Psychedelic Therapy 6
Ayahuasca (DMT) plant medicine
[AYAHUASCA] The Profound Ayahuasca Vine of the Soul Ceremonies
January 2026
Contents
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Introduction
Ayahuasca is the Banisteriopsis Caapi (yagé) plant from South America, originating in Peru. The sacred plant medicine is traditionally consumed as a tea during ayahuasca rituals. Ayahuasca holds Dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a heavy-hitter compound that produces psychedelic effects.
Drinking ayahuasca could feel like a double-edged sword. Intense encounters could unfold, such as an enhanced spiritual connection, introspection, euphoria, and love. The other experience could be anxiety, panic, feeling as if we’re going to have a bad trip (psychosis) or having one, along with possibly seeing and hearing frightening visuals. In extreme scenarios, order (I’m connecting with God) or chaos (I feel like I’m going to die) could happen all in one go. In some instances, certain folks take ayahuasca for the first time and don’t see or feel anything.
It’s hard to pinpoint what will occur during an ayahuasca experience. Ten ceremony participants will have different mental, physical, and emotional sensations, visualizations, and hallucinations. It’s not like a roller coaster ride at an amusement park where every rider travels the same path from start to finish.
In this ayahuasca (DMT) experience, we'll explore some real, vivid, and firsthand moments of psychedelic therapy from my ayahuasca ceremonies in Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia.
Ayahuasca in Mexico
I feel a sudden, unsettling change in my chest, disrupting my default breathing patterns. I consumed at least half a gallon of water today, but I feel like I’m dehydrating. It’s somewhat hard for me to breathe. I want to raise my hand to the facilitator and say, “I need water; I feel like I’m going to die!”
I pause for a few seconds, trying not to freak out in the jungle. If I blurt out that I need assistance from the ceremony facilitator, the group dynamic will shift drastically from high times to worry or even panic.
Nausea surfaces inside of me. I turn to the right side of my blanket, where I sit, ready to throw up. I gasp for air but can’t vomit. I quickly go to an all-fours position with my forehead on the ground. I feel like I’m going to die.
“This is it,” I think to myself, as if it’s time for me to leave this earth. I close my eyes, accepting that my death is about to happen.
I open my eyes, smiling widely while the three music healers play shamanic music and Tata sings proudly. The black blanket flat on the ground freezes and turns into a black geometric, three-dimensional (3D) voxel with thin, dark tan outlines stretching downward. It’s like I’m on top of a geometric voxel cliff, and the black tunnel is a long way down. The voxel block dimension reminds me of 3D graphics portrayed in Minecraft PC games.
Now, I’m lying down with my eyes opened, watching the full moon while breathing in and out through my nose in a meditative and stoic state. Dark-white shades of thin rectangular beams shoot upward and downward from the top and bottom of the moon simultaneously. The beams stretch like rubber bands vertically.
The circular full moon transitions to two full moons shooting dark-white shades of rectangular beams streaming up and down.
The two moons migrate to one moon shooting beams, making the letter X. Every few seconds, the four edges of the letter X elongate and shorten.
The round moon pivots to two full moons moving apart from each other at the same time. The left moon moves slowly and horizontally to the left as the right moon moves slowly and horizontally to the right. Both moons continue to shoot dark-white shades of thin rectangular beams.
The two moons turn into marble-sized gold pebbles, appearing like circular light bulbs in the sky. Both moons shoot the same color and shape of thin beams as when they were two full moons and one full moon.
As the two gold pebbles convert to one full moon, I’m fixated on knowing that the moon is my element because my zodiac sign is Cancer, which is ruled by the moon.
I remain relaxed, lying down facing the sky, zoned in on the bright full moon. There’s movement inside the moon’s dark-patch dents, the lunar craters. I blink twice and rub my eyes, regardless of the fact that my vision is twenty-twenty and crystal clear. It appears that the moving lunar craters are forming a face inside the moon’s center. Maybe it’s the head of an animal figure, like a wolf or coyote.
The dark-patch lunar craters inside the center of the circular moon stop moving, and the bottom half of the moon has light-green sparkles flickering in slow motion.
I open my eyes to the tribal music playing from a loud Bluetooth speaker.
“Mother Ayahuasca, let me feel the strength of the shamans in the cosmos,” I declare assertively to myself.
