Types of Rituals with ayahuasca / DMT

[cheiron]

Is was wondering... My initiations with Ayahuasca happened mainly in the Santo Daime church. That means that during a period of three years, all of my hyperspace experiences have happened within the ritual orientation in space and time of the Daime. For those who have never been there:

During rituals, that last several hours, the Daime is served to the participants. Rituals are performed in a hexagonal mandala structure, women on one side, men on the other. In the middle the musicians are seated. Some rituals are healing rituals, others concentration and meditation rituals, some are dancing rituals. The rituals take up to 14 hours.


and a short video

So, now I was wondering, how do your rituals look when drinking ayahuasca or smoalking?

 

[Creo]

There's a lot of information on the Nexus about extractions, preparations and doses. But there isn't as much discussion on things like set and setting and how to work with entheogens to achieve your goals.

This is an important question and I hope people more experienced than myself see this thread and respond.

 

[cheiron]

I just had my first experience with homebrew ayahuasca (caapi & chaliponga).
I made my own ritual, it somehow came natural, and I had a really good experience

 

[vineseeker]

there really is no set ritual for me at all anymore.
I tried it but ultimately I found that the real ritual only happens when you connect and do stuff. Thats my ritual now, connect and do it with the flow. This may even be an art:grin:
I know from spirits also that they approve of this way.

 

[Infectedstyle]

^ where do you go when you take DMT?

or are you talking about ayahuasca?

which form of ingestion are we talking about here?

 

[universecannon]

I just had my first experience with homebrew ayahuasca (caapi & chaliponga).
I made my own ritual, it somehow came natural, and I had a really good experience

Its good to just go with the flow. Things do seem to often unfold naturally then

I try and meditate and do yoga for several days beforehand, and spend more time in nature away from electronics - especially the day of the experience. I've noticed that energy in usually reflects energy out in a lot of ways, meaning that the more preparation and ritual that goes into the experience the more i'll get out of it, generally speaking.

Taking ayahuasca or even dmt after just farting around all day and not getting my head together is usually not as great as when i do, and has led me into some really scatter brained experiences a few times. I've noticed that whatever thoughts and activities i've been engaged in during the days, and especially hours, leading up to it can color the experience... for better or worse.

I like to clean up the space i'll be tripping in and then turn on the himalayan salt rock lamp and/or candles and smudge the place. Then its nice to unwind my body and push any tension out with meditative yoga stretches...After the body wriggles around for a while it really puts the mind more at ease. After that meditation to quiet the chatter and try and fill myself with positive energy, love, and acceptance. Maybe asking the universe and the plants to be gentle and not burn me too bad .

And its nice to try and confront beforehand any big fears that i might have about it...I remember terence mckenna saying how before the mushrooms kicked in he used to think about all of the things he was afraid might pop up during the experience and ruin the trip (like some place in that state of mind that he called "the meat locker"). He joked that if you've already mulled over how big of an asshole you can be 20 times in the last hour then it will already be old news by the time the experience hits you. That's not to say that we should avoid facing our issues, but you get what i mean. For example I have a great fear of returning to a psychotic state of mind i entered on mushrooms once, and it really puts my mind at ease to face that potential issue before it kicks in. Even if its an issue i need to deal with during the experience it helps a lot for me.

I used to be more into writing/dream journaling everyday to, and this was also a useful way to gather my thoughts and intentions before an experience and sort of turn my mind inside out onto paper, which can be a nice preliminary exercise before the big shebang which does turn it inside out but in a far different and more intense way. It also helped provide my left brain conceptual world with some frameworks that helps it prepare for and deal with the experience both during and after. Not to mention that if your going into it trying to solve some specific problem in life, then this can help lay the groundwork so to speak.

