Here we present for the first time the extraordinary testimonial of Cyril Lanier, film director and visionary artist. At the same time a delightful and profound exploration, often dramatic, of the visionary mysteries that ayahuasca may make us to witness. This is an insight into the perceptive doors that are opened in front of us when experiencing the ingestion of the "vine of the soul" or "vine of the dead", in the contest of the traditional Amazonian plant diet. Here, the visions are conveyed on the most immediate, visual plane by the artistic means of painting, and explained - or tried to make sense of - by the artistic means of writing. In both cases, we feel that an important achievement has been made here. The integrity and honesty of this testimonial, the deep human touch that pervades it all, and the many questions that it raises, is another important chapter in the research of human consciousness and the exploration of the self and the unphatomable mystery that the world is.

This is a must read for all explorers of consciousness who have experienced, want to experience, or about to experience the magic realm of the medicine.

Francesco Sammarco

DIETING TEACHER PLANTS IN THE PERUVIAN AMAZON

By Cyril Lanier

Six months after my experiments with Ayahuasca, the sacred brew of the Peruvian Amazon, I feel the need to write about it in order to clarify my thoughts and share them with others.

I knew that the first encounter with Ayahuasca could be very demanding and puzzling, so I wanted to prepare myself the best I could. Therefore I am very grateful to «El Mundo Magico» to have eased my access to this Peruvian shamanism. Indeed, when you feel that the outer practical details of your trip are very well taken care of and in a very personalized way, then some of your fears may diminish and you can concentrate on the inner preparation…

I read once again all the books I perused about the subject since the publication in 1995 of « The Cosmic Serpent » by Jeremy Narby.  Some of the more recent ones, like Corinne’s Sombrun’s «Journal d’une apprentie chamane» and Pascal Lacombe’s «Le breuvage sacré des chamanes d’amazonie: L’Ayahuasca» are more descriptions of their experiments and  helped me in a very simple way to feel that if they had done it then  why couldn’t I ?

Indeed, many texts point out how terrifying Ayahuasca can be, for example in the text by Michael.J.Harner in 1980 «I felt like Socrates accepting the cigua» which describes how this  sacred brew of the Indians led him to the Mysteries of Death. Ayahuasca is also called the Vine of the Dead, which expresses the belief of the Indians that the knowledge delivered by the brew is the one you acquire while dying.

As an artist, I had been very interested in all the studies about NDE (Near Death Experience) in the early eighties and some of my research in painting had led me to a point where the interaction between the practice of Art and the Remembering of my Dreams opened up a possibility to experiment a passage between these Realities. Since then my interest for Shamanism has constantly been developing.

The trip to Sachamama was very easy and the encounter with Don Francisco Montes, the shaman creator and director of this center for the study of Amazonian Medicine and Spirituality, quite pleasant. The place is beautiful and I felt at once very relaxed and secure in Sachamama. The little Spanish I knew helped create a warmer contact and as Don Francisco is also a painter, we had many things to share.

Ayahuasca ceremonies always take place at night and in Sachamama usually on Tuesdays and Fridays. Since I arrived on a Thursday around noon, I had plenty of time to discover the place. The sun was shining. I made a little sketch of one of the typical houses built on wooden piles with their roofs of dried leaves. When you come for a diet, you must stay in a certain isolation in your own little bungalow called tambo near a stream. But before that, the shaman must see how you react to Ayahuasca and how Ayahuasca reacts to you… The night before the ceremony, the rain was pouring. Lying in bed, I felt the gravity of this moment.

What struck me most at the beginning of this first Ayahuasca ceremony, was a more and more precise awareness that the outer world was totally swarming with creatures I had never even dreamt of. All these beings had their needs, their desires, and seemed aware of my presence. As such they were acting upon me and suddenly, the idea of a world where everything is connected became a reality, not in a romantic way but as a threat from which it was impossible to escape. Some of these creatures seemed to be waiting for me to vomit in order to eat it !

But fortunately, some other beings seemed of a much higher level and a very strange event occurred during this first ceremony.

At a certain moment, probably under the spell of the icaro sung by a shaman woman, the flow of impressions became very intense and I felt precisely two feminine presences passing near me and one of them gave me something that spread through my body. It was a shock, as if magically a barrier between two worlds had been broken.

I repeated to myself loudly «A BLUE PERFUME» in order to understand and to try not to  forget.

From this moment on, something changed. I was touched with a feeling of gratitude, not knowing yet the meaning of this gift but understanding deeply that it was something very important and specially meant for me.

One feels less alone in the universe when some sort of path opens in front of us, like an enigma to be discovered, like a destiny to be fulfilled. And during the next ceremony, the need to follow this BLUE PERFUME would prove to be of first importance

During this first ceremony, the moon was full and shining, so from my place I could quite well distinguish the trees from the sky and some of the movements of the shaman. It helped me keep a balance between the inner visions and the outer world.

