I ran across a posting elsewhere recently that reallly rubbed me the wrong way and in my petty little mind perfectly illustrates what is wrong with the psychedelic 'community'. The post in question is basically an advertisement offering "changa ceremonies" as an "initiation to ayahuasca" for the (low low) price of $250 for 'new members' and $150 otherwise.

It also says that the apparent $100 member fee gets one a card,it doesn't state that they are OHNAC affiliated, although they could be, and using those phony 'this card entitles the bearer to possess a bunch of illegal drugs ' plastic IDs as a way to portray themselves as legit and safe.

I don't personally know the organizers, but by the online representation they are very new agey, complete with crystal on forehead and spaced out enlightenment. Whatever, to each their own. What bugs me, besides the egregious cash-grab, is the appeal by these white people, to other white people to engage in a psuedo traditional ceremony to initiate one into aya -without the pesky time commitment or travel to some real jungle.

They portray themselves as holding some secret of the jungle, I'd love to hear what kind of BS they spout about what changa is. It probably has a ten thousand year old history with a tiny south American tribe now. They are affiliated with one of the people working to create a entheogenic history for toad venom to give that a cache with deep pocketed cultural spelunkers.

Ugh, since when I extracting freebase alks and smoalking them a jungle tradition, with ceremonies? The ad is obviously geared to those with an interest but no real knowledge. Who would pay that much and trust these people who list no credentials or any other reason why one should place their emotional, mental, or spiritualwell being into their hands?

There are very legitimate ways of pursuing capital, high ways of making a living within the psychedelic community with any number of goods and services, but I feel that providing people with drugs at incredibly exorbitant prices and places to do them is beyond the pale as far as ethics goes. It's so far past the line i can't even see it anymore, imho.

However, at the same time, the same motivating factor that these people call greed in less spiritually evolved folks is at work within them, and I fear that bringing my view up publically in the space where it appeared would be met with castigation, even discommunication in the wider local community. I have been on the receiving end of quite a bit of friction for complaining about elitism in the entheo-world and the lack of inclusivity and that doing things like charging $40 to attend a group meeting on integration,even if the pro therapist facilitating it has a ton of debt. Therapy is the province of yuppies, sure, but is health? Sorry, I digress.

Thoughts? Am I off base here?

Not planning to do so but I've fantasized myself doing a 'ceremony' for some people. Should I ask money? I came up with this: yes ask money but all of it goes to a good cause with preference to financial-juridical support of those people who are prosecuted for doing nothing wrong except for a scheduled issue. No money for me, nor for the candy, as the 'caretaker', who invests (opposite of harvest), as a way to contribute.

I was a member of the native american church. It's honestly a terrible thing to be apart of. They only care about one thing and thats money and i dont think these shamans from the amazon are any better. There are better ways to take these substances. People are dying and being raped because of this goofy nonsense. its time for this hocus pocus, shaman crap 2 go!

This type of profiteering is to be expected, someone is always going to be out to make a buck. Unfortunately, there is also no shortage of seekers looking to buy themselves an "authentic" experience without putting forth any thought or effort of their own. The best we can hope to do is spread some education and attempt to keep the predators at bay.

Luckily psychedelics are very much an open source technology, and the moar informed people are, the less likely they are to buy into all the facebook hype and mystique seeking to convince them they can't explore these substances without shelling out several hundred dollars for the guidance of some token (indigenous) elder.

Not that there isn't something to be said for ritual and tradition and working with experienced practitioners. However, the moment a monetary value is assigned, all sanctity is lost.

This is especially relevant when it comes to something like changa, which is at it's very heart a modern day, underground, grassroots, open-source technology. The preparation of a batch of changa is a such a individual thing, requiring a substantial investment of personal effort and intention, that it is almost by nature antithetical to profiteering leaders, guides, and guru's staking claims on traditional authenticity.


It's not really fair to generalize about whole of the NAC (or ONAC), or all Amazonian ayahuasca retreats, based on a few bad examples. The practices of the Native American Church on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota are quite a bit different from what was going on with the Kenwood ONAC branch in California. What is happening at Gaia Sagrada is quite a bit different than what was going on at Shimbre.

There are ethical and unethical practitioners in every industry, no reason this one should be any different. Do your research, look for integrity, make discerning choices. As a general rule of thumb, don't drink ayahausca with someone you wouldn't be comfortable buying a used car from.

I totally agree. I have a lot of experience with psychedelics, but not so much with "traditional" use. My trip to the jungle for Ayahuasca had a lot of planning and research put into it and I doubt there are many if any better or safer experiences to be had in S. America. As relatively safe and authentic as it was, I feel like it was some sort of new agey facade over a profiteering scheme with just enough shipibo influence to give it a half ass stamp of authenticity. The facilitators had good intentions, but were inexperienced and reckless. The guy who runs the show was not even present for the week I was there. In retrospect, it felt like I was just another piece of gristle being run through their profit machine. It also felt a bit like a cult. The ignorance and desperation was thick.

Anyway, I'm going to stop right there because just thinking about it makes me a little sick and angry.

In the mind, I can't seem to find a reason why this is true.

Yet my heart, soul, and experiences tell me it is true. Looking back at my ceremony experiences, if I paid for it, it sucked/wasn't productive, and if it was a gift, it was beneficial. The pattern is there.

My first and only (so far) peyote ceremony was free, but they passed a hat for donations *AFTER* the ceremony, and in a way that didn't put people on the spot. To me, that is the best way to do it, for many reasons.

In my experience, new-age people come in two types: very decadent, superficial people who're intellectually lazy as shit. Too lazy to even notice their own inconsistency when they critisize society's (=other people's ) materialism while they simultaneously browse their latest iPhone and tablet, smoking as much pot as they possibly can...And the leeches that suck em dry. Always looking for new cashcows.

There is something deeply disturbing and bogus about the whole new-age movement, but maybe these two different types of people deserve eachother.