Interaction with ancestral plants
in Amazonian jungle of Ecuador

Ayahuasca itself is not dangerous or toxic, but there is a BUT.

• I do not recommend drinking Ayahuasca on your own without a shaman; Remember that this is a mind-altering and deep trance substance, so it is important that you have a guide to help you through difficult experiences and support you.
• Ayahuasca should not be mixed with certain medications, such as antidepressants or drugs.
• It is important to inform the shaman if you have any health problems.
• Ayahuasca can provoke psychosis if you have had mental problems before.

On average, the effect of Ayahuasca is 3–9 hours. The intensive part of the ceremony is about 3-4 hours. After completion, a state of light trance remains for some time, which is called maryaso.

True, it is important to say that the intensity of the ceremony can be very different. Sometimes Ayahuasca feels like a dream, calm and relaxed. However, it happens otherwise. Sometimes it is like a powerful current that carries with all speed. It can be positive when filled with love and gratitude, or it can be very dark when it feels like you are dying.

This question is asked to me very often. Do I need to constantly drink Ayahuasca now? Not at all. One ceremony is enough for someone, 5–10 for someone, and someone continues his journey along with "medicine", as shamans call it.

Ayahuasca is not addictive. However, I know stories where people continued to participate in ceremonies for the sake of the ceremonies themselves. That is why it is very important to do "homework" after the ceremonies and integrate the experience gained into everyday life.

The shaman is an indispensable participant in traditional ayahuasca ceremonies. He guides everyone during the retreat. He is in charge of preparing the decoction. He determines the amount of ayahuasca for each participant. The success of the entire group largely depends on his experience and skill.

The shaman decides how the ceremony will take place, what sounds and smells will surround the participants. He can create an atmosphere of peace and leave the participants alone with their visions, or he can take everything under control.

During the ceremony, the shaman can create a special soundtrack. The shaman talks to the participants, explains what is happening to them, and gives advice. He sings healing songs-ikaro, casts incantations, bypasses all those gathered and shakes a shakapa ratchet near them. Sometimes this helps people to experience new experiences more easily.

Smells also affect visions. The shaman can add special scents to the water and use it during the ceremony.

The shaman also talks to the participants during the trip and guides them. But much more often, he leaves people alone with their visions, allowing them to deal with everything on their own.

Participants in ayahuasca ceremonies and experienced shaman maestro recommend not taking the decoction without the supervision of one or more shamans.

The skill of the shaman is the direct guarantee of a successful ceremony. Often the ancestors of Indian shamans were also involved in healing. Real maestros undergo 20 years of training from other shamans.

Often, yes, it is not for nothing that Ayahuasca is called the Liana of the Dead. Separate parts of our psyche (subpersonalities, body brain, etc.) perceive some moments as death, sometimes it is very scary, sometimes it is very beautiful. As the saying goes, for something new to be born, something old must die. We prepare and help you get through these moments easier and faster. By ceasing to identify ourselves with these parts that are dying in the process, we become a larger and more integral person who begins to realize himself not only in the body, mind, roles and shadows, but all of this and at the same time something more ...

Inside the process, you may feel like you are going crazy, dying and being reborn. We, as supporters, help to prepare for the process and get the maximum benefit not from the struggle with our own subpersonalities, but from surrendering to the process and diving deep into ourselves, re-awareness of the "myself" of the former. Also on integrations after the processes, we help to regroup and integrate the experience gained into life. Our responsibility is for you to immerse yourself in the processes as deeply as possible, and then gather in a configuration that is more necessary for you.

There is no universal recipe for ayahuasca. Shamans have been studying the ways and secrets of its preparation for years. The quality and effect of the decoction depend on the amount of psychoactive substances in it and on the skill of the shaman.

