Gabrielle Roth, 1941-2012: Disciple of the Deep Dark Divine

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The following originally appeared on Psychology Today.


At a dinner gathering once, I seated my childhood friend Perry next to my Mentor-in-Chief, Gabrielle Roth, whom he had never met. Gabrielle’s husband, Robert Ansell, was sitting at the end of the table. Perry later told me that he had been very uncomfortable talking to Gabrielle, because “She was looking at me in a way that only lovers have looked at me, and her husband was sitting right there.”

“Oh,” I responded, “that’s how she looks at everyone.”

It was true. Gabrielle had a razor-sharp, penetrating vision of each person she encountered, and saw everyone as a lover, a soul, a magical spirit; an artist, a dancer, a poet; an innocent child and a person of great hidden power and mystery. She had a natural ability to pierce through false veneers of personality, social formalities and layers of self-protection and fear, straight through to the heart of people; to the heart of me.

The very moment I looked into Gabrielle’s eyes in January 1979 at the East-West Center in Greenwich Village, New York, I experienced a deep and profound recognition within me that there was nowhere to hide, and no need to hide. The extremely private “me” that I generally censored and concealed from the world, I would learn, was the very part of me that Gabrielle both elicited and celebrated. And that ability to see into a person’s soul was a gift she would eventually share with thousands and thousands of people around the world, each of whom, like me, felt seen in their very core.

Even without ever doing her work, people who met her were often seduced by the electricity of her presence alone. Like an “urban shaman,” a moniker she preferred to distance herself from, her Being itself served as a catalyst for others. And what precisely did she catalyze? In a word, movement. Movement of the body, the psyche, the spirit. In her words,

Movement is my medicine, my meditation, my metaphor and my method, a living language we can rely upon to tell us the truth about who we are, who we are with, and where we are going. There is no dogma in the dance.

While she was also passionate about theater, created an extensive collection of music, and was a mystical prose-poet of the written and spoken word–the rapturous stream of her spontaneous speech was dazzling–her central tool was the 5Rhythms® worldwide movement practice, to which she devoted most of her life. She called upon the 5Rhythms to physically launch people’s bodies into motion, but in service to their souls.

Set the body in motion and the psyche will heal itself.

It was clear to her that most of us, most of the time, are unconsciously locked into very predictable, safe patterns of thinking and behavior, boring habits, and ancient conditioning that is etched into the very cells of our bodies and expressed in every move we make, every word out of our mouths. All of our attention, she’d point out, is generally preoccupied with the incessant “I-mail in the Chat Room” inside our heads, and we–as in we humans, for the most part–are also emotionally trapped inside wounded hearts no longer truly able to feel.

Our life stories, in Gabrielle’s view, are a tale told by a “nice, normal, neurotic nobody,” or a “trizophrenic who thinks one thing, feels another and does a third.” And she believed in her very bones that the way out of this cage of restriction, the way to unify this utter fragmentation, quite simply, is to dance.

We dance to fall in love with the spirit in all things, to wipe out memory or transform it into moves that nobody else can make because they didn't live it. We dance to hook up to the true genius lurking behind all the bullshit–to seek refuge in our originality and our power to reinvent ourselves; to shed the past, forget the future and fall into the moment feet first.

Moving our bodies to shake ourselves free, we leap and glide, pace or pound the floor, float up down and around, step forward and back, in circles, lines and poly-tetrahedrons. We dance to the music and learn to make love with empty space, to dissolve time, hear silence, and to consciously re-awaken our elbows and shoulders, hips, knees and fingers, to put “your mind in your feet and your body in the beat,” and ultimately, to recover the authentic choreography of our Essential Being.

After spending many years at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, surrounded by countless spiritual, New Age and human potential paths, Gabrielle came to a singular conclusion:

Dance is the fastest, most direct route to the truth–not some big truth that belongs to everybody, but the get down and personal kind, the what's-happening-in-me-right-now kind of truth.

Hers was an embodied spirituality, asking each of us to literally call the spirit down into our physical forms, rooted in our feet, connected to the ground, to earth, water and sky. The 5Rhythms is a moving meditation practice that drops the practitioner inside, in the empty, silent, still-point at the very center of our being, where we release all goals and awaken to the mystery of the moment, of being full-bodied, full-breathing, sweat-soaked humans, pouring heart and soul into this one and only wild ride.

