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Prime Time Ayahuasca

sati
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With weekly ratings of nearly 1.3 million unique viewers, Weeds' potrayal of an ayahuasca ceremony has propelled the "teacher plant" into mainstream American culture.  In the episode, the show's main character, Nancy Botwin finds newfound clarity and realizes the lies she has been telling herself with the help of ayahuasca. Overall, the show treats the medicine with respect, however the following instances from the episode should be noted:

1). There was an absence of preparation and discussion of diet prior to tea drinking.

2). The shaman was directly told by the spirit of the vine that Nancy should not drink the tea, that she was not ready. Yet, the shaman still allowed her to drink at the beckoning of another practitioner.

With this powerful medicine entering into mainstream America, questions arise: Will shamanic tourism become more rampant in the Amazon Will ayahuasca become the next popular psychedelic drug of America’s youth as LSD was in the 1960’s? Or will ayahuasca medicine help awaken America out of its slumber, moving us into a state of higher consciousness?

Comments

The question now is: "Will

Submitted by Sancho23 on Mon, 09/15/2008 - 13:40.

The question now is: "Will Nancy get killed for ratting out the tunnel?" ;-D

 

Seriously, it's no wonder that Aya is getting more awareness, I've heard from many sources that she is coming out of the jungle, and perhaps the writers of this show are helping to do just that!

 

 

 

<b>Black Light in the Attic Podcast w/Serpicody & Sancho</b>

http://blacklightattic.podomatic.com

Innaccuracy

Submitted by psychonaut on Mon, 09/15/2008 - 13:52.
at the end of this particular episode Nancy see's a woman that isn't there and starts to have psychotic episodes, she blames this on the ayahuasca fucking her up and doesn't believe it helped her at all. even tho she has no migraines to speak of.

Interesting

Submitted by Propaganda Anonymous on Mon, 09/15/2008 - 19:01.

Propaganda Anonymous

In response to your questions Sati, I find it hard to imagine at this time Ayahuasca becoming the 'next' big psychedelic of the youth.

It doesn't strike me in any way as being something kids will do at parties. Unless, of course, they get together like the folks in this show here try to get deep on the shamanic tip. In that case, that seems pretty cool.

I'm a bit wary of pop culture descriptions of the Yage experience. Remember a few years ago when the people from the UDV were getting media attention from their suing the gov't for the 'religious' use of Ayahuasca? Bill Maher made a smug joke on 'Real Time' about it's use that was so off and dumb.

However, it looks like whoever wrote this scene here has actually researched to drinking experience.

I'm not sure where this is all going.

Maybe it will eventually become legal here in the U.S. like it has in Brazil and Peru. That'd be interesting, and I think pretty cool.

PEACE

why did we invent t.v.'s again?

Submitted by Craig Reuter on Mon, 09/15/2008 - 21:16.

Huff... personal let downs aside, it's been bound to happen; might as well be now. Tourism in Peru and other cultures of the vine are booming. Ayahuasca pilgrimages are the new African safari; and it's been growing steadily for years now.

 

A coy glance at the bottles of brown, goopy tea in my fridge; with all the emetic, fibrous caapi sludging at their bottoms, provides a modicum of assurance that it won't be replacing keg stands any time soon.

!!!!!Propaganda!!!!! done well!

Submitted by yebow on Tue, 09/16/2008 - 06:14.
I've been watching Weeds through it's many seasons and have always flinched at the copious amounts of drug violence related to getin' thu cheda'; and some of the time I was actually cheering her on WHEN I was getting high. I'm a recovering OC addict who lived his life through much of what you've seen on the show (minus a few machine guns/husbands). hah.

On the contrary, Nancy's realization that she has been lying to herself ALL this time, after ingesting a cup full of the yage, made me so very happy! Her use of violence and manipulation was brought to the forefront of her mind. "You know - No more hiding - Its out" were the words she carried back with her. (Along with the prostitute with the butterfly bag. She seemed an archetype specifically for Nancy). I took it as: the truth is inside of her and she can't hide from herself any longer. It is out now. Same way I hid from myself through OC. Someday soon, I'll go experience the yage! That is, when I'm ready and find a teacher (hopefully before I leave for Peru next June). I have lots of preparation work until I come face to face with mother jaguar, death, or the owl feathered 'veiled lady' (lady of myth) who may lead you into nagual: 'the transcendent'.

The TV that I thought I wanted unplugged for good, ACTUALLY produced some truth. TRUTH MY FRIENDS! (that is, aside from a few additions to: preparation, ritual, diet, and going against the spirit of the vine--very no-no).

I'm on my own journey and though I know watching these fat cat, corporate run stations are negating my growth, IT IS SO REFRESHING to hear this come out of a show I enjoy. It certainly rattled my father who is aware of the substance's potential but he is a product of the Nixon drug administration. =(, the truth hurts.

Thanks Jenji Kohan and the writers of this episode!!!!

Ayahuasca and TV

Submitted by g1bass on Wed, 09/24/2008 - 19:43.
The Travel Channel's resident bad boy, food traveler, Tony Bourdain ingested Ayahuasca on his show "No Reservations". Bourdain, a long time recreational substance user, never seems to duck the issues. You can find the show on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JevjtlDxzU

HBO TV..a turbulent means of exposing such a powerful teacher.

Submitted by somethingfromnothing on Mon, 09/29/2008 - 00:10.
While it is nice to see, in some regard, the wonders of Ayhuasca broadcasted to so many viewers who are unaware of it's existence, I can already see the amateur shamans clawing at their webcams to upload their shoot-from-the hip trips and disturb the natural balance of Ayhuasca and it's interface with a mass consciousness. When one searches 'Salvia' on you tube, one finds some very disturbing amateur videos of harmful usage of the plant. Is Ayhuasca the next 'fad psychedelic"? The funny thing, to me, is that given the eveident apex of the paradigm shift which humanity is projecting to culminate in 2012, Ayhuasca could be described most definetly as a revolutionary tool, the hammer and sickle of the evolved psychedelic revolution. But said revolution ushered into becoming by uneducated american youth is an unsettiling propsect. One thing's for sure, I long await the day that the brazen trajetory of modern hipter society comes to a screeching halt as the reality-destroying(liberating) stormtroopers of the psychedelic intelligentsia goose step into the nooshpehre, sipping private reserves of Ayhuasca in the holy grail.