A psychedelic combination of traditional Peruvian music and ayahuasca supported the healing process of nearly 200 people.
The University of California, Riverside (UCR) report reflects a growing acceptance of research that points to the emotionally therapeutic effects of psychedelics such as ayahuasca and psilocybin.
Six-hour ayahuasca sessions include traditional Peruvian music called icaros, which consists of flute playing and singing in Spanish and indigenous languages. The ceremony is said to have helped men’s psycho-emotional well-being.
The results coincided with a number of user reports of a positive experience, including 32-year-old Cassie Wolfe, who called the ceremony “life-changing”.
The report reflects the responses of 180 men who participated in an extensive ayahuasca therapy program at the Takiwasi Center in Tarapoto, Peru.
A number of participants said that the guided ayahuasca ceremonies had a positive impact on their psycho-emotional health, helping with healing and guiding through difficult emotions
Ayahuasca, brewed by shamans, is made from a herbal psychedelic that means “vine of the dead” in Quechua. Ayahuasca has been combined with traditional Peruvian music to enhance the healing experience of Ayahuasca therapy
Ayahuasca is a drink made by boiling vines with leaves of a chacruna bush—both native to the Amazon.
The psychedelic brew contains the compound N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), one of the most powerful known hallucinogens in the world.
Like drugs like LSD and psilocybin, DMT has proven its ability to increase connectivity between different brain networks and increase synaptic plasticity.
Owain Graham, a PhD student in ethnomusicology at UCR, collected responses from 180 men who participated in weekly ayahuasca ceremonies and supervised psychotherapy.
It was part of a nine to 12-month program at the Takiwasi Center for Drug Addiction Rehabilitation and Traditional Medicine Research in Tarapoto, Peru.
A large number of participants – 35 percent – had a positive experience, while more than 27 percent said the Icaros helped them through difficult emotions they would otherwise suppress.
Mr. Graham’s team had no long-term data on this cohort, but 67 percent of participants in previous years’ programs did not return to substance abuse.
A growing number of trauma sufferers and addicts claim to be CURED by powerful psychedelics
For decades, ayahuasca and other powerful hallucinogens were rejected by doctors
About 86 percent of the participants showed statistically significant improvements on the Addiction Severity Index, a tool used to assess treatment for substance use disorders.
Amazon healers performed structured Icaros during the sessions.
An icaro is a spiritual song sung to open the ceremony.
Another is chanted to prepare the ayahuasca brew, while participants also chant to invoke spiritual protection and increase the potency of the brew. A closing song concludes the ceremony.
All patients reported that Icaros changed their psycho-emotional state and that Icaros influenced healing related to “unblocking”, a process also known as “cleansing” and “clearing”.
It refers to reports of the physically and emotionally cleansing effects of ayahuasca.
Mr Graham said: “Ethnomusicologists and medical anthropologists understand the role music plays in healing in many cultures.
“Although the scientific basis of Western biomedicine is strong, it has also failed to explain the mind-body connection and how music can influence healing.”
Although the study was small, it reflected the experiences of both South American and Western European men and showed that the number of positive experiences was not influenced by demographics.
The center allows women to participate in other programs, but not this one.
The program requires total abstinence from sex. Healers had to ban female housemates if the initial male population did not abide by the rules.
As part of the study, participants were asked two questions: “Was the healing and chanting of Icaros by the Master Healer beneficial to you?” and to briefly describe your experience of the effect of Icaros on healing during the session.
Most experiences have been positive.
A participant named Patient E said: “I had a good relationship with all the Icaros. Especially with [one of the healers]. Like I said it was really good and from all the healing sessions with Icaros and from all the healers they helped me get better.”
Meanwhile, patient D said: “In this session I felt the Icaros much more. They connected me much more to the plant. I didn’t just see them as songs; they were like a key that opened the doors to a whole other dimension for me.’
But some, like patient H, had negative experiences.
The researchers wrote: “Thirteen of H’s responses were some form of ‘I didn’t notice the Icaros.’ We find it fascinating that this pattern is so common in ceremonies held in the dark and designed so that participants need do little more than listen to Icaros.”
The report appeared in the journal Anthropology of Consciousness.
Ayahuasca is not for everyone. It causes some unpleasant effects, namely vomiting.
Over time, consistent use can also lead to psychosis and hallucinations.
For decades, ayahuasca and other powerful hallucinogens like psilocybin—the psychoactive chemical in magic mushrooms—were dismissed by doctors as hippie drugs with no clinical benefit.
Yet they are now at the forefront of trauma research and are finally being explored as serious therapies for depression and addiction.
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Crystal Leahy is an author and health journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a background in health and wellness, Crystal has a passion for helping people live their best lives through healthy habits and lifestyles.
