The Human Experience · Episode

Episode 16 – Taylor Marie – Ayahuasca

A conversation with Taylor Marie

Ayahuasca , also commonly called yagé (jɑːˈheɪ), is a psychedelic brew made out of Banisteriopsis caapi vine in combination with various plants. It is mixed with the leaves of Chacruna or other…

Published
February 24, 2015
Runtime
27:56
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Ayahuasca , also commonly called yagé (jɑːˈheɪ), is a psychedelic brew made out of Banisteriopsis caapi vine in combination with various plants. It is mixed with the leaves of Screen Shot 2015-03-27 at 8.28.41 AMChacruna or other dimethyltryptamine (DMT)-containing plant species. The brew, first described academically in the early 1950s byHarvard ethnobotanist Richard Evans Schultes, who found it employed for divinatory and healing purposes by the native peoples of Amazonian Peru, is known by a number of different names.

It has been reported that some effects can be felt from consuming the caapi vine alone, but that DMT-containing plants (such as Psychotria) remain inactive when drunk as a brew without a source of monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) such as B. caapi. How indigenous peoples discovered the hallucinogenic properties of the plants used in the ayahuasca brew remains unclear. Many indigenous Amazonian people say they received the instructions directly from plants and plant spirits.

People who have consumed ayahuasca report having spiritual revelations regarding their purpose on Earth, the true nature of the universe as well as deep insight into how to be the best person they possibly can.[2] This is viewed by many as a spiritual awakening and what is often described as a rebirth.[3] In addition, it is often reported that individuals feel they gain access to higher spiritual dimensions and make contact with various spiritual or extra-dimensional beings who can act as guides or healers.

Author Don Jose Campos claims that people may experience profound positive life changes subsequent to consuming ayahuasca. Vomiting can follow ayahuasca ingestion; this purging is considered by many shamans and experienced users of ayahuasca to be an essential part of the experience, as it represents the release of negative energy and emotions built up over the course of one’s life.[6] Others report purging in the form of nausea, diarrhea, and hot/cold flashes.

This is Taylor Marie – We discuss Ayahuasca in this episode.

From Taylor’s blog:

“I am a traveler of the Universe — physical and non. I share my journeys openly with the world on my YouTube channel.

I love psychedelic experiences and I use them to gain a deeper understanding of myself and the world around me. They have healed me in countless ways.

I think what draws people to my videos is the fact that I am raw, honest, and real. I’m not into pretending, and bullshit stinks, so why would I dish it out? So that’s kind of my trademark thing in a way I guess. Openness and honesty. Keep it real, otherwise what’s the point?”

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Find Taylor’s work here: http://www.taylormarie.org/

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Transcript

A full transcript has been published for this conversation.

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Ideas worth returning to

Quotes

Five substantial excerpts from the published transcript, lightly edited for clarity without changing their meaning.

  1. “The experience changed my relationship with trees and nature. I felt that living things possessed spiritual significance, consciousness, and purpose. Most of all, I felt gratitude for being alive, for the life already lived, and for the time still available. That gratitude remained meaningful regardless of how the metaphysical interpretation is explained.”
    From the conversation
  2. “I stepped away from public life and entered talk therapy with people who understood both spirituality and the medicine. Some asked why I did not simply return to the Amazon for more ceremonies. I had learned that medicine alone was not enough; difficult material also required integration, relationship, and sustained psychological work.”
    From the conversation
  3. “Awareness is the first step, but access should not mean sending everyone to a jungle ceremony with strangers. If ayahuasca is ever used more widely for suffering, I believe it should be studied, regulated, and integrated into skilled therapeutic support. Legalization without education and safeguards would not guarantee better outcomes.”
    From the conversation
  4. “A healing interpretation can help someone see an incident within a larger story—what can be learned and how resilience might develop—rather than experience it only as proof of weakness. The deeper task is carrying that perspective into ordinary life so future difficulty does not automatically become a permanent identity.”
    From the conversation
  5. “The experience taught me both that everything has purpose and that life arrives without a fixed meaning. We participate in creating the meaning we live by. If life is defined only as stressful labor, experience organizes around that truth; if it is approached as exploration, play, and learning, another set of possibilities becomes visible.”
    From the conversation

About the guest

Taylor Marie

Ayahuasca , also commonly called yagé (jɑːˈheɪ), is a psychedelic brew made out of Banisteriopsis caapi vine in combination with various plants. It is mixed with the leaves of Screen Shot 2015-03-27 at 8.28.41 AMChacruna or other dimethyltryptamine (DMT)-containing plant species. The brew, first described academically in the early 1950s byHarvard ethnobotanist Richard Evans Schultes, who found it employed for divinatory and healing purposes by the native peoples of Amazonian Peru, is known by a number of different names.

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