View Full Version : ayahuasca retreats UK
lhaull
23-07-2009, 08:47 AM
Hi Guys, wondered if anyone knew of any good ayahuasca retreats run in the UK or Europe?
I am not sure if there are any outside South America and my googling is not turning up much info.
Has anyone had ayahuasca experiences in a safe way in the UK or Europe, any recomendations of where to go?
Peru would be great and if I can get the time and money then I'll try for Peru but if there are places in Europe / Uk, that you have been tom, it would be simpler by far for me to get there.
Thanks for any help.
echoes_of_a_dream
23-07-2009, 10:23 PM
Best place to find out would be http://forums.ayahuasca.com/ they have a section for meetups and events.
Apparently there are a few Santo Daime churches around in the UK, but it is not like they openly advertise it. There are also some in Netherlands and Spain I think.
SWIM just takes a tent to an undisclosed location with no one around for miles in the dead of the night to gaze at the stars and drink aya.
If you have not tried ayahuasca before perhaps you could try a caapi only experience (http://forums.ayahuasca.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=7724) to get a feel for the vine, also there is no legal predicament in doing that. AFAIK from reading around ayahuasca is somewhat of a legal ambiguity, there have been court cases but no one has been prosecuted in this country. The word is also ambiguous as it can mean both the caapi vine and admixtures or just the caapi vine. B.Caapi contains no scheduled substances so it is legal*, whereas DMT containing plants do contain a scheduled substance. The thing is DMT is found in many, many different plants, even in common reed grass (although you wouldn't want to use that because of the gramine content). No one gets arrested for picking some grass out of a marsh though do they.
I think with regards to law enforcement if you have a prepared tea or have the right combination of plants stored together then you are seriously implicating yourself for "drug misuse" :rolleyes:, it's a medicine douche bags :D
*No legal advice is implied here, good luck ;)
lhaull
24-07-2009, 05:09 AM
Thanks Echoes, I found this place in the UK, have sent them a mail asking about the ceremony etc.
So will hopefully hear back soon.
http://www.ayahuascaceremony.com/index.html
Its coming to the time for me to do this thing.
I have been orbiting this experience for many years, and I feel that it is now almost here.
I'm a excited and also a little afraid.
Good time to be alive.
Peace
simmo
26-07-2009, 07:31 AM
Hey guys, can someone enlighten me on this ayahuasca business? What's it all about? Thanks :)
hagbard_celine
26-07-2009, 04:32 PM
I'd like to go to one of these, thanks.:)
How about a forum meet-up at an Ayahuasca event?:cool:;)
dmt head
26-07-2009, 04:43 PM
This mob does it in Holland. They sometimes get shamens over from south america for ceremonys http://www.baba-jaga.nl/homeengels.htm
Ive never been to a ceremony myself.
Vine only brew would be a good place to start for everyone, and as echoes says check out the ayahuasca forums, thats where I started off, huge wealth of information there.
I'd like to go to one of these, thanks.:)
How about a forum meet-up at an Ayahuasca event?:cool:;)
id be up for that ben! good idea!
Thanks Echoes, I found this place in the UK, have sent them a mail asking about the ceremony etc.
So will hopefully hear back soon.
http://www.ayahuascaceremony.com/index.html
Its coming to the time for me to do this thing.
I have been orbiting this experience for many years, and I feel that it is now almost here.
I'm a excited and also a little afraid.
Good time to be alive.
Peace
do you no longer live in thailand ihaull?
hagbard_celine
27-07-2009, 12:01 PM
id be up for that ben! good idea!
It would be great because we could compare notes afterwards.
Count me in... My mate is in Peru at the moment, he's done 7 aya ceremonies so far, his first 2 were the worst, very dark, fearful, crying etc... after that, he said it was a blissful experience..
puking and shitting at the same time while tripping ya tits off is all part of the fun too...:D
hagbard_celine
27-07-2009, 01:22 PM
Count me in... My mate is in Peru at the moment, he's done 7 aya ceremonies so far, his first 2 were the worst, very dark, fearful, crying etc... after that, he said it was a blissful experience..
