Ayahuasca's Global Concern
Morgan Maher
During a talk given at the 4th International Amazonian Shamanism Conference: Myths, Magic and Miracles in Iquitos, Peru this summer, Dennis McKenna left his PowerPoint presentations and advance preparations behind and riffed & rolled for two hours "from the heart".
Dennis can certainly hold his own and need not be compared to his brother, Terence. Yet, one gets the sense that Terence was lurking behind the curtain, or simply in direct contact with Dennis during this engaging, colorful talk.
While Dennis often speaks in regards to the scientific aspects of ayahuasca, here he explores, in a profound and timely manner, the reasons and implications of Ayahuasca going global.
"Ayahuasca is coming to more and more people all the time ... (it is) capable of presenting itself to everyone in the world in the way it needs to be presented ... coming through filters it chooses ... it wants to spread ... it wants to form symbiosis (with humans) ... the plants have their way."
In the talk he discusses the role of ayahuasca in relation to "the death culture vs the life culture" as well as suggesting ways to handle the knowledge and experiences invoked by ayahuasca without succumbing to a sense of righteousness.
Other talks from the conference, including presentations by Peter Gorman, Pablo Amaringo and Jimmy Weiskopf are available at the Internet Archive.
Ayahuasca vine photo by Morgan Maher
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bitter cup
There isn't enough ayahuasca for everyone in the west, let alone the planet, and most people will never touch the stuff . It's not about quantity, it's about quality. The right people who can use it, not everyone. Its not a panacea or a medicine for the masses.
http://www.tranceparents.org/
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Could you explain why you feel this way. Why do you feel it is not suitable as a medicine for the masses? Used with disrespect, and I might agree, but engaged with respect and as medicine, then it is a different ballgame.
Who are "the right people"?
Also, as with food and other things, people should grow it if they can.
***
As Dennis notes, "Ayahuasca is ...capable of presenting itself to everyone in the world in the way it needs to be presented ... coming through filters it chooses "
I think an important thing to consider is the way in which the ayahuasca is going to people, reaching out to people, not the other way around. To think that ayahuasca itself isn't playing a major role or that it remains as some sort of silent "victim" in whats going on these days misses out on the kinds of sentience and reach the vine has and the kinds of things it is capable of.
The finger & the Moon
Even within the most alternative and far-out subcultures, not everyone wants to drink ayahuasca... let alone the mainstream...In some of these groups ayahuasca can cause a division between those who do and those who don't.
I don't believe ayahuasca is "reaching out". People are reaching out, and often grasping.
The "right people" are the ones who don't grasp, i suppose. Personal healing and empowerment are great, but that isn't the primary "function" of this medicine, in my experience.
In a way ayahuasca is like a finger pointing at the moon. Fingers get looked at and even chopped off all the time. I suggest it is ignorant to trumpet ayahuasca as some sort of catalyst that is centrally involved in what's going on.
I suggest giving the masses the inspiration to see the moon , as you received it, communicating the vision and understanding creatively, instead of expecting them to drink this bitter cup, cause they won't. Putting the medicine itself in the spotlight is typical western ignorance and recklessness, IMO.
Forest for the Trees
quote ecolocal:"I suggest giving the masses the inspiration to see the moon , as you received it, communicating the vision"
Sounds like you would rather have ayahuasca all to yourself and have people just sit in a circle around you so they can listen to your viewpoint and hope they get it and hope they follow what you have learned and hope all goes well after that????
***
Yes, the moon is a good analogy for ayahuasca. It is there for everyone. It watches over. You can try to reach out and touch it, even go there if you can, but the moon reaches down to us and affects and effects us all through it's energies, patterns, orbit and relationship.
You can try to grasp at it, but gravity holds you back. Yet, when the moon is full, it will reach out and touch you, provide you with some lunacy, reasons to celebrate. When the moon is new, it reaches out and provides you with a new beginning, insight and healing.
***
In case you haven't noticed the world and planet is in crisis here and now. If we don't heal ourselves, our bodies and our souls and our relationship with the planet. There will be nothing. There will be no ayahuasca. And that is one reason why it is reaching out and creating symbiosis. It has its "selfish" reasons too, it wants to survive. It looks at humans and sees how we are destroying its habitat, its home, so it is offerring help in various ways and forms so that it too can survive. Because if we do destroy the planet how will this vine grow?
con text
Sounds like you would rather have ayahuasca all to yourself and have people just sit in a circle around you so they can listen to your viewpoint and hope they get it and hope they follow what you have learned and hope all goes well after that????
