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Thank you all for your thoughtful replies!

Thanks for this suggestion-- Could you elaborate a little on "the history of y/our region"? I think I know what you're getting at but maybe not. If I've deduced correctly from some of your posts, I am your southern neighbor, yes?

The most incredible thing was how the chants and music affected my consciousness. At one point I was lying down feeling weak and drowsy, but then the chanting literally pulled me upright against my will. I wanted to lie down because my body was aching but the shamans simply did not allow it. I truly had no choice. Soon after I started to purge, which was so clearly pulled out of me by the shamans' voices. I've puked several times on psychedelics, but this was a way different experience. On the second night I consumed more ayahuasca but there was no purging, even though factors like diet and not having eaten etc. had been pretty much identical. At another point, one of chants elicited a mystical experience of unity (iirc this was one on the first night and not the one I briefly describe above), and I seemed to not be the only one, because suddenly a lot of people sat up and almost everyone started singing along, becoming as one voice. I did not verify with other participants afterward whether they had this experience, but that is what is looked like to me. Also, the constant presence of the voice work and music (the second half of the night is more celebratory and includes guitar music) creates a background sense of safety and always gives your mind something to focus upon, preventing you from getting lost in unhealthy thought loops (though it is still possible, obviously). Various symbolic acts also create a sense of togetherness, even though your personal space is completely respected during the experience itself. More broadly, it also helped that there were a lot of pleasant people to share the experience with and that the organizor (not a shaman) was one of the most goodhearted individuals I've ever met.

Re: applying some aspects to solo journeys I had a few ideas:
-Introducing some ceremonial acts, e.g. cleansing the space with smudging and/or prayers, or stating your intention before consuming substance. Like ms_manic_minx says in her aya thread (iirc), this is useful even for hard-nosed sceptics because these actions significantly affect a non-rational part of your mind no matter how you evaluate them intellectually. You don't have to believe in God to believe in praying.

-The ceremony also included rapé (and near the end sananga), which definitely had a strong influence on the experience. However, I find it hard to say how exactly because my experience with this medicine is very limited. But it seems like something to explore and possibly add to solo journeys as well.

-Taking the dieta seriously: Cleaning up your diet and eating blandly, but also avoiding sex and social media and entertainment and too many social events was definitely a powerful form of psychological preparation that created room for a deep experience. Even if these restrictions were entirely arbitrary (which IMO they are not), it would still be good to follow them because it makes your mind anticipate and get ready for a powerful experience. I don’t think it would be good for the dieta to become a source of stress, but simply doing your genuine best to follow its guidelines without becoming neurotic is definitely recommend, IMO.

-I could have left on the first night with a sense of 'wow, that was something', but in retrospect it is obvious that this first night was pretty much laying the groundwork for the second night. Doing the ayahuasca two days in a row was very, very powerful. I now intend to experiment responsibly with consecutive solo journeys as well.

-Theoretically, involving music would be nice as well, but like EmeraldAtomiser says, there really is no way to replicate the live presence of a shaman. I expect I'll prefer silence over an inferior replication.

Europe, one of the Low Countries (not sure how precise the Nexus guidelines allow me to be)

