Ayahuasca and Iboga – Messengers of Truth from Mother Earth
By Dylan Charles
“The history of Western culture in the last two thousand
years could be seen as the “Empire of the Mind conquering the exterior world
and extinguishing the interior one, with the result that we have atrophied our
spiritual connection.” -Rak Razam
The world is deeply out of balance in these pre-apocalyptic
times, and a serious correction, long overdue, is underway. The benevolent
forces of the earth are reaching out into our culture and touching the
consciousness of many people, invoking within them the necessity and the
courage to transform and evolve beyond the self-destructive narratives that
govern human life today.
Situation Normal: All Fracked Up
When we look up into the sky we see a once blue oblivion
painted in chemtrails, and when we look down into the soil we see poisons and
genetically modified seed infecting the purity of nature. Radiation spills like
blood from industrial accidents and the earth is being stripped bare by
unfettered resource extraction. Our minds are held captive by programming that
keeps us locked into materialistic and competitive paradigms, the ego is
glorified as if it were God, and too many of us are unable to see beyond
immediate personal desires. The mindlessness of it all is maddening.
The problems we face run deep, yet the consciousness of
human kind seems firmly centered at base level. For many there seems to be
little promise that a significant enough transformation can occur in time to
avoid ecocide, which is suicide, because along with the industrial revolution
we’ve reconfigured our knowledge base to exclude sustainable co-existence with
the natural world.
So, then, what is available to us, as creatures of this
earth, to remedy these crises? What catalysts, if any, are strong enough to
cause the needed infectious tidal wave of personal and communal transformation?
One strong enough to cause people to re-think their patterned lives and to
restructure them? What in our world can help us to break through the fear of
letting go of what we have now, in order to risk discovering what else may be
possible?
How are we to fully understand the gravity of our mistake of
viewing the earth as something separate from ourselves, as a consumable
resource that can be totally exhausted for our comfort and our entertainment?
Enter: Ancient Wisdom:
Ayahuasca and Iboga… kindred medicine spirits that are pushing
themselves into the collective consciousness of the modern world. Their ancient
secrets have been guarded for thousands of years by the indigenous tribes that
have since time immemorial structured their cultures and cosmologies around the
wisdom gleaned from communing with these plant teachers. Yet for some important
reason there is widespread and growing interest in these sacraments as a means
to alleviate the cultural malaises that so many in the ‘advanced’ world suffer
from.
“Grandmother
Medicine is wise and powerful. Perhaps the plants themselves are catalyzing new
opportunities for survival of their wisdom as well as their rainforest home,
and maybe us too!” -Jonathon Miller-Weisberger
Used in shamanic and bona fide religious practices,
Ayahuasca, native to South America, is a hallucinogenic brew concocted of the
‘vine of the souls,’ banisteriopsis caapi, and other DMT containing plants such
as chacruna, or psychotria viridis. Iboga, native to the rainforest of Gabon,
Africa, is an entheogenic root bark of the tree, tabernanthe iboga and an
ancient sacrament of the Bwiti, a spiritual discipline whose African members
number in the millions.
Both of these plant medicines are taken ceremonially as
medicinal rites to facilitate physical and psychological healing, to teach
virtuous living, to develop spirituality, to strengthen family and communal
ties, and to deepen one’s connection to the natural world. They are the center
pieces of shamanic traditions that have for ages been full-spectrum healing
arts that address the total human needs of individuals and communities alike,
while addressing imbalances between humans and nature. They bring a human-being
into direct contact with the unseen spirit realms of the earth and the cosmos,
allowing one to de-intellectualize the mystical nature of life and
consciousness. Strangely enough, both of these shamanic medicines are swiftly
working their way into the consciousness of the modern, ‘civilized’ world at a
time when the planet is under severe ecological assault and the individual is
bombarded with fear, polluted with toxic foods and a toxic environment, and suffering
from dreadful mental and emotional health. We have largely lost our connection
to the divine, to the source of life and consciousness and to the very earth
that sustains us. Whereas ancient cultures communicated directly with nature to
gain the necessary wisdom to live by, we have convinced ourselves that nature
is here for our exploitation.
What Language Does Mother Earth Speak?
How does our planet, which gives life to all earthly
creatures, tell us when we’ve gone too far, when we’ve cut down too many
forests or over-polluted the soil and sea? In what ways does she make appeals
to the human race for compassionate reciprocity for breathing life into the
stardust that animates us? We know she is capable of doom and destruction, and
that when she speaks up the earth shakes and trembles and entire cities fall.
When she cries out her tears create centennial floods and blizzards that shock,
surprise and humble us. When she moans in pain of being tortured, her anguish
is felt in droughts, famine and pestilence, and thousands of her children die
and fade to dust. When she smiles, we reap abundance in harvest and we thrive
in good health of mind and spirit.
