Not many people have the luxury (or the desire) to stay at a healing center in the Amazon for two and a half months, which provided me a unique opportunity to see numerous people come and go. With my packed daily schedule of eating, contemplating life, swinging in a hammock, and having a bath, I had a fair bit of time to observe and chat with the guests that came through. As a very scientific minded person, I began to observe trends in the personalities and reasons why people had made the trek to experience ayahuasca. Over my two and a half months I determined that 95% of the people could fit into one or more of the following categories, 1. The uber-spiritual, 2. the psychonaut, 3. the curious, 4. the  desperate, and finally 5. the shaman in training.

First the Uber-Spiritual. These you can usually identify before even talking to them, sporting an unkempt look including but not limited to dreadlocks, unshaven for at least a few months (face for men, armpits for women), at least five visible piercings with stretchers of varying sizes. Tattoos of religious or culture symbols will be spread over their body, with seemingly no rhyme or reason (do they know what that Chinese symbol means, or could it very well mean won-ton soup?). They will be sporting a mimum of 10 bracelets, at least half made of hemp and various crystals will adorn their necklaces. When discussing why they have made the journey to Peru, they will rarely use the word ayahuasca, preferring to refer to it as la madre or la medicina and that it has called them to come connect with its spirit. They will often speak elaboratley, using large and vague description words, often taking five minutes to explain something that could be done in thirty seconds. They will often reject mainstream knowledge, believing that it is part of a vast conspiracy network, and “the mans” way of controlling the masses. To hold a conversation with them, it is best to use the words intuition and energy alot, avoiding words that describe anything physical or tangible. For a rather humerous look into the uber-spiritual character, check out this video.

Second type is the psychonaut. Now these are not as easy to spot immediately on sight; usually male, they look like any other person of the street in their respective country. After a few minutes of conversation though, they are easily identifiable. Unlike the uber-spiritual who will refer to ayahusca as la madre or medicina, the psychonaut will often refer to ayahuasca based on its chemical components dimethyltriptamine (DMT) and monoamine oxidase inhibitor  (MAOI). Often well educated, they will have a very scientific understanding of how these components react when ingested and how to extract these components, sometimes having already done so in their own homes. They will have a vast experience and knowledge of other pshycadellics, spouting off the acronyms for various substances that may confuse some into thinking they are just using some new texting abbriviations that haven´t caught on yet (MMDA, LSD, EDMA, MDAT, TCP, PCP…. The list goes on and has a dedicated wikipedia page). For them, ayahuasca is often the next step up in pshycadellics for them, as DMT is considered to have some of the strongest effects (next to iboga).

The third type is the curious. They can be of any age, gender, education, and occupation, but will have one thing in common; they have made the trek into the Amazon because of a friend or a travel forum that told them about ayahuasca. Something someone said to them was intriguing enough to make the trek to check out what the “hype” is all about. They will have watched a couple of the mainstream documentaries and read a couple books on the topic to have a basic knowledge of what it´s all about, though not to the extreme of the pshyconaut. They will usually hold some skeptisim towards the healing capabilities of the shamans and ayahuasca, and because of that not come down with any specific intention other than to see what happens. Unlike the uber-spiritual, they will have a hard time accepting the “energitic” workings of the shamans, and understanding what one´s chakras are and why they need to be cleansed. Many of the youger “curious” types will see partaking in an ayahuasca ceremony as a right of passage for backpacking across South America and Peru.

The fourth type is the desperate. These are the people that are suffering from a serious mental or physical disorder, where western treatment has failed them time and time again. From severe cases of depression to those suffering from incurable diseases such as parkinsons and cancer, these people come to the Amazon at the end of their ropes looking for a miracle. They can often be distinguished as they will keep to themselves the first week at the center, they will be focused on their intention and follow any and all reccomendations given by the shaman. Slowly but surely over their time at the center they will begin to open up, even those with severe social anxiety and depression will end up with a few close friendships by the time they leave. Many will find the healing they seek, but on some occasions they will not (see the Sacred Science). No matter what the outcome, usually the experience will have given them a new outlook and motivation as they continue on their healing journey.

Lastly is the shaman in training. These people are unlike anyone you have met before in your life. Often starting out somwhere on the spectrum of the four previous types, their experience with ayahusca has been so strong that is has led them to forsake the “normal” and commit to years of celibacy, isolation, and stict diet to learn how to become a shaman. To become a shaman is not a quick or easy process (even though it is sometimes marketed as such), sometimes requirng 10+ years of training before being able to heal others.  Often you may not even see them at a center, and when you do they seem to appear from nowhere, blending completely into the jungle surroundings. They can be somewhat of a “unicorn”, often talked about but rarely seen, and when you find yourself in their presence there is often insurmountable wisdom to be had. They can often be coerced into a converstaion through news of current events in the outside world (or football if they are from the UK and a man-united fan).

Even though I was able to decipher the majority of people that came to the center into these five categories, no matter what mindset, intention, background, beliefs, etc. that anyone had at the beginning, by the time they left the center they were a changed person. Changed for the better. For my entire stay, I didn´t meet one person that left the center not feeling that something significant had happened to them and without a more positive outlook on their life.

On a side note: even those who had left prior centers I had stayed at not feeling like any change had occured, had change happen though they didn´t want to or couldn´t admit it. An example of this was when a work collegue of mine with depression, anxiety, and alcholism issues approached me after driving drunk and damaging their car, asking for reccomendations on centers to go to. They ended up traveling to a center I was staying at, but leaving the center early after the shaman reccomended to them an intense cleansing procedure with a plant called Oje, only partaking in two ayahuasca ceremonies. Though they left frustrated and dejected, feeling that they had wasted their time and money, when I crossed paths with them a few months later they were no longer drinking alcohol at all.

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