<blockquote data-quote="Sicho Naut" data-source="post: 3952797" data-attributes="member: 56482">Thank you all for your thoughtful replies!Thanks for this suggestion-- Could you elaborate a little on &quot;the history of y/our region&quot;? I think I know what you&#039;re getting at but maybe not. If I&#039;ve deduced correctly from some of your posts, I am your southern neighbor, yes?The most incredible thing was how the chants and music affected my consciousness. At one point I was lying down feeling weak and drowsy, but then the chanting literally pulled me upright against my will. I wanted to lie down because my body was aching but the shamans simply did not allow it. I truly had no choice. Soon after I started to purge, which was so clearly pulled out of me by the shamans&#039; voices. I&#039;ve puked several times on psychedelics, but this was a way different experience. On the second night I consumed more ayahuasca but there was no purging, even though factors like diet and not having eaten etc. had been pretty much identical. At another point, one of chants elicited a mystical experience of unity (iirc this was one on the first night and not the one I briefly describe above), and I seemed to not be the only one, because suddenly a lot of people sat up and almost everyone started singing along, becoming as one voice. I did not verify with other participants afterward whether they had this experience, but that is what is looked like to me. Also, the constant presence of the voice work and music (the second half of the night is more celebratory and includes guitar music) creates a background sense of safety and always gives your mind something to focus upon, preventing you from getting lost in unhealthy thought loops (though it is still possible, obviously). Various symbolic acts also create a sense of togetherness, even though your personal space is completely respected during the experience itself. More broadly, it also helped that there were a lot of pleasant people to share the experience with and that the organizor (not a shaman) was one of the most goodhearted individuals I&#039;ve ever met.Re: applying some aspects to solo journeys I had a few ideas:-Introducing some ceremonial acts, e.g. cleansing the space with smudging and/or prayers, or stating your intention before consuming substance. Like ms_manic_minx says in her aya thread (iirc), this is useful even for hard-nosed sceptics because these actions significantly affect a non-rational part of your mind no matter how you evaluate them intellectually. You don&#039;t have to believe in God to believe in praying.-The ceremony also included rapé (and near the end sananga), which definitely had a strong influence on the experience. However, I find it hard to say how exactly because my experience with this medicine is very limited. But it seems like something to explore and possibly add to solo journeys as well.-Taking the dieta seriously: Cleaning up your diet and eating blandly, but also avoiding sex and social media and entertainment and too many social events was definitely a powerful form of psychological preparation that created room for a deep experience. Even if these restrictions were entirely arbitrary (which IMO they are not), it would still be good to follow them because it makes your mind anticipate and get ready for a powerful experience. I don’t think it would be good for the dieta to become a source of stress, but simply doing your genuine best to follow its guidelines without becoming neurotic is definitely recommend, IMO.-I could have left on the first night with a sense of &#039;wow, that was something&#039;, but in retrospect it is obvious that this first night was pretty much laying the groundwork for the second night. Doing the ayahuasca two days in a row was very, very powerful. I now intend to experiment responsibly with consecutive solo journeys as well.-Theoretically, involving music would be nice as well, but like EmeraldAtomiser says, there really is no way to replicate the live presence of a shaman. I expect I&#039;ll prefer silence over an inferior replication.Europe, one of the Low Countries <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink&nbsp; &nbsp; ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /> (not sure how precise the Nexus guidelines allow me to be)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Sicho Naut, post: 3952797, member: 56482"] Thank you all for your thoughtful replies! Thanks for this suggestion-- Could you elaborate a little on "the history of y/our region"? I think I know what you're getting at but maybe not. If I've deduced correctly from some of your posts, I am your southern neighbor, yes? The most incredible thing was how the chants and music affected my consciousness. At one point I was lying down feeling weak and drowsy, but then the chanting literally pulled me upright against my will. I wanted to lie down because my body was aching but the shamans simply did not allow it. I truly had no choice. Soon after I started to purge, which was so clearly pulled out of me by the shamans' voices. I've puked several times on psychedelics, but this was a way different experience. On the second night I consumed more ayahuasca but there was no purging, even though factors like diet and not having eaten etc. had been pretty much identical. At another point, one of chants elicited a mystical experience of unity (iirc this was one on the first night and not the one I briefly describe above), and I seemed to not be the only one, because suddenly a lot of people sat up and almost everyone started singing along, becoming as one voice. I did not verify with other participants afterward whether they had this experience, but that is what is looked like to me. Also, the constant presence of the voice work and music (the second half of the night is more celebratory and includes guitar music) creates a background sense of safety and always gives your mind something to focus upon, preventing you from getting lost in unhealthy thought loops (though it is still possible, obviously). Various symbolic acts also create a sense of togetherness, even though your personal space is completely respected during the experience itself. More broadly, it also helped that there were a lot of pleasant people to share the experience with and that the organizor (not a shaman) was one of the most goodhearted individuals I've ever met. Re: applying some aspects to solo journeys I had a few ideas: -Introducing some ceremonial acts, e.g. cleansing the space with smudging and/or prayers, or stating your intention before consuming substance. Like ms_manic_minx says in her aya thread (iirc), this is useful even for hard-nosed sceptics because these actions significantly affect a non-rational part of your mind no matter how you evaluate them intellectually. You don't have to believe in God to believe in praying. -The ceremony also included rapé (and near the end sananga), which definitely had a strong influence on the experience. However, I find it hard to say how exactly because my experience with this medicine is very limited. But it seems like something to explore and possibly add to solo journeys as well. -Taking the dieta seriously: Cleaning up your diet and eating blandly, but also avoiding sex and social media and entertainment and too many social events was definitely a powerful form of psychological preparation that created room for a deep experience. Even if these restrictions were entirely arbitrary (which IMO they are not), it would still be good to follow them because it makes your mind anticipate and get ready for a powerful experience. I don’t think it would be good for the dieta to become a source of stress, but simply doing your genuine best to follow its guidelines without becoming neurotic is definitely recommend, IMO. -I could have left on the first night with a sense of 'wow, that was something', but in retrospect it is obvious that this first night was pretty much laying the groundwork for the second night. Doing the ayahuasca two days in a row was very, very powerful. I now intend to experiment responsibly with consecutive solo journeys as well. -Theoretically, involving music would be nice as well, but like EmeraldAtomiser says, there really is no way to replicate the live presence of a shaman. I expect I'll prefer silence over an inferior replication. Europe, one of the Low Countries ;) (not sure how precise the Nexus guidelines allow me to be) [/QUOTE]