1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:20,602 2 00:00:20,602 --> 00:00:22,110 [NON-ENGLISH SINGING] 3 00:00:22,110 --> 00:00:47,140 4 00:00:47,140 --> 00:00:49,510 >> Deep in the heart of the Amazon, 5 00:00:49,510 --> 00:00:52,630 out of generations of indigenous people, 6 00:00:52,630 --> 00:00:56,470 from mysterious origins, birthed from a specific combination 7 00:00:56,470 --> 00:01:00,400 of plants comes a visionary experience, 8 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:04,569 an ancient healing tradition, modern controversy and massive 9 00:01:04,569 --> 00:01:07,690 interest from younger generations all surrounding 10 00:01:07,690 --> 00:01:14,310 a sacred brew called Ayahuasca, a beverage that contains DMT. 11 00:01:14,310 --> 00:01:17,870 DMT is a tryptamine that even our brain produces, 12 00:01:17,870 --> 00:01:20,830 but the chacruna leaves contain much more. 13 00:01:20,830 --> 00:01:23,830 Left alone, this molecule will be metabolized 14 00:01:23,830 --> 00:01:25,810 before having any effect. 15 00:01:25,810 --> 00:01:29,050 So the sacred vine is added to protect its entry 16 00:01:29,050 --> 00:01:33,550 through the body, into the brain, and into our experience. 17 00:01:33,550 --> 00:01:38,360 18 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:41,320 From scientists to shamans, many theories 19 00:01:41,320 --> 00:01:44,680 abound regarding the strange effects of Ayahuasca, 20 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:48,060 and yet it still is not fully understood. 21 00:01:48,060 --> 00:01:51,182 >> So Ayahuasca is-- 22 00:01:51,182 --> 00:01:52,390 it's a whole bunch of things. 23 00:01:52,390 --> 00:01:56,670 But you know, on the nuts and bolts level, it's a beverage. 24 00:01:56,670 --> 00:02:00,400 It's made from two plants, at least one of which 25 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:03,610 contains dimethyltryptamine. 26 00:02:03,610 --> 00:02:06,760 At the cultural level, it's much broader than that. 27 00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:09,169 These are essentially shamanic practices, 28 00:02:09,169 --> 00:02:13,120 and Ayahuasca is at the center of that kind 29 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:15,910 of traditional medicine, you know, 30 00:02:15,910 --> 00:02:21,670 which is really a mind body kind of medicine. 31 00:02:21,670 --> 00:02:24,970 >> This mind-body medicine has been used for so long 32 00:02:24,970 --> 00:02:28,210 in a region devoid of literature that the true beginnings 33 00:02:28,210 --> 00:02:32,290 of Ayahuasca are left to oral traditions and myth. 34 00:02:32,290 --> 00:02:34,480 There are only a few cultural artifacts 35 00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:37,060 that have survived this hot and wet climate 36 00:02:37,060 --> 00:02:39,160 before being completely decomposed 37 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:42,170 and recycled back into nature. 38 00:02:42,170 --> 00:02:44,920 And the mystery of how the indigenous discovered these two 39 00:02:44,920 --> 00:02:47,710 ingredients among countless other species 40 00:02:47,710 --> 00:02:49,630 has baffled the world. 41 00:02:49,630 --> 00:02:53,260 >> Why do these few plants, out of a half a million 42 00:02:53,260 --> 00:02:59,920 in the world, have these unearthly effects on the mind 43 00:02:59,920 --> 00:03:04,120 and sometimes on the body, that they think can transport him 44 00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:07,940 to outer realms of space? 45 00:03:07,940 --> 00:03:15,580 And they believe in these plants there is a resident spirit. 46 00:03:15,580 --> 00:03:19,460 >> Ayahuasca was the only psychedelic session where I had 47 00:03:19,460 --> 00:03:24,500 a sense of a personal therapist, kind of like a spiritual guide 48 00:03:24,500 --> 00:03:27,260 of some sort, which I didn't see, 49 00:03:27,260 --> 00:03:31,590 but it was a very clear sense of energetic presence 50 00:03:31,590 --> 00:03:36,830 and telepathic communication guiding me in a very specific 51 00:03:36,830 --> 00:03:40,580 way through my sessions, what I should look at, what I should 52 00:03:40,580 --> 00:03:41,870 work on. 53 00:03:41,870 --> 00:03:44,150 And if I didn't do it, it sort of 54 00:03:44,150 --> 00:03:47,400 returned and was sort of putting some pressure on me to do it, 55 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:48,200 you know. 56 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:51,770 It had an intention for me, what I should do, 57 00:03:51,770 --> 00:03:54,200 what I should become in that session. 58 00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:57,100 >> The indigenous of the Amazon refer to it as Mother 59 00:03:57,100 --> 00:04:01,580 Ayahuasca, known by some to be the divine feminine principle 60 00:04:01,580 --> 00:04:04,700 and the first woman of creation. 61 00:04:04,700 --> 00:04:07,130 The Ayahuasqueros, or healers, say 62 00:04:07,130 --> 00:04:09,410 it is her that we commune with for guidance 63 00:04:09,410 --> 00:04:13,420 before, during, and after drinking Ayahuasca. 64 00:04:13,420 --> 00:04:17,079 It is she that allows us access to all that we've forgotten 65 00:04:17,079 --> 00:04:19,750 in this life and all others. 66 00:04:19,750 --> 00:04:21,880 However, in the initial ceremonies 67 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:24,550 where people are introduced to this resident spirit, 68 00:04:24,550 --> 00:04:27,370 it can be painful and quite confrontational 69 00:04:27,370 --> 00:04:30,310 because so much of our trauma is unknown to us, 70 00:04:30,310 --> 00:04:32,680 and therefore we rarely acknowledge our baggage 71 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:34,220 as a part of us. 72 00:04:34,220 --> 00:04:36,955 >> So, what Ayahuasca does is she goes through the physical 73 00:04:36,955 --> 00:04:39,460 and energetic body-- 74 00:04:39,460 --> 00:04:43,330 and emotional bodies-- that are totally interconnected. 