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Interesting research on "what is actually going on" with Ayahuasca.

Migrated topic.
Metashaman

Metashaman

Rising Star
chacruna.net

Are Psychedelic Hallucinations Actually Metaphorical Perceptions?

Psychiatrists usually define hallucination as a sensory experience that appears to be real, but is not produced by any actual object of the environment. Key, in this definition, is the
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"Psychedelic hallucinogens are known to induce synesthesia and to increase communication between areas and networks of the brain that do not usually communicate with each other. It is hence no surprise that the shamans’ songs are able to shape people’s visions."

Good read.

~Fate
 
Any sound can shape a vision. Shamans don't hold all the keys, they don't have carte blanche on these experiences. Yes, they are familiar and knowledgeable with these substance, but they are going to have to let go of the reins at some point. The shamans are falling away and one day the shamans of old will be gone.

We are taking the torch now. Am I discounting these shamans, yep. I see no need to pay some old indian guy who lives in the forest money to guide my journey with songs that I cannot understand. These songs are simple vibrations. These shamans hold onto what limited power they have by saying that they hold the key. They do not have carte blanche on these substances and these experiences. There is more than one way to enter into these experiences.

The best thing these shamans could do is to teach what they know. Pass the torch. Teach classes on what they are doing and why. From what I have seen they like to portray themselves as the only ones who can talk with the ancestors. They are stuck and that is why they are falling away. They live in superstition and that will be their downfall. There is nothing special about what they do. It can be learned. But will they teach it to the rest of the world. Nope. Well... maybe if you have a few hundred dollars.

If they were really so concerned about the world they would give away the information they have. Do you think that will happen? I don't.. I see greed.. they are hypocrites through and through.
 
The point I got out of it was the "mind" and current stimulus can affect your experience, which leans towards "It's all in your head". If the experience can be manipulated and the entities, it wouldn't be "real". This tries to link it to Synesthesia. (People seeing music etc).

It seemed like a good grounding article.

I know we've had a discussion on the topic of Shapibo's (probably spelling that wrong). I still enjoy the presence, but I am comfortable with a friend or family who has gone through it being my "watcher" at this point.

I took it as a "explanation behind the shaman" stuff as trying to say "doesn't matter", but I could be wrong.


This is the concluding paragraph.
"I would like to conclude with a caveat. So far, I have assumed that spirits and things seen while under the effects of ayahuasca are reducible to brain processes. Such a naturalist and reductionist approach will certainly appear as quite disputable to many of the psychonauts who have had the joy of discovering the world of ayahuasca. However, reducing a thing to brain processes does not amount to pulling it down or declaring it uninteresting and worthless. For instance, one may very well acknowledge that love is nothing more than a matter of neurochemical balance in the brain, and yet deem it one of the most wonderful and valuable things in life. So it goes with ayahuasca spirits."
 
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