Between the head and feet of any given person is a billion miles of unexplored wilderness. The question I ask myself and everyone else is, "Do you have the discipline to be a free spirit?" Can we be free of all that binds and bends us into a shape of consciousness that has nothing to do with who we are from moment to moment, from breath to breath?

Gabrielle’s work is a multi-layered map, a medicine wheel that begins at the center with the core teachings of the 5Rhythms practice, a rhythmic “wave” of five fundamental energies she termed Flow, Staccato, Chaos, Lyrical and Stillness. She observed this cycle in nature, in thunderstorms, in the act of giving birth and making love, and translated it to the dance floor, each individual rhythm containing its own teachings, archetypal metaphors and personal life lessons for the person who dives into the dark black waters of the practice from the deep end.

From this core practice rooted in movement, the dancer moves into “Heartbeat,” the level of Gabrielle’s map that explores the often-barren emotional landscape of those of us frozen in fear, armed against our anger, wounded by a deep river of seemingly endless grief. We use the power and energy of the rhythms to move and express these places of forgotten feeling, to the point of releasing ourselves to the possibility of experiencing the genuine joy and compassion that arises when one’s heart is finally surrendered, breathing deeply, at home in the “Unified Field” of love and implicit connection to self, others, and life itself. "Like a cat," D.H. Lawrence wrote, "asleep on a chair, at peace, in peace, and at one with the Master of the house."

Perhaps my favorite Gabrielle quote of all time was one day, after spending hours moving and dancing and sweating, various people in the room were experiencing emotions ranging from someone deeply sobbing in a corner to another beaming with elation, and Gabrielle casually tossed off one of her classic, mind-stopping one-liners:

You didn’t really think this was about dancing, did you?

And after 34 years, the answer for me has always been, and remains, “No, I didn’t, and don't.” For me, the movement is always merely a vehicle for releasing and letting go of whatever inside me is preventing the experience of authentic and deep connection with others, soul-to-soul. Her work is about peeling away layers of fear, sorrow, anger and self-protection, and landing at last–for a few moments at least–in the silent, still point in the center of the soul, directly wired in to the “Unified Field,” which in other practices and traditions might be termed, simply, the "One Consciousness," (which, as you probably know, is one of God's favorite nicknames among some people.) Gabrielle’s 5Rhythms have the capacity to transport us to a place where we can glimpse and have a visceral experience of that underlying shared Reality we all inhabit. Some simply call it Love.

There is only one of us here.

That was the entire reason I stuck around for 34 years. I was in it for the love and the connection, for the tangible creative electricity in the air. I never really loved dancing per se, or the 5Rhythms practice. What I loved–incurably–was Gabrielle herself! And I loved the experience of love itself, as we collaborated  on theater and writing projects, and I would feel myself coming fully alive in the process, compelled to offer her only the very best of me. (Of course certainly 99% of those who do the 5Rhythms practice regularly, as their primary spiritual path, do so because they actually do love to dance and do love the 5R. What a concept!)

I did love the end result of practicing the 5Rhythms and attending workshops: I would always wind up feeling powerful, real, and loving, and connected to people with a deep sense of mutuality and utter safety and vulnarability. Who doesn’t like that? It was a sense of having found my tribe, my people.

(Or perhaps simply another tribe, as i am poly-tribal.)

Next in the spiral of Gabrielle’s teachings is "Cycles," which uses the 5Rhythms as a means for individuals to deeply explore their personal stories, their narrative development from childhood through adolescence, puberty, maturity and the death cycle. It is the dance of autobiography.

Years ago, before she mapped her work into these levels like a cartographer of the spirit, she needed human subjects to join her in the exploration of each area under investigation. I was fortunate enough to be one of those subjects, and a small group of us spent hours and hours, day after day, diving and dancing deep down inside the history of our lives to find out which doors in our psyches were locked shut, and which rhythm potentially held the key.

We used Flow to move our earliest childhood fears from a state of frozen inertia back into the land of the living and fluid. We re-experienced the utter Chaos of puberty, discovering that most of us in this culture were so confused the first time around that, with Gabrielle as guide, we only truly danced our way into and through puberty’s perils, promise and possibilities when we were nearly 30 years old instead of 13!

And through moving in Stillness, we discovered how to put into practice the ancient maxim, “Practice dying before you die.” The cycle of the death process moves, if at all, in barely perceptible increments of motion, yet when we slow ourselves down like that, then come to a complete halt, in body and mind, we momentarily abide in a silent Emptiness that consciously witnesses, from the singularity of our soul and vision, the vast Void and vista of existence in all its mystery and wonder.

