[part 2] my first Ayahuasca experience

Man, this took a loooong time... And in case you're like "Huh??! What is Csaba talking about??" Here's the gist of it: A few weeks ago, I sent out an email sharing a few details about my first Ayahuasca experience. If you missed that one, you can catch up [HERE](=)​ (I highly recommend you do, otherwise, this email won't really make much sense) Anyway... In that email, I promised to come back with Part #2 of my story... And although I should have sent it out already... I guess it's still "better late than never", right? 😅 Because the truth is... I've been dealing with some family "complications" lately that slashed my productivity in half and torpedoed my general cheerful vibe. Maybe it's something what most people call a mini "mid-life crisis"... Or maybe I'm just tired of Winter and constant bad weather. We'll see as Spring is almost here in the Northern Hemisphere. ​ ANYWAY... Back to the Ayahuasca story... ​ At around 9 pm, yours truly + 7 other people started gathering in a separate little building called "the ceremonial house". It was a beautiful starry night... with a Full Moon so bright, it almost felt like twilight! I picked a cozy spot close to where the shaman would deliver his incantations during the ceremony itself... And made sure all the things I'd need during that night were right beside my mattress. (a glass of water, an apple, earplugs, tissues... and most importantly: a bucket to vomit into, if needed) At first, there was complete silence... But at around 9:30 pm, the shaman "officially" kicked off the ceremony... And from there on, there was no turning back! He started out by chanting a few Amazonian songs called "Icaro"-s... And then performed some sort of elaborate ritual that I think was done to "cleanse" the space we were in. This part was quite nice... Except for the HEAVY tobacco smoke that filled the entire room. You see... Shamans use this special type of tobacco extensively throughout their rituals... But since I've never been a smoker, this was a bit irritating for me. After that... He prepared a special type of concoction - one at a time - that we all had to drink BEFORE drinking the Ayahuasca tea itself... Primarily to "prime" ourselves for the main event. ​ And lemme tell you... it was THE. WORST. THING. I'VE. EVER. TASTED... BY FAR!!! ​ Seriously... I get a gagging reflex even if I just think back to it! (in fact, the taste of this concoction was far worse than the Aya itself) Fortunately for me... I had a few apple slices right beside my mattress... And immediately took a bite to make this horrid taste go away :))) (I never thought apples could taste so good lol) After this first round of "shots"... The shaman went back to singing, whistling, and drumming for about 1 hour... And then - finally - it was time for the main course: The famous Ayahuasca tea itself. Once again, he prepared every single "shot" with great care... Spending about 3 minutes preparing each potion... While whistling so beautifully, I almost cried! (seriously) And then, when it was my turn... I got up, walked to the shaman, took a deep breath, and drank the tea with great determination. And honestly, this didn't taste as bad as I'd expected. (in fact, the previous "shot" was waaaaay worse, in my opinion) So I got back to my mattress, tucked myself in under my blanket, closed my eyes... and tried to relax. In the meantime, the shaman started singing again... and the whole atmosphere became quite serene. ... .. . ​ Fast forward about 1 hour... and I didn't really feel anything ​ I mean, sure... I was in a relaxed state... and the singing was nice... but I didn't really feel anything special. So I figured "maybe this needs more time" and went back to just relaxing. About 1 more hour... still Nothing. Hmmm... Interesting 🤔 At this point, I was like: "Sooooo... isn't there supposed to be some sort of effect by now? I thought this stuff would be stronger" But almost exactly after I started thinking about this, the shaman got up, and went around the room offering people another "shot" if they wanted it. "Perfect", I thought! So I drank another shot, went back to my cozy space, and eagerly awaited the results. ... .. . ​ Fast forward about 1 more hour... and STILL NOTHING! ​ Wtf? Did I do something wrong? Was my metabolism somehow freakishly resistant to mind-altering things? Or is this whole thing just a sc@m? These are the thoughts that kept rushing through my head... and I kinda started feeling a bit impatient... Especially since almost all of my companions were in complete silence! Nobody was showing any signs of "altered consciousness"... And only a few of them went out to vomit so far. (in case you don't know, Ayahuasca usually makes people vomit... or gives them diarrhea... or BOTH 😅) At one point I even asked the shaman if this was normal... to which he calmly replied: ​ "Patience" ​ Patience... "Alright, I can do that. I'm a patient guy. Let's give this thing a few more minutes", I thought. And right on cue, after a few more minutes, it hit me! >> I felt like my mind had suddenly expanded... >> My ability to think in analogies leveled up by a factor of 100x... >> And suddenly, I started "chatting" with 3-4 different parts of my subconscious mind way faster than I can normally talk. Woooooah!!! It really felt like my "Third Eye" (or something like that) had opened up... And unlocked a brand-new sensory organ that I've never experienced before! Now... It's VERY hard to explain this with my "normal brain"... without actually being in that state... But I WILL try my best... ...in the final part of this story 😀 Coming very soon, I promise! Until then, stay frosty. -Csaba ​ P.S. -- FUN FACT: According to the Hemingway app, this email has a readability score of only 3... ...With just one instance of passive voice... ...Which is pretty freakin' cool :) ​ Please add csaba@gameofconversions.com to your address book or whitelist us. Want to change how you receive my emails? You can easily [Update your profile]( or [Unsubscribe]( Our mailing address is: 113 Cherry St #92768, Seattle, WA 98104-2205