Dave Ford Does Earth

Posted by Dave Ford

The setting of the retreat. The BV show, The Weapon, and Lisa in front of Illimani.

In front of our sleeping and eating quarters at the retreat center

Picture from our six hour hike-

A Note Before Reading:

After spending about a week going out night after night between Cusco and La Paz. I finally reached my the point of going to the retreat to finish my Ayahuasca cycle in the mountains of the Andes surrounding La Paz. I had been looking forward to this weekend for a long time. I was really looking forward to the change of pace and the different scenery. The setting for the Ayahuasca ceremonies in the mountains surrounding La Paz is one of the most beautiful places I have been so far in my travels.

It is difficult to describe why this concoction of plants from deep in the Amazon rain forest gives you the power to look deep inside yourself and face your most personal fears, problems, or goals. All I know is that the entire experience for me has been amazing.

Sidenote: I lied, the vomiting was not amazing.

So, in accordance with my promise to write about everything…. Here it is.

If you would like to read my first Ayahuasca post first… It was written on in June and can be read in the archives on the right hand side of the page. It involves my experience with a very friendly Toucan named Bob. He had quite a bit of very good advice.

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The Setup:

Tim (Belgian Shaman) and I have been back and forth for the last month or so trying to arrange a retreat to complete my 4 part Ayahuasca cycle. Ayahuasca is best done in a four part series to represent the spiritual, physical, emotional, and mental parts of the human mind. I had completed part one in the Jungles of Rurrenbaque with Ben and Billy. Part two was done in the mountains of La Paz at the same retreat center where I spent this last weekend.

I played an intricate part in setting up this retreat. Most of the backpackers and “foreigners” involved had some way come into contact with me along the way. I encouraged everyone I spoke with to read the ¨nightmarish¨ National Geographic article that I sited in my first Ayahuasca post.

Tim and I wanted to have a small retreat over the course of 4 days. There would be ceremonies on the first and third nights. On the 2nd and 4th mornings we would have sweat lodges (intense, intense saunas), and on the 2nd and 3rd day would participate in pilgrimages in tradition with the Andean Culture we were surrounded by. Tim put a lot of time and effort putting everything together.

Caretakers of the place where we did the retreat, Patricia and Armando. They live on the grounds and take care of everything from cooking and cleaning to ceremony set up.

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My overall personal goals throughout this adventure/path have been largely to receive guidance about the direction of my life. After the first ceremony, I received clear affirmation on my path.

I have not written about the second ceremony, but it was much different then my first time in the jungles of Rurrenbaque. It was a very physical experience. It was done in the mountain lodge as opposed to the jungle and overall I felt amazing. Furthermore, the ceremony was run by Miquel, Tim’s teacher (I like Tims ceremonies better). The visions that were presented to me were strong, and pleasant. I believe that the second ceremony must have represented the physical part of my journey. I felt nothing but love and spiritual energy in the room. It was a beautiful thing.

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The Players:

The BV Show, The Weapon, Lisa, Big Ben, and Billy Boy all came up for one night. They were not interested in participating in the full retreat.

In addition Diego (pictured above walking), our jungle guide from Rurrenbaque showed up. It was a great surprise as Benny, Billy and I love this guy and spent an amazing three days with him walking in the Jungle.

Me, Lola, and Matthew

In Sucre, as a result of a freak accident involving a semi intoxicated Irishman, (He fell into a table that we were sharing and were both on our laptops) I met Lola, a British journalist covering events in Bolivia.

Sidenote: I got lucky, and her laptop got major league screwed in the deal as a result of the drunken Irishman and a precariously placed glass of red wine.

At the time, Lola was in Sucre following around Bolivian President Evo Morales. We got to talking and I told her about my first two experiences with Ayahuasca. She was immediately interested and is now here writing a piece on what exactly the medicine is all about. She brought her friend Matthew (British, works in drama casting) to the ceremony. They did not decide until the 11th hour to participate. They were actually on the taxi ride to the site when they decided they would participate in the ceremony.

I also talked to two girls from San Francisco on our Colca Canyon tour, Dreama and Meriah, about the experience. Both of them have showed up for the ceremony as well.

Somehow everyone was in La Paz at exactly the right time. Overall, the energy level of the group was very high.

