Book 5

When the word “Ayahuasca” pops up, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Does it spark curiosity, causing you to ask an artificial intelligence (AI) tool about ayahuasca or to do a Google search? How about this one: the I’ve-heard-about-it response. We’ve all been there. We hear about something for the first time, but we don't know what it is. It’s hard to understand when we don’t have the experience. Maybe you’ve done your homework and know about ayahuasca, to some degree. The only thing missing is the hands-on experience of drinking the sacred plant medicine during a ceremony led by an ayahuasca shaman or healer. Perhaps you’ve already participated in an ayahuasca ritual or had your fair share of encounters for mental health therapy, spiritual reasons, or both. The final scenario about hearing “ayahuasca” for the first time is to draw a blank, where the mind goes empty. Sometimes, when we first hear or see a word we know nothing about, it can trigger something other than research or asking an AI assistant. It can make us go back to our ancestral ways: to stop, think for a moment, and let it sit. A single word can ignite something in our psyche that we can’t comprehend when it first crosses our path. The feeling could be good, even though we don’t know the ins and outs, and it’s considered unknown territory. When this hap-pens, the word could be stored in our subconscious. We’ll carry on with our day-to-day lives, sometimes without taking any action to discover the true meaning behind the word. Then, the word resurfaces when we least expect it. This could happen while we’re taking a shower, driving, walking, cleaning, in a dream, and so on. The strange thing is that the word we haven’t figured out can stir up a feeling that it’s something we need to do at least once in our lives. We don’t recognize the why in the moment. As time goes by, we could be driven out of nowhere to move forward by the word, either out of curiosity or like it’s some calling. "Ayahuasca 10.0" is based on my firsthand encounters working with the ancestral plant medicine. The book goes deep into the full details of what happened from start (the moment I drank the brew) to finish (when the night ends), as if it’s happening now and you’re right there with me. This means the good, the bad, and the ugly. The ten nights with the vine of the soul take place in Mexico (a jungle and ranch), Peru (the Sacred Valley mountains), Ecuador (the Amazon rainforest), and Bolivia (the Andes Mountains) from 2023 through 2025. The ceremonies are led by experienced shamans and healers specializing in ayahuasca. The encounters are laid out by country and night and include the following: • Ayahuasca in Mexico (nights one, two, and three). • Ayahuasca in Peru (nights four, five, and six). • Ayahuasca in Ecuador (nights seven and eight). • Ayahuasca in Bolivia (nights nine and ten). Nothing in Ayahuasca 10.0 is made up, exaggerated, or sugarcoated. All ten nights were documented by me within one to three days after each ayahuasca ritual. It was part of my integration process for context accuracy and authenticity. If there are moments in this book where you feel confused or something doesn’t make sense, that’s okay. It’s not you. I was blindsided many times during my ayahuasca experiences. Depending on who we ask, some might feel that certain nights or parts of this book are out there (i.e., confusing, weird, crazy, scary, or repetitive). With ayahuasca, logic, normality, and coherence can disappear during a trance. What we’re getting in this book is the truth, even if it sounds unbelievable. As we prepare for the first chapter, let’s clear the air on five more things. First, this book doesn’t discuss ayahuasca from an entheogen perspective with scholarly research and citations. Second, we’re not going to uncover ayahuasca within the historical landscape of particular Latin American countries. Third, the details of each ceremony, such as shaman rituals by country, the instruments and songs, or the significance of artifacts on spiritual altars, aren’t a focus. Fourth, this book doesn’t encourage the use of ayahuasca or promote it as a cure that will solve all our problems and make us happy always for the rest of our lives. Fifth, I’m not a doctor or therapist, and I don’t claim to be an expert or certified in ayahuasca as therapy. Now that we squared things away, let’s start with how ayahuasca came into play.