Ayahuasca is a natural high alkaline herbal drink from the Amazon that is used legally in Brazil by several churches. It is used in a similar way to mushrooms and has some similar effects.
A person experiencing Ayahuasca sessions shows remarkable mental and psychic improvement, comparable only to that sought through intense psychotherapy. Ayahuasca has the power to facilitate significant changes in a very short period of time because Ayahuasca nurtures an essential acceptance and alignment with the simplicity of one's spiritual identity. The resulting change in our values and priorities transforms our presence, our abiding sense of Self.
Every experience reveals patterns and degrees of understanding according to the depth of previous experiences and the participants' level of consciousness. Ayahuasca is not a substance that can be defined through a consistency of effect.
Ayahuasca interacts with the psychological set of each individual (motivation, attitude, personality, mood, previous experiences) and the structure of the setting.
Ayahuasca seems to change in its effect on the brain also according to the outside influence of the setting, a synthesis of the surrounding environment and the presence of one's teacher, even more than the current emotional state of the participant. A person who takes it alone, for example, will have a totally different experience than if taken with some one who can direct the energy created by the Ayahuasca, enhancing its effects and shaping the journeys into transformative experiences.
Only direct experience of Ayahuasca can yield significant information and knowledge about it. Totally subjective in nature, the scientific method, and thus western medicine, are not appropriate reference points for its understanding or use in healing. For sure it has the capacity to confront people with themselves and in this there is no equal when taken under optimum conditions.