AYAHUASCA AND ITS PHENOMENOLOGY
Ayahuasca as 'psycho-connector':
To define the nature of Ayahuasca from the standpoint of experience I prefer the term 'psycho-connector', since this is in fact what the brew does, connecting in a single experience mental contents previously dissociated as well as elements of experience culturally dichotomized, such as the subject/object poles, for example. The term 'entheogen', equally interesting, affirms and implies the capacity to bring forth the experience of the divine; but a numinous feeling is not automatically generated by the use of the brew. Within some tribes (Michael J. Harner: The Sound of Rushing Water — Natural History, July 1968), the belief system and tradition determine a pragmatic use of the potion in an attempt to influence trivial happenings, both to remedy and to bewitch. In general, the experience of the divine, even with the use of Ayahuasca, is not the rule and depends on the prior preparation of the subject, on his intention and effort, on his contents and the suitable environment. Modernly, the term 'psycho-integrator' has been used to define the general effect of Ayahuasca and other psychedelics. This term seems to imply that some kind of integration or resolutive dialectic is part of the experience. In fact, this sometimes happens; simple observation already modifies the facts. In our view, 'integration', although a potential, is not a guaranteed and categorical effect of the brew nor of the experience; some contents need to be integrated with one's own effort, decision, persistence and will to change. Both the numinous effect and the integration of revealed elements depend, in large part, on the intention and will of the individual as well as on a spiritual work of accompaniment, that is, on the triple interaction described here, on the use of the brew in a ritualistic environment dedicated to spiritual growth and evolution.