Asking for advice in shamanism: Relevant questions on traditional ayahuasca ceremony to Arutam Ruymán

Question: In the first week that I was with you, I had very intense visions. They were good, but brief visions. Many things were revealed to me. However, in these last ceremonies, my visions are no longer so intense as they were before. My question is this: is it really important to have visions? Is it possible to achieve the healing effect required without having any vision? Maybe the Great Spirit is angry with me, and that’s why I have no more visions. In the first ceremony my visions were in color, while in the latter, the visions were black and white or gray.

You vomited last night?

Yes, I usually vomit.

After drinking, how long did it take to vomit?

It took me two hours, approximately.

Did you drink again yesterday? Remember how long it took you to vomit? About two hours?

Yes.

And did you drink again later?

Yes.

How long did it take you to vomit again?

Half an hour.

Ruymán: The Natem that you took yesterday was extremely powerful. No human being could remain immune to that dose. If you took 60 milliliters distributed in doses of soup spoons, there is no human being who does not experience visions. The first time, I took a whole glass, and had a few visions, at first, but then the effect dissipated. And I did not throw up. If I had vomited, I would have felt nothing. That means that you must be quite sensitive, because you had visions. Then I went back to drinking, and the effect lasted just a little, but I didn’t have many visions. It’s just a strange feeling of enchantment with nature and the jungle. And I didn’t throw up. Then I took a drink again -for the third time- and I had almost the whole glass. And that was too much for me. That is to say: at first I didn’t feel anything, and for that same reason I couldn’t work very well. The second time I was able to work a little better, but that sensation didn’t last long. And the third time I said, well: now I drink the whole glass. And that amount really knocked me out. And then I only could work with my body lying down. That situation, added to the fatigue of the trip and the lack of food, was too much for me. That effect stopped two or three hours later. It was a very intense effect. There I had many visions. It was incredible. Truly amazing. But, of course, that's good when you're not the Shaman, when you can stay in bed all night. Then, sadly, I could not sing for two long hours, due to the intensity of the effect, and I could only remain in a trance with my body lying down. I took some water and then I vomited. But since I’d spent so many hours with the Natem inside me, there were so much had been absorbed in my body, that even though I could vomit, that didn’t change the panorama too much. But well, at least I could play the "Tumank". From that moment on, I was present all night. But no, I did not dare to play the violin. I think if that night I’ve had played the violin, we would have had a real orchestra of vomiting (laughs).

I think you have no problem at all. You have to keep up. Keep taking the medicine and find your own rhythm. All I can say is that I have seen in you a very positive evolution. You must keep a strong energy, and that is achieved by taking care of ejaculation - in men – and also by taking care of the balance of work when resting. Directing our life towards those activities that make us happy, that make sense for our hearts, that we can put our hearts in them. And first of all it’s very important to have the perfect palate. As if we carried forward a diet within nature. That is to say: we must get used to the sweet mixed with the water, that is, the fruits. We must say no to fats mixed with sweet. And we must reduce the flour as much as possible; in any case, we should eat very little or nothing of cereals, especially seeds: quinoa, buckwheat. It’s better to choose the tubers, vegetables, and a little more fish than meat. And we must get used to the bitter tastes. For example, black beer (laughs). I mean: the bitter herbs, the infusions, the taste of the plants.

Cocoa is not so good, but if you try it from time to time there is no problem. In the jungle, for example, we eat fruits. And we spit out the seeds. We don’t grind the seeds, and we don’t eat them. They say, among the Shuar, that one of our customs in the jungle is to consider that cocoa is a seed, and that it has some principles related to it – like the bitter taste, for example -. They say that there is a protective function of the seed, so that it can stay alive through all its processes. It may have a slight effect, very similar to that of a poison inside the organism. Cocoa is also a stimulant, an antidepressant, and its seed is usually burnt and toasted. That also hurts the organism. And the body, in addition, usually reacts with some skin rashes, as if trying to expel it from within. I'm not sure how the mechanism works, but chocolate leaves my stomach dirty: that’s my feeling about it. In fact, I maintain a great purity in my diet, to keep my body in a good shape during the ceremony. That's why I realize, more than those who do not have that discipline. Check that for yourselves.

Question: and what about coffee?

