Working with the ally

    In Shamanism, Colonialism, and the Wild Man, the anthropologist Michael Taussig explores yage shamanism in Colombia, where ancient rituals have taken on new meanings in the wake of the cruel excesses of colonialism. Taussig's Mestizo sorcerors exorcise terror through laughter and improvisation, "building and rebuilding neocolonial healing rituals wherein fate is wrested from the hands of God and transcribed into a domain of chance and perhapsness."

   Most anthropologists believe that all religious rituals work to order and unify society. Taussig found the opposite with yage: The ceremonies opened up a transcendent space for chaos. He quotes Roland Barthes on the idea of a "third" or "obtuse meaning," outside of what can be expressed in language or defined by cultural analysis:

" ... the obtuse meaning appears to extend outside culture, knowledge, information; analytically it has something derisory about it; opening out into the infinity of language, it can come through as limited in the eyes of analytic reason; it belongs to the family of pun, buffoonery, useless expenditure. Indifferent to moral or aesthetic categories (the trivial, the futile, the false, the pastiche), it is on the side of the carnival."(Barthes, Image, Music, Text)

    For Taussig, shamanism preserves a place for knowledge that can heal because it falls outside of any system. Yage visions open up constellations of the unknown, obtuse meanings, and "chance and perhapsness." (From Daniel Pinchbeck's "Breaking Open the Head")

 

Here are some brief descriptions of ways we have rediscovered for working with the ally. They are purely a result of experience, intuition, experiment and observation and have not been taught by any particular person or group:

- This becomes a work of healing , inspiration, integration and transformation, on any and/or all levels: physical , emotional, mental and spiritual. This process is usually blissful , sometimes terrible, and it is not easy to predict which way it will go. We do not always know what is needed for continued growth. Full responsibilty and trust are essential to actively work with this potion.

- The body is the foundation. Too much tension in the body has equivalents in the emotions and in the mind, and vice versa , and the effect is usually a block of energy . The deeper the relaxation , the more the flow of energy can be sustained and the deeper the transformative effect . The breath is key to relaxing or energising. Practising yoga and pranayama (breathing techniques) or any other body-centred practice in-between (not during) sessions is invaluable.

- A healthy diet is important. The more we get into it the more sensitive we become to what we put into our body. Reducing toxic substances and highly processed foods from the diet is beneficial for us and the planet.

- Not eating or drinking anything for 3-4 hours before and after drinking seems to allow the body to absorb it easier, and to reduce the chances of throwing it up before it starts to work.

-Best results seem to be from drinking the vine slowly (say over 45min or so), then starting to slowly drink the dm tea( again sipping it slowly) as soon as the vine/syrian rue is down, i.e. no waiting . A smooth, continuous buildup is best. If one knows how much vine one needs , mixing all the ingredients together in one cup , as is traditionally done, seems no less effective.

-It is best not to drink too late in the night, when one would rather be sleeping.

- Whether indoors or outdoors,  lots of space is necessary , as well as comfort and warmth.

- Thinking or worrying is best left out. An empty mind provides the space for the magic of the experience to unfold.

- The voice is the best medium through which the energy is released and harmonised. The voice opens doors to new levels.

- Conscious surrender and trust for this process are important . Letting go of old patterns of moving , feeling and thinking is allowed by conscious surrender to the new.   Attempting to control the experience is missing the point .

-This is not about astral projection and leaving the body, but a about a full re-connection with the body and the self , on all levels. Complete presence within the body is maintained at all times. The intent is integration, not dissociation.

- The visions, encounters with entities, lights, sounds , horrors and ecstacies experienced are almost like side effects of this process. There is nothing in them apart from what is being processed and communicated, and attempting to repeat or resist them is a waste of energy. They are like the fireworks created by the release of energy that had been dammed up for too long. This is not internal home cinema.There is nothing to be achieved by sinking into awe and submission before the wonder of the spirit world. All one needs to do is breathe , sense , feel and pay attention. Any escapist or narcissistic tendencies ought to be carefully observed and resolved. The way is letting go of all experiences. Seeking breeds frustration. When someone shows you a beautiful crystal or an exotic flower you don't stay there forever wowing at it. You gratefully absorb its beauty, say thanks and then move on....

-Having said that, the visions and ecstacies are gifts to be enjoyed to the fullest while they are happening , and not to be puritanically resisted...Wholeness involves pleasure and sensuality , an opennes to new wonders and experiences...We are required to explore the delight of being awakened human beings in joyous celebration of the miracle of life and consciousness....Establishing a relationship with this ally involves enjoying its gifts and listening to its messages.

-The way to continue working with psychedelics in general and ayahuasca in particular while remaining coherent and sane seems to be to realise the relative nature of belief. Otherwise paranoia and/or religious mania (e-god) await the believer. Belief is like a fixed mental pattern that sooner or later bears little relevance to the ever changing , fluid nature of the self and the world. These potions aren't just about glimpsing any supposed hidden ultimate reality but about catalysing a healing transformation . A tendency to form any strongly held views on how the universe works and our place in it , and to take any serious decisions about one's life , based on one particular psychedelic experience ought to be carefully re-examined in the light of further life experience, with and without psychedelics.

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