Do spirits really exist? Is there more to this world than we are normally aware of?
Hi from Peru, people.
5 years ago I was a logical, rational person working as a computer programmer in London. I was restless and unhappy and searching for something, but I had no idea what it was. I didn’t believe in ghosts, spirits, energy or any of that other New Age hippy-crap. And I certainly did not believe in God.
Somehow though this search led me to Peru and ayahuasca, a supposedly sacred visionary medicine used by shamans for thousands of years to heal illness. I was sceptical but also excited that maybe it held the answer I was looking for.
Since my first experience back in 2004 I have spent 2 1/2 years living in the Amazon and have now participated in more than 200 ayahuasca ceremonies as I continue on a path of physical healing. During that time my entire view of the world has been radically changed. I have seen and interacted with many spirits, from demonic entities emanating from the depths of hell to divine angels. I talk to spirits on a daily basis in my normal waking state. And they talk back. I have had my ideas about self radically challenged and am on a path from which there is no turning back. I guess I got what I was looking for, but it is not what I expected! Life is harder, scarier and more beautiful and rewarding that I ever thought possible.
Pablo Amaringo worked for years as an ayahuasca shaman and recorded many of his visions in his paintings…….
I believe that there is order in the Universe and that life is essentially good. I believe that there is a deep part of ourselves that is untouched by life experience. I believe that we are all cared for and safe, even though I am scared most of the time. I believe that everything is actually made out of love, even the most heinous aspects of man and humanity that you can think of. I believe in God. (Although I have a awful lot of issues with him still to be resolved and right now I am still pretty damn angry with him).
But I want to know what you think.
Do you really believe there is anything beyond this 3-dimensional world that we live in?
Do spirits really exist or are these experiences just drug-induced hallucinations?
Is there a governing force behind this world or are we just some random accident of science?
I would love to hear all of your ideas on this vast topic.
Cheers, Mark.
I have been on a few ayhuasca journies over the last few years. Not recently, but I remember before the shamanic journey, I believed the universe could be understood. I believed in logic and logically getting my head around all that could be understood.
Ayhuasca showed me dimensions and energies and entities beyond anything I had ever imagined. It showed me worlds beyond anything I ever conceived or read about. It happened so fast, that I know it wasn’t my brain coming up with this stuff. Literally, it was like hopping into a space ship in my bedroom and traversing parallel dimensions.
After those experiences, a great peace entered my being and I was able to let go of the idea of knowing everything. The vastness of what is out there or in here to discover is so massive, so infinite that it is impossible to know it all.
Thats what I learned, and through this life changing realisation I don’t look at the world through skeptical eyes. When you realise there are infinite energies in an eternal interplay then it gives justification to why everybody does why they do…. because there’s realities out there / in here to support it all. That to me is unconditional love.
Thanks for sharing.
well mate you are opening a hornets nest…
But hey whats a few hornets,
For what its worth I’ll give you my take on things based on experience no drugs used..
Yes earth bound spirits are real or as real as ghosts can be…
When you die your energy has to go somewhere, the part that makes you you, be it spirit, life force energy or electricity what ever it just doesnt vanish.
Also Angels exist, and why shouldnet they. Why is it only saints and the chosen few whose claims are real, why wouldnt normal people see them, I dont see any rule in the bible giving exclusive rights to the holy.
There is far more to heaven earth and hell than we mere mortals will ever know about.
I dont care what the skeptics say, when you seen and lived the stuff I have.. you dont wouldnt doubt it either…
no drugs used A/C? ‘drugs’ are produced when you think
Its good you’ve had this experience without the use of drugs. But keep in mind, a proper ayahuasca tea is brewed down barks and leaves. Its hardly ‘drugs’.
the most active part of ayahuasca is a tryptamine that is produced naturally in the pineal gland anyways when we dream.
