sorry if this is a bit lengthy, i thought i might share a recent experience i had in ceremony with percy garcia. its because of this forum and the great reviews i have gotten that inspired me to drink with percy the other night, so here it is:




i have been in iquitos, peru for about a week now. i figured that while i was here, i might as well drink ayahuasca with the famous curandero, percy garcia.

i met up with alan shoemaker at his place on wednesday to connect. his house, filled with interesting books on entheogens, shamanism and travel, had a genuine feel of a welcoming family home. he gtreeted us kindly and we sat down in his office surrounded by drawers and drawers of pressed jungle plants and began to converse.

"so, you want to drink with percy," he began.

i can stop right here and say that i dont normally seek out medicine in this manner. hunting down curanderos in the jungle like theyre food. infact, i usually wait for the opportunity to come to me. but after being a part of the ayahuasca forum on this site for almost 2 years now and hearing dozens of dazzling reviews on the integrity of his work and the quality of his work environment, i had to experience the ethics of percy garcia. i had a little spare time anyway.

so we arranged to be picked up at alans place the day of the ceremony. when percy showed up, i felt a comfortable sense of normalcy that neither impressed nor detracted me, and took it to be a sign that i was in good hands. no mumbo-jumbo. a real human being with no delusions of grandeur.

it took about 45 minutes to make it out to the center. the first thing i noticed about the DIos Ayahuasca center was the thick slices of wood that had been placed on the walkway. they had been crafted for the delicated-footed people, to prevent slipping and falling in the inevitable mud when the rain comes, a thoughtful idea for sure.

the second thing i noticed was the feng shui of the place. the maloca had been build directly over a lightly running stream, with a porch going all the way around it, and a bridge connecting it to two (very clean) bathrooms on either side. the various doorways to exit and enter the maloca made for great navigation around the place, and the screens gave a feel of safety from the elements of the jungle.

i fell asleep right away. i dreamed i was completely naked, standing before a dark-skinned man with glasses on who gave out the same professionalism and seriousness that percy does. i assumed it was him. he asked me various questions about my health, my family history and my background, filling in the informaiton in a little notebook on his lap.

when i woke up, it was time for the ceremony. percy sat at his tall, wooden chair with towering altar. despite the height of his chair, i still felt quite equal to him. then carlos, his assistant, sat at his shorter, but identically shaped chair, in front of his shorter and similar-looking altar.

"its like mini-me from autstin powers," my friend commented later.

we began the ceremony. his ayahuasca tasted incredibly sweet.

"te gusta mi ayahuasca?" percy asked when he saw the smile on my face after drinking.

i nodded and he smirked in carlos' direction.

"es por el azucar," he said, chuckling.

"sugar?" i lifted my eyebrows, following his obvious joke.

"no, no puedo decir que pongo en mi medicina," said percy, grinning grandly.

i nodded. then it must be good stuff. some of the best things are kept secret.

i sat down. the icaros started quickly. they were simple, skilled and short, compared to what i am used to.

i lie down. it was one fo rthie first times in a while that i had taken the opportunity to simply relax during ceremony and just watch my visions. my body ached. my back was killing me as the medicine moved through my stomach, my intestines and my bladder, grinding and churning inside me.

this went on for about an hour. i purged once and lie back down, this time involved in a deep meditation. overwhelmed with sadness in my heart froma recent expereince, i watched my relationshipo with someone close to me morph and change into something different. i greived the loss of what was before.

percy continued singing. then a tunnel opened in my mind to the future. i saw myself, with a wash basin in front of me, dousing my clients in a water and perfume. the medicine listed off all the plants to put into the mixture and gave instructions for how to apply it.

ok. i will make note of that. the icaros continued for just a little longer, and soon carlos came to give me my limpia. peaceful.

then we drank a little more medicine, and the ceremony was open up for others to sing. percy and carlos left.

i sang an icaro i had learned while alone at the maloca in tarapoto a few months back, and then got up to go to the bathroom. percy and carlos were standing in the walkway, and after i passed them i heard percys deep voice calling after me.

"yes?" i managed to say, despite my dizziness with the ayahuasca.

"bonito tu icaro."

his compliment was clearly sincere, and i felt a rush of confidence trickle over me. the famous percy liked my icaro. i decided it was ok to pat myself on the back for that one.

i re entered the maloca and the energy was thick. people were expressing their proccesses in slightly irritating audible sounds, so i lay back down, feeling the effects of my second dose of ayahuasca.

after a little bit, i heard someone approaching me.

"are you sleeping?" andrew asked.

"not really, i said," sitting up.

"i have something to show you," he said, taking my hand and putting it on his heart. it was pounding hard.

i closed my eyes and felt the force exiting from his body. it was pink and blue, radiating the peace of pure, unconditional love.

"is that too intense?" he asked.

it surely wasnt. i sunk my hand into his chest, taking all that compassion in, until i was completely full. bursting, infact.

"you can sing it, " he whispered.

funny, that was just what i had been thinking.

the sounds came, and as they did, i felt the people in the ceremony responding to it differently than the previous song. they were recieving the prayers more quickly. more effectively.

"this is how your prayers can be when you have true love by your side. when you know that you are truly loved." the medicine told me.

ten times more effective. i meditated on that later and i recalled that the times when i felt loved deeply, by someone or something, my service and songs were so much more powerful.

after chatting and singing a little more, we all fell asleep. i dreamed of water flooding my home, which seemed appropriate, given that i was sleeping over a river.

so that was it. we left quickly the next morning, bidding goodbye to percy and his father, while we walked over the wooden stumps once again, back to iquitos.

another learing expereince to put into the files of my spirit..

namaste.