I found this while out on my random morning run along the beach in Costa Rica. Overall I’ve had a wild month in Costa Rica… you can read about my four nights of Aya here.
If you missed it on Friday, please do take a little trip over to my latest long form blog post about my plant therapy adventure in Costa Rica!
Let’s embark on a thrilling and transformative four-night journey with Ayahuasca at Rythmia in Costa Rica! This thing has got it all. From the grueling challenges of purging deep-seated traumas and dark echoes on Night One to the ecstatic connection with tentacled-Octopus surgery, followed by a second surgery by multi-dimensional hyper-intelligent aliens on Night Two.
Nobody expects the Alien Inquisition!
Each night unfolds a unique adventure. And then I experienced the gentle, feminine energy of Ladies’ Night, complete with profound blessings and humorous insights. I dived into the intense final night with Colombian shamans, where purges, divine interventions, and surreal visions merge into a cathartic and enlightening climax. I don’t know if I can communicate the emotional and spiritual rollercoaster filled with healing, humor, and otherworldly encounters that I found quite transcendent, but I will try.
This was probably the hardest night I’ve ever had on Ayahuasca. I’ve had three ceremonies with the medicine before this, so while I am hardly the most experienced person in the world, I thought in my naivety it would be a bit easier this time because of my prior medicine adventures. It was a foolish thought indeed.
On my very first night ever, many years ago, I was only able to take one cup the entire night. I couldn’t even bring myself to crawl over to get another. Here at Rythmia, they encouraged us in the classwork to have as many cups of the medicine as we like. In fact, they said in moments of doubt, just go ahead and have more medicine. Sometimes you can get caught in your own head, analyzing what is happening. At those times, they suggest, don’t think. Drink.
It’s kind of like going to a wine-tasting, but instead of delightful varieties of wines to suit a delicate palette and a light buzz of relaxation, there is like one variety of mud mixed with a slurry of insects tinged with a rotten smell of something wet you forgot you left in a bag that doesn’t breathe. Also, it has none of the early “nice” effects of alcohol in that you feel miserable right away. Each sip reminds you of every time you have ever vomited in your life.
In advance I had a few conferences with my higher self, soul council, soul advisor, and intuition (all of which I believe are different facets of the same jewel of me), and I determined throughout the night that my number of cups would be seven. It’s a nice prime number. Smooth. I always see prime numbers as smooth.
For the uninitiated, it is indeed called medicine rather than a drug. Most people don’t get this. Or, they throw it into the same category as all “drugs” and might even think it has addictive qualities. It doesn’t. Addictive molecules have two major aspects that Ayahuasca does not. For one thing, you don’t need “more and more” of it each time to achieve the same “state.” In fact, you need less and less. The other significant aspect is that you don’t suffer any withdrawal after you stop taking it.
And just to touch on one more silly piece of feedback that I notice from the muggles out there – they often question, “Hey Trey, why are you looking for this stuff ‘outside’ of yourself.” It’s as if they think it’s some kind of escape or reaching for something outside of me to satisfy something inside of me. It’s quite the opposite. Ayahuasca is a medicine and tool that gives you full, unfettered access to yourself. It’s a medicine for going inside, not outside.
Before we go on, I fully know that many people that read everything below will be rather dismissive and think, “Oh Trey was just on drugs and was hallucinating.” It always feels great to be immediately invalidated after something like this, he said sarcastically. 😉 However when sharing these stories with the other 35 people here and hearing their own experiences, it’s clear that there is something more profound going on. It is something that is really hard to explain to others. Nevertheless, I’ll try to describe what happened for those who are curious… just be aware things will get quite graphic. Quickly!
Here’s another image from inside the Teatro Nacional with its awesome ceilings…
Here’s a little detail shot featuring the Milanese Muse of Dance, from way back, inside the Teatro Nacional in San José Costa Rica.
Here’s another from deep in the archives, 2006 to be exact which I uncovered when flicking through images from my previous Costa Rican trip.
Today, leg 1 of my journey to Costa Rica. I was there, long ago, for very different reasons. Here’s a shot from back then… so old I didn’t even have it in my portfolio, just hidden away in Flickr.
Continuing the volcanic theme from yesterday, here’s one from the very depths of my archive. 2006 to be exact, in Costa Rica!
Ahh… another adventure! This time I’ll be hiking with four Russians through the wiles of the edges of South America.
I’ve never been to South America. How is this possible? I don’t know… but I am now remedying that. In fact, I’ve never been south of Costa Rica, and I have posted a favorite from there today. That is of a volcano up near the border of Nicaragua.
Anyway, I’ll be spending a few days in Buenos Aires, Argentina before heading up into the Andes and edging into Peru. There will be a lot of hiking, camping, and waking up at sunrise to shoot the glaciers.
Here’s a bit of a funny story about this trip. So, I have a good Libertarian Kenyan friend who hooked me up with some of her simpatico friends in Argentina. I mentioned that I was going to be doing some hiking in the Andes and I might pick up a sleeping bag while there, so I would not have to check one with my luggage. They, in turn, hooked me up with one of the world’s top mountain climbers who was very nice. He sent me an email saying he has the perfect sleeping bag for me in Buenos Aires and it would cost $700. I thought “Jeez!” And so then I got myself embroiled in this international chain of emails trying to figure out why a sleeping bag costs so much… like I am Buzz Aldrin camping on the moon or something.
Anyway, this chain of Libertarians has been very nice, but I decided to make it easy on everyone, so I just went to REI here in Austin to get something that should keep me and my camera gear cozy as I wait for the sunrise…
It’s been a while since I have been in Costa Rica, and I was looking at some of my old photos… I found these to post – I thought you all might like to see!