Ruymán: The same thing happens with coffee. It’s another seed, and its stimulating effect also produces the effects of a poison in the organism. It’s a pure stimulation effect, such as that of guayusa or yerba mate. The same goes for tea. Yerba Mate does not have a behavior like that of a seed, and its stimulation, obviously, is not toxic in nature. But I confess that I haven’t consumed any coffee for so long, so I couldn’t tell you about this with precision. The coca leaf, on the other hand, has a very healthy effect. It is stimulating, but even in a purer way altogether. In truth, this type of plants and leaves, help us to increase the sacred touch in our being. That is far from being a stimulant that works as an effect of a state of intoxication. For instance, let's see a case: The relaxation. The Natem relaxes me. It is a plant that used to relax the Indians to help them meditate, so that they could find the Arutam. Yes, it relaxes me, but it also awakens all my instincts, it makes me stronger, it increases the Arutam, and the presence of the Great Spirit in me to infinity, until I merge with the mirror of life, with the crystal of life, with the Arutam. In that way, I feel I’m alive in all of my existence, in that ceremony, in the days to come, and, if I can, for the rest of my life. There are people who say "well, I smoke marijuana because it relaxes me too, and I go into a trance". A trance that is a high price to pay. Because in that case our vital energy is lost and we weaken ourselves and we lose our will. The world is becoming gray and a veil is covering us more deeply. For this reason we cannot work hard and firmly, because we’re weak and we begin to obsess with thought, in a neurotic way, and every day the mirror of life -in its crystal-, is further away from us, and much more obscure. And the fear of that fall and that darkness makes us smoke more and more. We are looking for an increasingly expensive pleasure, until we are in a true vicious circle. Because relaxation is not the same, it’s not the same to drink mate than to drink guayusa or coffee. The stimulation is not the same.

QUESTION: For many years I have been part of the ceremonies, and in every ceremony I have learned a lot. Now I realize that many things only manage to be understood thanks to the visions, but now I understand them without needing to have prior visions. But I'm happy to have visions anyway. I do not have calmer visions, but on the plane of sensations, I have visions that bring ways of learning.

Ruymán: she is a quiet person who looks for that: understanding. And that is how it is given to her; That is how ceremonies happen to her.

I agree with what you say, but I want to see visions. I'm ready to see visions.

Ruymán: but I have not seen you taking too much to see visions.

Well, I'm going to try, thanks (laughs).

Ruyman: Well, to go into a trance and to have visions you have to take a good amount and endure nausea for a while, and then the light will go on for just a second. You will have to ask for help, get someone to take you to the bathroom and help you walk.

Well, sometimes I feel I can not even walk. But in such circumstances I do not have visions either.

Ruymán: Today I'm going to make you an enchantment, I'm going to blow your medicine and so I can also establish the right dose for you. You need a push, because the sacred touch circulates weakly inside your being, it is not enough to overflow in the high flash of vision. Although your pulse is weak, it also seems to be disturbed by emotions. According to the dialogue we have had, I can understand that your vegan diet, raw and cold, plus the deep concern you experience, after years living with your family, which apparently have greatly weakened your spleen and, therefore, your vital energy Through the enchantment I will try to increase the sacred touch in you, so that it overflows in health and strength, and in this way it can overflow, through crying, the Arutam of your vision.

QUESTION: Lately, in my visions, I feel as if I have become different animals. I have the feeling of having an animal skin, and some instincts that belong to different animals. I feel that is important, but how can I integrate that into my life?

Ruymán: When you participate in a ceremony with the Natem, it teaches you the Arutam, and shows it to you in only one way, which is none other than the natural path. All of us emanate from a Great Perfection, and we are a ray of light that comes from that infinite, from the perfect state of life. So when you get close to it, inward, by using an entheogen, especially Natem, you can feel those skins that you felt. You can feel like the animals; they also carry the same light. A light that we also carry inside. So every time you see more and more animals, until you can feel that you are many of them at once, and at a certain moment you can feel the trees, the skies, the seas, the rivers, etc. All existence. This is the answer: you have to keep discovering and realizing that beyond your individuality and your ego, there is a whole world to which we belong and which we really are. And as time goes on, as life goes on, that resistance becomes crueler if we do not let it go. And also more dramatic: worse things happen to us. Situations that, as the time goes by, we experience as even worse. And we move away from the world, we move away from that great being that we are all. Do you really like to feel the skin of these animals within you?

I like feeling more in the skin of another animal than in my own skin (laughs).

Ruymán: Well, they are all animals. You too. Keep in mind that if we lose that self, that conglomerate that has formed our self, with all its dark spirits, we will feel that we are dying or going crazy. And it is not like that. Actually, what we discovered is probably much better. When you inhale tobacco, you will understand better. And you will relive all those realizations in your day to day life.

Question: Last month, when I inhaled tobacco, at home, I almost did not feel its effect, maybe because maybe I had too many thoughts.

Ruymán: well, you have to be prepared before inhaling tobacco. You have to arrive in the best possible way to that ceremony, and relax. If you do not get it, you should wait until the night comes: then you inhale it in a good dose and then you go to sleep. But hey, if that happens with Tobacco, it means that there is something that we should correct. We have to loosen the resistance. That's the good thing: if we did not have tobacco, maybe we would still not realize how we really are.

Question: When I use Tobacco I feel close to fainting, and with a little nausea. Is it the effect of Tobacco, or is there something I'm doing wrong?

