find the right experience for you: I’ve travelled hours into the rainforest for ceremonies and walked away without participating because it didn’t feel right. Your intuition is often your best guide when deciding whether you feel safe with a certain facilitator or not. Here, a trusted selection of healers and retreat centres to consider for your ayahuasca journey.
Editor’s note: All experts below have agreed to be included in this article. All three nations included below legally permit the use of ayahuasca.
Iquitos, Peruvian Amazon
Located about two hours into the rainforest (by car and then boat) from downtown Iquitos, in Peru’s Amazon Basin, the Temple of the Way of Light is a healing centre offering 12-day ayahuasca retreats, with six ayahuasca ceremonies over the course of the experience. In the plant’s region of origin, local Indigenous healers lead the ceremonies at this centre’s rainforest setting, many of whom travel by boat from their home communities located further up the Ucayali River – a tributary of the Amazon.
Operating according to Shipibo Indigenous tradition, each ceremony is held by a team of four Onanya (the Shipibo language word meaning a person who has wisdom). Each of them has studied the healing modality for a minimum of ten years to equip them to safely and responsibly deliver ayahuasca healing. During ceremony, the oni (a word that means wisdom in Shipibo, but is used as a synonym for ayahuasca), is served while Shipibo healers sing songs; together, the experience is meant to purge negative, heavy energies from the body, also known as mawa niwe.
Bacalar, Mexico
Hosting multi-day ayahuasca retreats in the lagoon-side town of Bacalar, in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, is Peruvian-American healer and curator Amalia Moscoso, who brings together medicine men and women, facilitators, and shamans of all backgrounds to create each of her experiences. The retreats also infuse additional healing elements that complement each guest’s medicine journey, from a temazcal sweat-lodge ceremony to janzu therapies, a water-based healing meditation. Her offerings also include cognitive workshops to assist in mental, emotional, and physical integration and rewiring to create neural pathways in the brain.
Valle del Cauca, Colombia
In the verdant hills outside of Cali, in Colombia’s southwestern bounds, the Colombian healer Taita Edwin leads healing ayahuasca ceremonies at his family’s private farm. During Edwin’s spiritual ceremonies, the medicine, or ayahuasca, is treated as a sacrament, a link to the spiritual realm, with a focus on creating a safe space and allowing people to surrender to their processes with deep compassion, love, and care. Besides an opening and closing prayer, there is no strict structure to the ceremonies. However, each does include two or more sharing circles so that everyone can express themselves, find clarity, and find common ground in the shared experience. More information can be found by reaching out directly via email.
Pucallpa, Peru
Along the Ucayali River in the town of Pucallpa in the eastern bounds of Peru’s Amazon Rainforest, Indigenous Mexican healer and facilitator Daniela Riojas leads ayahuasca ceremonies in partnership with the Onanya of the region. After first participating in an ayahuasca ceremony in 2015, Riojas, an artist and musician by trade, began her extensive studies of the plant and its medicine during apprenticeships with master healers that included participating in multi-day dietas. The ceremonies she facilitates include holding space through icaros, prayers that embody the healing power of the region’s plants and animals. Each experience is held during the night in a ceremonial maloca to help facilitate each participant’s journey inward.