Account of a workshop in Amsterdam using jurema. Previously I had had severe problems with ayahuasca causing nausea, so I hoped this alternative would be more palatable. Jurema is used in some parts of South America and is made from the root of the Mimosa tree, which contains DMT, and a harmine containing plant such as passion flower, some strains of tobacco or, in this case, Syrian Rue.
Friends of the Forest is an organisation run by a Brazilian woman called Yatra who lives in Amsterdam. She was instrumental in bringing the Santo Daime to Holland and was an active member until she left in 1996 "to make the experience available to street people who really need it". "The Santo Daime", she says, "appeals to middle-aged middle-class educated people, while those who can most benefit from the spiritual opening offered by the Daime are young people who may be homeless or addicted." Unlike the warm mother-earth figure Geraldine who so lovingly looked after people in the Dutch Santo Daime church, Yatra is a tall slim woman with catlike sensuality.
The venue was a large room in an Osho centre, i.e. run by followers of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, and bore their hallmark of being well organised and in good taste. There were 20 comfortable mattresses edge to edge on the floor surrounding a central area reserved as an 'altar', decorated with large bunches of beautiful flowers, lots of candles and nice-to-look-at objects including fruit, but conspicuously lacking in religious symbols with the exception of a double-barred crucifix reminiscent of the Santo Daime.
The workshop cost 100 guilders ($50) and it did not look as if paying this amount would be a problem for most of those taking part, although Yatra assured me that no one was turned away because they could not afford it. There were about ten men and ten women, mostly in their thirties.
Yatra introduced the session by saying that this was an opportunity to let go and have our own healing experience in a safe environment. We could sit, stand, lie or even dance, and there were helpers we could call on if needed. The only rules were that we should not disturb anyone else, and not smoke in the room, although we were welcome to smoke marijuana or tobacco outside in the bar area of the premises.
Without further ado, we queued up for a plastic cup of jurema and drank it down. At least that's what everyone else did: I gagged and retched after the very first sip, and it was only after repeated attempts and rinsing my mouth with water that I managed to swallow the small dose... it was so bitter that the water tasted sweet by comparison! Then I went to my mattress. My stomach churned and gurgled its complaint, while I glanced to make sure there was a bucket within reach. However, the nausea died down - a most wonderful relief - so I lay down and nearly went to sleep.
An hour later a second dose was offered and the music changed to extremely floaty ambient, zooming around the room and impossible to ignore you either got carried away by it or hated it. Most people accepted more jurema but, although I felt no effect from the first dose, I couldn't face it. Instead, I lay observing other people. Yatra sat across the room chatting while participants wandered in and out; a woman waved her hands about in a kind of dance trance, but most lay still... Then I noticed a man looking desperate and clutching onto a girl by his side. She comforted him at first, but when she pulled away I saw fear and rejection on his face until Yatra took over. I was impressed that she had no hesitation in cuddling up beside him body to body, and stroked his head warmly until he gradually relaxed. But even after that he seemed unable to stand, and had to be supported by two people to get to the toilet. Clearly he was undergoing a heavy experience.
A third dose was offered, and then guitars and a flute appeared. Yatra sang some Santo Daime hymns in that powerful, almost harsh, South American voice and we all joined in the catchy chorus lines. More songs were sung which everyone but ourselves seemed to know, but we soon caught on that they were Osho songs implying that the others were followers. Then someone sang: "Ay, ay, ay, aya, aya-wasca! Ay, ay, ay ay aya wasca!"...in a playful way someone had dubbed an Andean pipe tune and everyone laughed. It was light-hearted, and reminded me of sitting round smoking dope and singing Dylan songs some 25 years ago. And as most of these people had been smoking, I wondered if the brew had really had any extra effect.
Some people had formed little groups, a few were cuddling and others were wandering round or dancing on their own. I saw one or two with wide open faces as though they were on E, but as many looked as though they were suffering.
Next day we met for a sharing session in the park. Nearly everyone reported a strong experience of some sort which they tended to describe in psychological rather than spiritual terms. About half reported some difficulties but said that they had benefited in some way, although most were not really able to express just how (reminding me again of the effect of marijuana). Several said they had been worried about taking psychedelics in a group, but all of them concluded that the others had provided useful support which enabled them to benefit more than they could have alone. There were few criticisms and everyone was satisfied with the support provided.
One man described how he had felt threatened by entities. These took the form of little snapping sharp teethed beings with piercing faces that would always be trying to bite him and kept him constantly on his guard. He asked for help and the girl next to him held his hand which gave him just the support he needed. When a helper came over he described that he was being haunted. "By who?", she asked. He thought about this and realised that it was himself: those faces were all his own. That allowed him to go back and let them manifest again, but instead of being threatening, he saw them as having fun, playing a game and he laughed along with them.
Few others made such a connection. The man who had been so clearly upset said his behaviour was due to "paranoid thoughts", and a woman volunteered that the session had highlighted some problems without resolving them.
e-mail: yatra@friends-of-the-forest.nl
website: http://www.friends-of-the-forest.nl
©Nicholas Saunders 9/97
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