75 00:04:43,330 --> 00:04:48,520 And she's going through and our traumas 76 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:51,980 are held in the tissues. 77 00:04:51,980 --> 00:04:56,560 And so, she's going and ripping out that stuff. 78 00:04:56,560 --> 00:05:00,010 And so, it hurts, whether it be physical, through nauseousness. 79 00:05:00,010 --> 00:05:04,240 Or even actual pain, or sometimes we 80 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:07,480 have that stuff in our thought processes, our patterns. 81 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:10,060 And so, we're holding onto this stuff, 82 00:05:10,060 --> 00:05:12,300 and Ayahuasca is opening, opening, opening 83 00:05:12,300 --> 00:05:15,420 and pulling that stuff out. 84 00:05:15,420 --> 00:05:18,750 >> Everyone's experiences are different in personal ways. 85 00:05:18,750 --> 00:05:20,880 Not everyone experiences pain. 86 00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:22,770 Some are left in ecstasy. 87 00:05:22,770 --> 00:05:25,620 But no two ceremonies are identical. 88 00:05:25,620 --> 00:05:28,110 Some describe the evolution of ceremonies 89 00:05:28,110 --> 00:05:31,020 as the medicine speaking a story of our blind spots 90 00:05:31,020 --> 00:05:32,310 and ailments. 91 00:05:32,310 --> 00:05:34,980 Although traditionally the main purpose of Ayahuasca 92 00:05:34,980 --> 00:05:37,080 has been for healing, it's typically 93 00:05:37,080 --> 00:05:40,830 the visionary quality that initially attracts newcomers. 94 00:05:40,830 --> 00:05:45,240 They come with curiosity, expectation, ambition, 95 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:47,160 and a drive to become enlightened, 96 00:05:47,160 --> 00:05:50,262 a mystic, a spiritual savant. 97 00:05:50,262 --> 00:05:51,720 But if you listen to those who have 98 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:53,880 spent many years with the medicine, 99 00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:56,910 or even just a few weeks in a traditional setting, 100 00:05:56,910 --> 00:05:58,860 you'll learn that the path to heaven 101 00:05:58,860 --> 00:06:02,610 often comes through the belly of a personal hell. 102 00:06:02,610 --> 00:06:04,860 The wake-up call happens when those 103 00:06:04,860 --> 00:06:06,930 who want to merge with pure divinity 104 00:06:06,930 --> 00:06:09,640 are faced with their fears of death. 105 00:06:09,640 --> 00:06:12,450 In Ayahuasca culture, facing mortality 106 00:06:12,450 --> 00:06:16,720 is a prerequisite to evolving on the path of spirituality. 107 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:19,360 The vine itself is called the vine of souls 108 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:20,980 or the vine of the dead. 109 00:06:20,980 --> 00:06:24,550 And even though these difficult encounters are well-known, 110 00:06:24,550 --> 00:06:28,060 there are still thousands of people journeying to the Amazon 111 00:06:28,060 --> 00:06:30,580 with the desire to peek behind the veil, 112 00:06:30,580 --> 00:06:33,180 to receive the overflowing gifts of life 113 00:06:33,180 --> 00:06:37,920 and uncover these painful yet fruitful mysteries of death. 114 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:39,900 Getting into the heart of the Amazon 115 00:06:39,900 --> 00:06:43,110 requires much time, money, and determination just 116 00:06:43,110 --> 00:06:46,560 to get through the hustle and bustle, 117 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:51,540 only to arrive on a long boat ride to your final destination. 118 00:06:51,540 --> 00:06:53,430 Once the boat departs and you're finally 119 00:06:53,430 --> 00:06:57,900 miles from modern civilization, the jungle begins to speak. 120 00:06:57,900 --> 00:07:01,200 The volume of the jungle seems deafening and ominous, 121 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:03,580 overpowering at times. 122 00:07:03,580 --> 00:07:05,920 The anticipation of the coming ceremony 123 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:07,780 puts the nerves on alert. 124 00:07:07,780 --> 00:07:10,630 And so begins the real work. 125 00:07:10,630 --> 00:07:14,380 The curandero, or healer, will seek the purest leaves, 126 00:07:14,380 --> 00:07:19,180 the wisest vines, pound them, pray over them, and add them 127 00:07:19,180 --> 00:07:22,390 to the pot, light the fire, and begin 128 00:07:22,390 --> 00:07:25,100 the alchemical distillation. 129 00:07:25,100 --> 00:07:27,160 The ceremonial maloka is prepared 130 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:33,060 for the evening, beds, blankets, buckets, and the altar. 131 00:07:33,060 --> 00:07:35,440 When the night hits, the jungle shifts 132 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:37,505 its song and the ceremony begins. 133 00:07:37,505 --> 00:07:41,110 134 00:07:41,110 --> 00:07:44,470 The maestro blows the protective smoke of mapacho tobacco 135 00:07:44,470 --> 00:07:49,030 over those about to drink, and then he pours the brew. 136 00:07:49,030 --> 00:07:54,580 Each individual accepts their share, sits and drinks. 137 00:07:54,580 --> 00:07:57,520 The first thing one might notice is the taste. 138 00:07:57,520 --> 00:08:02,160 A confusing mix of bitter, sour, sweet, and the unknown 139 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:04,810 fills the taste buds and lingers. 