Kabir, the great Indian mystic poet of the 14th century, said, “I felt in need of a great pilgrimage, so I sat still for three days.”

The next tier of Gabrielle’s “Maps to Ecstasy,” as she titled her first book, is called "Mirrors," and deals with the self-conscious ego-dramas that we all perpetually enact on a daily basis. The Mirrors work invites all of those voices inside our heads to speak aloud, to come alive, to be playfully exaggerated and seen for what they are. When we first met, she literally had me reveal my inner dialogue about my sex life on a public stage, before hundreds (and on several occasions, thousands) of complete strangers in a Ritual Theatre performance that a small group of us presented weekly in Soho, New York City, and elsewhere, in the early ‘80s.

(My favorite line from one of my monologues: “Everyone says you have to truly love yourself before you can really love anyone else or be in a successful relationship. Well I tried that, and I found that I just couldn’t make a commitment. I needed to have an open relationship with myself so that if things didn’t work out, I’d be free to see other people.”)

At first, most of us felt quite exposed revealing our intimate secrets on stage, yet at the same time we began to see that exposure is a good thing, it is liberating. Masking who we really are requires a ton of energy; being ourselves is far easier and more relaxing, and Gabrielle was a big fan of authenticity over the assorted social personae our egos usually put forth to appear “okay” and get by in life. It was next to impossible to hang out around her and persist in being one of your myriad false selves. It became just too embarrassingly obvious, and at the same time, being real became effortless and natural.

Many of us are so accustomed to our ongoing parade and charade of false characters that we not only deceive others, we have also managed to unwittingly hide who we really are from ourselves. In Gabrielle’s theatre, a hall of mirrors, we were given the opportunity to personify and publicly reveal those interior ego characters, and give them each a name.

If, for example, I notice I am saying or doing something merely to get attention, I have learned to recognize that inner character as “Larry Look-at-Me,” taking charge and speaking through my mouth. Or often his first cousin Sam Special gets front and center in my life. And trust me, you really don’t want to be around when Steve Stubborn, Barry Blame, or Arnie Angry is at the helm. Just inquire with my wife.

When we performed in New York, my perpetual tendency toward melancholy was presented on stage as the ever-miserable Danny D. Presso. My friend Martha Clarke, portraying Connie Cling, would literally leap onto my body and not let go, while I was speaking! I simply couldn’t shake her off and wound up dragging her from the stage, as she grabbed on to my ankles for dear life. Nearby, Gladys Gorge devoured a box of cookies center stage in under 45 seconds. All the while, Judy Judge stood on the sidelines, arms folded, criticizing all the other actors, and Captain Control just kept marching back and forth, barking orders at everyone in the cast to do things HIS way, NOW!

The audience would recognize themselves in each character, laugh at themselves, and be released, for a moment at least, from the confines of lackluster personality patterns and behaviors that are mostly on automatic pilot. We the performers were likewise freed from our usual roles and able to relax into a more spacious dimension of Self that Gabrielle called “The Holy Actor,” that part of our own awareness that is not identified with any one of our ego-characters, but is an impartial witness to the whole show. (This part of her work, interestingly, was influenced by her time spent in Chile in the early 70s with teacher Oscar Ichazo, founder of the Arica system,  who shared his insights into the ancient system of the Enneagram, a way of personality-typing. Unbeknownst to us at the time, Gabrielle had adapted those principles to a theatrical context.)

***

Gabrielle Roth passed away on October 22nd, 2012, at the age of 71, from lung cancer, and it is only now that the significance of our initial moment of connecting–of transmission–has finally become clear to me. Two nights after her death, looking at her photo, what should have been completely obvious for three decades suddenly dawned on me like a light bulb flashing over my head: Oh my God, I did have a teacher in this life!

Like Castaneda to her Don Juan, I’d always been a bit slow to grasp matters of the spirit. But clearly I had met someone who would not only become my teacher, but a lifelong friend and someone whose presence in my life and in my heart and soul was so potent, vibrant and alive, that when she died I actually felt no grief nor sensed any absence.

I am truly not a New Agey type of person who says things like what I'm about to say, and it may purely be my imagination at work, but the fact is, even for an old, hardened cynic like me, in the days following her passing, Gabrielle remained as vital a presence and mischievous trickster spirit in my inner world as she had been before, almost as if the fact of her physical disappearing act was merely incidental.

