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Read this if you’re Googling for ayahuasca
Guess the most common Google search term related to my website?
According to the handy stats report I get from Google, it’s ayahuasca, or variations of it: “ayahuasca retreat near me,” “ayahuasca shaman,” and so on. I don’t know how the little man in my computer works, but he often points my way even though I don’t offer or mention that anywhere in my materials. It’s a little weird to me that this is what people are googling so often because, whether they know it or not, it’s like typing “massive spiritual experience” or “psyche dismemberment” into a search bar. I get it, but I worry a little for the people who are hungry for intense healing and trying to find it via Bing or whatever, especially when there are other options.
For sure, there is overlap, a long history between shamanism and psychedelics. However, people tend to conflate shamanism with psychedelics. Shamanic healing — the umbrella term for cross-cultural indigenous or traditional ways of approaching health on all levels — is our collective, original method of resolving trauma and navigating major life events. It offers incredibly deep support including techniques like soul retrieval, usually without intense medicines. I’m guessing our ancestors didn’t go for the psychedelics every time something happened, but they did need other support and ceremony in their day to day: when seeds were planted, babies were born, loved ones died, negotiations were needed, or hearts got broken. Maybe they did some mushrooms sometimes, too. But they likely met with the ritual-keeper for guidance first.
In an understandable rush to feel better, people might hope for an all-at-once cure, to do “five years of therapy in one night” as is said about the plants. I understand (and have felt) this impulse. But I hope people will also consider a shamanic healing session or two, instead of or in tandem with plant medicine. Here’s why: it’s generally easier to locate a reputable practitioner, gentler and more digestible (double meaning there), and doesn’t usually require the same degree of preparation or financial investment as a big plant retreat. It also doesn’t conflict with commitments to sobriety, if that’s a concern. It’s not the same as a night of altered states, but that doesn’t mean it’s less-than. In fact, clients and colleagues of mine have reported that…