140 00:08:04,810 --> 00:08:07,190 Once the medicine becomes noticeable, 141 00:08:07,190 --> 00:08:10,480 it can be felt in the stomach and in the tissues, 142 00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:13,690 in the bones, and deep down in the psyche. 143 00:08:13,690 --> 00:08:15,880 As the minutes pass, the medicine 144 00:08:15,880 --> 00:08:18,460 spreads out and tracks a path through every layer 145 00:08:18,460 --> 00:08:24,460 of the body, mind, and beyond, until at last, hours later, 146 00:08:24,460 --> 00:08:27,710 the peak is upon us. 147 00:08:27,710 --> 00:08:31,390 The peak usually lasts roughly for an hour or two, 148 00:08:31,390 --> 00:08:34,299 but it is also known to come in waves. 149 00:08:34,299 --> 00:08:36,159 The pulse of Ayahuasca is slightly 150 00:08:36,159 --> 00:08:38,679 different for every person and even changes 151 00:08:38,679 --> 00:08:41,799 from ceremony to ceremony. 152 00:08:41,799 --> 00:08:45,550 Visions begin swirling and pulsing in front, behind, 153 00:08:45,550 --> 00:08:48,460 and everywhere around us. 154 00:08:48,460 --> 00:08:51,250 Time and space may dissolve, and the visions 155 00:08:51,250 --> 00:08:53,870 become the only reality. 156 00:08:53,870 --> 00:08:58,090 And it is at this point the creatures of the jungle appear. 157 00:08:58,090 --> 00:09:00,790 >> I have seen and experienced a lot of identification with 158 00:09:00,790 --> 00:09:03,550 animals, but there seems to be preponderance of certain 159 00:09:03,550 --> 00:09:08,190 animals like Jaguar and Anacondas. 160 00:09:08,190 --> 00:09:11,160 >> They may be entirely animal, they may be entirely human. 161 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:14,040 But sometimes you get these therianthropes. 162 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:17,520 Again and again they crop up in visionary experience. 163 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:20,580 I've had such visions myself under the influence 164 00:09:20,580 --> 00:09:22,260 of Ayahuasca. 165 00:09:22,260 --> 00:09:24,720 So, it doesn't surprise me that ancient people 166 00:09:24,720 --> 00:09:25,920 had those visions as well. 167 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:29,610 The shamans are drinking Ayahuasca to enter a deeply 168 00:09:29,610 --> 00:09:31,230 altered state of consciousness. 169 00:09:31,230 --> 00:09:33,150 And a great many of those shamans 170 00:09:33,150 --> 00:09:35,770 paint their visions today. 171 00:09:35,770 --> 00:09:39,480 >> Are people under these states experiencing the same visions 172 00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:44,120 that our ancestors saw in each corner of the globe? 173 00:09:44,120 --> 00:09:45,770 How would it be possible that humans 174 00:09:45,770 --> 00:09:47,960 are connecting to ancestral visions 175 00:09:47,960 --> 00:09:51,000 through a plant combination? 176 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:54,060 >> Various aspects of the visual cortex are stimulated 177 00:09:54,060 --> 00:09:55,620 by the presence of psychedelics. 178 00:09:55,620 --> 00:09:59,220 So, the fact that we have visions we can easily explain. 179 00:09:59,220 --> 00:10:01,830 The content of the visions, what it is we see, 180 00:10:01,830 --> 00:10:05,850 presents some much more significant challenges. 181 00:10:05,850 --> 00:10:08,670 How is it that the brain gets access to information 182 00:10:08,670 --> 00:10:12,270 that people often claim has nothing at all to do with what 183 00:10:12,270 --> 00:10:14,250 they've experienced before? 184 00:10:14,250 --> 00:10:16,380 Well, perhaps some of this can be understood 185 00:10:16,380 --> 00:10:19,290 as the stimulation of what's been called archetypes, 186 00:10:19,290 --> 00:10:21,510 archetypal structures. 187 00:10:21,510 --> 00:10:24,930 >> Archetypes are common types of people or forms that seem 188 00:10:24,930 --> 00:10:28,710 to emerge from mythology and visionary imagery, 189 00:10:28,710 --> 00:10:32,880 from cultures separated by time and space with no known contact 190 00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:34,590 or communication. 191 00:10:34,590 --> 00:10:37,380 Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung 192 00:10:37,380 --> 00:10:39,360 wrote extensively about these visions 193 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:41,850 from patients in psych wards who spoke 194 00:10:41,850 --> 00:10:45,150 of seeing imagery that is nearly identical to mythological 195 00:10:45,150 --> 00:10:47,700 figures that at the time were not even 196 00:10:47,700 --> 00:10:49,790 translated into English yet. 197 00:10:49,790 --> 00:10:51,600 If these archetypal forms are not 198 00:10:51,600 --> 00:10:54,000 withered by the passing of time, is there 199 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:57,480 a reason for their arrival in our visions? 200 00:10:57,480 --> 00:11:01,170 Some believe these are messages for our personal advancement 201 00:11:01,170 --> 00:11:03,090 by showing us who and what we truly 202 00:11:03,090 --> 00:11:07,390 are, not the individual body or identity we inhabit, 203 00:11:07,390 --> 00:11:09,450 but all the events that have unfolded 204 00:11:09,450 --> 00:11:12,780 since the origin of life and beyond. 205 00:11:12,780 --> 00:11:15,600 >> I think what happens with plant medicine is that plant 206 00:11:15,600 --> 00:11:19,830 medicine helps you get yourself out of your own body and look 207 00:11:19,830 --> 00:11:20,670 at yourself. 208 00:11:20,670 --> 00:11:22,170 There's your birth, but then there's 209 00:11:22,170 --> 00:11:24,210 your mom's birth, you grandmother's birth, 210 00:11:24,210 --> 00:11:27,620 the birth of a nation, the birth of humanity, 211 00:11:27,620 --> 00:11:29,460 the birth of the universe. 