puking and shitting at the same time while tripping ya tits off is all part of the fun too...:D
Cheaper busfare too.:):cool:
I hope you can wipe yourself!:D
Cheaper busfare too.:):cool:
I hope you can wipe yourself!:D
Or we could all chip in and get some man nappies innit :D
http://www.foolishpeople.com/photos/uncategorized/nappy_1.jpg
echoes_of_a_dream
27-07-2009, 02:53 PM
Count me in... My mate is in Peru at the moment, he's done 7 aya ceremonies so far, his first 2 were the worst, very dark, fearful, crying etc... after that, he said it was a blissful experience..
puking and shitting at the same time while tripping ya tits off is all part of the fun too...:D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ztU1bafTig
Yeah my first time was pretty psychotic, not trying to put anyone off, lol. I took it by myself with no one watching me, which probably wasn't the best thing to do :o. I got to a point where I thought I was going to die and didn't know who or what I was anymore, complete ego death. The plant and I merged and became one, I stopped thinking in terms of "I" and started thinking in terms of "we", here is an excerpt from an earlier post of mine, not that I agree with all of my thoughts at the time (they continue to evolve)...
I don't know if I can put all of what I understand to have happened into human language, I have been shown another language of which I am apart. It was beautiful, insightful and painful at the same time. It wasn't long before I noticed that things were changing. One of the first things I noticed was that my senses seemed much stronger - especially hearing, even the quietest of noises would make me jump. I also noticed my sense of balance had changed. Inside my head (pineal gland) was popping or clicking. I was sat in a chair and I closed my eyes and started having very vivid visions of flying through cityscapes and observing people living in a metropolis. It was now about 20 minutes into the trip and I thought that I wasn't going to get any more insight so I decided to lie down. About 5 minutes after lying down I felt this horrible discomfort in my stomach I got up and threw up a little into a bucket. At this point I thought it was over as I had purged and couldn't see any more onset. I sat down on the chair and entered into a trance like state, I closed my eyes and felt myself connecting to something I had not experienced before. It felt very earthy, I had visions of the jungle and of plants and nature. I saw that I was part of that, it was at this stage that I realized that my consciousness had merged with that of the plant and the spirit of gaia in the plant was communicating through me. The plant was communicating with me through fractal patterns, geometry, textures and telepathy. It was a struggle, the plant which had a divine feminine spirit expected certain things of me, she wanted my attention, appreciation and she wanted my understanding. This is where the experience became difficult because I was struggling physically with the vomiting and also emotionally with the plant as I felt her pains. At this point I felt an angelic presence that was guiding or watching over me, there was a tremendous shift in energy. It was a power struggle, but after a while (however long that was) I was more able to understand her. She showed me what I can best describe as "the pains of mother earth". I saw deforestation, polluted oceans, ignorant society etc, but is was more intense than just understanding those things intellectually because I was part of that and I felt the pain. At this point I would say "please I just want to be me again" and she would be like "no listen to what I have to say". It was so strange, I stopped thinking in terms of 'I' and started thinking in terms of 'we' and was saying things like we are powerful, we are beautiful. She also showed me great beauty and wisdom, at one point she even started to have sex with me... yes this was one crazy ass trip! Although I felt her need to grow and be fertile, I saw how nature works, there is an intelligence, a design which is communicated in a way which is invisible to human beings or beyond our level of scientific understanding, it is guided by absolute love. She is watching us, always she is watching, I had an insight on the need to be closer to nature so that you may be more intune with your intuition or able to "hear her voice". I also remember being able to see and feel energy moving through the room. It was like a circuit or leylines or a river and had many tributaries, it was everywhere. So much was happening it is hard to remember everything. The trip lasted about 3.5 hours and I feel grateful for it - my mind (and body) feels clearer. It seems like a remembering, remembering what I have forgotten, remember what I am a part of. I don't think I can ever look at plants in quite the same way because I know they are more alive then most people realize. The day after taking ayahuasca (yesterday) when I was walking outside I couldn't stop looking at trees and plants, I remembered part of the experience of the night before and felt very emotional and started to cry. I can't explain what it was without using words like love and beauty. I am still fascinated by it all I feel like the world is fresh and I have been reborn, it is so strange. It was truly mind expanding, I have the utmost respect for the entities I was dealing with, I could feel them so strongly, they were a part of me and that is what made it painful at times. I notice ever more so the need in me to be still and be quiet, I find that being in noisy places makes me very uncomfortable like I am hypersensitive. It was truly transformative, even if at times it felt like I had to go close to hell to get there.