Howling wolves, shamanic journey drum beats, and flutes are playing. The tribal melodies are taking me on an indigenous expedition. My torso, arms, legs, and hands move fluidly again on the ground to the shamanic tunes.
The Song “The Healing Circle” song by Phil Thornton intensifies. I can feel the climax approaching. The echoing of what sounds like a shaman screaming causes my left clenched fist to shake above my head. I feel the spiritual strength of the shamans in my soul.
The song is at its peak. I can’t keep a straight face–it’s squinted with my mouth wide open, my teeth sticking out, and the skin between my eyebrows wrinkled as if I’m in pain, while my left clenched fist is still shaking to the shamanic vocal chant. The rhythm sounds like the portable speaker is blasting loud next to my ears..........
Ayahuasca in Peru
I put my left hand on my forehead. My voices are sprinting fast, making it challenging to comprehend all the questions that I’m asking. Some of it is nonsense. While I remain underneath the blanket, I feel like I’m going crazy, unable to stay still and rationalize. A part of me wants to cry from the internal heartache my soul is feeling.
“MOTHER AYHUASCA!” I scream to myself, and I don’t know why.
“MOTHER AYHUASCA!” I repeat abrasively to myself.
My right leg shakes again as if it’s having a convulsion to the powerful vocals of the Shipibo healers singing shamanic icaros. I sit with my arms around my knees, feeling helpless as unknown hurt flows through my spirit.
The fear and turmoil come to an abrupt halt. I open my eyes to the silence and darkness inside the maloca. I zone in on one large lit candle on top of the altar containing spiritual items, such as the Chakana/Inca cross stone statue, a bouquet of flowers, thick crystals, and other items in the center.
The bouquet of red, white, and green flowers begins to breathe, forming a plump and squishy geometric shape. A small wolf head slowly emerges on the right side of the bouquet of flowers. The three flower colors camouflage the wolf’s head.
The spiritual items on the altar in the center of the round maloca float above the ground and transform into bright ruby-style geometrics. A road forms on the ground from the altar to the edge of my twin-sized mattress. I’m in the driver’s seat, with playful rainbow-colored geometric spiritual items floating toward me. They move side to side as if dancing to a beat in this geometric land of ruby-looking spiritual items. I’m blown away by the remarkable dimension.
My yawning expands as my upper body and eyes get heavier. I open my eyes. The edges of the left and right sides of the mattress become red-light lines with two thin gray borders in between each red-light line. It’s directing a path to the Shipibo healer in front of me. I bow to her and place my forehead on the edge of the mattress, confirming that I want to go further into this psychedelic voyage.
I lift my head while kneeling, observing my clenched fists. The hair on my hands evaporates. My knuckles dissolve as my fists get chubbier.
I rise to my knees, looking up to the sky through the psychedelic-looking eyeball-shaped ceiling window, feeling ready to take off to another realm. I tilt my head upward with my chin facing the ceiling, raising my arms to the side with my eyes closed. The master ayahuasca ceremony shaman is passionately singing icaros to me.
Mighty electrical lightning bolts cluttered in dark green, brown, and charcoal colors, and a loud “BAM” sound penetrates my body and soul. The powerful sensation forces my upper body to lean back and arch itself while standing on my knees.........
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Ayahuasca in Ecuador
The rain and various insects surrounding me are communicating by making peaceful cricket trill sounds consisting of nonstop vibrating tones in the dark Amazon rainforest.
My eyes feel heavier; the darkness is blurrier. My arms are out wide, moving up and down like an eagle while I remain seated and drowsy on the bench.
The large jungle tree to the right outside the hut grabs my attention. It causes my eyes to squint and enlarge a few times. The wide tree trunk has red and white dots blinking. The center appears to be forming a mini back hole. My eyes widen, staring into the middle without blinking. The dark, intriguing tree trunk and the continuous buzzing of the insects around the hut make my eyes cross.
This tree trunk is hypnotizing. I feel a strong vibrational frequency in my body just from eyeing its blackness. I smile childishly, wondering what’s inside the center of this captivating tree, created by Mother Earth.
Shaman Leo stands over me, placing a big, dead leaf over my head. The dead leaf flaps, making a crunchy, rattling noise. The rhythm sounds like a shamanic rattle shaking. He whistles like a bird while the noisy dead leaf flaps in a back-and-forth movement and rattles on the top of my head. The man stands over me, singing in Quechuan, the native language of his indigenous Kichwa culture.