Are you being rhetorical or are you actually addressing me personally?
when i wrote "i suggest you do this" i wasn't referring specifically to you ...
anyway, you left out an important word: i wrote "communicate creatively"
Much contemporary art and literature -outside the little cliquey scene of "visionary art " - is quite obviously inspired by ayahuasca and related medicine, only the artists and authors get what i'm talking about and don't reveal the source of their inspiration.
Internet culture cannot deal with secrets , we're supposed to give all the secrets away... such is the foolishness of internet wannabe world saviours...
it's a case of pearls before swine, i'm afraid... (i'm not claiming not to be one of the swine)
also, i don't actually get the sense of urgency that the end is nigh when i take my medicine...i used to get that in the 90s when i was working with the fun guys...
the end of the world has already happened as far as i'm concerned, so i don't intend to worry about what's next , cause i cannot know, and maybe i don't want to know...
in any case, the notion that the hundreds of millions of people contributing to the current status quo will suddenly flock to the ayahuasca church and heal themselves and make a better world is utterly absurd... Ayahuasca does not magically make people better , this i have noticed in the 10 years since i got to know it and some of the people involved...
Magic doesn't require lots of people or some critical mass to work. It requires the people who can really do it because that's what they're here for...
In case you haven't noticed the world and planet is in crisis here and now. If we don't heal ourselves, our bodies and our souls and our relationship with the planet. There will be nothing.
well, thats not what i get from ayahuasca...
There will be no ayahuasca. And that is one reason why it is reaching out and creating symbiosis. It has its "selfish" reasons too, it wants to survive. It looks at humans and sees how we are destroying its habitat, its home, so it is offerring help in various ways and forms so that it too can survive. Because if we do destroy the planet how will this vine grow?
The ayahuasca i'm talking about isn't a plant but a tea made from at least 2 plants, one of which is the vine... anyway, i know what you're saying there, but that still doesn't mean that we need to turn the world onto ayahuasca... can we produce some shift in the consciousness of the masses without waiting for them to drink jungle brew? Ayahuasca provides the inspiration and creative impulse to at least try...
It is a matter of compassion to understand that most people are like children, insecure and unable to take responsibility for their lives...it's not about being elitist, its about being realistic and pragmatic if we do really want to be of help...
http://www.tranceparents.org/
Ayahuasca Math
As Dennis points out, it is important to avoid succumbing to a sense of righteousness, that any particular way is the right way. We need to throw many different ideas and paths into this pot and brew it up. I honestly don't think hundreds of millions of status-quo citizens will or are flocking to ayahuasca, I am more of the feeling that ayahuasca is making itself known to what you describe as the "right people" and this now happens to be many people, simply because there are so many people on the planet. It's simple math.
Also, I don't think it's a matter of compassion to understand that "most people are like children" insecure or irresponsible. In fact, I wish people were more like children, playful and openhearted. But for those people who are insecure or irresponsible; these medicines can help.
And while I do think ayahuasca is a miracle. It is certainly not instant, nor is it easy, nor is it always fun. But it is capable of things, amazing things, totally magical things and we are all learning what real magic is, whether you're 10 years old or 100 000 000 years old.
Anyway, there are many ways. Very likely, there is no overall right way, with ayahuasca. Perhaps the only way is what's healthiest for one, for you, for the individual in relation to the many, your family , community and planet.
And that is up to you to decide and act upon.
any way no way
I don't really understand the arguments about "right way" and so on (each according to their capacity and response-ability), and that wasn't what i was commenting on...
I think we are mostly in agreement but using different language.
I'm just commenting against missionary atittudes and putting medicine in the public spotlight. Sure, its nice to make a career out of it, but there are larger issues at hand... and some things we regard as sacred do require discretion. Those who don't understand the need for discretion have an idealised outlook that doesn't really take into account history and certain destructive aspects of human nature. The Dark Ages aren't over just yet...
I could be wrong of course...
Unfortunately Dennis has not much at all to say to me...
Tripping is Work Too
Out with Trip
I seriously and sincerely feel that "tripping" is an outmoded, outdated and by now detrimental term when used in relation to these plants, especially ayahuasca. For one, it carries with it the notion that one is "tripping" over their shoelaces, approaching and engaging these plants in a clumsy manner. Two, yes, these plants are work, hard work. But they are not like taking a trip to Cancun or a trip to the grocery store. They are far more of a committment than a leisurely trip. I wanted to point this out, because as these plants become more widespread and better known, it feels best to build and encourage healthier means of speaking about them, communicating with them and describing the sorts of things and places they are capable of showing us
4th International Amazonian Shamanism Conference: Myths, Magic
Facing yourself.
ummmmm