212 00:11:29,460 --> 00:11:33,850 It's like this longer life, kind of very much like quilting, 213 00:11:33,850 --> 00:11:35,990 where in the quilt you might be just one stitch, 214 00:11:35,990 --> 00:11:39,570 but you're one stitch of this big, beautiful quilt, 215 00:11:39,570 --> 00:11:42,250 this big, beautiful pattern that, for us, would 216 00:11:42,250 --> 00:11:46,740 be a story or the history, if you want to call it that. 217 00:11:46,740 --> 00:11:49,950 >> Whatever the source, these visions are almost always 218 00:11:49,950 --> 00:11:52,920 outside the realm of anything we've ever experienced in this 219 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:54,150 waking life. 220 00:11:54,150 --> 00:11:57,870 They tell stories, reveal hidden truths, 221 00:11:57,870 --> 00:12:02,760 conjure emotions, and even lead the mind into realms unknown. 222 00:12:02,760 --> 00:12:06,030 Many who try to explain these visions by conventional means 223 00:12:06,030 --> 00:12:08,880 come up short of legitimate answers. 224 00:12:08,880 --> 00:12:13,180 Some say the visions are alive. 225 00:12:13,180 --> 00:12:15,070 In combination with these visions 226 00:12:15,070 --> 00:12:17,610 comes the strange bodily sensations 227 00:12:17,610 --> 00:12:20,140 and the physiological effects of the beta carbolines 228 00:12:20,140 --> 00:12:21,370 in the vine. 229 00:12:21,370 --> 00:12:22,960 The common result of this is what 230 00:12:22,960 --> 00:12:26,540 some call la purga, the purge. 231 00:12:26,540 --> 00:12:28,960 The need to throw up is why there are typically 232 00:12:28,960 --> 00:12:32,860 buckets set out next to the beds in the ceremonial maloka. 233 00:12:32,860 --> 00:12:34,540 And the belief of many indigenous 234 00:12:34,540 --> 00:12:38,470 is that purging is the physical outlet for an energetic release 235 00:12:38,470 --> 00:12:40,060 and surrender. 236 00:12:40,060 --> 00:12:42,662 >> With the purging, some people might say, well, 237 00:12:42,662 --> 00:12:44,620 why are you going to put yourself through that? 238 00:12:44,620 --> 00:12:48,790 But it's actually part of the process of not only detoxing, 239 00:12:48,790 --> 00:12:50,080 but also healing. 240 00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:52,850 I think it depends on where you're at with the medicine. 241 00:12:52,850 --> 00:12:55,300 I think in the beginning, a lot of the purging 242 00:12:55,300 --> 00:12:58,057 has to do with physical stuff that's in your body, 243 00:12:58,057 --> 00:12:59,640 because when you come out of ceremony, 244 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:04,750 you really recognize how your diet affects you, be it 245 00:13:04,750 --> 00:13:06,760 the water or lack of water you drink, 246 00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:11,380 or the type of food, how healthy or unhealthy it is. 247 00:13:11,380 --> 00:13:14,774 Once the physical part kind of passes-- 248 00:13:14,774 --> 00:13:16,940 or I don't want to call it the next level, but maybe 249 00:13:16,940 --> 00:13:18,880 a deeper level-- 250 00:13:18,880 --> 00:13:20,980 it becomes more of an emotional purge, 251 00:13:20,980 --> 00:13:23,680 where sometimes you will realize that if you 252 00:13:23,680 --> 00:13:25,810 go into the storyline, and if the storyline 253 00:13:25,810 --> 00:13:28,000 is a negative storyline, that's when 254 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:30,730 the purging, like the feeling of purging, starts. 255 00:13:30,730 --> 00:13:34,180 Then after a while, you start realizing that your habits kind 256 00:13:34,180 --> 00:13:35,339 of recreate it again. 257 00:13:35,339 --> 00:13:37,380 And then the next ceremony comes and you're still 258 00:13:37,380 --> 00:13:38,180 getting it out. 259 00:13:38,180 --> 00:13:41,480 And then you're just kind of repeating that cycle. 260 00:13:41,480 --> 00:13:45,070 So, you get to a point that all of a sudden the purge 261 00:13:45,070 --> 00:13:47,670 is the acknowledgment of there's something there 262 00:13:47,670 --> 00:13:49,510 that you need to work with. 263 00:13:49,510 --> 00:13:53,140 >> Working with discomfort, the trauma and unknown aspects 264 00:13:53,140 --> 00:13:56,110 of the psyche is not a modern Western approach, 265 00:13:56,110 --> 00:13:59,380 where most medicines dull pain, mask symptoms, 266 00:13:59,380 --> 00:14:02,350 and require no work after being taken. 267 00:14:02,350 --> 00:14:05,650 Ayahuasca, on the other hand, is impossible to take and forget 268 00:14:05,650 --> 00:14:09,790 about, and requires the courage, strength, patience, 269 00:14:09,790 --> 00:14:12,970 and understanding to face the darkest aspects of us 270 00:14:12,970 --> 00:14:14,650 that we've forgotten. 271 00:14:14,650 --> 00:14:15,650 >> We want to develop. 272 00:14:15,650 --> 00:14:17,350 We want to know ourselves. 273 00:14:17,350 --> 00:14:22,630 And it helps to surrender to yourself, in fact, 274 00:14:22,630 --> 00:14:27,010 because what Ayahuasca is, it is a jungle medicine that 275 00:14:27,010 --> 00:14:29,500 opens up your own subconscious. 276 00:14:29,500 --> 00:14:35,170 So, if you see beauty, then you deserve 277 00:14:35,170 --> 00:14:37,510 to feel that before you can, maybe, 278 00:14:37,510 --> 00:14:42,100 be confronted with your behavior that is not always beautiful. 279 00:14:42,100 --> 00:14:44,920 When you see darkness, it may indicate 280 00:14:44,920 --> 00:14:47,950 that there is some shadow energy in you that 281 00:14:47,950 --> 00:14:50,470 needs to be digested. 