A bit more about Tim. Tim is 25, Belgian, and has been an apprentice Shaman for the last 4 years. He ¨is¨the person to share this experience with. Not only is he honest, kind, and talented, but he truly cares about the experience of each individual. I love this guy.

The retreat center sits directly in the view of Illimani, one of the tallest mountains in South America. Everything about this place is beautiful. We were nestled between large cliffs. Furthermore, we were surrounded by indigenous Bolivians. The houses and huts we stayed in have such a mystical feel. You can feel the positive energy coming out of every corner of the property.

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The third ceremony:

Ayahuasca ceremonies take place in complete darkness.

Reflecting on my third experience, which was as equally powerful as the first two. I felt an overall peace in my life, and spoke to the most powerful presence so far during my journey.

I cannot even explain what it is I saw. The amount of colors, shapes, and images were vast, and very, very intense. I saw what I think was an eye in the middle of these images (not a bad eye like in the Lord of the Rings but a positive force). Whatever it was (at the time I thought it was God), it was very, very happy with me. It also advised me to be very careful when traveling the middle east (Remember that I was seeking guidance for my upcoming travels). As a result, I am going to take an extra hard look at each of the middle eastern countries I am going to visit.

Sidenote: Not that this has anything to do with anything, but it was in the news the other day that Egypt (one of the most progressive Middle Eastern countries) just outlawed female circumcision. Its about time don´t you think. Female Circumcision = NO BUENO

My third ceremony was run by Tim and had 20 participants. Out of the 20, 17 had profound experiences. Unfortunately, the three people that did not feel anything at all were “the Weapon”, Billy Boy, and Big Ben. Big Ben was extremely unhappy about not feeling anything. Personally, I think that he had a lot to work through and did not want to face what the medicine would have shown him. In short, he put up a personal block.

The BV show had one of the most intense experiences. He encountered an Angel like women that sucked him out of his own body. Then, he stood beside her and looked back at himself. He sat next to me and was very, very ill for much of the ceremony. Tim came over multiple times and took very good care of Ben. Its amazing the power that the shaman has during the ceremony.

Lisa (The fantastic American that we have been traveling with for the last week or two) spent the duration of her experience in a fairy land. She found her self flying on the back of the dog from the Neverending Story and even ended up in a Super Mario Brothers video game at one point. Some people just have a good time like this.

All of the people that I had spoke to have had profound spiritual and helpful experiences. Lola, Matthew, and Dreama all worked through some very personal issues and found the ceremony very beneficial.

This “medicine” is truly a tool to overcome your inner demons. It seems to me that any inner demons I once had are long gone. These last two ceremonies did nothing but affirm my life path and further strengthen my direction and confidence.

After the ceremony, we were awoken for an intense sweat lodge. This is pretty much a sauna from hell. The heat is unbearable, but it co insides with the ceremony. It removes all the medicine from your system. At the end, you are doused with a bucket of freezing cold water (remember that we are in the mountains to begin with).

The sweat lodge. 9 red hot rocks are added four different times to the sweat lodge and then doused with water and mixed with medicinal plants. We had 20 people in this thing if you can believe it. It is very, very hot to the point where it is almost unbearable. Afterwards, you feel amazing.

After the sweat lodge, you are doused with freezing cold water. This is Matthew.

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The Retreat

Overlooking downtown La Paz. At this point we are easily at 5000 meters. La Paz sits at 3500 and is the highest major city in the world.

This hike….was not easy.

Although this is beautiful, it was hard not to call this Penis rock. In fact, that is what we called it.

Working on two hours sleep after breakfast and the sweat lodge, the 5 of us participating in the retreat me, Lola, Matthew, Harman, and Melanie joined Tim and the staff for an 6.5 hour hike. We basically climbed a mountain and we saw some of the most beautiful images that I have experienced on this trip. The altitude was intense and we chewed traditional coca to help us cope for most of the hike.

Ben, Big Ben, The Weapon, Billy Boy, and Lisa set off to go back to La Paz for the dangerous road.

I remember saying to myself while stopping on the intense hike, “Wow, I am really doing earth”. We saw all the major mountains surrounding La Paz and the city.

The goal of the retreat was to reach a sacred rock of the Andean people. When we got to the rock we made a ritual Andean offering. This rock had a ton of positive energy. We laid on it for a while, relaxed, and then ate lunch next to it.