And then the “coincidences” began, as if she was poking me in the ribs from the other side. I was sitting alone in the examining room at a doctor’s office in Richmond, Virginia, thinking and reminiscing about my years with Gabrielle and Rob, her beloved husband and my old friend. In the midst of my reverie, I overheard a conversation outside the door at the nurse’s station. Someone hung up a phone and said, “That was Rob; he is such a wonderful man.” And another nurse replied, “You should meet his wife Gabrielle, she’s really amazing!”

Later that week I got on the train in Richmond, heading north, and the conductor took my ticket and slid it through the little machine he carried. He stared down at the screen, then up at me, then back and forth once more and said, “You’re not Gabrielle!” Later I would learn that people around the world were having similar experiences, quirkly little visitations, or vivid dreams. As far as I could tell, this wild woman may have died, but she was clearly not dead.

Even though after that first meeting with Gabrielle I would continue to devote much of my life for the next 30 years to seeking out other teachers, meditating with gurus and alleged Messiahs and Avatars, traveling to ashrams in India, taking shamanic potions in the jungles of Brazil and so forth, throughout all of it, Gabrielle was the one teacher I consistently remained in touch with, would return to, would take another workshop with, or another lunch, and would count on to answer my phone calls and emails, though I knew she received upwards of 700 personal messages a day. So when my last email went unanswered, I knew something was up.

***

Something was up. She was dying. Because of the thousands of people who would have bombarded her and her family with well-meaning phone calls, emails, texts, and Facebook posts, they opted to keep it quiet. So quiet, in fact, that only the week before she had sent out a cheerful email to greet and welcome the hundred participants from around the world who were coming to New York to take a workshop with her the following weekend. Her close friend and workshop producer Lori Saltzman called her and asked, “Uhhh, what’s with the perky email?” They both knew she couldn’t get out of bed, let alone lead a workshop. On the other hand, Gabrielle had already pulled off many surprises in her three and a half year journey with cancer. Lori reported that Gabrielle, who could barely speak, croaked in response, “It’s my retirement party.”

She never made it to the party. But those hundred people danced their hearts out, joined by nearly 10,000 people from every time zone in the world, spontaneously pouring out their love on a dedicated Facebook page 24 hours a day, a virtual vigil, an astounding testament to the power and possibility of one courageous, daring spirit touching the lives of so many; of one person changing the world. People offered prayers, poems, memories, appreciations, photos, music, irreverent jokes. (That would be me: “In lieu of flowers, Gabrielle has asked that you make a contribution to my offshore account in the Cayman Islands.” Or, “Hey Gabrielle, I guess it would be a bit embarrassing now, after all this attention, if you didn’t die….oh, and give me a call if you get a chance. Nothing urgent.” She trained me to be the irreverent comic; that’s one of the parts she loved about me, so I wasn’t about to let her down at that point.)

If this were an obituary, I would be sure to recount Gabrielle’s life story and long list of accomplishments. But far more than the facts of her biography, she was first and foremost an Artist of the Soul, an Artist of Being, an urban street shaman who devoted every ounce of her energy and passion to shedding light on the illusory and limited nature of our repetitive life stories and pumped-up resumes. So why then, would I offer up her resume here, when she’s the one who finally helped so many people recognize that who they really are is so much vaster and more mysterious than what they’ve done and where they’ve been?

To come full circle, it was her presence alone in people’s lives–in my life–along with her 5Rhythms movement work, which she described as a "map of the creative process,"  that pushed all of us deeper into our artistic power, our vital life force and originality, and the courage to express it. She once said to me,

If you are a thousand watt bulb, El, don’t dim your light; let everyone else wear sunglasses.

Then I learned that she said that to lots of her students. Sam Special would have to wait another day to be singled out. (Secretly though, between you and me, she always did make me feel special. Maybe I am! Wouldn't that be ironic?)
Gabrielle herself was a ten-thousand watt blinding light, and like using one candle to light another, her unbridled and untamed inner flame ignited thousands of others across the globe.

Lest this sound cultish or overly-worshipful, which would annoy the hell out of her, let it be clear that I kept returning to Gabrielle’s world because it never turned cultish or weird, because she never wanted people to worship her, or be like her; she only asked that we be like us, and helped us uncover whoever that was in each individual case. When all was said and done, she was more artist than teacher. And those of us around her were, in a sense, more collaborators than students.