282 00:14:50,470 --> 00:14:53,170 >> The strange ability for Ayahuasca to introduce you 283 00:14:53,170 --> 00:14:56,920 to your own shadow in a detached and unique way is why 284 00:14:56,920 --> 00:15:00,160 the indigenous have used it as a form of mind body medicine 285 00:15:00,160 --> 00:15:01,510 for millennia. 286 00:15:01,510 --> 00:15:04,570 Some of the most profound revelations under the medicine 287 00:15:04,570 --> 00:15:06,910 often come once the purging is over, 288 00:15:06,910 --> 00:15:08,680 once the difficulty and discomfort 289 00:15:08,680 --> 00:15:11,470 subsides and the medicine begins the softer 290 00:15:11,470 --> 00:15:13,570 part of the journey, in which the shattered 291 00:15:13,570 --> 00:15:16,150 pieces of the story we've told ourselves 292 00:15:16,150 --> 00:15:19,000 begins to reassemble into a more humbling, more 293 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:22,850 real, and holistic narrative. 294 00:15:22,850 --> 00:15:25,520 The ceremony concludes, the morning 295 00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:30,180 comes, a recommended period of silence to reflect. 296 00:15:30,180 --> 00:15:32,060 And then the group comes together 297 00:15:32,060 --> 00:15:34,012 and the sharing begins. 298 00:15:34,012 --> 00:15:37,880 >> The sharing after your ceremony is integrating 299 00:15:37,880 --> 00:15:39,260 the whole experience. 300 00:15:39,260 --> 00:15:43,070 After Ayahuasca ceremony, you don't just 301 00:15:43,070 --> 00:15:44,210 continue in daily life. 302 00:15:44,210 --> 00:15:45,680 You're changed. 303 00:15:45,680 --> 00:15:48,140 There is this neuroplasticity in the mind that 304 00:15:48,140 --> 00:15:50,660 makes you change after every experience, 305 00:15:50,660 --> 00:15:53,880 and this is a major experience. 306 00:15:53,880 --> 00:15:56,280 >> Part of the Ayahuasca in the West, you know, 307 00:15:56,280 --> 00:15:58,500 as well as when you do these ceremonies together, 308 00:15:58,500 --> 00:16:00,230 you hear other people's pain. 309 00:16:00,230 --> 00:16:03,060 You hear their purging and you hear their connection, 310 00:16:03,060 --> 00:16:04,650 and you feel interconnected. 311 00:16:04,650 --> 00:16:07,140 And you come out and you're very bonded. 312 00:16:07,140 --> 00:16:09,010 There's been some-- one test I know 313 00:16:09,010 --> 00:16:11,430 that Dennis McKenna and Charles Grubb and others 314 00:16:11,430 --> 00:16:15,180 did a few decades ago now with Hoasca Project looking 315 00:16:15,180 --> 00:16:18,550 at one of the Ayahuasca churches in South America. 316 00:16:18,550 --> 00:16:21,150 And it wasn't just that the Ayahuasca was increasing 317 00:16:21,150 --> 00:16:23,190 the serotonin in the brain, which it was, 318 00:16:23,190 --> 00:16:26,280 on a neurochemical level, and they felt more integrated 319 00:16:26,280 --> 00:16:28,410 and more connected because their community were all 320 00:16:28,410 --> 00:16:29,800 doing Ayahuasca together. 321 00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:31,260 What Ayahuasca can really do, they 322 00:16:31,260 --> 00:16:34,290 say it can be like 10 years of therapy 323 00:16:34,290 --> 00:16:38,160 in one night, because when you're in therapy in the west, 324 00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:40,530 you're talking and you're engaging the intellect. 325 00:16:40,530 --> 00:16:43,260 But Ayahuasca makes permeable your unconscious. 326 00:16:43,260 --> 00:16:44,820 It opens the heart more. 327 00:16:44,820 --> 00:16:46,140 And it becomes very visible. 328 00:16:46,140 --> 00:16:48,840 Anything you've been holding in your energetic field, anything 329 00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:51,997 emotionally or you've suppressed can come up. 330 00:16:51,997 --> 00:16:54,330 And it comes up in a way that you're not attached to it, 331 00:16:54,330 --> 00:16:57,480 so you can entertain it and go through this psychotherapy sort 332 00:16:57,480 --> 00:16:59,070 of experience. 333 00:16:59,070 --> 00:17:01,950 And then you can let go of it. 334 00:17:01,950 --> 00:17:04,800 >> Another South American Ayahuasca study was conducted 335 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:08,730 by Terence's brother Dennis to evaluate the therapeutic value 336 00:17:08,730 --> 00:17:11,790 of this plant mixture in a modern context. 337 00:17:11,790 --> 00:17:17,369 And we found in our Ayahuasca study in Brazil 338 00:17:17,369 --> 00:17:21,280 that long-term users of Ayahuasca 339 00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:26,790 had an upregulation of the serotonin transporter. 340 00:17:26,790 --> 00:17:28,650 When we got into it, it turns out 341 00:17:28,650 --> 00:17:31,620 that deficits in those transporters 342 00:17:31,620 --> 00:17:35,730 are linked to all kinds of pathologies, alcoholism, 343 00:17:35,730 --> 00:17:40,710 suicidal ideation, intractable depression, all of the things, 344 00:17:40,710 --> 00:17:44,610 in fact, that Ayahuasca is good for treating. 345 00:17:44,610 --> 00:17:47,460 So, that can't be coincidence. 346 00:17:47,460 --> 00:17:49,500 You know, it looks like Ayahuasca can actually 347 00:17:49,500 --> 00:17:53,730 reverse these deficits over time and really 348 00:17:53,730 --> 00:17:59,040 not just control the symptoms, but actually 349 00:17:59,040 --> 00:18:03,060 repair the brain at some fundamental level. 350 00:18:03,060 --> 00:18:05,910 So that's a remarkable thing. 351 00:18:05,910 --> 00:18:08,640 >> Family physician and Ayahuasca researcher Dr. 352 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:12,690 Joe Tafur has been looking at epidemics across the US 353 00:18:12,690 --> 00:18:14,610 as having a common origin. 