Shamanism and Ayahuasca ceremony difficulties. Discussions with Arutam Ruymán in Geneva, Switzerland.
First Discussion
Question: I had a very powerful dream yesterday, with a lot of visions. The whole night. And I was very negative. I have the feeling that I was in a rollercoaster. I think that place was not bearable, or I couldn’t take it... so I felt I was dying. Once, twice, three times. A thousand times. I think there was nothing left of me. And at the same time I was in peace.
Ruymán: that’s okey.
Q: at the same time I felt that sense that it was absolutely necessary, and I was grateful that I went through it. That’s crazy.
Ruymán: It was totally necessary. It was your first vision, right?
Q: When you were chanting, playing this chant, I had a very close connection, I felt that a lot of negative bad stuff came out.
Ruymán: It’s what you’re trying, when I’m singing in that way. I’m somehow squeezing all your organs, all the knots in your self. And when I’m somehow twisting everything, the shadow drops out. And you can feel how the dark shade is coming out, and you’re releasing it. But it happens in the beginning, because it’s your first time, it’s pretty painful. In fact, you feel that somehow you’re being hurted. You’re like dying. And sometimes it’s a sort of agony. Many people confuses, especially if they’re not mature, they confuses this with a bad experience. But, you know, it’s not about experience. And one of the proofs, a practical proof is that today, in your next ceremony, will be different. And you will notice it. And you will sense perfectly all the cleaning that you worked on yesterday, you will feel more light. It will help you to go deeper, with less shade and less resistance, and you will perceive much more clearer. When I saw you in the very beginning, you were coming not only with resistance, of a whole life, feed it, nourished. You were coming with a certain caring on certain pain. Mixed with some sadness, at the same time. And these things are deep, these things are absolutely moving. And my ceremonies are, in this sense, too strong. They’re only for serious seekers. Otherwise no one would be ready to go on, to resist such a transformation. Because if you notice, as well as you’re describing, the transformation wasn’t only in the mind and the heart of it. It’s pretty difficult. It’s even in the nervous system, in the body. So I don’t stop. I don’t give you much time to breath. So really I congratulate you because somehow today you’re today sitting up here, talking. And somehow you had that yesterday a lot. And now you come and share it out with all of us.
Q: I was pretty devastated this morning, because of the painful experience that I’ve had in my life, but there were some positive things as well that I later realized today and I felt a tremendous amount of gratitude and goodness as well. Part of the journey.
Ruymán: one of the most difficult things of this truthfull paths, well taught and well transmitted, is that you have to taste –somehow- the darkness, and the shade that we’re carrying on in our whole life. And that’s a pure madness. You see your own madness. And so sometimes it looks so real. But you have the opportunity to confront it, to face it before you. Otherwise, in a normal life, that’s so heavenly and to deeply stored, that there’s no way to touch it. Believe me: this is your first day, this is your first time, doing one of the most truthfull practices, that I think nowadays you can find, so you’ve done well. So, cheer up! Today I’m gonna check you, personally, I’m gonna follow up.
----Note---- Next ceremony day, Ruymán decided help him directly, he put a blessed enchantment on his Ayahuasca and later on blew him, he had the deepest and best experience of his spiritual life path. Specially due to his hard previous day work, where he released many dark tendencies.
Second discussion
Q. I think I came with a lot of expectations, and I had ideas of what should happen or what would happen through the night. And actually nothing happened really. I mean, nothing in a very practical or a very clear way. So I didn’t have any visons, I didn’t have any clear messages, i don't know, perhaps I didn’t drink enough.
Ruymán:Did you throw up?
Q. After the second time I was having a lot of movement, but I couldn’t throw up, I didn’t have any fluids, I guess. I was fighting, basically, but I couldn’t.
Ruymán. And what do you want to throw up.
Q. I think it’s my girl friend. She left me a while ago. I spoke and listened to her.
Ruymán: well, all the cases are different. So probably you didn’t have enogh energy to light up the visions. The Natem stayed more in this area, the roots of your being, trying to renovate your energy. So this is the reason why it wasn’t so strong. The medicine we took yesterday was full of the Yaji leafs. This is the visionary part of the mixture. You need a higher concentration in the vines, where is the anacond power that can arise. The anacond, create the vision, empowering your energy. I think today we’re going to try another. More rich in the vine. And I will drink it much time before, so I will know very well what you’re going to take. Anyway, don’t worry, because a lot of work has been done. You will begin from a new point, from a new spot.
Q. I noticed that during the night I came more and more into the body, became more relaxed and calm. But it was very subtle.