You want to dance like me? she once asked. Then dance like you.

I also kept returning because she had a very real and ordinary home life with Robert Ansell–“Rob”–her loving husband of 35 years, and a devoted son, Jonathan Horan, who, along with his sister Lucia Rose Horan, were all deeply involved in producing and teaching her work. It was a family business, a Mom & Pop shop of the soul.

I helped her shop for sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce at Whole Foods to prepare for her family’s Thanksgiving dinner. Such signs of ordinary domestic life are always good things to watch for in a spiritual teacher, albeit rare. (And consider this: isn’t it a bit strange that simply being a real and ordinary human should even be something worth mentioning when describing a spiritual teacher, as if it is a rarified character trait instead of the very first thing to be assumed? But time and again we have seen our charismatic leaders towering above us on pedestals only to inevitably topple and fall, exposed as simply another flawed human being. Gabrielle, on the other hand, started out being exposed, and lived her life from a place of being raw and nakedly herself, so there was never very far she could fall.)

And finally, I kept returning to Gabrielle because she invited me into her apartment, into her life, out to dinner, to help her over the phone at midnight with last-minute writing deadlines. I got to see her up close before she put on make-up and the sleek black outfits she loved so much. After so much disillusionment over the years with fallen spiritual teachers, she was pretty much what she said she was until the very end; no more, no less.  During one of her final radio interviews, “Dancing with Cancer,”  the host kept repeatedly prodding her to speak about how she viewed the dying process through the prism of the 5Rhythms work, since she had a tendency to view nearly all life experiences through that lens. Finally, after being asked for the third or fourth time, Gabrielle answered: “I have no idea” she said, “I haven’t died yet.”

She was a lifelong devotee of the simple truth of where people really are, not some dressed up capital T-Truth of their spiritual fantasy life. What’s really going on inside you, right now, and can you allow it to move and change, using your body as a tool?

And now, finally, like a parting gift, her passing made it clear to me that I did in fact receive her offering. The “Artist-me” she perceived, the edgy, creative character she seduced forth from behind my hesitations and fear, the originality and power of my birthright that she celebrated, is all firmly etched in my inner view of myself, a personal model and interior identity I will forever aspire to express and be true to, hearing her urging me on from the sidelines of my soul, laughing and crying with me through the tragicomedy of my life and ongoing dramatic storyline, and through it all, beckoning me to join her on the dance floor, connecting deeply in the amazement of shared being, letting the whole catastrophe go, disappearing into the dance, into spontaneous bodies and souls in motion, in a deep inward dive into the heart of the dark mystery of being alive.

Image by Leah Brooks, courtesy of Creative commons license.

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While similar (changa contains DMT), each drug has its own unique effect and feeling. Let’s compare and contrast changa vs DMT.

5-MeO-DMT Guide: Effects, Benefits, Safety, and Legality
5-Meo-DMT comes from the Sonora Desert toad. Here is everything you want to know about 5-Meo-DMT and how it compares to 4-AcO-DMT.

4-AcO-DMT Guide: Benefits, Effects, Safety, and Legality
This guide tells you everything about 4 AcO DMT & 5 MeO DMT, that belong to the tryptamine class, and are similar but slightly different to DMT.