354 00:18:14,610 --> 00:18:19,080 >> Whether it's anxiety or PTSD or addiction or depression, 355 00:18:19,080 --> 00:18:21,630 or even psychosomatic things like migraine, 356 00:18:21,630 --> 00:18:24,240 they have problems in their emotional processing, 357 00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:26,850 and that the psychedelics and plant medicines are 358 00:18:26,850 --> 00:18:29,430 an interesting way to approach such problems. 359 00:18:29,430 --> 00:18:32,700 >> I've suffered from pretty severe childhood trauma 360 00:18:32,700 --> 00:18:36,000 and carried around this trauma with me for years, 361 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:39,060 not really recognizing what was going on. 362 00:18:39,060 --> 00:18:41,160 It wasn't until I was in my really late 40s 363 00:18:41,160 --> 00:18:42,990 that I really recognized this. 364 00:18:42,990 --> 00:18:46,950 And I had a series of Ayahuasca experiences 365 00:18:46,950 --> 00:18:50,520 that really took me into it, really made me face the trauma. 366 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:55,170 And one of the primary symptoms of the trauma 367 00:18:55,170 --> 00:18:57,360 was fear, you know, that I had this kind 368 00:18:57,360 --> 00:19:01,790 of continuous anxiety, this running fear with me for years. 369 00:19:01,790 --> 00:19:04,470 The Ayahuasca spirit just literally talked to me 370 00:19:04,470 --> 00:19:07,260 and said to me, hey, you know, you have a problem with this? 371 00:19:07,260 --> 00:19:08,460 Hey, let's work this out. 372 00:19:08,460 --> 00:19:09,030 Hey, come on. 373 00:19:09,030 --> 00:19:09,630 I'm going to teach you. 374 00:19:09,630 --> 00:19:11,250 I'm taking you to warrior school. 375 00:19:11,250 --> 00:19:13,020 We're going to get rid of those fears, 376 00:19:13,020 --> 00:19:16,170 and for the next four hours confronted me with just fear 377 00:19:16,170 --> 00:19:18,990 after fear, all my deepest fears. 378 00:19:18,990 --> 00:19:21,960 >> We have evolved out of tune. 379 00:19:21,960 --> 00:19:25,290 There's an enzyme problem that has 380 00:19:25,290 --> 00:19:28,980 caused us to fail to suppress the ego, 381 00:19:28,980 --> 00:19:32,370 and then this creates a spectrum of cultural effects 382 00:19:32,370 --> 00:19:34,620 that drives us all nuts. 383 00:19:34,620 --> 00:19:38,520 And so, they have a kind of psycholytic therapy 384 00:19:38,520 --> 00:19:40,800 to correct that. 385 00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:43,620 And isn't it interesting that the fix turns out 386 00:19:43,620 --> 00:19:47,220 to be not a drug, but a shifting of the ratios 387 00:19:47,220 --> 00:19:52,360 of neurotransmitters already present in the organism? 388 00:19:52,360 --> 00:19:55,150 >> The tuning and harmony of neurotransmitters cause 389 00:19:55,150 --> 00:19:58,210 for the inner atmosphere of the body to become suitable 390 00:19:58,210 --> 00:20:02,080 for physical and psychological relaxation and rewiring 391 00:20:02,080 --> 00:20:03,670 of thought patterns. 392 00:20:03,670 --> 00:20:05,950 However, the strongest and most lasting effects 393 00:20:05,950 --> 00:20:08,830 neurologically happen in the gut. 394 00:20:08,830 --> 00:20:12,550 The enteric nervous system has about 100 million neurons, 395 00:20:12,550 --> 00:20:15,160 similar to what dogs have in their brain. 396 00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:17,260 This neurology is in communication 397 00:20:17,260 --> 00:20:20,200 with the microbiome, or colonies of bacteria 398 00:20:20,200 --> 00:20:23,200 in the gut that are integral to our health and even 399 00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:24,730 our impulses. 400 00:20:24,730 --> 00:20:27,970 It is believed by Ayahuasca shamans that the real medicine 401 00:20:27,970 --> 00:20:30,070 is not the brew itself. 402 00:20:30,070 --> 00:20:33,160 >> And in the jungle, if you talk to the maestros and they 403 00:20:33,160 --> 00:20:35,145 say, oh, you want to study the medicine? 404 00:20:35,145 --> 00:20:37,270 Dieta, dieta, dieta. 405 00:20:37,270 --> 00:20:40,090 They don't say Ayahuasca, Ayahuasca, Ayahuasca. 406 00:20:40,090 --> 00:20:43,540 >> What they say, if you really get down with them, 407 00:20:43,540 --> 00:20:48,440 is that the diet is everything, and that you're a tourist 408 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:50,410 and you're here for a few weeks, and yes, 409 00:20:50,410 --> 00:20:51,730 we'll give you Ayahuasca. 410 00:20:51,730 --> 00:20:55,180 But what this is really about is controlling diet 411 00:20:55,180 --> 00:20:58,150 over a period of months, even years, 412 00:20:58,150 --> 00:21:02,230 and taking a regular regimen of this stuff 413 00:21:02,230 --> 00:21:07,460 and transforming yourself into some kind of other person. 414 00:21:07,460 --> 00:21:10,180 415 00:21:10,180 --> 00:21:13,365 >> In the Shipibo tradition, a diet, a dieta, 416 00:21:13,365 --> 00:21:18,150 is to go through this kind of restrictive phase with 417 00:21:18,150 --> 00:21:24,000 your food, you know, no salt, no sugar, no dairy, no hot spicy, 418 00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:28,500 no greasy, no oily, no red meat, no pork, 419 00:21:28,500 --> 00:21:30,040 in some cases no chicken. 420 00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:34,055 It's this kind of purification, this period of sacrifice. 421 00:21:34,055 --> 00:21:35,430 And then while you're doing that, 422 00:21:35,430 --> 00:21:39,150 you're taking this other plant that most likely is not 423 00:21:39,150 --> 00:21:42,020 psychoactive at all in any measurable form. 424 00:21:42,020 --> 00:21:45,330 But you take it every day or in some kind of format. 