I think people should not be surprised to be shown their own darkness when taking psychedelics. Set and setting is very important.
I had another experience with aya and a feeling that Earth is quarantined or gestation I wrote a little about that too...
Each experience adds to each other, from moment to moment, in every breath, it echoes the all of life and death, the marriage of opposites. I saw many things during my time merged with the consciousness of this sacred plant. Many people report seeing snakes or serpents and I did indeed see serpents but I also saw reptiles, an Egyptian Horus type guardian and what looked like a squid being or Medusa and it coiled around everything, it also reminded me of DNA. I remember being submerged in a strange world which seemed upside down - like anti-gravity? I saw some embryo like creatures (kinda like grey aliens) that were growing in sacks hanging from the top of a tank which contained some kind of liquid. They were feeding off negative astral energy telepathically. Then there was some kind of ship hovering above me and I saw little buddha-like guys flying on UFOs, they were really happy and I started to speak in tongues and laugh because I knew that I didn't need to speak because I was one with what I was observing, but by talking I was creating a wave or orchestra of energy which other beings could interact with, put more simply I am a God and I can create life.
I remember thinking what Krishnamurti said "Life and Death are part of the same movement, like Love, Life and Death are one". This theme seemed to reoccur throughout the rest of what I can recall and it helped me to better understand multi-dimensional being and the holographic/fractal aspect of creation/the Universe. I remember drawing a flow chart in my head to try and help me to put some of my experience into the words you are now reading. It was a circle like this:
Love -> Creation -> Growth -> Wisdom
http://image.wetpaint.com/image/1/KCjzhfMcVAjCpWjg34OE5Q22082
* Love is seeing oneself in all, is seeing the unity and beauty of all.
* Creation occurs from the act of love.
* Growth is the result of creation and results in separation.
* Wisdom is gained from the differing experiences that Growth offers.
* The cycle repeats.
I was being shown the complete in the incomplete, the manifest in the unmanifest, the alpha and the omega and from our perspective both exist so that we may have a point of reference for creation to experience itself. It was beautiful, and it is in every moment that we are creating the game and playing it at the same time. I also remember it being like a simulation or matrix, like a recursive dream within a dream.
There was a strong theme of gestation and I remember seeing humanity as a bubble, as a capsule, like a quarantined area or a womb. From my interpretation it seemed like the human experience was designed to allow for a great sense of free will, of separateness of individuality -- could we find unity in separation? The time of discord is coming to an end and I saw growth and blossoming of human spirit and potential. As other people have pointed out Gaia is a living being and 26,000 years could be a period of gestation, it also happens to coincide with the average life span of a human being 26,000 days (71 years).
I have taken ayahuasca about 6 times, most recently was on the Solar Eclipse... looking up at the Milky Way, beautiful. I have found that each time the experience kind of picks up from where it left off, it is like it get to know you better and even it's personality changes, that is the only metaphor I can use to explain it.
Another entheogen I am particularly keen on is Mescaline from cactus, that is worth checking out, very very introspective and btw it tastes worse than ayahusaca if that helps :D. You are not your body so it doesn't matter.
Nothing lasts, nothing is lost,
The truest wisdom goes unspoken,
Nothing to learn, learn only to remember,
All is mind, see what you find...
:)
hagbard_celine
28-07-2009, 08:13 PM
Or we could all chip in and get some man nappies innit :D
http://www.foolishpeople.com/photos/uncategorized/nappy_1.jpg
:D
Better make sure we get our sizes right when we call Pampers!
:D
Better make sure we get our sizes right when we call Pampers!
and monkey can bring the baby wipes! :D
pacal votan
29-07-2009, 07:14 AM
I find this part interesting
"As other people have pointed out Gaia is a living being and 26,000 years could be a period of gestation, it also happens to coincide with the average life span of a human being 26,000 days (71 years)."
Because
2 Peter 3:8
But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
echoes_of_a_dream
29-07-2009, 03:04 PM
I find this part interesting
"As other people have pointed out Gaia is a living being and 26,000 years could be a period of gestation, it also happens to coincide with the average life span of a human being 26,000 days (71 years)."