Personally I found a voice in my journies that explained that the world of spirits is infinite, and thats where we come from. Its boundless. Immortal. But this silly little slow experience we have here on earth? With boundries, and gradual progression and limited power? This is the ultimate high… we had it all along… no ‘drugs’ necesarry. I don’t see the harm in people getting some personal evidence of something beyond by trying this stuff if they can’t get the bigger picture by prayer.
I’ve heard in south america this is legalized and is actually a accepted ritual in some areas. Since the people have been allowed to have this ritual there has been less home violence and people are happy with their jobs and place in the world.
I think this stuff could be the ultimate ego cure for sure. It was for me.
Ayahuasca is hardly drugs because it is tea boiled down from tree bark?
Afraid that logic really does not stand up to reason.
It may be a naturally occurring plant, but let’s face it, the tree huggers and pharma giants of this world are all up in arms over deforestation, the latter mainly because of the undiscovered chemicals that they suspect will provide new medicines (or drugs, or whatever you wish to term them) and consequently vastly improved profit margins.
So magic mushrooms and the hallucinations they induce? Merely the effects of the mushroom’s chemical makeup, or genuine experiences for users who ‘see’ strange things as a consequence of the chemicals contained in these naturally occurring fungi?
Anyone with any sense knows the answer to that.
As for ayahuasca, well if it convinces you that your much needed reason for belief in the supernatural, then go for it.
But don’t try and mislead anyone into believing that it is not a drug. A mind altering drug is precisely what it is.
During my time in the Amazon I have witnessed countless people transform their lives in just one week through this powerful medicine.
People who have had a lifetime of depression and have tried every sort of therapy going have come to ayahuasca and been taken into traumatic situations from their past. They are then able to purge the dark spirits associated with this time through the help and guidance of the shamans and the medicine spirits in the ayahuasca brew. The moment these energies are released they are instantly transformed and the next day are visibly shining and radiant. They report feeling happier than they have for years and this feeling stays with them over the following weeks, months and indeed years.
This sort of transformation is only possible through the participation in ceremonies held by master shamans who have undergone years of intensive training in order to be able to manage and dominate these energies.
When drunk alone or with somebody without the necessary training ayahuasca IS simply a drug. And it can be VERY VERY damaging.
When drunk in a ceremonial setting with master shamans I believe that it is the most powerful agent for positive transformation that exists on the planet.
Please have a read of this article from National Geographic magazine if you’re interested in an account of the medicine curing depression:
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0603/features/peru.html
Cheers for the nat geo article Mark…
Interesting all that stuff you mention there Mark.
You know, I heard that there are people in some mystical, exotic island just off Northern Europe, what’s it called now……? Britain, that’s it.
You know they have people there with special, mysterious skills not possessed by the majority of inhabitants of the island. And they give others who visit them, because these others suffer from a lifetime of depression, or sometimes just short term depression, magical potions which stimulate serotonins in the mind, thus enabling the sufferer to deal with past and present traumas……….
They call these mysterious people Doctors, and they potions they give are called antidepressants…….
It’s a bizarre phenomena, and it’s convinced me that there is supernatural world out there full of spirits guiding us and angels ready to help us once we believe.
Or am I just a gullible fool desperate to believe that I won’t really die one day?
Snigger snigger snigger.
GDay Mark
Thanks for the link. The use of any of these substances are foreign to me. My personal method choice is meditation, which does work for me.. however many of the things I have experienced have been right in front of my eyes, with out any help ie meditation.
Anyting that helps in the aid of mental illness has to be a plus.
The use of hallucination inducing substances is something I personally find dangerous and unnecessary.
But each to their own and if it works for you then good on you. but I shall look in to this futher and thanks for the link and Information.
Welcome back FF! I’ve missed your scaley parts round here.
Too much info, Lib….
Scaly parts?
Powerful questions Mark and YES on all counts although illuminati and reptilians maybe fit for another post reference your governing force which I’d suggest is the I, the universe!
Fear is the big thing that holds us back as this flower smeller highlights here:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNYEoSRWi_Y&feature=related
Afterall, what the BLEEP do we know?
