Psychedelic Rituals in the
Netherlands
Psychoactivity Conference. Koninklijk
Instituut voor de Tropen. Sunday, October 4, 1998.
In a country like Holland, with relatively
liberal drug laws, talking about drugs and drug use is not something you can
only do behind closed and locked doors, in the privacy of a trusted home, after
searching for hidden microphones. It is not really neccesary to know to whom you
direct your open mindedness. If somebody is against drugs, or dislikes your
attitude towards drugs, you will know soon enough because of his or her
reaction.
It is just that you don't have to be afraid for
somebody sneakily informing the police. The police is not interested. Drug use
is a kind of personal behaviour that does not have any priority for Dutch
police. In such an atmosphere there is no real need for an underground network
of like-minded people as we know it exists in many other countries where users
face draconian jail sentences.
This luxury position for Dutch drug users results
in a slightly different situation concerning psychedelic rituals. Here in
Holland it is possible to attract participants for rituals through advertising
in smart shops, by direct mail, and of course by word of
mouth.
It is because of this openness that in a small
country like Holland, different
ways of conducting psychedelic rituals are being performed. If people don't like
a certain way of conducting rituals, a certain belief system, or just dislike a
leader of a ritual, it is easy to chance to another group.
Hans Plomp told you about the history of
psychedelic rituals, based in the idea of the hippiemovement who saw Amsterdam
as magical centre of the world, and from that point on further developed in the
city itself and in the sanctuary that was shaped in the squatted village of
Ruigoord.
I will talk about recent developments concerning
psychedelic rituals in the Netherlands, which will mainly focus around the use
of ayahuasca. I will not explain anything about the botanical or pharmacological
properties of this fascinating amazone brew, since other speakers in this
conference have done so already, and in no doubt in a better way than I could do
it.
About five years ago, in 1993/1994, the first
ayahuasca rituals were being held here, organised by members of the Brasilian
based Santo Daime church, who wanted to introduce their faith. Early Dutch
members could be found mainly in followers of the Indian guru Osho, formerly
known as Bhagwan Shree Rashneesh.
A typical santo daime service is characterised by
an elaborately designed ritual containing elements of roman catholic, black
african and amazonian indian belief systems.
A Santo Daime ritual has very strict rules. The
ayahuasca being served at the rituals has to be prepared in Mapia, the spiritual
center of the Santo Daime church in the Brazilian rain forest, and is called by
the church members Daime. Daime contains a mixture of Banisteriopsis caapi vines
and Psychotria virides leafs. Participants are asked to abstain from sexual
intercourse from three days before until three days after the
ritual.
Women should sit on one side, men should sit on
the opposite side of a central table. The table has a rectangular shape, and
this shape is reflected in the positioning of the men and women. The head of the
table is reserved for the "commander" of the ritual. Behind the commander, and
on the commander's left side are the women. On the opposite side and on the
commander's right side are the men. Looking from above a santo daime ritual
resembles a mandala. Church members are dressed in uniforms. They wear different
uniforms in different rituals. Many members wear shiny metal stars on their
shirts, rather reminiscent of those being worn by sheriffs in western movies.
Three kinds of rituals can be distinguished. There are rituals were people sit,
and there are dancing rituals. A female and a male senior church member will
take care that everything is going along the rules of the church. It is for
example not allowed to sit cross armed or cross legged. Participants have to sit
or dance in one line. The purpose of all these rules is to establish a certain
group energy that has to result in a spiral towards
heaven.
Hymns are very important in this religion, and
the church members are singing non-stop the hymns of their "third
Testament".
Two fardado's will stay outside the
mandala-shaped ritual to supervise and to aid affected participants if
necessary. A woman will supervise the female part of the ritual, and a man does
the same with the male part of the ritual.
There are right now three chapters of the Santo
Daime church in Holland. They mainly attract baby boomers, people in their
forties and fifties.
Quite a lot of psychedelic enthusiasts are you
might say allergic to the christian character of the Santo Daime rituals. You
have to take into account that only a minority of the Dutch population belongs
nowadays to the christian faith.