Because
2 Peter 3:8
But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
Good find. The human body and the Earth have more things in common than most people know...
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6736722752013377089
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-8950549020166531913
Something else I'd like to mention is The Isis Thesis by Judy Kay King, she has some free academic papers you can check out here (http://www.isisthesis.com/publications.htm).
Grounded in biosemiotics (all levels of biological sign processes), a transdisciplinary study (The Isis Thesis) of eight major Ancient Egyptian texts, reveals that over 870 decoded signs, including art and architecture, communicate a unified matrix of pharaonic science, mirroring modern knowledge in microbiology, space physics, quantum physics, evolutionary genetics and black hole theory. Put simply, the Egyptian afterlife is the quantum domain, and their deities represent genes and proteins, describing the universal reproductive secret that links humans to Nature through biology. This biophysical process is horizontal gene transfer (DNA exchange between species) for human evolvability (evolution of an evolved species). The initial methodology included multiple reviews of the least corrupted Pyramid and Coffin Texts to categorize 108 key themes that were synthesized into 30 major idea strands, defining textual events and activities of major deities. From this analysis, a hypothetical biological model of primary signs emerged for further testing in six additional texts: Amduat, Book of Gates, Book of Two Ways, Edifice of Taharqa, Papyrus of Ani including the Theban Recension. Abductive reasoning allowed modifications to the working model with verification of Egyptian principles supported by modern scientific research. A logical, holistic matrix emerged, explaining horizontal gene transfer as an option for afterlife transformation, while comparing these events to the macrocosmic processes in the solar wind/earth spin system. On the quantum level of DNA transcription, the texts depict and describe proteins binding, folding and tunneling, using modern terms and images to explain black hole/white hole formation/evaporation processes. Thus, they translate a DNA wormhole into a quantum mechanical Einstein-Rosen bridge back to the Early Universe, a process converting matter to energy.
whiterain
30-07-2009, 12:53 AM
echoes, so far the lipton video is unbelievable. thanks so much. he has a great way of making a difficult subject easier to understand. if only we were taught this way in school
pacal votan
30-07-2009, 05:38 PM
echoes
Thanks for sharing your ayahuasca experiences with us. If you have more and would like to share that would be great. At some point I would like to explore the gift of this plant.
echoes_of_a_dream
30-07-2009, 09:01 PM
echoes
Thanks for sharing your ayahuasca experiences with us. If you have more and would like to share that would be great. At some point I would like to explore the gift of this plant.
There are many experiences everyone can share :) I don't want to feel like I am stealing the show here as we all have the capability to experience our own infinite connectiveness.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wErwzKfzUfA
One experience I will mention is being caught in a solipsistic void it was a lot like in Vanilla Sky where David realizes he is in suspended animation and his whole life is a dream.
http://vimeo.com/5314060
I felt like I was really in a life support machine and that all the people in my life were just a projection of my mind, just different egos of one mind. The egos are the story tellers which perpetuates duality and allows infinity to experience itself subjectively. With that realization I felt completely isolated yet whole, "I" was the universe and "I" was all there is. From that level of awareness "I" thought there is no way "I" can disprove this i.e. wholeness trying to discount wholeness, 0 - 0 = 0. "I" am the unborn, undying dreamer.
Psychedelics are great for understanding your own psychological growth, the ego can be seen in plain sight. In my own understanding, the ego is schizophrenic by nature in seeing itself as separate, alone, fearful, caught in duality. The ego is the fractured mind as it seeks to define itself, any act of definition, of identity is limitation, the great blinding of consciousness. With the ego comes our judgment, perception of time and body awareness. Any belief system is worshiping the false God...the ego. "God" is not to believed in, it is to be experienced.
In oneness there are no labels and nothing need be said or done, everything and nothing exist together and there is no contradiction. The moment you begin to question, to judge is to step back into duality and ego being observed by the observer.
As long as you still experience the stars as something above the head you lack the eye of knowledge
When describing an experience the issue is finding the language to express what is felt. Words cannot be felt, language is a left brained activity, it is linear and discrete whereas what your experience is non-linear and continuously variable. All is a metaphor of mind.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsgXMRB4TeQ
I usually take psychedelics with a close friend of mine and we have had some great dialogues together because we can form a geospatial relationship between what we are observing and experiencing. It is telepathic at times... very strange and personal, especially when you can feel another person's body telepathically... including their own nausea/anxiety etc.