Ruymán: Well, we must find out what is happening. We should see in what mood you arrive at that moment, how the day has been for you. It would have to be done at different times of the day, but if you already know that you will have that effect, whatever the schedule, then you should do it shortly before going to bed, so you faint in bed (laughs) and you dream deeply listening the whisper of the Spirit. I do not recommend that you do it in the morning, when you have just got up to work.

Question: I really want to thank you. Yesterday I did not drink. I'm going to take it today. But yesterday you said that I was tired, and yet I had a very good experience. that's why I want to thank you: because you could do the best for everyone. And you do it with a lot of affection, as if you always give the best of yourself. And now I'm really looking forward to the night. And I wanted to ask him for advice, just to clear up some doubts.

Question: When I take it for the first time in the day, I have visions and I work well with medicine. But that takes an hour, an hour and a half, at most two hours. Then that effect begins to dissipate, and as I no longer feel it, I begin to think that I can take it again. But when I take it again, I notice that medicine is not as intense anymore, and yet it seems deeper. It seems to have a deeper effect. But that second glass, during the morning, makes me suffer. And in the morning I have to vomit. I feel like I have to throw up. So my question is. Maybe I have to have a glass at midnight, is that okay? Or do I have to drink another glass and vomit in the morning? Because, during the morning, it is really difficult to bear that second dose.

Ruymán: now I propose to take a greater amount from the beginning.

Question: but from the start I took almost a full glass -the small one-. So I have to take a bigger glass?

Ruymán: you must explore, you must learn to explore. And find, little by little, the best quantity. The other solution is that when you drink again-the second time-you try a smaller amount.

Question: I usually drink a little from the second glass. But it does not matter if I take a little or a lot: during the morning I find it difficult, I have nausea, visions, and I have the feeling that the effect never stops. I think the light, the morning, makes me suffer.

Ruymán: then drink a lot in the second glass. Drink a lot, so you can throw up a little before dawn.

Question: and how can we keep ourselves in that good physical condition that you have? What exercises do you practice? Because it’s evident that you are in a very good shape.

Ruymán: well, I think it's a mix. I have a large farm, in Tenerife, with fruit trees. And I usually have to prune them myself, take care of the grass, make wood for the fireplace, etc. So I think that keeps me pretty strong. This weekend, for example, I was cutting trees with an ax, for five hours. That helps me stay well trained.

In my country house I have an apple tree, can you go to cut something? But no, no (laughs).

Every day I practice a very physical yoga, I maintain my concentration and my discipline during my old practices of the Chinese tradition. Finally, I usually swim in the sea, where the waves catch you and they wallow you a lot. Walking in the forest, while reaching optimal places for meditation is also an excellent activity. But the most important thing to be in shape is the diet: to maintain a good level of saturated fats; to obtain energy and satiety from high quality vegetable oils; legumes and fish; pretty raw fruit and vegetables; and to drink plenty of pure water, as well as to drink infusions of appropriate herbs.

QUESTION: It's my second ceremony, and I also want to ask you about the second shot. Today, for instance, during the ceremony, after drinking the first glass, I had a very strong experience and quite complicated, difficult, physically. I was crying. My vision was very intense, because I learned many things. But a few hours later I could not stand the medicine in my body anymore and I had to vomit. Then I regained my calm and tranquility. I had the feeling of being calm, of being relieved of something. I was in harmony. And just at that moment they offered me the second glass. And I felt like taking more, because I no longer had visions, but I was in such a peaceful state, that I did not have any energy either, and I did not have the strength to get up and drink another glass. My question is: was it necessary for me to go and have another glass and keep working? Or maybe that peace, that tranquility, was part of the work, of the ceremony?

Ruymán: it's fine. You drank and then you went through your own shadow. You understood a lot, and medicine reached the roots of that darkness. When you touched and detached the roots that were clinging to you and making you suffer, you were able to free yourself from the inside out, through the vomit. And then you felt the healing, you felt the peace, the calm, and you felt maybe like a child: in peace. Possibly you felt how you felt before having experienced that problem, before you had been under the weight of that shadow. And well: the healing took place. Possibly it's been a long time since you felt that way. I do not see then what could be the reason to take any more. You did your job Today is a new day and we start from another place. Cheer up!