She speaks to us in these familiar tongues, using the
language of blessing and destruction, yet our human minds have gone so far down
the road of disconnection that we know longer hear her or heed her voice. We’ve
advanced so far in the direction of materialism that we no longer acknowledge
her communication as an intelligence, and we’ve grown so arrogant and pompous
in our endeavors that we discredit her say, instead always moving to subjugate
her interests or insulate ourselves from her wrath. Foolishness of the highest
order.
“We are not
talking about passive agents of transformation, we are talking about an
intelligence, a consciousness, an alive and other mind, a spirit. Nature is
alive and is talking to us. This is not a metaphor.” -Terence McKenna
Mother earth, the shining blue pearl of life in a vast sea
of dark, uninhabitable space is at once held captive by the human race, and
simultaneously the source of all life for human beings. The propagation of
truly organic wisdom via these medicines into the human rat-race is her
conscious effort to redress the wholesale damage being done to the planet, whose
communication is limited to the forces of nature and the ability to inspire.
The timing of the appearance of these plant medicines in
Western culture is of vast significance because it reveals a direct attempt by
our sentient planet to communicate directly with the human race in order to
impress upon us her suffering and her commitment to love us through it all.
Touching Consciousness, Transforming Lives
Transformation is the key to navigating these insane times,
and these medicines strike at the root of global transformation, the
individual. It takes tremendous courage to ‘step into the fire’ with these
medicines, but for those who do, it feels distinctly like a calling or destiny,
and very little like a desire or ambition. Initiates are called to muster
absolute courage and humility, and are returned renewed and cleansed with
heightened energy and abundant inspiration. Often gaining clear signals about
choosing and navigating life’s paths, initiates receive visionary insight into
the value of life and the connection to the natural world. The message is
similar for many: Wake up, let go of the past, balance the ego, refine
yourself, refine your personal energy, and move your life in the direction of
service, with gratitude for each breath that you take.
Fear is understood and overcome, and the infinite nature of
human consciousness is revealed. Emotional healing happens instantly, and
self-judgements and criticisms are re-apportioned into task lists for personal
development. Impulsivity and addiction are understood as destructive forces
that require domestication, and the impetus to do so is received abundantly.
One reassess their connection to nature and sees, senses and directly feels the
sentience in all things, thereby tempering their sense of seniority in the
cosmic web of life. A new life path unfolds, deep, enduring questions are
answered, and forgiveness is granted. A life purpose lost is re-discovered and
the seeker becomes new, refreshed, and reborn into a new perspective that lasts
a lifetime.
“My own view, for what it’s worth, is that
human society is presently in a very bad place and these messengers from the
plant kingdom, notably DMT… are reaching out to help us. Many in the modern
world are so deeply conditioned into mental slavery towards the materialist
model (i.e. the notion that there is nothing more to life than our material,
physical existence presently promulgated by many scientists, by all
corporations, by politicians and by the media) that a huge kick up the ass is
needed to break free. The plant allies provide this kick up the ass, remove the
scales from our eyes, cleanse the doors of perception and offer the opportunity
to see things as they really are — infinite, to paraphrase Blake. -
These medicines heal the cultural malaises of apathy and
distractedness by re-introducing mystery and magic into life, and by liberating
one’s consciousness from the confining prisons of the war on consciousness.
They completely destroy the matrix of cultural programming, clearing space
within the psyche for something new and positive to emerge.
Conclusion – Countering Cultural Propaganda
It is no accident that these medicines are forcing their way
into popular culture at this time. These plant teachers are one of nature’s
greatest tools for communicating with human beings, and their message is
seeding greater consciousness among us as a defense mechanism for the sentient
being we call Earth.
Iboga is the tree of knowledge. Ayahuasca is the vine of
souls. Together they comprise an entirely complete, organic language and are
reaching out into the world seeking soldiers of truth to translate and seed the
message of the Earth, who is unmistakably our Mother. They are calling us,
speaking directly to us in spiritual form, asking for our involvement in this
life or death struggle to return to equity, respect and balance to our
relationship with the natural world. They are messengers of truth from our
mother the earth. Are you listening?
About the Author
Dylan Charles is a student and teacher of Shaolin Kung Fu,
Tai Chi and Qi Gong, a practitioner of Yoga and Taoist esoteric arts, and an
activist and idealist passionately engaged in the struggle for a more
sustainable and just world for future generations. He is the editor of
WakingTimes.com, the proprietor of OffgridOutpost.com, a grateful father and a
man who seeks to enlighten others with the power of inspiring information and
action. His remarkable journey of self-transformation is a testament to the power
of the will and the persistence of the human spirit. He may be contacted at wakingtimes@gmail.com.
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