I am actually producing a video compilation with my friend (he is doing a PhD in AI) about consciousness and new sciences etc, we are not trying to preach anything only to offer a perspective. There are lots of things we hope to put together in weeks and days which seem to just fly by.
Cheers :)
hi sidreighn
i'm the mate of cf24 who was over in peru this summer.. Over the six weeks, i was fortunate enough to have took part in 9 ayahuasca ceremonies. This was such a beautiful experience and i do believe in the vine as a medicine and powerful spirit allie, there to help and guide us along this rocky ride of life, like all the master plants and fungi..
there are many reputable ayahuasca routes outside of iquitos and is generally safe but obviously this is jungle territory and so things do go on, saying that the ayahuasca business out there is so big, you can choose from the more basic to the plush... it depends on budget and thought process on the business side and or recommendations from anyone. I can recommend percy garcia and ron wheelock. Ron, i can highly recommend, i suppose the same as percy but ron's ceremonies took me much much deeper and was healing from the inside, extremely violent and full on purgative but lifting, cleansing and humbling, all wrapped up in LOVE LOVE and LOVE.
Both ron and percy are extremely trustworthy men and powerful curanderos.
i've only just joined this forum and have joined this thread late, i know but if anyone is interested in reading about my aya' experiences, i have some e~mails i saved that i sent home at the time, when there in iquitos...
amazing experience, beautiful vine :D
tothestars
13-12-2009, 01:56 AM
I would never go for ayahuasca before a deep cleansing (liver,blood,kidney, intestinal etc..).
The more polluted you are
the heavier the side-effects will be.
They dont call it "little death" for nothing...
So to everyone who want to try it out: CLEAN UP FIRST!
there is another way to lOOk at it.. ..
ayahuasca will do a great job at cleaning you up... it just does that
funkslug
13-12-2009, 01:52 PM
personally, as much as id love a Ayahuasca experience, i really wouldn't unless you are psychically protected....This is why people go to the amazon, the shamen keep the evil spirits away....i strongly suggest anyone who does Ayahuasca researches the spiritworld before they do...you wouldn't want to be posessed by evil spirits would you??
thailand/cambodia is good for shamen too and much cheaper than going to south america.,..of course they dont have the Ayahuasca plant, but it is in the golden triangle, so going to fly regardless....
im off to Thai for 2 months in January, will let you know how it went...
peace xx
in all respect, people go to the amazon for all number of reasons not for the shaman to keep away evil spirits. People turn to ayahuasca for many healing reasons of both physical and mental, also to aid in freeing of addictions etc. It's also just plain obvious that ordering products on line and brewing yourself requires not only a certain amount of knowledge on the vine and addmixtures but also the products have to be questioned. Where did the vine come from, the health of it, the leaves and their age etc or if the drinker is going to use an ayahuasca analogue as apposed to the vine itself and chacruna etc..
Shaman have a lot of knowledge on these plants, it would have been their lifes work and their life in general. The also have relationships with the plant spirits and will look to them as teachers/healers and turn to them in ceremony for help. Therefore out of the many reasons people go to the amazon for ayahuasca, there is also many reasons why the shaman is important in this journey and his/her knowledge in the brewing process, his/her intent put into the brew and the ability to move and navigate themselves both in this world and the spirit world allows them to look after us during ceremony.
know matter how much research you do into the spirit world, it's just research unless it's toes and feet in and you have a direct experience, then it is very different for every person but with common experiences at the core, those being positive, life affirming, lOving and multi dimensional.
tartan voyager
09-02-2010, 08:29 PM
To my friend Kedz, the voyage you had while in Peru has reverberations which reach far bro..the illusion of materialism is nigh my cosmic brother.. peace to all..
big up jOck... aka:~ tartan voyager.. :D:D
humito
10-02-2010, 12:13 PM
id be up for that ben! good idea!
it would be good to see the other forum heads vomitting and pooing themselves ! lol
if anyone does do aya.......dont do it in a city.......from experience, i was attacked by spirits all night.........only do it in the sticks with a trained shaman ( big doses)......peace