Paojilhuasca blogs

Before Words: Ayahuasca and the Language Beyond Language

It began with a scream. Primal. Not the contained release of emotion that sometimes ripples through ceremony, nor the trembling

Exorcism or Integration? Trauma, Dissociation, and Plant Medicine

When K first arrived, she did not arrive alone. Nothing in her appearance would have alerted an untrained eye. She

Turning Toward: Ayahuasca in the Lineage of Wounded-Healing Traditions

“The wound is the place where the Light enters you.” —Rumi

Purging Civilization: Ayahuasca, Anarchy, and the Politics of Inner Cleansing

It was a warm, cloudy afternoon. The men of the tribe gathered under the shade of a great samaúma, the

Where We Do Not Run from the Storm

Crying children, wounded adults, and what psychedelic medicine teaches us about staying.

The Vine of the Dead: Ayahuasca, Science, and the Art of Dying Before You Die

To die is to return to the forest that dreamt us. -Shipibo saying 1 — The Ceremony of the Old

The Jungle vs. Big Pharma: What Ayahuasca Taught Me About the Politics of Healing

How a vine from the rainforest exposes the cracks in billion-dollar psychiatric models. I run a medicine center deep in

Flowing With the River, Dreaming With the Jaguar

Taoism as we know it today—with its parables, paradoxes, and subtle metaphysics—did not begin as abstract philosophy. Its roots lie

The Frog That Wakes Us: Kambô and the Art of Belonging

In the forests of Acre, where Brazil leans into Peru, the night is stitched with frog-song. One voice belongs to

The Language of Ayahuasca: How the Vine Speaks in Symbols, Sensations, and the Subconscious

The first time I set foot on that sacred mountain, scattered with ancient temples, the world below began to melt

Yopo: The Forgotten Visionary Seed of the Amazon 

Yopo (Anadenanthera peregrina) is a small, graceful tree native to the tropical savannas and forests of South America and the

Exorcism and the Ecology of the Invisible 

I once spoke with a forensic psychiatrist who had interviewed some of the most infamous serial killers in modern history.

The Last Level: An Enlightenment Story You Won’t Find in the Vedas

How One Seeker Transcended the Ego, Civilization, and Personal Hygiene Enlightenment can feel somewhat like a software crash. And yet,

The Integration Crisis

Why the Real Work Begins After the Ceremony—and Why So Few Are Supported to Continue It They come with pain.

Sacred Madness, Criminal Silence: The Many Faces of Scopolamine

The first time I heard the word burundanga (scopolamine) was in a bar in Bogotá. A man beside me, tipsy

Ten Minutes in Eternity: Dying, Ecstasy, and Bufo Medicine

The Day I Died (And Lived) Death is only the separation of body and spirit, or so I thought, until

Tobacco: From Demonized Poison to Sacred Medicine

Tobacco today is one of the most vilified plants in the Western world. Known mostly as a killer, linked to

Medicine DAO: Decentralized Like the Forest

How Tribal Memory, Sacred Healing, and Medicine DAOs Could Reweave What Civilization Forgot

Coca: From Andean Offering to Global Misunderstanding

Reclaiming the Sacred Leaf Once Honored by Empires and Now Feared by Nations

If the Cat Can Be a Shaman, Everyone Can Be

I’ve been living in the jungle for years now, facilitating ceremonies with ayahuasca and other sacred medicines. But some of

When Chaos Heals: Ayahuasca, Crisis, and Compassion

The symptom, when welcomed, is not just a wound: it is a threshold. And the threshold, when crossed together, becomes

Part 1: A Diet of Tobacco—Initiation into Death

This is Part 1 of A Diet of Tobacco, a three-part series by Dr. Caterina Conti exploring the teachings of

Part 2: A Diet of Tobacco—Cemeteries and the Sacred Threshold

This is Part 2 of A Diet of Tobacco. In this installment, Dr. Caterina Conti reflects on cemeteries and cross-cultural

Part 3: A Diet of Tobacco—Blood, Rebirth, and the Teachings of Tobacco

This is Part 3 of “A Diet of Tobacco.” In the final chapter, Dr. Caterina Conti shares teachings on menstruation,

The Diet Before Ayahuasca: Modern Myth or Invented Tradition?

Medicine doesn’t demand purity, but presence. In the heart of the Amazon rainforest, where life pulses without asking permission and

Cultural Colonialism in Plant Medicine: Between Integration and Appropriation

On meeting rather than mastering the sacred medicine. “When we name things wrongly, we add to the world’s unhappiness and

The Daily Art of Integration

Every authentic path intertwines with every other to reveal the whole, make the extraordinary ordinary, and co-create a more connected
You can read all our articles here. Just click on the buttons.