Ayahuasca for sale

Why is ayahuascas popularity on the rise?

I woke up at 5am this morning with a question reeling in my still dreaming mind, why has ayahuasca become so extremely popularized in western culture now. I myself had been fascinated by ayahuasca for many many years, I had participated in online communities on the subject, studied with an ayahuascero for six years, and participated in many group ceremonies and private experiences with it. I had also worked with many many other medicines, I had participated in entheogenic psychotherapy, I had participated in san pedro ceremonies, peyote ceremonies wiht the NAC and had even participated in Vilca ceremonies the infamous South American snuff; all in all I have ingested and worked in a very sacred manner with over 50 different psychoactive substances both man and plant derived over the last 20 years and each of them in my personal opinion had amazing potential and qualities of equal value to ayahuasca.

I had met with and interviewed with South African ethnobotanists and Sangomas about their use of 2cB as a sacred medicine, and as a transpersonal anthropologist and a mental health professional, as well as a healer I have spoken with many amazing healers, ayahuasceros, road men, shaman, mystics and therapists that have worked with a wide assortment of plants and chemicals as well. Each of them totting their favored medicine as a miracle capable of nearly any cure for any malady. I had spoken with ethnobotanists, pharmacologists, chemists and scientists, experts in their field, who have revealed that many of these medicines are able to either spark incredible releases of immunoglobin Ato create spontaneous remission's in cancer, and other diseases, that they are able to cure addictions to the less noble of substances and to even addictive habitual patterns of behavior. I have sat in lectures by amazing researchers on the antibiotic and antioxidant properties of entheogenic cacti many of which that rival anything previously known by men in white lab coats. I have sat and watched humble as well as arrogant men wield paranormal powers to heal and work in synergy with nature, I have seen miraculous things that twist out beliefs in what is real and what is not, into shapes that defy the imagination.

But this morning my thoughts came to Peyote and to the amazing Native American traditions that work with it in such a sacred and profound manner. the medicine they call it, Granpa... Grand father. "I don't know about any psycho-babble, ego, mystic, nonsense, but I do know that people come into the tee pee to get well and they get well." A road man once told me after a tee pee meeting. And they do, they get cured of ailments, addictions, habitual behaviors, and it brings them together as a community, as a family, where one can see grand mothers sit with 4 generations of grand children by their side. Amazing things happen in tee pee ceremonies, and I will not speak of those things here in detail because they are sacred and should be shared in a good way between people, and not in the less impersonal means that writing and publishing provides. The things that do happen however as as amazing and powerful as any ayahuasca ceremony I have ever participated in, or any other ceremony for that matter, even ones led by myself or good and trusted friend's.

So why is Ayahuasca on the top of the list in peoples minds these days? Peyote and other sacred medicines are just as effective and powerful, as are the traditional or methods of working with them. Why is not peyote; to continue with it as my main example, not popularized in the media, in spiritual circles, tourist trades as well as global ethnootanical trade. Why is peyote no the subject of reality TV shows, documentaries, and research projects by some of the worlds most astute scientists, why is peyote research not receiving, grants and being published on FOX news of all places?

This was my question this morning at 5am with my rapid thoughts spinning me out of the dream world. Why is this the case? The first thought that arose from the still dreaming state... It was never for sale. Peyote was never for sale. Yes you can buy peyote, still to this day you can buy peyote, in Canada you can buy peyote over the Internet as a live plant, in Australia, Denmark, possibly even Japan one can buy peyote plants. One can buy peyote at Phish Concerts I am sure these days. I do not mean that peyote itself was never for sale, I am referring to the tradition of working with peyote, the relationship that the North and Central American people have with peyote was never for sale. The Peyote ceremonies where never for sale. Yes people sold illegitimate peyote ceremonies to new agers and hippies from time to time, but the traditions and people who really work with peyote do not sell ceremonies. You do not pay for a ceremony in North American indigenous traditions. It is a huge taboo, and is socially frond upon and is considered the greatest disrespect to spirit. It is not done. Those that do it are not rewarded in doing so by their culture and peers in any way.

