Arrival and Tobacco Ceremony
June 15th, 2019
Today, my flight from La Paz via Santa Cruz and Trinidad (we waited in the airplane at Trinidad as only a few more passengers were boarding) departed at 7:00 am, heading to Riberalta, which is located in the far north of the Bolivian jungle.
On the way there, two things caught my attention:
- I am always surprised by how some airplanes are still able to take off, fly, and arrive at their destination airport without falling apart, despite legitimate concerns.
- It shocked me how little rainforest in Bolivia is still intact and densely forested.
We arrived in Riberalta, Bolivia at 11:10 am.
“We” because I accidentally recognized a Swedish backpacker (Chris) who I had met before in Mendoza, Argentina on the airplane.
It turned out that he was also heading to the Pisatahua Retreat Center to participate in the same Ayahuasca Retreat as me.
Furthermore, two other Retreat participants (Tammi, a Scottish marine biologist, and her boyfriend William from the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean, where they live together) were also on the airplane and introduced themselves upon arrival.
We did not have to wait more than 5 minutes until Erik, the center’s director of US American origin, picked us up with a large 4×4 Jeep and took us to our accommodation.
On the way to the Retreat Center, we used the time to get to know each other better and to listen to some useful information about the surroundings.
There was also very good information about what the non-profit organization does with the money that Retreat participants pay.
Upon arrival at the Retreat Center, we were able to move into our accommodation, which we had booked for the next 10 days.
To my surprise, Chris and I received an accommodation upgrade, which we gladly accepted.
We now had to share a bungalow, but we had our own bathroom, a magnificent view of the nearby lake in the middle of the jungle, a desk, and a super comfortable hammock right by the window.
After we had enjoyed a good but pretty bland lunch, “Niño“ (our 31-year-old shaman) informed us about today’s “cleaning” (purging) that we MUST do.
Without this tobacco ceremony, we would not be allowed to participate in the actual Ayahuasca retreat.
(The shamans differ greatly in their ceremony methods and rules, as well as treatment methods and diets. Each shaman has their own personal experience with Ayahuasca.)
Tonight we had to drink a wooden shot glass, shaped like a small chalice from a tobacco plant growing in the jungle, and then drink at least 2-4 liters of water during the ceremony (about 2-4 hours), which cleanses the body by vomiting and diarrhea and prepares us for the upcoming Ayahuasca ceremonies.
“This will definitely not be fun tonight!”
Let’s see what I have to report tomorrow after the ceremony.
The “cleaning” (purging) starts in 5 minutes (7 pm).
June 16, 2019
The day after the “Purging”.
The “Purging” was postponed by an hour yesterday because three participants arrived a bit later and also ate lunch later.
So Chris (my Swedish bungalow mate) and I helped set up for the tobacco ceremony.
Shortly before the ceremony, it was set up as follows:
For each participant, there was a mattress, a triangular high cushion to lean against, and in front of the mattress, there was a bowl for each person to vomit into without having to move much, a bit of toilet paper, and a large bottle of water (3 liters).
Two candles were placed and lit on the left and right of the “altar”. Our shaman “Niño“ sat next to them.
Several shamanic tools for the ceremony were prepared behind the candles next to him.
Among them were also some simple instruments such as drums and rattles.
Then the room filled with participants of the retreat, whom we had all gotten to know in the afternoon, and then at 8 pm the tobacco ceremony started.
Each person was given a small, narrow wooden chalice from the shaman sitting or kneeling in front of the altar with approximately the volume of a shot glass (about 4cl), which everyone had to pick up and drink in his presence.
It can probably be imagined that this tobacco plant mixture did not taste very good.
I was the 5th in line.
At the beginning, I was very worried because I didn’t want to be the first one to throw up, even though I knew that sooner or later everyone would have to fill the bowl.
But my worry was taken away by the first two participants who drank, as they already filled their bowl before I could even drink.
Then it was my turn to drink the tobacco mixture.
