DOSE:

0.5 cups

oral

Ayahuasca

BODY WEIGHT:

175 lb

Ayahusaca in Peru Retreat Setting

I made the decision to do ayahuasca 'right' by traveling to Iquitos, Peru, and joining 14 other seekers in a 7 day retreat, which included 4 ayahusaca ceremonies. This shaman added tobacco to his Ayahuasca brew. The tea was probably put into a blender because it was served to us in cups and had the consistency of froth. For my first ceremony the shaman gave me 1/2 cup. He put honey in the brew and it tasted like candied yams.

This shaman used tobacco in his ayahuasca. I do not like tobacco so I wish his brew did not include tobacco. Monday: I took the brew at 7:15 p.m. and the effects hit me at 7:45. A warm sensation came up from by stomach to my chest. I started to get sick. My group of 14 other seekers started to purge hard and often. I did not not purge but I did force myself when I got back to my hut/tombo later. I just layed on my side and tried to sleep it off.

The trip or journey was not very special. I did see some geometric patterns that I was not sure were other worldy and may have been the by-product of how my mind was processing the ayahuasca. I did not go to other worlds or see entities.

The next day all 15 of us talked about our experiences. 11 or so reported unpleasant experiences or very little experiences. I told the group I got very sick and I was not going to participate in the remaining 3 ceremonies. The remaining group had their second ceremony Tuesday night. I changed my mind on Wednesday because I paid a lot to get to Iquitos, the retreat, and I needed to be tough and a team player.

In addition to ayahuasca ceremonies, this retreat offered tobacco purges, which I did not participate in. Thursday: At 7 a.m. a super nice guy from New Zealand, 21, participated in a tobacco purge that went wrong fast. Throughout the day he wailed and complained his back and shoulders hurt and he was breathing heavy. Our third ceremony was scheduled at 7 p.m. At 6:45 I saw a few group members taking this man's limp and purple body to the kitchen outside the ceremony room and they were frantically performing CPR on him. I ran in the kitchen and also helped compress his chest and help. Chaos.

We did the best we could. We took him by trike and boat to a hospital in Iquitos, where he was pronounced dead. From a tobacco purge.

We all agreed to cancel our retreat and left at 7 a.m. the next morning.

I plan on doing ayahuasca again, this time in the US, and I will invite my other group members to go with me and we will remember the life of our New Zealand friend.

Exp Year: 2015	ExpID: 106980
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: 54
Published: Feb 4, 2017	Views: 7,708
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Ayahuasca (8), Tobacco (47) : Group Ceremony (21), Train Wrecks & Trip Disasters (7), First Times (2)