How Psychedelics and Plant Medicine Taught me to Trust and Allow
My rebirth with psychedelics and plant medicine
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“Take a deep breath, tip your head back and guide this tube into your left nostril. I’m going to blow this powder into your brain.”
That was my introduction to Shamanism and my first plant medicine ceremony.
Like many people, I’d experimented with mind altering substances in the past. Alcohol, Marijuana, and perhaps a synthetic derivative. Enjoyment, escapism, and curiosity had been my motivators.
This was different.
Here there was respect for ceremony and tradition. Trust and intention became a crucial part of the process.
My friend now calls himself a shaman and looks like an unshaven jungle beast. Several years before he was a suit and tie businessman. He invited me to this ceremony and I trusted him. Looking back, I don’t feel that curiosity brought me here. Perhaps I’m remembering retrospectively, but I heard that small voice in my thoughts that said “you need to do this now.”
The powder shooting up my nose was Rapeh. Left nostril, then right.
“Flow”, he said. “Allow”.
Wait! My logical mind said. Allow what? Flow where?
After this initial sting of the tobacco-like substance in my sinus cavity, I did relax. I realized there was more than just me in this process. Most participants feel a grounding sensation and connection to Mother Earth also known as Pachamama. I felt calm and then sad.
Sad in a beautiful way.
I was sad that I had been away from my connection for so long, and joyful that Pachamama welcomed me home.
This was just the beginning of the journey. This was my first lesson in trust and allowing.
I trusted my friend who had traveled to the Brazilian jungle to live and learn with the tribes. I trusted the plants and traditions that had been preserved and brought here for me. Intuitively, I knew this was big. I knew this was life changing. I knew I had to let go of everything I was clinging to. This was the only way the plant medicine could work with me. This was allowing.
Kambo: The poison frog that could save your life
Kambo was the next spirit to visit me during this ceremony at the beach. He’s a beautiful frog with his own lessons to teach. A hot glowing twig was used to burn away the top layer of skin and prepare several small points for this frog medicine.
A dried paste is reconstituted and applied to each prepared point.
“This is poison!” My body goes into hyper protect and expel mode, its natural survival mechanism.
I began to tear, sweat, and then purge. Purging is a kind way to say vomit, excrement and negative energy release. In this process, your body gets rid of every toxin it can find. Your heart beats rapidly and every organ releases toxins along with the frog venom. After about 30 minutes, you feel lighter. This is what it feels like without the toxic physical and emotional burden.
Bufo: A cosmic journey with a desert toad
“After a rest, and a dip in the ocean, it’s time to meet God.”
I say that because Bufo Alvarius has been dubbed the God Molecule or Spirit Molecule by authors such as Dr. Gerardo Ruben Sandoval and Dr. Rick Strausman.
Bufo Alvarus is another frog native to the Sonoran desert. The venum is dried and smoked. It contains the natural psychoactive chemical 5-Me0-DMT.
It was a beautiful, sunny day as I stood in front of the shaman and deeply inhaled vapors from the Bufo pipe.
“15, 14, 13…” the shaman counted, instructing me to hold the vapor in my lungs. For a moment, everything was quiet, even the ocean waves hushed. Then I was pulled to the earth by an intense desire to hug the planet. I felt her spin. I knew her trajection and velocity. We were one.
A warm blanket of orange light mixed with love descended and covered me. I was safe. Together, with that spirit molecule we journeyed into my mind. We saw neural pathways and ways of thinking that were disconnected.
Bufo allowed me to witness her healing several pathways. She said, in parting, “Now you’ve seen, it’s up to you to continue.”
The Bufo experience lasted less than 15 minutes. If you’ve heard that time doesn’t exist in the spirit world, Bufo will show you what this means. Several of my friends who have gone through the Bufo experience, now claim their ‘birthdate’ from that moment. The nature of God is still a mystery to us all. In that moment I was connected to something more beautiful, loving and intense than ever before in my life. I still am.
Ayahuasca: Grandmother opened my eyes
I was the only participant to sign up for this entire plant medicine package in a single day. The all night ceremony with Grandmother Ayahuasca was still ahead.
The ceremony begins at sunset and lasts until sunrise. There is a fire and special tribal songs and music. There’s no interaction with others. This is a journey for you and the plant medicine. I meditated most of the night. I heard others talking, laughing, and purging. I stayed in deep meditation, allowing.
The shaman called me forward at around 4 am and gave me an extra dose of Ayahuasca. I trusted. Within 30 minutes I purged, and then I left the planet. I left everything that used to be real.
The plant medicines are unique for each person. They enable us to see what we are ready to see. I traveled through time to creation. I was held, guided, and counseled by beings and spirits beyond description. Grandmother gave me a spiritual name. She whispered in my vision “Kaptcha Rhöne.”
Hours later when my essence returned to my physical body, I was cared for by the Shaman. He wet my lips with water. I could not drink, nor speak, nor move. In a slow process I re-acquainted myself with my physical form. I felt a sense of worthiness that I hadn’t realized was missing in my life.
I am called Kaptcha Rhöne. I am the guardian of truth that connects all beings and tribes. I honor the truth within and share the vision with those who are ready.
Aho
This story is the one of my dear friend Kaptcha Rhöne. He gave me the rights to publish his story on Medium and share his shamanic experience with the world. I’m blessed by his presence and so grateful that our paths have crossed. I honor the life within Kaptcha Rhöne and within each of my readers.
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