425 00:21:45,330 --> 00:21:48,030 And so you're connecting to the spirit of that plant 426 00:21:48,030 --> 00:21:49,470 through the diet. 427 00:21:49,470 --> 00:21:52,800 >> The indigenous believe that it is this other tea of dieted 428 00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:56,250 plants that adds another layer of intelligence and guidance 429 00:21:56,250 --> 00:21:58,470 to the ceremonial healing journey. 430 00:21:58,470 --> 00:22:00,480 A deeply revealing truth can be seen 431 00:22:00,480 --> 00:22:02,550 in the importance of a dieta. 432 00:22:02,550 --> 00:22:04,710 Most every health concern in the modern world 433 00:22:04,710 --> 00:22:07,080 that is preventable due to lifestyle 434 00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:09,990 comes down to what we feed our bodies. 435 00:22:09,990 --> 00:22:12,030 Ayahuasca has gained a lot of popularity 436 00:22:12,030 --> 00:22:15,090 as a healing medicine, which it surely is, 437 00:22:15,090 --> 00:22:16,740 but only when taken in conjunction 438 00:22:16,740 --> 00:22:19,530 with a plant-based diet and listening for the messages 439 00:22:19,530 --> 00:22:21,600 that the plants impart. 440 00:22:21,600 --> 00:22:23,970 The more one listens, the more it 441 00:22:23,970 --> 00:22:25,920 is evident that these plants actually 442 00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:29,280 have their own language and are attempting to teach and prepare 443 00:22:29,280 --> 00:22:32,010 the body and mind for Ayahuasca. 444 00:22:32,010 --> 00:22:34,500 But the indigenous as well as Westerners 445 00:22:34,500 --> 00:22:36,540 who've devoted their lives to this culture 446 00:22:36,540 --> 00:22:39,020 and medicine believe these master plants 447 00:22:39,020 --> 00:22:41,850 don't speak in a dry language, but rather 448 00:22:41,850 --> 00:22:46,710 in a way that sings to our higher faculties of perception. 449 00:22:46,710 --> 00:22:49,470 The songs that are sung are called icaros 450 00:22:49,470 --> 00:22:52,728 and have particular meaning to the healers of the Amazon. 451 00:22:52,728 --> 00:22:59,710 [NON-ENGLISH SINGING] 452 00:22:59,710 --> 00:23:04,700 >> That seems like crazy, you know, hard to believe. 453 00:23:04,700 --> 00:23:07,170 But the idea is that you're dieting 454 00:23:07,170 --> 00:23:09,135 these plants, these master plans, that 455 00:23:09,135 --> 00:23:12,120 are going to teach you how to do this healing work, 456 00:23:12,120 --> 00:23:14,940 and also facilitate your own personal healing 457 00:23:14,940 --> 00:23:18,390 through the process, and that that's 458 00:23:18,390 --> 00:23:22,740 going to be where you learn how to sing these songs from. 459 00:23:22,740 --> 00:23:24,150 Like I said, hard to believe. 460 00:23:24,150 --> 00:23:26,108 I wouldn't believe it if somebody told me that, 461 00:23:26,108 --> 00:23:28,650 but that was my personal experience. 462 00:23:28,650 --> 00:23:32,040 >> Maestro Gume was born and raised in the Ayahuasca healing 463 00:23:32,040 --> 00:23:35,520 traditions and relates his family's process of introducing 464 00:23:35,520 --> 00:23:36,480 him to the plants. 465 00:23:36,480 --> 00:24:23,910 >> [NON-ENGLISH] 466 00:24:23,910 --> 00:24:26,100 >> By modern reductionist beliefs, 467 00:24:26,100 --> 00:24:29,610 it would sound crazy that these plants are wise teachers that 468 00:24:29,610 --> 00:24:33,210 gift healing songs to the students or shamans. 469 00:24:33,210 --> 00:24:35,700 Several origin myths of Ayahuasca 470 00:24:35,700 --> 00:24:37,530 claim that these plants are the ones that 471 00:24:37,530 --> 00:24:40,320 instructed the humans on how to make the brew, 472 00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:43,020 and they did so not through human language, 473 00:24:43,020 --> 00:24:44,330 but through song. 474 00:24:44,330 --> 00:24:46,950 The imagery in several Ayahuasca cultures 475 00:24:46,950 --> 00:24:48,960 actually illustrate the visual appearance 476 00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:51,090 of the songs themselves, and it is 477 00:24:51,090 --> 00:24:53,250 said that the songs of the master plants 478 00:24:53,250 --> 00:24:55,850 are sung during ceremony to guide Ayahuasca 479 00:24:55,850 --> 00:24:59,400 into the psychological root of the illness. 480 00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:02,620 >> Well, we know that music entrains the brain in certain 481 00:25:02,620 --> 00:25:04,420 ways and so do the psychedelics. 482 00:25:04,420 --> 00:25:07,350 So, music can be used to augment the effects 483 00:25:07,350 --> 00:25:08,640 of the psychedelics. 484 00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:10,830 And this was well recognized by the shamans. 485 00:25:10,830 --> 00:25:13,140 They often viewed it as the spirits are 486 00:25:13,140 --> 00:25:15,300 being called in by the music. 487 00:25:15,300 --> 00:25:20,790 >> These people have some kind of authenticity that you can 488 00:25:20,790 --> 00:25:22,400 absolutely feel. 489 00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:24,030 It's in the voice. 490 00:25:24,030 --> 00:25:27,210 I met many Ayahuasqueros and the good ones 491 00:25:27,210 --> 00:25:30,810 all had this voice thing going on, 492 00:25:30,810 --> 00:25:33,580 that they could cast their voice way back in their throat, 493 00:25:33,580 --> 00:25:35,437 and they kind of purr. 494 00:25:35,437 --> 00:25:57,460 [NON-ENGLISH SINGING] 495 00:25:57,460 --> 00:26:00,930 >> The indigenous of the Amazon, as well as many other shamanic 496 00:26:00,930 --> 00:26:03,030 traditions from around the world, 497 00:26:03,030 --> 00:26:07,129 believe the only medicine is truth and authenticity. 