Ceremonies and traditions are a family affair, it is a tribal affair, it is not always exclusive to tribe, or ethnicity, though in some cases it can be. But many traditions and ceremonies are open through invitation to those that are drawn, and to those that need the help, people helping other people, people treating people as relatives regardless of blood. People support healers and spiritual leaders and the work that needs to be done with out having to pay for it, an almost alien concept in western society, aid is given in what ever way it can to get what must be done, done. Whether it be the gifting of money, or food, or a place to stay, any gift that will support those that need it so that the job gets done. if it costs money people pitch in, what goes around comes around. Its a very natural flow. People who do not have, get what they need regardless if they can afford it, and other alien concept in western society where you cannot have what you cannot afford applies to everything including health care. I just learned yesterday my uncle will be on a catheter his entire life because he could not afford a simple procedure that could have helped him.
In sweet S.A. however one can buy a limpia, a cleansing, one can buy a ceremony, one can buy the medicine, one can buy a retreat, and can buy the sacred teachings of a great and powerful vegetalista to teach you to go on dieta. You can pay for that, you can purchase it, you can buy it, and you can sell it, and you can make lots of money doing it as well. In Bolivia 15 students of a ayahauscero can spend 3000$ a peice for their 3 month long tutelage in working with ayahausca and san pedro, going to sacred sites ect. 45000 American dollars converts currently to 314044.40 Bolivianos that is an incredible amount of wealth in Bolivia, and its a real example of what is currently happening. We reward this in the west, good for them, its a free market, these shaman are being smart, supporting their families, reinvesting the money some times to support their communities, which is not always the case. Regardless it is theirs to sell, who are we to say what is right and wrong, right? And I am not going to. I am also not going to buy ceremonies, but that's just me.

Why wont I buy ceremonies? Well it's not because of some admiration or romanticism for other cultures, but because as a transpersonal anthropologists and a community mental health specialist I see connections and I see causes and effects every day. I have also learned a great deal about the cause and effect of not selling ceremonies in northern American indigenous communities. It build community, it builds intimacy, and allows for mutual care to occur between people. It allows people who do not have to have. For years I saw a South American shaman I studied with, who charged for ceremony turn people away or haggle with people who showed up who could not pay. Good friends could not get well because they could not afford it. It allows communities a certain amount of quality control, those who are good healers are supported, those that are good teachers are supported, those that are good leaders are supported, those are not, are not supported by the community. It is not a question of you get what you pay for. Instead it is a matter of you are supported by that which you support.

Its encouraging to know we have such a good example to learn from. So close to us.

It became very apparent to me as I thought more and more and came farther out of my dream state that the buying and selling of ayahausca and ayahausca ceremonies has made it THE greatest medicine, the most amazing and sought after medicine. The "King of Brews" as a spoof t-shirt from the 90's said in a popular psychedelic magazine. The buying and selling of ayahausca made ayahausca available to us, a society that rewards and is rewarded by a concept that everything is for sale, that not to, long ago even thought that human lives are for sale, and who still to this day have "Human Resource" personal in every cooperate office and large Non-profit organizations. Is buying and selling ayahausca ceremonies a terrible thing? Well on the one hand it has gotten it a lot of press, its spread it around the globe, where in Sweden or japan one can attend a traditional ayahausca ceremony. It may be spawning new religious and spiritual movements, social change, and new research into the mind and mind altering substances. All good things, but as with many things bought and sold in the global economy there are unforeseen costs. To continue with peyote and the peyote ceremony in North America, the unforeseen cost is family, mutual support, the maintenance of respectful relationships, and those that cannot afford what they need receiving the help they so desperately need. What value do we place on these unforeseen costs? On family or community? I think we can look around western society and say that the value we place on family and community is on a serious decline. That is not something I wish to support. I also believe that the buying and selling of ayahuasca has placed it on a pedestal, preventing us from seeing that there are other options some times right under our nose that are just as amazing and as possible in meeting our needs for healing, growth and transformation.

I do think though that it is possible for us to learn to establish communities of mutual aid in ayahuasca ceremonies, or any work with these sacred medicines, but it will take a real shift in gears to how we think of supporting each other, and building community. It will take retrofitting how we come by the medicines, and possibly working with what we can have readily available instead of just one from far away so that the cost to the community is lower. I believe that some communities such as the ayahausca religions Damie and the UDV are already participating in this dynamic, and it is very encouraging. So it can be done by people who did not grow up in a culture that practices this already.

It ayahuasca really the "king of brews" because its bought and sold as I state? Its a compelling question? Why has it become so popular, and more so then other medicines that can be as much benefit? Was my half dreaming mind correct in that it is because it is bought and sold? I am not sure... But it did get me thinking a lot about community, and what we can do to build community around these medicines in a very different way, and I would encourage every one to do so as well!