How Much Does LSD Cost? When shopping around for that magical psychedelic substance, there can be many uncertainties when new to buying LSD. You may be wondering how much does LSD cost? In this article, we will discuss what to expect when purchasing LSD on the black market, what forms LSD is sold in, and the standard breakdown of buying LSD in quantity.   Navy Use of LSD on the Dark Web The dark web is increasingly popular for purchasing illegal substances. The US Navy has now noticed this trend with their staff. Read to learn more.   Having Sex on LSD: What You Need to Know Can you have sex on LSD? Read our guide to learn everything about sex on acid, from lowered inhibitions to LSD users quotes on sex while tripping.   A Drug That Switches off an LSD Trip A pharmaceutical company is developing an “off-switch” drug for an LSD trip, in the case that a bad trip can happen. Some would say there is no such thing.   Queen of Hearts: An Interview with Liz Elliot on Tim Leary and LSD The history of psychedelia, particularly the British experience, has been almost totally written by men. Of the women involved, especially those who were in the thick of it, little has been written either by or about them. A notable exception is Liz Elliot.   LSD Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety LSD, Lysergic acid diethylamide, or just acid is one of the most important psychedelics ever discovered. What did history teach us?   Microdosing LSD & Common Dosage Explained Microdosing, though imperceivable, is showing to have many health benefits–here is everything you want to know about microdosing LSD.   LSD Resources Curious to learn more about LSD? This guide includes comprehensive LSD resources containing books, studies and more.   LSD as a Spiritual Aid There is common consent that the evolution of mankind is paralleled by the increase and expansion of consciousness. From the described process of how consciousness originates and develops, it becomes evident that its growth depends on its faculty of perception. Therefore every means of improving this faculty should be used.   Legendary LSD Blotter Art: A Hidden Craftsmanship Have you ever heard of LSD blotter art? Explore the trippy world of LSD art and some of the top artists of LSD blotter art.   LSD and Exercise: Does it Work? LSD and exercise? Learn why high-performing athletes are taking hits of LSD to improve their overall potential.   Jan Bastiaans Treated Holocaust Survivors with LSD Dutch psychiatrist, Jan Bastiaans administered LSD-assisted therapy to survivors of the Holocaust. A true war hero and pioneer of psychedelic-therapy.   LSD and Spiritual Awakening I give thanks for LSD, which provided the opening that led me to India in 1971 and brought me to Neem Karoli Baba, known as Maharajji. Maharajji is described by the Indians as a “knower of hearts.”   How LSD is Made: Everything You Need to Know Ever wonder how to make LSD? Read our guide to learn everything you need to know about the procedures of how LSD is made.   How to Store LSD: Best Practices Learn the best way to store LSD, including the proper temperature and conditions to maximize how long LSD lasts when stored.   Bicycle Day: The Discovery of LSD Every year on April 19th, psychonauts join forces to celebrate Bicycle Day. Learn about the famous day when Albert Hoffman first discovered the effects of LSD.   Cary Grant: A Hollywood Legend On LSD Cary Grant was a famous actor during the 1930’s-60’s But did you know Grant experimented with LSD? Read our guide to learn more.   Albert Hofmann: LSD — My Problem Child Learn about Albert Hofmann and his discovery of LSD, along with the story of Bicycle Day and why it marks a historic milestone.   Babies are High: What Does LSD Do To Your Brain What do LSD and babies have in common? Researchers at the Imperial College in London discover that an adult’s brain on LSD looks like a baby’s brain.   1P LSD: Effects, Benefits, Safety Explained 1P LSD is an analogue of LSD and homologue of ALD-25. Here is everything you want to know about 1P LSD and how it compares to LSD.   Francis Crick, DNA & LSD Type ‘Francis Crick LSD’ into Google, and the result will be 30,000 links. Many sites claim that Crick (one of the two men responsible for discovering the structure of DNA), was either under the influence of LSD at the time of his revelation or used the drug to help with his thought processes during his research. Is this true?   What Happens If You Overdose on LSD? A recent article presented three individuals who overdosed on LSD. Though the experience was unpleasant, the outcomes were remarkably positive.

The Ayahuasca Experience
Ayahuasca is both a medicine and a visionary aid. You can employ ayahuasca for physical, mental, emotional and spiritual repair, and you can engage with the power of ayahuasca for deeper insight and realization. If you consider attainment of knowledge in the broadest perspective, you can say that at all times, ayahuasca heals.

 

Trippy Talk: Meet Ayahuasca with Sitaramaya Sita and PlantTeachers
Sitaramaya Sita is a spiritual herbalist, pusangera, and plant wisdom practitioner formally trained in the Shipibo ayahuasca tradition.

 

The Therapeutic Value of Ayahuasca
My best description of the impact of ayahuasca is that it’s a rocket boost to psychospiritual growth and unfolding, my professional specialty during my thirty-five years of private practice.

 

Microdosing Ayahuasca: Common Dosage Explained
What is ayahuasca made of and what is considered a microdose? Explore insights with an experienced Peruvian brewmaster and learn more about this practice.

 

Ayahuasca Makes Neuron Babies in Your Brain
Researchers from Beckley/Sant Pau Research Program have shared the latest findings in their study on the effects of ayahuasca on neurogenesis.

 

The Fatimiya Sufi Order and Ayahuasca
In this interview, the founder of the Fatimiya Sufi Order,  N. Wahid Azal, discusses the history and uses of plant medicines in Islamic and pre-Islamic mystery schools.