It felt like we were in the ¨Lord of the Rings¨ on this hike

The next day before the 4th and final ceremony we all relaxed. Everyone got massages from Julian (who is a licensed massage therapist), and we all spent some time in the hot tub. It was great to relax after the intensity of the day before.

Some of went on a short hike and were in awe when a lone Condor (just like in Colca Canyon) showed up. It flew back and forth over our heads for what seemed like a half hour. Tim uttered (in his Belgian English accent)to the group as this was happening something to the effect of ¨This is a good sign. I think we are going to have a good night tonight.¨

The retreat crew in its entirety except for Lola (UK) who is taking the pic:Left to write: Diego (US), Julian (UK), Tim (Belgian), Melanie (US), Me (US),Harmen (Holland), and Matthew (UK)
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Ceremony Four and the completion of the cycle:

For the fourth ceremony I was looking for more clarity, more confidence, and more understanding in my life. My main goal was to obtain 100% confidence in myself if that makes any sense. Is this a selfish goals? I do not think so. In addition, I also was looking for my relationship skills to be magnified and clarified. I also wanted to think more about how to achieve my travel and business goals.

The fourth and final ceremony was the most intense of all.

The ceremony itself was truly beautiful. Tims songs were mixed with the presence of two local Bolivian women, and Julian (Tim´s assitant) that sung throughout the ceremony. The mixture of the male and female energy in the ceremony room was inspirational. The music was amazing and guided us through the entire experience.

The most powerful experience by far involved a local Bolivian man. He was a big guy weighing in at easily 250 pounds. He is a local musician and plays the bongos. For the first part of the ceremony he really had a difficult time. He was loudly sobbing, and violently ill. I have no idea what he was seeing but it was intense. About half way through the ceremony his whole demeanor changed. He almost became jolly.

By the end he was glowing. I thought for a second that he was going to crush my spine with the force of the hug he gave me at the end of the ceremony.

The next day when sharing our experiences he disclosed that not only was he going through a divorce, but that he had been recently diagnosed with cancer. That next morning he was truly at peace with himself. It was amazing, powerful, and unbelievable. Whatever personal hell he was going through, he worked it out. I am sure of it.

Personally, I was very sick during the last ceremony. I think power vomiting would be an appropriate description at times (maybe I shouldnt have had that third cup). Nonetheless, everything I experienced internally was positive. For the first three ceremonies I was clearly “looking for something”. This last ceremony tied everything together. I realized that I have already found it. The visuals were not profound, but they were beautiful. If you can imagine looking into a mirror and coming to the realization that you are completely happy with what you are looking at, that was the close of my 4 part cycle with Ayahuasca.

Over the course of the weekend many people came together from all over the world participate in this retreat. We had journalists, Embassy workers, Mountain guides, students, ex Special Forces Personel, and many local Bolivians share the experience with us. All in all, it was an extremely powerful experience that I will never forget. I am not sure how or why this stuff works the way it does. What I am sure of is that my personal experience with Ayahuasca was very important. In addition, I met some really great people from all walks of life along the way. Personally, I understand why this plant has been so important to the inhabitants of South America for thousands of years.
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Notes:

> Lola, Matthew, Diego, Tim, Mel, Lisa, Julian, and I had the chance to go out to dinner the other night for Lolas Birthday. Minus Lisa, this was the crew from the retreat. I can speak for everyone and say that we will never forget what we went through last week. It was one of the most powerful events of all of our lives. Even Tim, who has performed these ceremonies many, many times was glowing.

Lola and I on her birthday :)

Matthew and Julian at Lolas birthday at Mapron-on in La Paz. Its an Indian-Thai restaurant. Afterwards we went to a Jazz club and hung out.

> I got on stage with the Jazz band about half way through the night and improve freestyled. The beat was really fast and I did not have time to do anything but react. There was probably 40 people in the club and the response was really positive. Look out Dr. Dre…I´m coming for you.

Sidenote: Dr. Dre, I am really not coming for you. The above statement was a joke. Please feel free to lower your gat to the floor. Nonetheless, I have transended and am now in the 97 percentile of allwhite American freestylers.

> Write now I am trying to put all this together in a “STARBUCKS” in Lima. How appropriate! Whoops, I just spilled my Vanilla Latte. Im not going to lie, after two months in Bolivia it is nice to see a Starbucks and other symbols of the western world.

> If anyone is interested in contacting Tim. I can send you his email. Please email me personally at daveford88@gmail.com.

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