But four days later, the night was totally dark and even before drinking Ayahuasca, I knew, with a sort of anguish, that the visions would be much more overwhelming.

Quite soon after having drunk the Ayahuasca cup, I began to feel that my actual life was coming to an end. It was a great force telling me: "Now, it’s enough, it’s time to abandon, to give up, to let it go"…I tried to protest saying I still felt young and had yet a lot of things to discover, but nevertheless  it was like a huge wave to which I couldn’t resist.

I then began to feel a sort of distance for all the attachments I had in this life and very quickly all these links seemed so far away, meaningless, as if the current of energy with which I had  nourished them could no longer flow in the same direction.

As soon as I stopped resisting, things became easier.

I began to see a line of people, all wearing a glowing yellow-green dress. They were walking towards their Death. I was among them.  A very simple porch marked the limit. There was a river nearby, with many little boats drifting slowly along the current, and carrying some other dying people.

One of these boats was bigger and many people were inside. I understood it was like a school.

When my turn came to pass through the porch, I had to throw my dress and my name in a basket with the memories of the life I was leaving. I didn’t feel interested in all that any longer. Curiously, the name I threw in the basket was not my actual name. Then I had to give my last sigh and was interested to see what was going to happen NOW?? But nothing changed!!. There was no interruption in the feeling of being me.

After a while, we found ourselves on the opposite bank of the river.

Three beings with wings like dragonflies were waiting for us and separated us in three groups. I followed the direction indicated by one of these beings which led to a bush into which one could enter.

Later on there was a huge statue in front of which was a kind of sarcophagus. Every one lay down inside and the sarcophagus was closed. Then began a very intense emission of rays and crackling flashes of lightning above and inside the sarcophagus. Afterwards it was opened again and the person lying inside came out. 

I had the impression I lived this process at least two or three times. It was as if one came back to the sarcophagus after having discovered some aspect of our new reality.

The purpose was a sort of test and readjustment.

After having gone through these experiences, I later became aware of a crowd of people wandering in many directions, not knowing where to go or what to do.

I felt extreme anguish, my breath was very difficult and suddenly the memory of the BLUE PERFUME came back to me and I began calling for it as if, for some unknown reason, it could help me. A blue colour appeared in my vision, to the right and it sort of nourished and calmed me a little.

During all the events that occurred through this journey in the Land of the Dead, (the Tibetans would call it the Bardo and the ancient Egyptians the Amenti) I constantly called for this BLUE ENERGY.

One of the very difficult experiences I had to go through was the encounter with a whirling crowd of pirates, condemned for the horror of their past actions, through the cycles of life and death, in a sort of eternal curse. For some reason I had a link with them. It was a horrible feeling of being in hell almost for ever.

There was a little hope yet: one had to purify from every crime by remembering it.

I discovered it was much more difficult to accept the wounds that had been made to us than the ones we had caused. Being the victim was much harder to face than being the executioner.

I had the impression that piratery had been one of the most horrible moments mankind had experienced and maybe because of that it continues to question us through the ages.

At a certain moment, I saw a red orange rising sun above the sea and understood I had grown up in Mauritius Island in order to remember later the pirates. Why??

While writing this text now, I remember having been surrounded with all sorts of ugly devils who tried to tempt me with many Powers. One of them had to do with black witchcraft.

I kept repeating I wanted the BLUE and nothing else.

Gradually some other beings began to appear.. I felt they were friendly.

Suddenly I had a vision of a sort of spaceship launching site, with many people working on it.

The colour of these people was changing constantly and very rapidly but there seemed to be a dominance of white. When they communicated together, some sort of energy went out from the upper part of their heads and entered the heads of the other person.

The door of a spaceship opened and I saw on a blue screen a complicated white drawing representing like a map of stars and at the same time a symbol of their knowledge.

Then, in the distance, I saw a glowing yellow staircase made of Light only, and with a spaceship at the top. I knew I had to go there. The spaceship brought me to this BLUE WORLD.

I had the vision of a young boy walking firmly in a place he had known before. Then I heard and saw at the same time the music of this world. It made a beautiful pattern with very strange colours. I thought I had to remember it but the music faded out of my memory.

Finally I came towards a seated being wearing a blue violet dress. I couldn’t see her face but felt a feminine presence. She then raised her right arm and gave me this BLUE PERFUME.

I felt so happy and asked WHY? Why ME?

These very intense experiences acted like a deep upheaval. I tried to transfer them in the painting above and called it:

Ayahuasca vision of the blue perfume

Around the end of the ceremony, I saw a huge black pyramid with self illuminated hieroglyphs. I couldn’t understand their meaning but later on when I was back home, I read the myth of Osiris whose limbs had been scattered throughout the land of Egypt. And Isis, his wife, which in a sense represents the Veiled Nature, gathered all his parts in order to give him a new birth.

I feel we are all scattered. Our being is made of so many different parts and it’s only with a great work of recapitulation that one can hope to find a new unity.

For me, Ayahuasca helped a great deal in this direction.