 

Consideration Ayahuasca for Treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Research indicates that ayahuasca mimics mechanisms of currently accepted treatments for PTSD. In order to understand the implications of ayahuasca treatment, we need to understand how PTSD develops.

 

Brainwaves on Ayahuasca: A Waking Dream State
In a study researchers shared discoveries showing ingredients found in Ayahuasca impact the brainwaves causing a “waking dream” state.

 

Cannabis and Ayahuasca: Mixing Entheogenic Plants
Cannabis and Ayahuasca: most people believe they shouldn’t be mixed. Read this personal experience peppered with thoughts from a pro cannabis Peruvian Shaman.

 

Ayahuasca Retreat 101: Everything You Need to Know to Brave the Brew
Ayahuasca has been known to be a powerful medicinal substance for millennia. However, until recently, it was only found in the jungle. Word of its deeply healing and cleansing properties has begun to spread across the world as many modern, Western individuals are seeking spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical well-being. More ayahuasca retreat centers are emerging in the Amazon and worldwide to meet the demand.

 

Ayahuasca Helps with Grief
A new study published in psychopharmacology found that ayahuasca helped those suffering from the loss of a loved one up to a year after treatment.

 

Ayahuasca Benefits: Clinical Improvements for Six Months
Ayahuasca benefits can last six months according to studies. Read here to learn about the clinical improvements from drinking the brew.

 

Ayahuasca Culture: Indigenous, Western, And The Future
Ayahuasca has been use for generations in the Amazon. With the rise of retreats and the brew leaving the rainforest how is ayahuasca culture changing?

 

Ayahuasca Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
The Amazonian brew, Ayahuasca has a long history and wide use. Read our guide to learn all about the tea from its beginnings up to modern-day interest.

 

Ayahuasca and the Godhead: An Interview with Wahid Azal of the Fatimiya Sufi Order
Wahid Azal, a Sufi mystic of The Fatimiya Sufi Order and an Islamic scholar, talks about entheogens, Sufism, mythology, and metaphysics.

 

Ayahuasca and the Feminine: Women’s Roles, Healing, Retreats, and More
Ayahuasca is lovingly called “grandmother” or “mother” by many. Just how feminine is the brew? Read to learn all about women and ayahuasca.

What Is the Standard of Care for Ketamine Treatments?
Ketamine therapy is on the rise in light of its powerful results for treatment-resistant depression. But, what is the current standard of care for ketamine? Read to find out.

What Is Dissociation and How Does Ketamine Create It?
Dissociation can take on multiple forms. So, what is dissociation like and how does ketamine create it? Read to find out.

Having Sex on Ketamine: Getting Physical on a Dissociative
Curious about what it could feel like to have sex on a dissociate? Find out all the answers in our guide to sex on ketamine.

Special K: The Party Drug
Special K refers to Ketamine when used recreationally. Learn the trends as well as safety information around this substance.

Kitty Flipping: When Ketamine and Molly Meet
What is it, what does it feel like, and how long does it last? Read to explore the mechanics of kitty flipping.

Ketamine vs. Esketamine: 3 Important Differences Explained
Ketamine and esketamine are used to treat depression. But what’s the difference between them? Read to learn which one is right for you: ketamine vs. esketamine.

Guide to Ketamine Treatments: Understanding the New Approach
Ketamine is becoming more popular as more people are seeing its benefits. Is ketamine a fit? Read our guide for all you need to know about ketamine treatments.

Ketamine Treatment for Eating Disorders
Ketamine is becoming a promising treatment for various mental health conditions. Read to learn how individuals can use ketamine treatment for eating disorders.

Ketamine Resources, Studies, and Trusted Information
Curious to learn more about ketamine? This guide includes comprehensive ketamine resources containing books, studies and more.

Ketamine Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
Our ultimate guide to ketamine has everything you need to know about this “dissociative anesthetic” and how it is being studied for depression treatment.

Ketamine for Depression: A Mental Health Breakthrough
While antidepressants work for some, many others find no relief. Read to learn about the therapeutic uses of ketamine for depression.

Ketamine for Addiction: Treatments Offering Hope
New treatments are offering hope to individuals suffering from addiction diseases. Read to learn how ketamine for addiction is providing breakthrough results.

Microdosing Ketamine & Common Dosages Explained
Microdosing, though imperceivable, is showing to have many health benefits–here is everything you want to know about microdosing ketamine.