Some words of wisdom about fasting and Ayahuasca ceremony

We humans live, first and foremost, because the sacred touch of Arutam flows within us. The spark of Life shouted at us and will continue to blink during the years in which we can ensure its presence in our bodies. A good diet prolongs our life, because it prevents us from consuming that original energy, which is our resource. Many people in search of abundant energy and a quick effect on their bodies, abuse those products that slowly make their bodies sick (manufactured foods, refined oils, transgenic fats, fried foods, sugar and sweets, flours, meat from heavy animals or those who have been tortured, etc.). That need normally arises from a weakened original touch: a half consumed, half forgotten one. Without even knowing what they are doing, they continue to harm themselves in this way for a long time. Soon you will feel that something is going wrong and you will crave for an opportunity with herbal medicine and fasting. If we still have time to help, my advice is to check the patient's health status. A shaman will also be quite accurate in describing his energetic state. An excellent start should consist of a gradual change of the daily diet, which should be supplemented, later, with herbs, if necessary, to strengthen the weakest aspects, which is where the metabolism is failing. A doctor understands the functioning of the body as a whole that is attached to the world; when we distance ourselves from the Spirit we fall into oblivion, and forget the harmony of the Great Song of Life. In this case, our tendencies will determine how we distort the Great Harmony and where we’ll end up.

After a certain period of time, previously determined by the teacher, and paying attention to the specific characteristics of the patient on a regular basis, one can begin to follow the path of shamanism as a more direct experience of its ceremonies and its various entheogens. A healthier body and a considerable improvement of the sacred touch, would support us in the process. We will never know if that is enough, even giving the best of ourselves to put it into practice. This practice requires proper nutrition to keep us strong and pure. With the passage of time, the individual develops some skills that allow him to adapt to the Natem practice. Later will come the time to deepen those skills through short fasts on normal days. In these days it will be easy to verify, through the pulse, how the body is conserved without the addition of calories. This will also reveal if life is intense enough in us. All this, added to the correct development of skills in ceremony, will allow the student to begin to explore its depths with the body completely empty, when drinking the Ayahuasca. Tradition takes us to long fasts, for whole days, to long walks in the jungle, through its Cascades, dreaming and drinking Tabaco; as well as large quantities of Ayahuasca in "Natemamu"; the most potent extracts of ceremonial Natem, blown medicine, transmissions of power and healing.

I want to point out that those correct skills are almost impossible to develop without years of experience next to a good teacher, who must also be centrally dedicated to carry out that work with the student. I also want to explain the following: a person who fasts and takes Natem (a strong high quality one) without having enough energy in the body, is going to come down, putting himself in danger on a pure whim, to regret then, desperately, asking for a help probably difficult to be offered by no one . Of course most of the concoctions that are offered to strangers are delivered by impostors who try to imitate a true shaman. On the other hand, those potions have nothing to do with the powerful ancient recipes of true traditions; they are just some kind of hallucinogenic drug to see colors for a little while, usually a lot of yaji leaf and tender vines with low Natem proportion. This is usually normal: most people who travel and want to buy spirituality from modern culture are not prepared to receive this tradition and work seriously with shamanism. With money you can only buy a glimpse very far from the depth of a people's worldview. On the other hand, the corruption and suffering of the indigenous peoples has put them on guard against the world, especially against those white descendants, sons of the cruel conquerors. On the other hand, shamanism is often forgotten over time, and the young natives (who are now the supposed shamans) want precisely everything that has made us forget the way, which is why we started a new search to return . The older ones are gone and the young people did not learn enough. Are we aware that true shamanism is in danger of being transformed into a mere theater without roots and wisdom?

Don’t fast before a ceremony: let's make a perfect diet first, a serious and constant one. That's the key. Take care of the sacred touch and keep the flame of Life at its best. Calm down your hearts and mind, to fill the present with the richness of Arutam's feeling. Abandon the resistance, stop feeding that monster that devours the sacred touch. Let's train and learn with a good teacher who is a carrier of the ancestors echoes, someone who can also offer you the good Natem, the one who demands the best of us. The long fasts will come later and everything will be beautiful.

My Grandparent's diet. A clarification statement.

It’s very difficult to find fat and proteins of vegetable origin in the jungle. Everything is too wet in such a place. The terrain is often just water and almost no earth on top. These are the central ingredients for a diet designed to optimize high muscular performance for proper development and maintenance. In the jungle it’s absolutely necessary a perfect functioning of the physiological functions of any animal. We have to make sure we survive: build a house so we don’t get wet; have lots of dry firewood, hunt, fish and grow vegetables to feed the family; we must be strong and excellent to overcome any risk. We cannot lose our strength even for a moment, because we know that when death arrives, our fall will be both the first and the last.

My ancestors were partially nourished by what they cultivated: a variety of pumpkins, leaves of the forest, diverse roots, fruits they found, chontas, etc. They did not consume that much, because they were too abundant in carbohydrates: they only consumed the basics to have a good energy before the time for rest. Beyond this food function, no more importance or attention was given. The basis of their diet consisted of the fat and protein they could obtain only from fish (no seafood, slugs, octopus etc.) and birds: wild birds in general, which they hunted with blowgun; They also fed on turkey-like species and so on. Saturated fat kept them satisfied for a long time, protein nourished their muscles and built or repaired their tissues daily. Thus, they forged athletic bodies that were perfectly adapted to live under extremely harsh conditions.

