Ayahuasca as a triple phenomenon: Personal Factor
Since Ayahuasca reveals our hidden side, in a psychological metaphor 'opening the doors of the unconscious', an enormous range of options and quality of experiences presents itself. In reality, this psychoactive potion reveals and frees what is within the person, making the mind manifest, 'psychedelic' as 'manifestation of the mind' [from psych(o)- + Gr. dêlos, 'visible', 'manifest', 'evident', + -ic]. Mental contents become subject to observation and, for that very reason, to transformation. The fluidity and quality of the ayahuasquero's movement in this psychic labyrinth depend, above all, on the personal factor, on the 'content', including the elements of the personal unconscious, the record of life experience, as well as the conditioning mechanisms in operation — reservations and defenses — to determine the freedom of options, the quality, richness and legitimacy of the interpretations, in short, the individual's main challenges. The decoding of the experiences requires sensitivity and intelligence. Other important aspects of the content consist of personal values and criteria: attitudes, aspirations, expectation, intention and ethics. These elements will influence the attraction of attention and will determine the way the person deals with the revealed psychic material.