Ruymán. Yes. But a lot of work has been done and a lot of sacred touch has been restored. So, today you’re starting from a higher level, and it’s probable that if the medicine is more rich in the vine –probably yes- and caring your dosage personally, I think we will have success. But it’s important to improve your energy level, because otherwise…
Q. Shoul I increase the dosage?
Ruymán. You should increase the dosage, but I let you know. Don’t drink without me, okay? We’ll do it together. Also you're very affected by your ex girlfriend. And that is a problem as well. Probably your mind is pretty trapped in that cicle, and you’re depressed. Many things are working against you. But let’s see how it goes today.
Third discussion
Q. I always feel very weak with few wishes to start new things. This night I felt this very clear and today I'm pretty tired. During the night the effect was very light.
Ruymán. Yes, I can see clearly how the Arutam's caress is weak in you. I don’t have to see your pulse. I can see it in your attitude, in your way of speaking, in the colour of your skin. That’s a problem because you need life and energy to reach higer states of consciuness. How many spoons did you take? A lot I guess, a high amount of it. You took six spoons, right?
Q. Eight.
Ruymán. It’s madness. It could fetch down a horse (laughs). The Shamanism is working with the real Arutam’s caress. If we don’t have it, it doesn’t work. So easy. Because of this: we try to eat very well, very nutricious food, but very light, so we don’t waste energy. We take a lot of care regarding to sex, because, in men, ejaculation is the way to weaken the sacred touch and the roots of ourself. And we try to keep harmony, and the perfect balance, guiding our lives with Tobacco, and living in the proper place, in the proper peace, close to nature, and taking a lot of time to our self, to meditate and taking care of these depths, these reaches that we’re discovering in the ceremony. It is the way to keep the Arutam’s touch very intensely within you. If you take a couple of drops of Natem, that’s enough to light up all the energy that we have already kept, but if we don’t do this, and, you know, do the opposite, for example, if we take relaxing substances like farmaceutical drugs, or even natural drugs like opium or cannabis or this kind of things, we’re working weakening a lot the Sacred Touch. We have to recover ourselves a little bit more first by changing our life’s habits, and, of course, if is needed, by using the herbal medicine: roots, plants, leafs. That if you know very well how to make a diagnose on how to choose the herbs, it’s very possible to recover a lot in the sacred touch. Imagine: if we live our whole life rejecting on working on Arutam’s sacred touch, and then we drink Natem and all this is recovered and we enter in a sacred extasis with the Great Mystery, imagine: I would be very famous, and rich. That’s impossible. And few people want to really learn or practice Shamanism in the right way, because most of the people really don’t want to change in that weird state of pleasure, where they use to say. There’s people who have suffered enough in life, and really don’t have a chance. Many people. Much more than others. And for them, when they approach to Shamanism, they really want to change. They realy want to find a way to remember where they came from, where they are, and how to heal themselves. And it works if you have the will power, and you redirect yourself, focus, you can get whatever you want with Shamanism. In the tradition, Uwishin is the name of Shaman. The Uwishin is somehow providing the medicine, the Natem, to the students; also to help the people who are in a quest; more often to very ill people, to help in their healing, and the Shaman is increasing with them the presence of the Spirit very powerfully. And the people get in trance, and those who are in the quest, find the answers, find their paths, and have really deep and blessed insights. Those who need to be healed, feel how the energy is really increasing, and the body is starting to really remember how it should sense life like recently born. And the students are learning how the Shaman is doing this. So, in the tradition, in the house of the visions, we have all this things, all together. But nothing is possible if we don’t pay attention to the previous remarks. Everything is explained just by the sensation. And the wisest man is the one who has found the last -the clearest- union with his spirit, the last sensation, and is caring for it. This is the wisest man: the one who left behind the clouds of confusion of the extremes, of the rational mind memories, the self recognition, and can sing like the Tucan on a tree, or the acuatic Tiger in the river, the Anaconda soaked in the swamp. That’s why in our rituals we dedicate the whole night just only to adore Arutam, and go deeply in the crystal of existence, and cry singing his blessings, sparkling the light of deep visions.
Fourth discussion
Q. Might I ask you something? It’s my second time, and I still vomit too much, not being able to go deep enough within me.
Ruymán. I see that, during the ceremony, that you take the medicine and then you go inside your blanquets quickly, and you don’t want to know about anything. I think there’s a part of you that is somehow trying to come back to your same self constantly, isolating you from the world, and then closing yourself. When the process start going deeply, the cold arrives, the forgotten sacred touch caresses your heart depths,close to your conscious or present sensation, you reject it quickly. You throw it out. That’s my impression about you.