For my part, I usually eat fresh fish, although I do not feed on birds. I have been sympathetic to veganism for a long time: it is a beautiful idea and very philosophical, but reality in the final sense of the individual, shows its failure. If we remove animal fat and protein from our diet, we will end up replacing it with manufactured foods and hydrates like crazy, that will not work for a person who needs to perform perfectly. "Normally" we find vegans that are weak, thin, consumed; or on the contrary, fat, flabby and with an unfortunate state of muscular toning. These men and women could not live in a natural environment that required the best of them to survive, so in that state they will remain in their cities, going from home to work and back. It is regrettable to witness, all across the world, how disastrous certain philosophical beliefs have been for lacking rigor in individual feeling. I really wrote this short Post because I want to be better every day and share what I have learned and personally verified, in the company of the people who follow me and who I love. I know that many will get upset, even the knives of their blind beliefs will want to make me bleed; think then how violent a vegan can be when he does not eat meat ...

My grandparents taught me that way and in that way Natem (Ayahuasca) was taken in peace.

The use of stimulating herbs and the practice of shamanism

There are stimulating herbs such as guayusa, tea, mate, etc. Consumption of these herbs is widespread in different cultures. In our days, due to globalization and free trade, we can get its benefits in different parts of the world, though the consequences of inappropriate use also occur.

Some of these products are really healthy, facilitating the kidney access routes, some even strenghtening them (ginseng); others are not so healthy, because they only produce a stimulation that consumes our store of long-term vital energy resources (coffee, stimulating and synthetic drugs, etc.). First we must understand that the energy that allows us to enjoy these products does not come from the product itself, but from the very opening of the kidneys, who thus release the reservoir of energy that is used in the present. The body is wise. It maintains a balance of that energy that our parents have bequeathed to us to enjoy a long and healthy life. Life is transmitted through our parents, but our organism is also a fusion of its conditions. The more consumption we make of that stored resource, which determines our longevity, the more we will shorten, in principle, the quality of our days, and, subsequently, our years on earth.

Increasing stress with stimulants becomes a long-term danger when the wear and tear of our body is considerable. It's like tightening an old rope until it breaks. The liver can always be more tense, but the kidney, at a certain point, can no longer withstand the natural balance of tensions and break up as the sky (heart) separates from the earth (kidney). The sacred touch, which flows from the kidney, has cushioned our body in a state of pleasure, gives us strength, recovery and well-being. It awakens us in the morning alive and makes us see, smell and hear even the distant sounds. It's easy to understand that if we consume his caress in the present, with selfishness, the flame will be extinguished with disastrous consequences in time. Sometimes we are too far away from him to realize what is happening, and we need stimulation to compensate, on a daily basis, our lack of vital energy.

Secondly, it is crucial to observe that an over-stimulation only takes us out of the delicious union with the sacred touch in our inner feeling, towards an excessive extroversion to the service of an "I"; of its vulgar purposes and possibly to the service of others, for whom we would only be instruments at the service, more or less useful.

Third, remember that live with greater tension than that in which we have been tuned by the Great Song of Life, will bring us a state of electrical disruption, nerves, tension, spasms, restlessness, anxiety, etc. In that way we will make our journey without being fully ourselves, with deep dissatisfaction and lack of peace.

These are precisely the most disastrous conditions to approach the practice of Shamanism. It hurts me to see people executing these erroneous practices in front of me before a ceremony. Consuming an entheogen in this state can be a considerable disaster, from which no one is responsible except the person himself, who of course will later cry and regret asking for help from the teacher because he does not understand what is happening to him. They are very intense effects that can not be attenuated due to the hours of stimulation, tension, spasms, anxiety, lack of relaxation and the impossibility of finding a minute of rest or peace. If this were used, during the trance, by the shadow of the individual, it would burn for hours in a hell thrown as the worst storm.

My advice:

- Moderate the taking of stimulants in everyday life. Try to feel honestly what you are doing. In my case, for example, I drink mate two or three days in a row, resting at least one; without much heat and following a low caloric diet, that ensures a correct feeling and care.

- Think about what we are doing with that energy that we awaken in us. Be aware of why we are consuming that sacred touch, of what we call it for.

- Keep these substances away from the ceremonies and the entheogen intakes. This should not apply to teachers or mature people, who are experienced and master their arts. They have their own refined and trusted criteria.

- Follow a careful sexual practice.

- Live your life with heart and deep sense.

- Be close to nature.

Second part: The diet in Shamanism, specially focused on Ayahuasca ceremony

I continue with some clarifications about the original article published in my previous post:

I've received quite a few questions about which are the best vegetables to consume. A raw green leafy salad is a good choice. All kinds of water vegetables, especially zucchini of all kinds, eggplant, leeks, varieties of pumpkins (eating in moderation), Swiss chard, spinach, peppers, etc. Eat your fill, no matter the amount.

