Wednesday Evening

Just about 24 hours ago we began our first Ayahuasca ceremony. We did not complete until around noon today. The ceremony itself consists of coming together as a group. There were 12 of us including the shaman and two helpers. Sort of standard fare with each person introducing home/herself and then stating the intention they had for the ceremony. Rapé was administered then we prayed and had a under meditation. One by one then, we were called up to drink the Ayahuasca. We settled onto our mats, listened to the music that was provided, closed our eyes and let “Mama Ayahuasca” get to know us, show us visions and help us to move toward achieving the intentions that we had set out. It’s a long night.

People struggled to overcome their own resistance to the changes they were attempting to achieve. My personal intentions involved dealing with fear and vulnerability and connecting with my roots. As the visions came on I felt a lot of fear. I tried to understand why I felt so torn between the healing I was being offered and old ways of believing. I know that God is a loving Creator and mother as well as fathers to us all but I struggled with fear of the unknown and prejudices I have had ingrained in me since childhood.

Eventually I settled into an internal dialogue that helped me to better understand the dynamics of my root relationships and to experience compassion and new understanding for my parents, children and others whom I have loved intimately. I was able to see where I had hurt others in ways I had not realized and look for ways to make amends. Leroy faced extreme challenges to his spirituality and found ways to deal with them effectively. Dan seems to have had the most fun connecting with his inner six year old.

We were all emotionally and physically wiped out by the long night and hard spiritual work. We had breakfast together, debriefed the ceremony, heard the wisdom of those who have gone through this before us, cleaned the house up and wended our way home to take a well deserved rest. Tomorrow night we do it again with fresh intentions and high hopes for an improved life.

PEACE and LOVE,

Ron