Silk Road forums
Discussion => Drug safety => Topic started by: lastairbender on May 09, 2012, 11:52 am
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This weekend I'm going to a retreat, to sample the medicine for the first time.
We will be drinking the Aya on 2 consecutive nights, in "shamanic doses" under the guidance of a very experienced shaman.
I've had DMT several times and have managed to break through twice, so needless to say I'm super excited to try the logical extension of that (I know I'm in for a SERIOUS ride ;D ).
He has instructed us to maintain a strict cleansing regime for the 4-5 days leading up to the first dose.
This includes:
- No booze
- No caffeine
- No other drugs, prescription or otherwise (This makes total sense to me as I realise the problems posed by SSRIs and other drugs)
- No sex/masturbation
- And eating NOTHING but steamed vegetables and small amounts of rice, with no added flavouring whatsoever (including salt, pepper, etc.), some of the lower sugar fruits and drinking ONLY water.
So essentially a complete detox and no fun at all for a meat eating, weed smoking, beer drinker... :-[
He has also told us that the day of the first dose, we should "water-fast" if possible (which I understand the purpose of, for obvious reasons).
The thing I'm wondering is, how necessary/desirable is the cleansing diet in the ~4 days leading up to the dose?
I'm not a very spiritual person (although that may very well change after the weekend haha!). I mainly rely on proven science and personal experience for determining my behaviour.
So I'm curious as to how much of this is to do with the - I don't want to say it but... - "hippy" aspect of this ritual and how much of it is SCIENTIFICALLY going to contribute to a more positive, enriching and intense Aya experience.
Just a note; I'm not looking to circumvent the guidelines that the shaman has put in place (even though all I can think about right now is a bong, a beer and a burger!).
I'll stick to his rules, because it's fun to actually go into this thing in good faith.
Adds to the sense of adventure ;)
Wish me luck!
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All hippy except avoidance of pharmaceuticals and avoidance of stimulants (meth, amphetamine, etc).
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It sounds like more of a pre-ritual to me than anything else. Referring to it as a hippy diet is plain wrong. Your guide should obviously know more about this than SR, so why not ask him?
I completely agree with him when he says to not eat meat, because DMT has and meat have never gone well for me. I've had very intense purges after smoking DMT, not even aya, after a long day of eating meat. There is a point to whatever your shaman is telling you, that's for sure. He is an aya guide after all. You said yourself you weren't Spiritual. Sometimes thinking with a scientific mind will not lead to answers you're looking for, and you'll probably see that after your ayahuasca experience. Ayahuasca is a very Spiritual experience, and although DMT is considered the Spirit Molecule, that doesn't mean a switch is going to be flipped and you'll be Spiritual all of a sudden. Spiritualism is a commitment and way of life. If that's what you're genuinely looking for, then Aya can definitely show you the way.
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If I were you, I'd do exactly as told, just like I won't question my brain surgeon's directions 5 days before the surgery :) You're going to go through something massive and you want to be as prepared as you can. In any case, he's not asking you to do anything out of the ordinary and it's only a 5-day fast.
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Thanks for the replies dudes.
Don't get me wrong, as I said I have no intention of breaking the diet.
In fact I'm taking it quite seriously, including daily meditation, cutting out my beloved metal for positive, relaxing music, etc.
It's just that my inquiring mind can't help from asking questions, as per usual.