Another issue to keep in mind is what types of carbohydrates to consume. Among the seeds, quinoa and buckwheat are the best options. You have to avoid cereals completely. Among the vegetables, we can choose roots with high carbohydrate content: carrots, turnips and beets as very acceptable, but remember to consume it in moderate amounts. We must be very cautious about the consumption of radish, because it is a spicy food. Potatoes and sweet potatoes can be consumed, but in moderate amounts, due to their high carbs content. 500g per day, in total, should be enough for a combined lunch of roots (each person's need is different and that should be determined in advance). We must also clearly decide in advance if we prefer seeds or roots at lunch, because you should never eat them together. In the jungle you only have roots: yucca, pelma, papachinia, sweet potato, etc. These are the hydrates that are usually consumed along with green plantain.

With regard to fruits, they should not be eaten too late. The ideal is to do so when we drink water, right after the ceremony. I usually take my second ration in the early afternoon. In my usual life, I try to consume an amount of around two kilos of fruit a day, but not so much on ceremonial days. It's very important to differentiate fruits into two types: those with the higest and lowest count of sugar. We recommend - for daily consumption and also for the ceremony: melon and watermelon (better alone); grapes, apples and pears (slightly cold ones, for Ayahuasca); blueberries, peach, apricot, medlar, plum and papaya are always great. Cherimoyas, cherry, fig and persimmons are not so advisable for the afternoons of ceremony, because they are too sweet. Bananas and dates are not recommended: they’re too sweet. Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, kiwi, pineapple and a few drops of lemon and tangerines (very few) should be consumed in moderate amounts, and outside of ceremony hours, because they are quite acidic. Oranges, grapefruit and other citrus fruits are not used in the way of shamanism due to its high acidity.

The salt is a necessary option. The pink one or mine's salt is the best and traditionally used in rainforest. Certainly you have to be insipid as the sky, water and breeze, but kidneys need stimulation and strength to support us during the long nights followed by deep concentration. Few but fundamental, specially for those not well trained. The sacred touch weakness in its body spring: the kidneys, it's a problem pretty shared between people in cities. They fail a lot in shamanism and themselves due to it. Let's don't play loosening too much: the long Spirit abandoning, its  weak touch; the abuse of over - stimulation, ansiety and sex, come clearly to light  through the lack of salt and nourishment (forced fast). A ceremony is the worse moment to test this kind of self limits, the result may be a serious mess.

Another issue is fasting: Should we or should not we eat? The answer is clear: you have to eat, you need energy to maintain strength or to work towards balance in Arutam. City people are very weak, they are not a pure breed raised in nature, they are full of sacred touch and they practice sexual abstinence with care. With the fire of life weak between the kidneys, they cannot resist and work well, especially with Ayahuasca, although this applies to any entheogen. Fasting is dangerous and useless in shamanism, except for experts. The energy of the food helps us when the sacred touch is insufficient. It is also essential to resist, to avoid falling apart, especially in those ceremonies with strong power plants and in the company of powerful masters. In any case, what we need is to eat small quantities, and very early, before noon on the days of ceremony.

The diet for Ayahuasca ceremony

Saint Petersburg, Conference by Arutam Ruymán

HOW TO KEEP OUR VITAL ENERGY

Diet is a key element to ensure that medicine stays active in teh body for a long time, so that it can be well absorbed, and allow for a trance of many hours.

Firstly, it's very important not to lose our body's vital energy pressure. We shouldn't allow the sacred touch to weaken inside us. This means that we must take special care to ensure that no energy is lost in orgasm and ejaculation. That moment of pleasure when our body's vital energy is released, brings all the pressures down and weakens the whole path of sacred touch.

Drinking Natem, in the practice of Shamanism, means to be filled with Arutam and its sacred touch. If we are going to waste it, then why should we increase it? Some people foolishly believe that the practice of Shamanism can be subordinated to a more extensive and pleasurable sexual life. In other words: that we cand dedicate ourselves to it just to increase the sacred touch with no other basic aim than to waste it in larger quantity and strength. This, of course, turns shamanism into a truly dangerous thing.  

Anyone who is not willing to keep their sex life under control, should not practice shamanism. Any discipline requires of us to have a well-awakened, well-kept, well-maintained sacred touch. It's necessary even in sports. because the only way to recovering from training, fiber breaks, muscle exhaustion and stress, is to be filled with a renewing sacred touch. It flows from our kidneys to the rest of our bodies, and throbs next to our hearts.     

Arutam is well-kept in the center of our bodies, starting from our kidneys. There's our true self, warming ourselves up. The legs are our strong roots. Then it comes up the stalks, our backbones. Arutam ascends through the marrow, and matures in our heads with its five colours, flavors, etc: our five senses.