Ritual my seem like woo to some people but anyone can understand how we all build associations in our mind...relating certain things, activities, and sensation with certain states of mind and so on. Over time a more ritualized ceremony can help to put one into the state of mind that they associate that ritual with, possibly leading to deeper and more coherent experiences...or some really bizarre stuff besides, depending on the ritual. I was skeptical of the power of ritual as well until i did some sort of lsd magick ritual and had my mind blown beyond belief :d

Anyways i don't always do all of that before every experience- especially not every time i smoke dmt- but thats just my general thoughts on it. I've heard of shamans saying that in some ways ritual is for people who don't know what they're doing, and that might be correct in some respects. I still feel like a total beginner when it comes to navigating the experience, but this all has helped me at one time or another in dealing with it.

And along with all that mantras/"prayers" are an invaluable tool to have at your disposal as well

 

[universecannon]

I just had my first experience with homebrew ayahuasca (caapi & chaliponga).
I made my own ritual, it somehow came natural, and I had a really good experience

Its good to just go with the flow. Things do seem to often unfold naturally then

I try and meditate and do yoga for several days beforehand, and spend more time in nature away from electronics - especially the day of the experience. I've noticed that energy in usually reflects energy out in a lot of ways, meaning that the more preparation and ritual that goes into the experience the more i'll get out of it, generally speaking.

Taking ayahuasca or even dmt after just farting around all day and not getting my head together is usually not as great as when i do, and has led me into some really scatter brained experiences a few times. I've noticed that whatever thoughts and activities i've been engaged in during the days, and especially hours, leading up to it can color the experience... for better or worse.

I like to clean up the space i'll be tripping in and then turn on the himalayan salt rock lamp and/or candles and smudge the place. Then its nice to unwind my body and push any tension out with meditative yoga stretches...After the body wriggles around for a while it really puts the mind more at ease. After that meditation to quiet the chatter and try and fill myself with positive energy, love, and acceptance. Maybe asking the universe and the plants to be gentle and not burn me too bad .

And its nice to try and confront beforehand any big fears that i might have about it...I remember terence mckenna saying how before the mushrooms kicked in he used to think about all of the things he was afraid might pop up during the experience and ruin the trip (like some place in that state of mind that he called "the meat locker"). He joked that if you've already mulled over how big of an asshole you can be 20 times in the last hour then it will already be old news by the time the experience hits you. That's not to say that we should avoid facing our issues, but you get what i mean. For example I have a great fear of returning to a psychotic state of mind i entered on mushrooms once, and it really puts my mind at ease to face that potential issue before it kicks in. Even if its an issue i need to deal with during the experience it helps a lot for me.

I used to be more into writing/dream journaling everyday to, and this was also a useful way to gather my thoughts and intentions before an experience and sort of turn my mind inside out onto paper, which can be a nice preliminary exercise before the big shebang which does turn it inside out but in a far different and more intense way. It also helped provide my left brain conceptual world with some frameworks that helps it prepare for and deal with the experience both during and after. Not to mention that if your going into it trying to solve some specific problem in life, then this can help lay the groundwork so to speak.

Ritual my seem like woo to some people but anyone can understand how we all build associations in our mind...relating certain things, activities, and sensation with certain states of mind and so on. Over time a more ritualized ceremony can help to put one into the state of mind that they associate that ritual with, possibly leading to deeper and more coherent experiences...or some really bizarre stuff besides, depending on the ritual. I was skeptical of the power of ritual as well until i did some sort of lsd magick ritual and had my mind blown beyond belief :d

Anyways i don't always do all of that before every experience- especially not every time i smoke dmt- but thats just my general thoughts on it. I've heard of shamans saying that in some ways ritual is for people who don't know what they're doing, and that might be correct in some respects. I still feel like a total beginner when it comes to navigating the experience, but this all has helped me at one time or another in dealing with it.

And along with all that mantras/"prayers" are an invaluable tool to have at your disposal as well

 

[cheiron]

@universecannon , thanks for the long reply.

In the mean time, I have been developing my own elements of ritual, every experience bringing new insights and leads to develop further.

Along to the things you note, like:

- meditation / yoga
- mental preparation
- cleaning up the space (important step i came to discover...)
- smudging
- stating intentions

I have been developing little prayers to protect the space, playing around with sound (songs, music, chanting) and visual maps (enochian magick type geometric patterns on paper) sometimes combined with creative work like painting.

