Many people (including myself) who have participated in Amazonian Shamanic Ayahuasca ceremonies have reported crossing over into a different frame of consciousness inhabited by elf-like entities not of this world. In my case, they were delighted to encounter me and to find me ready to participate with them in the co-creation of reality [words fail me here . . .] as they operated and / or responded to the pulsing nature of this vibrant, seemingly plasmic / geometric fabric of reality in sync with the surrounding cacophony of jungle fauna and the a capella icaros sung by the Shamanic spiritual guides.

The beings that I encountered appeared as positively existent conscious entities that seemed like playful sprites, comprised of benevolent and creative energy whom occupied neither time nor space.

This gateway opens when you consume the tea (NOT advisable outside of a Shamanic guided experience). Interestingly, the Amazon tribes have been conducting ritual and medicinal ceremonies with Ayahuasca for apparently tens of thousands of years. The Ayahuasca tea is a preparation that contains a compound called DMT (N,N-Dimethyltryptamine). DMT is a hallucinogenic tryptamine drug that occurs naturally in many plants and animals, including apparently in Humans. Ayahuasca tea is prepared according to specific tradition using two plants called Banisteriopsis caapi (Ayahuasca) and Psychotria viridis (Chacruna). Chacruna contains the psychoactive compound DMT, but natural enzymes in our system render it inactive during digestion. At some distant point in the past, shamans discovered that out of the millions of plants in the jungle, that if the Chacruna leaves are mixed with the bark of the Ayahuasca vine in specific proportions and boiled for a certain period of time, that alkaloids in the Ayahuasca act as monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) which allow the DMT to be orally (psycho)active.

I know what you’re likely thinking: ‘Drugs are for losers’, ‘escaping reality’, ‘too far gone’. Friend, this is not vibing to Jimi on mushrooms or tripping on LSD. Until a person has participated in a traditional Shamanic-led spirit journey, you have no idea what you’re talking about and you need to realize you’ve been drinking a different kind of kool-aid that makes you willing to stay in a comfy little thinking box that makes you easiest to control.

I am not encouraging anyone to engage in an Ayahuasca ceremony. It is extremely powerful, emotionally, physically and will threaten the safe definition of your reality. It is demanding and rigorous, and it is NOT for everyone. From my experience, it is NOT suitable as a recreational drug and should only be experienced in a controlled setting, guided by an experienced spiritual guide and protector Shaman. So I am not encouraging anyone to go down that rough road. But I am asking you to have an open mind about it, and realize that there are fascinating phenomena that exist beyond the fringe of your experiential horizon.

This is just an unfiltered postcard from the edge.