- Written by Mikis, TierraMitica
The
psychotropic properties of DMT, the active ingredient in the Chacruna leaves
that give Ayahuasca its hallucinogenic properties and the deep emotional,
physical, energetic and spiritual journeys of discovery of our heart, the
divine and the universe are well known and have been researched exhaustively,
especially during the last few years and the expansion of its usage. Many books
have been written, both from spiritual energetic perspectives and scientific
research and analysis.
But
Ayahuasca is not just any
psychotropic, and that does not only refer to its many spiritual aspects as a divine jungle goddess, a wise but stern
grandmother, a master plant teacher and much more. As an indigenous plant
medicine or drug it is not just DMT and the enzymes
necessary to assimilate it; The ayahuasca brew presents gifts and
surprises that other psychotropics
barely touch, and if so, randomly and
haphazardly.
Unrestricted,
uncensored access to our memory banks is one of those gifts
There are four
kinds of memories that we cannot access at will:
1.
All
memories of events or feelings that occured before our brains developed our
archiving system; The age varies, but for most humans very few memories, if any
survive before the age of five or six. Earlier memories are sporadic and exist
mostly due to repetition and discussion by family or friends. We just do not
possess a reliable filing and memory organization system to retain them, so
they mostly go to a huge junk file.
2.
All
memories that we have taught and instructed ourselves to discard as junk;
Things that are unimportant to us. Every waking moment, every second we are
live recorders of everything. Video, sound, sensation, all are constantly
recorded. On our daily 10 minute ride or walk we see and record every tree,
every leaf, every face, absolutely everything yet retain the memory of a tiny
percentage: that which calls our attention on the particular moment. Our minds
constantly need to discard 99.9999% of information to ensure sufficient space available in our brains for processing.
3.
All
memories that we have actively hidden from ourselves due to trauma. Intense fear, emotional pain,
guilt, shame, disgrace cause a decision to never revisit a memory again, and
these are the kind of memories that psychiatrists, psychologists and
psychoanalysts look for. Slowly, through years of counselling they try to
create an atmosphere of trust to allow these memories to be coaxed out and processed, hopefully healing or
ameliorating the trauma.
4.
All
genetic memory of life since the beginning of the universe. The memory that
allows us and every creature to know how to breathe, how to function. And the
memories of everything before that. All genetic material on earth is finite. None
of it gets destroyed, none escapes beyond the atmosphere and infinitesimal
amounts get in. Genetic material is just constantly metamorphosing into new
forms of life, which constantly feeds on and process itself. The big eat the
small and the small eat everyone. It is an almost statistical certainty that
every single human being has hosted cells from Jesus Christ and from most forms
of life on our planet. The huge pool of engraved memory already present in us
allows us to develop skills already mastered, such as breathing, digesting and
walking.
Ayahuasca has the gift to allow access to
all of them. Imagine our memory banks as a giant football field. On this field,
dunes and clouds of trillions of moving yellow Post It papers; Some of them
hidden under mountains of other nondescript Post Its, many of them randomly
positioned and others intricately disguised. When we take an Ayahuasca ceremony,
we fly through this football field in every direction and little sticky papers
of memories attach themselves to us; Some of them stay for a while and then
float off to be replaced by others. Some stay throughout and allow relevant
papers to stick as well, some are too heavy to carry and discarded, some manage
to stick no matter what. Whatever is left is the actual true impact of the
ceremony. Sometimes we experience the Big Bang, life through the body of a
worm, a jaguar, a rock or a blade of grass. Sometimes what sticks is the memory
of a loving moment when we say that we were never loved; Sometimes a memory of
another life, of childhood events, of feelings, sometimes the memory of a
discussion with God, the divine, sometimes an amazing insight.
Working the ceremony with a specific,
focused intention can make the Ayahuasca ceremony a fully navigable experience.
A tight, focused intention in the form of a mantra that is constantly repeated
is like an automatic system to collect mostly relevant information and to use
the magical qualities of the Ayahuasca to actually explore things consciously.
To pose masculine restraints, firm river banks for the feminine water of
memory, insight and healing to flow
freely within us and to achieve actual lasting, transformational insights. Actively guiding the experience to
avoid endless trippy distractions and to ask from the grandmother answers to
specific issues is like turbocharging the ceremony, especially if the intention
is kept religiously throughout the ceremony. Huge answers and insights usually
only come to those who persist and show their intention to get to the bottom of
whatever they are seeking