It's not so much the ritual, but more, the ritual helps to focus the mind and navigate the experiences in these realms. In the end it seems pretty hard to share something like this, because it is so personal. I mean, what works for me, might repel you, and vice versa. It's all about fitting your paradigm's and shifting the paradigm towards the next step. Or something like that

 

[Infectedstyle]

DMT taught me Yoga. I always thought it was a waste of time before i vaped those little white crystals.

-Stating intentions, yes. Most certainly so. I can't stress this enough. I believe we are working with real entities here, and they listen to requests. If they think your intentions are bullocks they are going to treat you like bullocks. I think it's as simple as that. They can see right into your soul and you can't hide anything from them either. So you better be honest with yourself.

My most fullfilling experience has been meditating and listening to some chakra tones video on youtube for about 1.5 hours before vaping. Interesting thing is that about 10 minutes before vaping i actually heared a voice in my head saying something along the lines of: "We've got to reward him for the effort".

As soon as the DMT actually hit my lungs all fear i had pre-launch evaporated. Weird feeling how the fear i had can just disappear. And i was really afraid. It was a thunderous night and the reason i was meditating was to try and overcome the intense fear. Really alien experience after that, very revelatory experience.

Anyway, i am leaning towards some idea of ritualizing the space. Clean air, incense etc.
Very practical reasons for this, i am thinking of atoms and molecules and how they might be able to carry positive or negative energy. I suppose certain sounds and incense might provide positivity to those molecules in the air. The same molecules that are going to be breathe in and recognized by the olfactory region of the brain. Just like dmt is recognized somewhere on the 5ht receptor or something.

I base this on the fact that my most scary experience up until now was when i ripped a fart just before vaping the spice. Talk about negative energy, i was seeing dozens of bats and all sorts of chaotic stuff. Perhaps i was disrespecting the spice but i somehow believe it might be possible that i had such a crap experience because of the poisenous fart still hanging round the air.

 

[cheiron]

DMT taught me Yoga. I always thought it was a waste of time before i vaped those little white crystals.

Haha, yeah, meditating, yoga, chanting. Everything gets fueled up by ayahuasca or DMT
That's why magic works on DMT

I believe we are working with real entities here, and they listen to requests. If they think your intentions are bullocks they are going to treat you like bullocks.

It's my hypothesis to, that they have an existance outside of our personal psyche. On the other hand, it doesn't change the experience. You know, it might be true that my body is 99% void, but i still act as if it is solid

I have had some very good experiences with using a sort of prayer in my rituals, which I start using every time since I developed it. I had some problems with entities dropping by and harassing me. So I wrote something, inspired by a buddhist girlfriend of mine, to protect the space by putting guardians on every side of the space. I just choose entities i'm somehow comfortable with, and which I sometimes met in hyperspace, so i feel some connection, and i think they are potent enough to protect me. I choose Ganesha in the South, Michael in the West, Mary in the North and Hermes in the East. For me, the effect is that my experience has become very stable and calm, without any harassing entities anymore

So i dont care if it's real or not, it works...

My most fullfilling experience has been meditating and listening to some chakra tones video on youtube for about 1.5 hours before vaping.

interesting indeed! Might try that the next time...

[quote[Weird feeling how the fear i had can just disappear. And i was really afraid. [/quote]

yeah, it does that, strange thing indeed. I often experience this pre-flight tension, and at the moment the ayahuasca touches my lips, I somehow know how the ride will be, and often all tension dissapears. Its like a cloak of calmness gets laid over me, something like that...

Anyway, i am leaning towards some idea of ritualizing the space. Clean air, incense etc.

I always smudge beforhand, cleaning everything. Incense can be to harsh sometimes. Like, I can taste it. It's very strong while loaded, indeed, smell, and it's easy to overdo...

I base this on the fact that my most scary experience up until now was when i ripped a fart just before vaping the spice.

haha might very well be the case, that it has some efffect, maybe just psychological, maybe some deep brainstem response, maybe something else It's the same with cleaning the space. I noticed that things like, you know, some little dust in a corner, it somehow keeps asking for attention, i can hardly stand mess while loaded. It's just so distracting, or maybe, disrespectfull, i don't know, normally i dont care that much.