Q. Yes, I think something’s coming, but I stop it somehow.
Ruymán: so you want to change this?
Q. Yes, everything. Everything.
Ruymán. So I’ll help you to deal with this. So don’t drink without me. I will give you the Natem. I will make an enchantment for you. But, please: make the effort. Don’t throw up quickly. And this time try to be more with us, Ok? Look at me. Sometimes I will be laid down, and sometimes I will be sitting with all of you, crying the Arutam's joy. Sometimes I will be meditating. Try to be more active. Don’t enter in your little world and hide under the blankets.
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.
The mother
I'd like to share with you an excerpt of a quary asked by a lady from St. Petersburg:
-I’d like to know if you could help me out. I have a sick little daughter. She was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. She had received the unofficial treatment and, although initially there was an improvement, cancer has returned with possible metastasis. Right now the doctors propose to perform a fairly aggressive procedure, but my daughter is in terrible shape, physically and mentally. I think she doesn’t feel like living anymore, and she's giving in. I really don’t think that I can help her to improve her situation, I don’t know what will happen to her after a new exposure to medication. Would it be possible to use a natural procedure with herbs, or even Shamanism and ayahuasca to treat her disease?
- My dear, you come a little late to request my help and my ancestror's knowledge. The symptoms that you've described to me, so in detail, indicate a severe deterioration of her vital energy. It is not the same to address this disease from the very beginning, when the patient is strong and full of sacred touch. Now she can barely breathe. I want to clarify that Shamanism is culture, religion and medicine, all at once, but within a particular context. The natives of the jungle never experienced such severe wear of their vital energy; On the other hand, cancer was, for them, as unknown a matter as other diseases. What shamanism can offer us, in these cases, hasn’t been well studied or proven, except for some experiences in which shamans have put themselves at risk by trying to help their fellows out of pure compassion. If the responsibility is assumed and in common agreement with all family members, a treatment could be attempted, under cautious medical supervision, but now it’s no time to do so, due to the patient’s state of deterioration and her previous exposure to aggressive treatments.
The person must recover the sacred touch if he or she still can, then they must initiate, little by little, the practice of shamanism. In this case, doctors must follow the path they have already started. With baited breath I say that I regret to say that to you; I’m not leaving anyone in pain, but age is the experience that makes a man wiser in all branches of knowledge and action.
Thus, I understand that you want to leave, because this would be the main reason of your meeting here.
- No, why do you say that? I want to stay with you and be at the ceremony. My daughter needs me full of light to be by her side through whatever it’s supposed to happen. I need to be well for my other two children and my whole family. They need me and I want to feel the blessing of the Spirit so that I can be the heart and support of them all. I need peace today more than ever. And I will find it.
Fuck, I thought to myself: I've been a fussy baby lastly, mourning the last sad surrounding circumstances where I've been involved. We believe we're very important even at the moment of suffering, destroyingtoday us the "I" with a very good justification. From the blackness of pain only deep darkness can happen, and so it will continue like any other trend. I thanked her so much for the lesson and for her truthful strength. Today I want to share something that was meaningful to me, with all the feeling that we -my translator, the mother and I- experienced in that room.
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.
Farewell
Mountain, you love the roots of bare trees,
they heal me with the maturity of their branches in the wind,
as their saltpeter soaks my face.
I see the sky arrive,
in its dark wavy mirror,
to the same coast where I was born.
There I look today
and I say goodbye to the one I love,
I say goodbye to the one who loves us.
I remember your respectful words to the marine horizon,
today and tomorrow,
I will share them with Luna.
You are afternoon's strength
Coming back on the tide and soaking us.
Far above you still get my eyes wet,
and that's good.
Streams run in winter on my Island,
never more than today, they carry my heart,
Their crying is sweet and it's history.
The wealth of age next to Tobacco,
teach men not to suffer
and never spoil the Great Sense in this short life.
To the force that made us born,
we will return in peace.
Nothing will have changed.
And among heaven and earth,
a resistant composition won´t hurt anymore
bleeding under wet leaves.
Great Perfection, you live within us,
you draw the world to your wealth and likeness
as an emanation of the most beautiful crystal.
Temper our hearts
with the cool breeze from our grandparents' breath,
and the bright sun of the presence of those who are not here today.
As a man I take a seat
and meditate on the mountain side to see better,
next to the white eagle, I slowly raise my head to the blue.
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.