Here is an example process for making ayahuasca:

1. Liana is smashed with a wooden mallet.
2. The resulting liana chips are boiled in water for 2-3 hours until the amount of liquid decreases. Chacruna leaves are boiled separately. Both brews should not boil much, so the fire is kept weak.
3. The decoctions are filtered 4-5 times until transparent without mixing with each other.
4. The plants that remain after filtering are boiled again in water, then filtered, and the same thing is repeated again.
5. Two containers with three portions of the filtered liquid in each are placed in the refrigerator overnight.
6. The next day, the decoctions are evaporated without bringing to a boil.
7. Both liquids are filtered again, removing the sediment, and mixed. The ayahuasca is warmed up before the ceremony.

Real ayahuasca is called only a decoction, which includes the liana Banisteriopsis caapi. Its analogues are prepared from plants, which include the necessary substances. It can be both plants from South America and from other parts of the world. For example, in Australia, local ayahuasqueros (those who brew and drink ayahuasca) make a decoction of local acacias containing DMT. These are Acacia maidenii ("maiden acacia") and Acacia phlebophylla ("buffalo vine").

The MAOIs required for ayahuasca are found in the seeds of the common harmala (Syrian rue, Peganum harmala) and the passion flower (Passíflōra).

Pharmacists produce an analogue of ayahuasca. It is called pharmahuasca and is a combination of synthetic monoamine oxidase inhibitors and dimethyltryptamine.

The ceremony with Bufo Alvarius allows those who are highly rational to more quickly jump through the barriers of rational resistance and immerse themselves in the process of an Altered State of Consciousness. At the same time, we help (if we see that a person needs it) with bodily work, voice, sound, vibration, less often with words. This is a short (10-30 min.), but very deep process of transformation, you can call it a new birth, because DMT is the substance that is intensively secreted by the pineal gland at the moment of entry of the soul into the body, and at the moment of exit (at the moment of death).

Like Ayahuasca, Bufo Alvarius is a death training, but if in the processes with Ayahuasca it is sometimes a longer and physically difficult process, then in Bufo Alvarius it is much more transpersonal, many instantly fly out of the body in the first minutes after a puff, and there are no bodily discomfort do not experience. I repeat once again that due to the speed and depth of the process, people with a strong Ego and Mental sometimes manage to fight Ayahuasca and resist the process, in Bufo Alvarius this is almost impossible

All retreats are held in the so-called "Noble Silence". This helps to achieve a greater degree of concentration, thereby allowing you to do your inner work without any distraction.

You will only be able to speak during group discussions, however you can speak with the shaman on an individual basis whenever you feel it is necessary. You can also speak with an assistant at any stage of the retreat if you need help with any issue.

We ask you to respect the "Noble Silence" for the sake of others. Many people come to our retreat center with the serious intention of working on their healing.

The shaman determines the dose of ayahuasca individually. It pays attention to the participant's weight, physical strength, health, and goals. The experience of taking ayahuasca is also important - for the first time a person drinks it or not.

The shaman also drinks the decoction, usually after everyone else.

While waiting for the action of ayahuasca, people communicate, meditate and smoke mapacho. Even non-smokers can smoke.

After half an hour or an hour, the decoction begins to act. Many are tired. Shamans often advise to hold back vomiting for as long as possible - this enhances the visions during the trip.

If ayahuasca does not work for someone (this happens, but rarely), the shaman can give that participant another portion.

Ayahuasca affects the body for 4 or more hours. When its effect wears off, the ayahuasca ceremony ends. This usually happens at 2-3 am. Participants disperse to rest or continue to communicate.

The main active ingredients of ayahuasca are monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) and the hallucinogenic alkaloid dimethyltryptamine (DMT). Thanks to MAOIs, dimethyltryptamine does not break down in the intestines and is absorbed by the body.

Ayahuasca requires the alkaloids tetrahydroharmine, harmine, and harmaline to act. The last two are reversible MAOI-A. They temporarily bind the enzyme monoamine oxidase without producing irreversible chemical reactions.

MAOIs are needed to slow down the work of monoamine oxidase. Normally, this enzyme is responsible for the presence in the body of biologically active substances that affect emotions, memory, attention and thinking. MAO also prevents hazardous substances from entering the body with food.