Whoever is not full of sacret touch, weakens the path of Arutam. That brings us some problems when we're already weak, every time we consume our vital energy through sex. This worsens markedly with alcohol, which numbs us and destroys us. If there's an excess of substances with relaxing properties in our bodies, like opiates, cannabis, etc, the sacred touch becomes slower and it eventually withdraws.

Both anguish and illness will come from the lack of harmony. Visions will not appear, because there’ll be neither strength nor speed. The animal within us is asleep. No matter what they say, in the cities, those who are considered as professionals in these matters, who will probably say that sex is good, and that it's healthy to ejaculate every day.

Sex is good, of course, when we're in love. But true love between two people doesn't involve destruction of one another. Love is passion, composture, and also happiness through sex. But there's fulfillment; more than we've been taught about, more than we've experienced on a daily basis.

This is, therefore, the first point to take into account if we want to live a long life and if we want to succeed in the practice of shamanism. Breathing should be slow and deep at all times. We have to be able to take greater advantage of the act of breathing with fewer inhalations and exhalations. But we must also be strong, and never hesitate, if necessary, to accelerate our breathing, and still be calm.

The goal is to maintain the correct tension, the perfect one, as expected from Great Spirit. Such tension tends to tighten more than usual, but sometimes it loosens. We must know which is the perfect balance point. Only those who find the perfect tension will be fully functional. Animals are a very good example: they are tireless and perfect just as they are.

A GOOD NUTRITION

Last but not least: food. We're always under the influence of what we eat and drink. Many times I am asked to point out the most accurate diet for taking ayahuasca. It's been written about it -though the Shuar people did not have a writing system-. It is something simple and natural. The Natem grows in the jungle, therefore, we should eat plants that grow in the jungle. If we start from this principle, there are natural and intrinsic simplicity.

My grandparents had the fortune, even a particular time of the year, to settle in some places of the jungle, and to stay there for a little more time. Hence, a diet based on gathering fruits predominated: guavas, chontas and other fruits. The farming that was practiced was very basic. It was normally used to sow and pick many different types of jungle squash; Cassava, sweet potato, papachinia, plantain ... small leaves were also consumed as vegetables or salad. Yucca was their only fermented drink. It was made of chewed yucca that women spit back into the jars.

During the ceremonies with Natem, with ayahuasca, nobody took too much ferment, it was not good to drink too much at that moment. Already more established - more sedentary -, they completed their base of diet by fishing in the rivers. They did not eat fish or meat during the ceremonies: it was intended to attain the highest purity, physical and spiritual, no creating suffering to the beings. But the jungle is the native way of living: they take everything they need from nature, and they do not rely too much on agriculture. Consequently, they need to obtain protein and fat from fish when they live sedentary life, and from hunting for birds -using the blowgun- during the nomadic stage.

FOODS: BEST AND WORST CHOICES

The meat of larger animals, firmly rooted on the land - such as wild boar or deer - was never used. They were considered impure meats, as they contaminated the body and brought disease. Such foods also clouded the mind and overexcited nerves. About deers, they thought were the reincarnation of the grandparents, probably due to their pureness and nobleness. So mostly they hunted the pure meats of birds, which were available during their long walks through the jungle.

It was also a frequent habit to eat wild mushrooms (not close to ceremonies), tubers, sort of zucchini-pumpkins of all kinds and sizes, and many other vegetables of the wild. It was very difficult to find the salt. Sometimes they got mines, pink salt. The Shuar wrapped them in leaves, and looked after them as if they were gold.

When they submerged themselves into a profound practice of their ceremonies -that is to say: when taking the Natem-, they tried not to consume any product of animal origin.

It is fundamental, in shamanism, to maintain lightness and purity: to be tasteless, like water. I am fortunate to have access to sources of fat and vegetable protein - as I can get from legumes - in the places I use to spend more time. I can also count on avocado, olive oil and walnuts. But that is not available in the jungle. In that sense I am very satisfied to have such foods, because they allow me to maintain strength and also purity; All of it, in the same great trend. This elements are essential to nourish the roots, marrow and depths of our body.

In these times of peace that we leave -these times of exchange- it is wonderful and healthy for our planet that we can get the fats and proteins from plants growing on the land:  If our species has evolved into peace, that is consumption of vegetables. Nowadays we can get vegetables and vegetable fats almost everywhere in the world.

Legumes and vegetable fats can be achieved in almost all countries. A little higher, in the high mountains, you can get beans, beans and even avocados. One of the reasons I chose to live on the edge of the jungle - between the hot and cold jungles, is to have this privilege of planting, preserving and collecting these foods. To be able to sow, conserve and collect the Natem, the Wanto or Floripondio, the Tobacco. And to follow, at the same time, a pure diet, which gives me strength and health.