How to Ease a Ketamine Comedown
Knowing what to expect when you come down from ketamine can help integrate the experience to gain as much value as possible.

How to Store Ketamine: Best Practices
Learn the best ways how to store ketamine, including the proper temperature and conditions to maximize how long ketamine lasts when stored.

How To Buy Ketamine: Is There Legal Ketamine Online?
Learn exactly where it’s legal to buy ketamine, and if it’s possible to purchase legal ketamine on the internet.

How Long Does Ketamine Stay in Your System?
How long does ketamine stay in your system? Are there lasting effects on your body? Read to discover the answers!

How Ketamine is Made: Everything You Need to Know
Ever wonder how to make Ketamine? Read our guide to learn everything you need to know about the procedures of how Ketamine is made.

Colorado on Ketamine: First Responders Waiver Programs
Fallout continues after Elijah McClain. Despite opposing recommendations from some city council, Colorado State Health panel recommends the continued use of ketamine by medics for those demonstrating “excited delirium” or “extreme agitation”.

Types of Ketamine: Learn the Differences & Uses for Each
Learn about the different types of ketamine and what they are used for—and what type might be right for you. Read now to find out!

Kitty Flipping: When Ketamine and Molly Meet
What is it, what does it feel like, and how long does it last? Read to explore the mechanics of kitty flipping.

MDMA & Ecstasy Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
Our ultimate guide to MDMA has everything you want to know about Ecstasy from how it was developed in 1912 to why it’s being studied today.

How To Get the Most out of Taking MDMA as a Couple
Taking MDMA as a couple can lead to exciting experiences. Read here to learn how to get the most of of this love drug in your relationship.

Common MDMA Dosage & Microdosing Explained
Microdosing, though imperceivable, is showing to have many health benefits–here is everything you want to know about microdosing MDMA.

Having Sex on MDMA: What You Need to Know
MDMA is known as the love drug… Read our guide to learn all about sex on MDMA and why it is beginning to makes its way into couple’s therapy.

How MDMA is Made: Common Procedures Explained
Ever wonder how to make MDMA? Read our guide to learn everything you need to know about the procedures of how MDMA is made.

Hippie Flipping: When Shrooms and Molly Meet
What is it, what does it feel like, and how long does it last? Explore the mechanics of hippie flipping and how to safely experiment.

How Cocaine is Made: Common Procedures Explained
Ever wonder how to make cocaine? Read our guide to learn everything you need to know about the procedures of how cocaine is made.

A Christmas Sweater with Santa and Cocaine
This week, Walmart came under fire for a “Let it Snow” Christmas sweater depicting Santa with lines of cocaine. Columbia is not merry about it.

Ultimate Cocaine Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
This guide covers what you need to know about Cocaine, including common effects and uses, legality, safety precautions and top trends today.

NEWS: An FDA-Approved Cocaine Nasal Spray
The FDA approved a cocaine nasal spray called Numbrino, which has raised suspicions that the pharmaceutical company, Lannett Company Inc., paid off the FDA..

The Ultimate Guide to Cannabis Bioavailability
What is bioavailability and how can it affect the overall efficacy of a psychedelic substance? Read to learn more.

Cannabis Research Explains Sociability Behaviors
New research by Dr. Giovanni Marsicano shows social behavioral changes occur as a result of less energy available to the neurons. Read here to learn more.

The Cannabis Shaman
If recreational and medical use of marijuana is becoming accepted, can the spiritual use as well? Experiential journalist Rak Razam interviews Hamilton Souther, founder of the 420 Cannabis Shamanism movement…

Cannabis Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
Our ultimate guide to Cannabis has everything you want to know about this popular substances that has psychedelic properties.

Cannabis and Ayahuasca: Mixing Entheogenic Plants
Cannabis and Ayahuasca: most people believe they shouldn’t be mixed. Read this personal experience peppered with thoughts from a procannabis Peruvian Shaman.

CBD-Rich Cannabis Versus Single-Molecule CBD
A ground-breaking study has documented the superior therapeutic properties of whole plant Cannabis extract as compared to synthetic cannabidiol (CBD), challenging the medical-industrial complex’s notion that “crude” botanical preparations are less effective than single-molecule compounds.

Cannabis Has Always Been a Medicine
Modern science has already confirmed the efficacy of cannabis for most uses described in the ancient medical texts, but prohibitionists still claim that medical cannabis is “just a ruse.”

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