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7dhztBnpxg
as our journey continues as science slowly lets go to try and ‘proove’ this shift.
cor this is ground breaking stuff
people using hallucinogens and claiming some form of enlightenment
welcome to the 60′s. yawn…
Allow me to introduce Terrance Mckenna, man:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sU12ethuiz0&feature=related
No such things as ghosts, spirits or God
Stick to Mr Bulmers finest – no need to travel to the Amazon to get out of your skull
It is, indeed, a VAST topic– and probably not one I could full explore in a comment.
I overheard a snippet of a podcast about hallucinogens and psychotropics the other week, and did find myself “cheering” inwardly when the person being interviewed stated– point blank– that 95% of people use mind-altering drugs for “sensational” purposes, NOT for “spiritual” or “healing” purposes.
I struggle with the notion of “scientific” vs. “spiritual;” there always seems to this inherent implication that one excludes the other. As the scientific community continues to push the boundaries of subatomic quantum physics, I believe it will become more and more evident that science and spirituality are inseparable; Scientists and Spiritualists will discover (much to many’s HORROR, I expect!) that they are actually worshipping on opposite sides of the SAME “altar.”
Let us not forget a not-so-distant past in which the effects of bacteria and viruses were regarded as “the work of the devil” or “evil spirits.” I believe spirits and ghosts and whatever follows are merely as of yet “scientifically uncatalogued” parts of the experience of living… but “uncatalogued” doesn’t mean “not there.”
Thanks for writing exactly how I feel about it Denmark guy!
Whilst I don’t fully believe now, I reckon in 100 yrs time this sceptism will be laughed at.
Fertile Fish,
Dr Charles Grob M.D., Director of Child and Adolescent Psychology at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and professor of psychiatry at UCLA’s School of Medicine, was one of the first in the West to study the scientific effects of ayahuasca.
He concluded that unlike most common anti-depressants, which can create such high levels of serotonin that cells may actually compensate by losing many of their serotonin receptors, and hence cause long term users to need higher and higher doses and those that stop their use to suffer even greater depression, ayahuasca strongly enhances the body’s ability to absorb the serotonin that’s naturally there. “Ayahuasca is perhaps a far more sophisticated and effective way to treat depression than SSRIs [antidepressant drugs],” Grob concludes, adding that the use of SSRIs is “a rather crude way” of doing it.
National Geographic article author Kira Salak writes on her website, http://www.kirasalak.com:
“It’s been over four years since I had that ceremony in Peru, and the depression has never returned. It actually takes an effort now for me to remember what that dark, depressive state felt like. It’s as if it all happened to someone else. The slate was “wiped clean,” and life has been unbelievably wonderful since that old cloud was taken away. Miraculous? As someone who suffered from severe depression her whole life, I would say, yes. Absolutely miraculous.”
So basically what you are saying is that the Amazonian tree bark thing is a better antidepressant than those prescribed by less mystical sounding, modern world shaman called Doctors.
I can accept that argument’s validity and once proven in clinical trials will not question the tree bark’s potency (not that I am questioning that).
However, I have a big problem with the notion of equating mind altering substances as ‘evidence’ of the supernatural.
That people ‘see’ things when off their skulls on drugs, and then try to convince others it is evidence of spirit existence, simply lends more weight to the arguments against spiritual reality and makes the perpetrators of such mythology even more ludicrous.
Me, I’m sticking to me magic mushrooms and going to find the Hobbits in Middle Earth this weekend, I went there last week and met with the greatest shaman of all time, Gandalf, and all my problems were solved!
Or was I just off me t!ts on hallucinogenic naturally occurring fungi……….?
Snigger snigger snigger
A personal question if I may Mark and it is a genuine question, how come some people can be ‘cured’ or ‘see the light’ after 1 session but you have done 200?
How do you know when you will be healed and how can you be sure that its not doing long term damage to your brain? Great post by the way.
Hi Lib,
It’s a great question, and one that I am not sure that I can answer but I’ll have a go!