Many people believe that strength is obtained by stealing it from animals, by killing them for food. But strength comes from Arutam; Those who do not care for that vital flow are the ones who need to rush to take energy away from others. But they will not regain the energy flow that they lost by eating a dead body - simple animal flesh, without Arutam -, they will only have a huge body: a lean mass, empty of life and without sacred tact.

At what point did we forget that all strength comes from our Creator? When did we stop taking care of it? We cannot recover what we've lost. We can only try to survive by killing and eating other creatures, in spite of that disadvantage.

A well-made vegan diet, on the other hand, most of the time does not even need the destruction of the plant. Lettuces, leaves, are collected and consumed without major damage, blossoming and continuing next generating. Not all the seeds we eat were destined to germinate. So the roots, the yuccas, will continue to be planted and will grow. The same plant will continue to multiply its leaves and its fruits.

We can pick up some leaves and let others bloom, so that new plants continue to appear, and grow from their seeds. The same thing happens with the trees: each year they will grow to greater height and they will give us its fruits. If we do so, there will be no interruption of the life cycle of plant organisms, and there will be greater wealth in the whole.

But for this diet to to be effective, I insist: we must take care of the sacred touch. You have to pay attention to how we handle sexual energy. We have to keep our body warm. Legumes and seeds must germinate. The body must get used to it. It's a bit difficult, but this happens only at the beginning.

We can make strong concentrates, with protein content, using all these legumes. Our body should eat a lot of fat, good fat: raw, vegetable fat. That is good for Natem, to nourish all the substances of our body, from our vital liquids to the bones and the marrow. We should consume the amount of hydrates we need for our daily nutrition. We must give our body the proteins it needs and eat - mostly - vegetables and raw fruits, reducing or completely eliminating cereals from our diet.

Anyway, I use to insist, I don't know almost anyone capable to hold on all the required cares to follow a diet strictly based on vegetables, according to the right nutritional facts and vital energy conservation. For that reason and being responsable, I recomend to eat fish in general, as my elders in rainforest. This doesn't interfere with the ceremonies if you keep some space between the events. Seafood, pulps, "water snakes", sort of slugs... and similar things are harmful.

Another important issue, to take into account regarding the daily diet, is the almost complete elimination of sweets and sugars. We should get the sweeteners exclusively from the fruit. And we must trust in the place where we live, that is, in the typical food of the area. This will help us to remember and relate better to Arutam. You should also restrict the use of salt and not over-modify the taste of the meals. You can use spices from the area, but we must ensure that they are not always the same. Do not fall into a state of attachment, or to extremes: neither sweet nor salty. You have to use less salt, and do not try to change the flavor of the meals. It is possible to use herbs from the area as spices, but not always the same. Do not enter into a state of attachment. Neither sweet nor salty: not sticking to either end. If you want to lower your calorie intake, you can turn to stevia leaves. And always have to drink a lot of fresh and pure water, although sometimes you can take vegetable syrups, like the agave or mapple.

In the practice of shamanism we must completely eliminate the use of garlic. Its use is a major mistake, perhaps the most harmful of all. Who eat garlic, cumin and fresh onion can not take ayahuasca. Even if we stopped consuming them ten days before the ceremony, we would still be under the harmful influence of these substances, because to purge these types of spices will require months. Instead, leek can be used without problems. If we do not replace this habit, ayahuasca will cause a nauseating sensation, followed by stomach pain, malaise and vomiting.

Minor, but equally not very recommendable, are cardamom and clove. The use of pepper is slightly tolerable, but not very recommended, because it produces an unccomfortable sensation of heat. Ginger is also not recommended, but is much less harmful than garlic. The use of cinnamon and ginger is more appropriate for the treatment of colds. With regard to common spices, such as oregano, basil, thyme, cilantro, parsley, and this kind of herbs, it must be said that they don’t bring major inconveniences.

Another important recommendation: never heat the oil and never fry it. It should be steamed: sometimes it can be roasted, or prepared in soup, but always in plates of a very good quality.

Finally, we must say that the use of dairy products is a serious mistake and a source of diseases, allergies, inflammations, phlegm, viscosities and pain, and a source of fatigue and mental heaviness. It is also a lack of respect for other mammals.

We must have a sense of responsibility. As I said before, it is important not to consume too many relaxing substances. But this also applies to stimulants. If we stimulate ourselves more than we need, we are making the same mistake. Coffee and chocolate are especially contraindicated in the diet, as well as any other substance whose processing involves the act of toasting the seeds. All of them are, in essence, harmful. The taste of a burned substance, no doubt, not suitable for human use, so that it is strictly prohibited by our elders. This applies also to peanuts and other nuts, which are too greasy. The exception, in all this type of fruits, are walnuts, highly recommended for the diet. Not desirable, however, are bananas, or fruits too sweet, like dates. And do not hesitate to stay away from processed, manufactured and packaged foods.