Source: Psychedelic Times Approaching ayahuasca for the first time can be a daunting task. While anecdotal accounts and emerging scientific studies abound about its incredible healing properties, there are also many cautionary tales out there when it comes to disingenuous shamans and questionable healing centers. Beyond that, a truly conscientious seeker will be aware of the […]

Source: Psychedelic Times One can’t help but wonder—could the rise in people suffering from anxiety-related mental disorders be helped by the increased popularity of ayahuasca? While the industrialized world has delivered ever-increasing comfort, safety, and useful technology, it has also left a shadowy legacy of stress, isolation, and disconnection from nature and community. With more people […]

Source: Psychedelic Times Sometimes when you enter the heart of darkness, it turns out to be a heart of light and a whole new world opens up to you. And then, in the heart of light, darkness reappears and the cycle continues ever onward. Matthew Watherston is the founder of the Temple of the Way of […]

I can’t remember now how I heard about it. Online somewhere I suppose, probably in my perusal of websites made for people like me who were seeking to transcend the suffocating weight of a Saturday morning by inserting a canister of nutmeg into their anus. Ayahuasca. Normally taken in liquid form, orally, that was good […]

To disregard the problems facing the Earth and to proceed with business as usual in education would be a betrayal of trust. Our students want to know how to make a difference. They need hope. And it won’t come if all we can offer is another scientific theory or technological fix. We must expand our […]

Ayahuasca is a sacred visionary brew that has been used for centuries in healing ceremonies by various indigenous cultures in the Amazon basin. The beverage is a decoction of two key plants, the ayahuasca vine itself, scientifically known asBanisteriopsis caapi, and the vision-inducing, DMT-containing leaves of the chacruna plant, also known as Psychotria viridis. The […]

Presence. Detached and non-judgmental observation of thoughts and emotions. Living in the moment in full awareness. These are some of the fundamental qualities underlying the practice of mindfulness. Mindfulness practice has its historical origins in the Buddhist tradition, particularly Vipassana or insight meditation, which was taught by Buddha himself 2500 years ago. It has since […]

Reviewing The Ayahuasca Test Pilots Handbook, Chris Kilham’s backpack guide to the healing powers of the sacred Amazonian plant brew. My first encounter with ayahuasca was through William S. Burroughs. That is to say, several years ago I read The Yage Letters, which was Burroughs’ collected correspondence with poet Allen Ginsberg as he traveled to […]

Drink ayahuasca and you may see yourself being eaten by a crocodile. You may find a miraculous resolution to a crippling sadness. Or, more likely, you’ll land somewhere in between. Regardless, you will definitely throw up. Author and ethnobotanist Chris Kilham says all of these things have happened to him after drinking this psychoactive Amazonian […]

Fantastic recent (October 2014) presentation by Graham Hancock on the history of psychedelics, their demonization in modern society and his perspectives on ayahuasca. Horizons 2014: GRAHAM HANCOCK “Psychedelics and Civilisation, Light and Darkness” from Horizons on Vimeo. “Psychedelics and Civilisation, Light and Darkness” Graham Hancock investigates the possibility that by demonising and criminalising the use […]