 

[Entheogenerator]

DMT taught me Yoga. I always thought it was a waste of time before i vaped those little white crystals.

I had the same thing happen! I always thought that yoga, meditation, ritual, etc. were ridiculous and silly until I discovered spirituality through dimethyltryptamine and psilocybin (and other plants/compounds later on)... I am still astonished by how much positive change has come to my life since I began to embrace sacred plants and molecules

As soon as the DMT actually hit my lungs all fear i had pre-launch evaporated. Weird feeling how the fear i had can just disappear.

I experience this as well almost every time I decide to induce a trance experience. I get this significant anxiety leading up to ingestion (although meditation and ritual have made it much less significant, it's still there), but as soon as the vapor hits my lungs, the fungi pass my lips, or the paper/liquid/capsule hits my tongue; the anxiety completely dissolves. I find it fascinating!

I base this on the fact that my most scary experience up until now was when i ripped a fart just before vaping the spice. Talk about negative energy, i was seeing dozens of bats and all sorts of chaotic stuff. Perhaps i was disrespecting the spice but i somehow believe it might be possible that i had such a crap experience because of the poisenous fart still hanging round the air.

Hahaha. I'll have to keep that in mind. :lol:

 

[SkyKitty]

Personally I really like the Santo Daime ritual too. I love the music, the dancing, and being in the presence of elders and families.

Although off topic from your question, when I use sacred mushrooms, I dont have that luxury of the church. Usually my ritual involves some yoga first to work out feelings of physical stress, smudging of the ritual space which is usually outdoors, the writing or verbal sharing of an intention, and then the serving of the sacrament. After that, laying down, listening to music, and surrendering to the experience.

One other thing I love doing is taking a shower while under the veil - although not in a group situation (hehe). Being enveloped in warm water and fractals is a wonderful experience. Makes me wonder what one of thse salt water tanks would be like.

 

[Entheogenerator]

Makes me wonder what one of thse salt water tanks would be like.

I have been trying to find a floatation tank near me for quite some time, I am really eager to try one. I have heard that it is quite a journey in itself, I can't even imagine how immerssive it would be on ayahuasca or other visionary plants/compounds.

 

[endlessness]

I`ve already taken a few times in Daime, with indigenous people, with close friends as well as by myself. Each place has it`s own particularities and I have learned a lot in all places, though (obviously no offense meant) the Daime was my least favourite context. I find there`s usually too much light (literally), the music with lyrics I find sometimes more distracting than facilitating for going deep, also I don`t like some of the rules that feel dogmatic like the `dont cross your arms and legs`, or not being able to take small breaks and be alone in silence for a while, etc (though I totally respect it works for other people).

When I work with a close group of friends, the first thing to do is, before the day of the experience if possible, talk to everybody to get a feel on who goes, to inform of interaction with pharmaceuticals, to rule out any dangerous pre-existing conditions, inform on good practices such as avoiding heavy food the same day, give a bit of idea on what to expect, how to prepare etc.

Like others have said, I like to have the space clean, organized, comfortable, with some soothing atmosphere and decoration (or if it`s outdoors, with a fire in the middle and a circle with mats and pillows around).

After ingesting the aya, I find that the best is to alternate moments of complete silence with music, ideally something played by participants like percussion or whatever. Sometimes specific recordings may work well but it can also be too `sterile`, so I preffer to play music myself or with others if taking in group..

A second or even third dose after some hours is common. At the end at some point, we will suggest a closure, and then usually there`s some kind of light meal that we have together while discussing some of what just happened during the experience, helping each other to integrate the experience.

 

[SkyKitty]

I just want to say how great i think this thread is by the way! It is neat to see how others construct their rituals and I hope many more will contribute!

Do people feel like ayahuasca, or other sacraments, come with their own instructions too? How many of your practices, do you feel, evolved or were learned from the medicine itself?