It was a little easier to drink than I expected, but I immediately had to rinse it down with water to make it more bearable.
Similar to my first experience with Ayahuasca in Colombia, the taste of the tobacco mixture was extremely earthy and rough on the tongue.
It was almost as if you were mixing a good handful of soil with a 2/3 full glass of water to make a thick broth and drink it. (Please don’t try this, dear children, at least not on my recommendation!!!)
Right after I drank, I could feel my stomach/belly starting to “work” and “bubble,” but I didn’t have to throw up right away.
But after about an hour, when everyone in the room (12 participants) was clutching their bowls and diligently “cleaning,” and I was the only one who felt bad but didn’t have to throw up, I was honestly a little disappointed.
It didn’t feel right that I was the only one who didn’t have to throw up.
Even though it sounds silly, you feel like an outsider in a vomit circle if you’re the only one who doesn’t have to vomit.
You also want to participate.
I also wanted to get the tobacco mixture out of me as soon as possible because that was the reason why I felt so bad.
I felt a lot of pressure in my throat several times, which led me to believe that it was about to happen to me, but then it subsided.
During the entire ceremony, “Niño“ and his Swedish partner Josefine alternated playing instruments and singing songs.
The ceremony lasted a total of two hours.
In those two hours, I drank more than 3 liters of water to increase the pressure on my stomach more and more, to finally be able to throw up.
After the ceremony, my bowl was still dry, while others had filled 4 bowls to the brim in the same time.
For everyone, “purging” is completely different, just like the Ayahuasca ceremony is different for everyone.
I should also mention that our shaman specializes in healing serious illnesses such as cancer, tumors, and HIV as well.
He gave us some interesting examples and thus gave us all courage and took away the worries that each participant had.
Since I didn’t have to vomit until the end of the ceremony, I was invited to stay a little longer with the two of them and wait for the moment.
But at this point, I felt more or less okay, so I decided to go back to the bungalow to sleep.
As soon as I arrived in the bungalow, it wasn’t even 5 minutes until I felt really bad and was just waiting to finally start.
However, my “relief” did not come.
Over the night, until the next morning, I got up several times because I thought it was finally time, stood in front of the toilet for up to 15 minutes, trembled and sweated heavily because I felt so bad, but still couldn’t vomit.
The little sleep I got was not good because I had really crazy dreams… they felt different from my normal dreams.
So much more… and… strange… I am not able to describe it.
This morning, I woke up to wonderful bird chirping and other screaming animals.
Just in time for the voluntary yoga.
Before yoga, I still didn’t feel well and eating was out of the question.
However, the yoga did me so much good that afterwards I was even a little hungry and ready for breakfast.
Yoga is really great and very healthy.
After the very bland breakfast, which was only a kind of porridge, we had the rest of the day free. We gathered again for lunch.
In the afternoon, “Niño“ and Josefine (his partner) wanted to come by to talk to me about my reason and motivation, as they do with each participant to make sure that everyone has the right reasons for the retreat and to receive their master plant.
This must be taken before every meal.
Each person is assigned a different master plant and dosage by shaman “Niño“.
There were 4 different plant mix drinks, one liquid was a slightly brown broth, the other was quite orange.
Both not particularly good, as is often the case with medicine.
The brown liquid was meant to open the heart and allow for better emotional release in combination with Ayahuasca (it helps one to deal with Ayahuasca a bit more easily).
The orange liquid was meant to help with bigger questions (deeper questions), such as why humanity is so violent and profit-oriented.
Or why Mother Nature could unleash a species like humanity on this wonderful planet that has only violence and destruction in its blood.
But the conversation did not take place today.
However, we had a very nice meditation session at 5pm in the afternoon, which was very relaxing.
Afterwards, we had free time again, which most of us used to watch today’s beautiful sunset, which was even more calming and beautiful right after meditating.
After dinner, we talked a bit more and slowly one by one went to bed.