Ayahuasca is an incredibly powerful medicine, but it does not do the work for you. It can help you get the root of problems, but you have to find the strength in yourself to overcome the fear, sadness, past trauma, whatever it is and to purge it from your body.
I suppose that I would say in my case I have not yet been ready to tackle the real core issues of my illness. For me it is a process of going deeper and deeper each time and I have a LOT of crap to sift through it would seem!
Everybody is on a different journey in this life and for whatever reason this is mine. In all seriousness I was severely messed up when I came to ayahuasca and had lived my entire life in intense fear (which for a while I managed through alcohol and drug use, until that was no longer an option). If only I could surrender and let it all go I could be healed tomorrow. I know that in my head, but this fear (these dark spirits if you will) are so ingrained in my psyche that I can only go step by step.
Another answer to your question could be: “so that I can inspire and help others”. I don’t say that in an egotistical way, but that I think my story is pretty unique and I am writing a book about it (something that I had never had any intention or desire to do) that may one day serve to help others through difficult times.
A wise man once said to me: “Stop asking the question “Why?” “Why” is a desire to know the future. When we live something to its conclusion, we know everything there is to know through the experience of living. Once we have lived something to its conclusion, all the “why’s” have been answered.
I have a physical illness that manifests as a skin disorder. I will know when I am healed when I can no longer feel the illness and my skin is back to normal. Every week it gets a little better and I try not to think about how long it will take but that thought is too scary! One day at a time really is the only sensible way to live.
I know it is not doing long term damage to my brain because slowly, slowly as I feel better physically, I feel better mentally. I have less crazy thoughts, more calmness, more peace, more happiness, more joy. Though as all the stuff that has prevented me from feeling these things in the past comes out it can be a very turbulent time emotionally.
Also, knowing comes from the heart, it is not associated with thought. When you know something, you just know it, without really being able to explain why. How do you know when you are in love?
I did have a shot of bark based remedy in Peru, in a national park in the Amazon after a very dodgy tummy – it was either that or to cancel the trip.
Taking the reddish bark liquid in did the trick – nothing trippy, more calming….
As a Christian, I believe in Spirits of both good and evil as written in the Bible. I have also had my own experiences with both much to my amazement as I was quite skeptical at the time. But, it was me that it was happening to. For me, the question always is it of God or the Devil and does it match what the Bible says and who God is.
My life has been filled with struggles and trauma, and doing the type of work that I do, I am often asked, “why does God allow bad things to happen to good, innocent people.”
Well, I could launch into the fundamental Christian point of view of free will, etc which I believe, but that is not a satisfying answer to most. Bottom line is that I am not God and my small human brain probably cannot comprehend God’s. What I do know is that God is loving, kind, compassionate, tender-hearted, etc. I also know that he was with me comforting during my abuse and my struggles now…I have always had a sense of His presence.
Do you really believe there is anything beyond this 3-dimensional world that we live in?
Yes, I was just listening to a friend tell me about the Double-slit experiment and how by observing one segment of a light particle causes its state to change and causes the (unobserved) other segment of the light to change retroactively to match the state of the observed particle.
Lots of mystery left in our understanding of the world.
Do spirits really exist or are these experiences just drug-induced hallucinations?
Terence McKenna said in one of his talks about smoking DMT that when he told a shaman about his encounters with the DMT tykes that what Terence called ‘tykes’ the shaman called the ‘ancestors’.
Is there a governing force behind this world or are we just some random accident of science?
In ceremonies sometimes I get the greatest certainty that I am encountering the very fabric of existence, and it is conscious. Way too many coincidences in the mathematics of the universe and the development of life to have been an accident.
I’m still pretty near the beginning of my work with ayahuasca but I’ve gotten to the point where my belief in a higher power is now unquestionable. In Rick Strassman’s DMT experiments one volunteer made the comment “You can be an athiest until 0.4,” referring to a dose of 0.4mg/kg of body weight. I’m glad I’m beyond that point, it feels good
Thanks for the thoughtful post!