498 00:26:07,129 --> 00:26:08,670 Whether that comes through a shaman's 499 00:26:08,670 --> 00:26:11,460 particular vocal vibration, a movement 500 00:26:11,460 --> 00:26:14,250 of energy through dance, a cleansing 501 00:26:14,250 --> 00:26:16,380 of the body through diet, or even 502 00:26:16,380 --> 00:26:20,160 the mind-opening properties of psychedelic plants, truth 503 00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:22,680 and authenticity is a state of being 504 00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:27,270 that a human can surrender to or continue to defend against. 505 00:26:27,270 --> 00:26:29,160 But if one is open to acknowledging 506 00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:33,360 their blind spots, a new state of being unfolds. 507 00:26:33,360 --> 00:26:36,420 >> It's a flowing with the energy of life. 508 00:26:36,420 --> 00:26:39,360 And I think that's why people have so much synchronicity 509 00:26:39,360 --> 00:26:41,670 after they have experienced Ayahuasca 510 00:26:41,670 --> 00:26:44,640 or have experienced these kinds of medicines. 511 00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:47,950 You start to run into events in your life. 512 00:26:47,950 --> 00:26:50,490 And it seems like you just surrender to the flow, 513 00:26:50,490 --> 00:26:54,300 and it takes you exactly where you need to go. 514 00:26:54,300 --> 00:26:57,150 >> And this is why Ayahuasca has not simply remained 515 00:26:57,150 --> 00:27:00,510 in the jungle, but has spread across the world, 516 00:27:00,510 --> 00:27:04,290 and also why the culture stays traditional in some regions yet 517 00:27:04,290 --> 00:27:06,750 evolves and updates in others. 518 00:27:06,750 --> 00:27:09,570 The UDV and Santo Daime churches have 519 00:27:09,570 --> 00:27:11,970 been established for semi-traditional and even 520 00:27:11,970 --> 00:27:14,490 syncretic uses of Ayahuasca. 521 00:27:14,490 --> 00:27:16,230 Even the Native American church that 522 00:27:16,230 --> 00:27:20,700 originally protected peyote use has now included Ayahuasca. 523 00:27:20,700 --> 00:27:24,000 Some say that Ayahuasca is growing beyond the jungle, 524 00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:26,520 first through awareness and now being 525 00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:28,980 grown in many different locations, 526 00:27:28,980 --> 00:27:31,410 causing not only the medicine to spread, 527 00:27:31,410 --> 00:27:33,990 but the cultural mindset of being one singular 528 00:27:33,990 --> 00:27:37,890 species on a turbulent and rapidly changing planet. 529 00:27:37,890 --> 00:27:45,840 >> Very often I'm surprised how common it is for people to come 530 00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:48,490 to South America, for example, take Ayahuasca, 531 00:27:48,490 --> 00:27:52,830 and they come back with this really broadened perspective 532 00:27:52,830 --> 00:27:56,130 about how we fit into nature. 533 00:27:56,130 --> 00:28:01,620 As global culture rediscovers these ancient medicines, 534 00:28:01,620 --> 00:28:05,070 we're also rediscovering the traditions 535 00:28:05,070 --> 00:28:07,260 behind them, which is a good thing because they 536 00:28:07,260 --> 00:28:09,240 do have traditions. 537 00:28:09,240 --> 00:28:13,800 And that's something that, as a society, we lacked, I think, 538 00:28:13,800 --> 00:28:17,250 when in the 60s we didn't really understand that. 539 00:28:17,250 --> 00:28:18,210 Now we do. 540 00:28:18,210 --> 00:28:25,500 So, we're adapting shamanism to our own purposes 541 00:28:25,500 --> 00:28:33,000 and developing variations of shamanism that may not 542 00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:36,120 be traditional, but they're more appropriate for who 543 00:28:36,120 --> 00:28:38,850 we are at this time. 544 00:28:38,850 --> 00:28:41,490 >> Perhaps looking at the world in new ways, 545 00:28:41,490 --> 00:28:45,150 relating to all nature as if it's an extension of ourselves 546 00:28:45,150 --> 00:28:48,230 is the real medicine for the people, 547 00:28:48,230 --> 00:28:51,350 not just through the visionary features of Ayahuasca, 548 00:28:51,350 --> 00:28:54,020 but also through the master plants of the jungle that 549 00:28:54,020 --> 00:28:57,260 the shamans diet to teach them the mysteries. 550 00:28:57,260 --> 00:29:00,200 Perhaps the jungle really does speak or sing 551 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:04,790 the messages of Gaia that must be heard sooner or later. 552 00:29:04,790 --> 00:29:07,280 And all those singing and living that message 553 00:29:07,280 --> 00:29:10,760 are embodying the medicine, the truth and authenticity 554 00:29:10,760 --> 00:29:15,200 that the world needs most, stepping aside from dogmas 555 00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:18,020 and experiencing real moments of connection, 556 00:29:18,020 --> 00:29:21,940 real compassion for others, lucid reflection 557 00:29:21,940 --> 00:29:24,700 upon global issues, and inspiration 558 00:29:24,700 --> 00:29:28,060 for future endeavors through visions of animal 559 00:29:28,060 --> 00:29:31,030 guides, spirits, and entities. 560 00:29:31,030 --> 00:29:35,920 This path is not for the tourist, not for the curious. 561 00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:38,890 This path is for those who have accepted and committed 562 00:29:38,890 --> 00:29:44,470 themselves to the health of all beings and the whole planet. 563 00:29:44,470 --> 00:29:48,310 Up next, we explore the unique and lightning fast phenomena 564 00:29:48,310 --> 00:29:51,970 of the DMT experience and the strange inhabited feeling 565 00:29:51,970 --> 00:29:53,730 of the space. 566 00:29:53,730 --> 00:30:03,968