I headbang fast to Shaman Leo’s chanting. My shoulders and upper body jerk in different directions as the dead leaf flaps above my head.
“AHHHH!” I moan loudly from the energy I’m receiving from the beats of Shaman Leo’s whistling and singing.
I release deep breaths out of my mouth. My head and upper body movements look like a hippie from Woodstock 1969, dancing fluidly with their physique while seated. My bodily behaviors are animalistic, as if an unknown spirit guardian/power animal is inside of me, expressing itself.
My hands are in a prayer position, firmly placed between my eyes, listening and enjoying the pleasant-sounding chants from shaman Leo.
I extend my arms up, palms facing the sky, opening and closing my hands, while my right foot hits the sandy ground in rhythmic synchronization with shaman Leo. My head shakes quickly from side to side. I clench my teeth, letting out strong breaths from my mouth.
“AAAGGH!” I burst out overwhelmingly.
I feel as if I’m in the front row of a live concert, losing my mind to the singing and beats like no one is watching. I want to scream out loud, but it’s not a good idea because it will interrupt shaman Leo’s singing, whistling, and the sound of the rattling dead leaf.
Everything has slowed down, other than the numerous insects buzzing around me in the dark jungle.
About six feet away, I see a small flashlight from a mobile phone. Shaman Leo’s facilitator, who has been quietly sitting in darkness throughout the ceremony, is pointing his flashlight cellphone at him. It’s my first glimpse of artificial light during tonight’s ceremony.
Shaman Leo’s full-body standing posture is facing the right. As he flaps the large, dead, crunchy-sounding leaf, slowly and tenderly on his guide’s head, his face and body transform into a white mummy wearing a black shirt and black pants. It doesn’t shock or scare me. I rub my eyes and open them widely to verify if I’m really seeing the mummy version of shaman Leo. My eyes go crossed-eyed, stimulated by what I’m witnessing..........
Ayahuasca in Bolivia
Shaman Miguel sings, and Katu, the music/sound healer and facilitator, plays a shamanic instrument. It’s not a drum or rattle; I don’t know what it is. My clenched fists shake powerfully as my vibrational frequency amplifies by the music.
I tilt my head to the ceiling with my eyes closed. A dark tunnel forms upward. There are tiny scattered white dots, and two lines of small green rubies going up. It feels like a portal to the universe.
My arms and open hands slowly ascend. My head and back arch, feeling a force radiate through my soul. I sense that I’m silently connecting to God or a divine force in the spirit world in an unexplainable way. I smile like a baby with my mouth wide open, embracing this blissful encounter.
“Peace, love, respect, compassion, and forgiveness,” I say convincingly to myself.
The gateway to the cosmos evaporates, it’s pitch black again, and my eyes remain closed. There’s a thick, bright-white circle with a small bright-white button in the center on the ground. I’m isolated, standing a few feet away from the glowing object inside this black domain.
A soft and inviting male voice says, “Step into the light. Go ahead.”
I feel the inner child in my heart. I’m intrigued, but not frightened by the kind and masculine voice. I feel a lot shorter now. I remain still, observing and wondering if this is a message from an entity in the spiritual world about my life. It’s not to be hesitant or apprehensive about letting myself shine from time to time.
I return to a seated position, gripping my head with my two hands. It feels like I’m on the verge of having a nervous breakdown. My body shakes uncontrollably, as my head jolts side to side, and I breathe hard out of my mouth.
“I think I’m going crazy,” I say in a panicked manner to myself.
“I can’t think or function. How am I going to be able to walk back to my room after the ceremony?” I say nervously to myself.
“I’ve ruined my life by drinking ayahuasca tonight. I might have brain damage,” I say fearfully to myself.
“Oh my God!” I say worriedly to myself.
I feel broken and defeated. Sadness sinks in from this mental nightmare that came out of nowhere. Hopefully, I’ll return to my normal self, and my brain isn’t fried.
I sit slumped against the backrest of the circular seating area. My arms are wide out with my eyes closed. I feel sedated as if I’m about to go to sleep. Even if I wanted to get up and go pee, not a chance right now.
“Am I going to die?” I say sluggishly to myself.
There is no fear, contemplation, or resistance. My body is slowly melting on the seat. I see a thin and foggy white rectangular object that symbolizes me dissolving. I can feel myself turning into a spirit. Perhaps it’s representing my physical body dying, or some sort of ego death..........