A Mestizo Curandero from
Peru
In November 1995 Don Juan Tangoa Paima, a Mestizo
curandero from Iquitos, Peru, visited Holland to perform ayahuasca rituals. The
style of Don Juan's rituals were quite different from those of the Santo Daime
church: Don Juan's rituals are done in complete darkness for example. According
to this Mestizo curandero, the darkness enables participants to see more vivid
visions. Don Juan also claims there is a difference in visions when the eyes are
opened or closed. Pitch darkness enables participants to keep their eyes open
without being disturbed by the surroundings. Participants sat on cushions on the
ground in no particular order. Don Juan did not like people to lie down. He said
too much relaxation makes people vulnerable for bad spirits. He revered tobacco
as a sacred plant. Don Juan smoked cigarettes non-stop during the ritual. He
blowed smoke in the bottle of ayahuasca before it was served to the
participants. He protected the participants with his tobacco smoke. If somebody
had to leave the room to go to the toilet, Don Juan advised them to lit up a
cigarette, so that they were protected by the smoke. Don Juan is convinced of
the vulnerability of somebody under the influence of ayahuasca. Mean spirits
might enter easily, and the smoke should hold them back.
Don Juan sing, whistles and blows smoke during
the rituals. He also cleanses with a bundle of chacapa leaves. The bundle of
leaves is also used as a rhythmic instrument to accompany his songs, which are
called Icaros. Don Juan started assisting in his father's rituals at the age of
13. Being in his forty's in 1995, he has a long experience in guiding rituals.
Don Juan has a really beautiful voice, and his songs seem to steer the visions
of the participants.
Don Juan's ayahuasca is quite different from the
brew being served at most other rituals here in Holland. In most rituals the
ayahuasca is made from two different plants: a DMT containing plant and a
ß-carboline containing plant (= MAOI containing plant). Don Juan's ayahuasca is
a more elaborate mix. He adds jungle tobacco, Brugmansia leaves and camphor to the brew. Ayahuasca
doesn't have a good taste in general, but this mix tastes more horrible than
usual.
The Amsterdam based Friends of the Forest started
with ayahuasca rituals in september 1996. The driving force behind Friends of
the Forest is Brazilian born Yatra da Silveira Barbosa. As a former member of
the Santo Daime church, she was one of the people introducing the Santo Daime
doctrine, and the ritual drinking of ayahuasca, to Europe. Friends of the Forest
wants to use ayahuasca in a therapeutical way. Yatra da Silveira Barbosa kicked
of her 20 year heroine and cocaine addiction with the aid of drinking ayahuasca,
and this is the treatment she wants to give to other addicts. To raise money to
start the addiction treatment, Friends of the Forest began in September 1996
organizing rituals on a regular basis. These rituals share some characteristics
with the Santo Daime services, but they lack the rigidity of the Santo Daime
rules. Participants of Friends of the Forest rituals are asked to be dressed
inwhite, abstain from sexual intercourse from three days before until threedays
after the ritual and stop eating four hours before the ritual. These rules are
roughly the same as in the Santo Daime. There is also a similarity within the
structure of the ritual: In the Santo Daime ritual, participants stand or sit in
the shape of a mandala. In a Friends of the Forest ritual, participants lie or
sit in a circle. The aim of both structures is to work with the group energy.
Another similarity is the way the brew is served: Participants queue up for the
table where the ayahuasca is handed out. As a former member of the church and as
a trained singer, Yatra da Silveira Barbosa knows many hymns from the Santo
Daime repertoire, which she often includes in her rituals. As a follower of
Osho, she also includes religious songs from the East. Recently she adopted
songs from Vinho da Jurema rituals that are sung by members of almost forgotten
tribes of Pernambuco, like the Atkum, the Tore and the Truka. Friends of the
Forest offers different types of rituals. During a Forest Journey, tribal music
is played, a Heart Journey is accompanied by soft New Age type music, in a
Trance Journey ambient trance music is played, sometimes mixed by a Goa trance
DJ who is also drinking ayahuasca himself. The Power of Mantra's is an
East-meets-West ritual where participants domeditation and sing mantra's.
Finally, Friends of the Forest offers a ritual titled Depth of Silence, where no
music is played and hardly any songs are sung. Once again, this ritual is quite
similar to the Concentration ritual in the Santo Daime church. To emphasize the
therapeutical value of these rituals, the day after the ritual a Sharing and
Integration session is organized, in which participants can talk about their
experiences. Friends of the Forest organizes roughly 20 rituals per year, with
an average of fifteen to twenty participants. They use an ayahuasca analogue for
the brew they serve. Mimosa hostilis and Peganum harmala are used as
ingredients.
Vision Circle
Since four years a group in the city of The Hague
perform rituals they call 'Vision Circle'. In contrast to Friends of the Forest,
this group does not advertise. It is quite hard to be allowed to join them
actually. Their ritual will have a maximum of twelve people. No more than two
newcomers per session can join in. The Vision Circle uses three different
entheogens: The Trichocereus pachanoi, also known as San Pedro cactus, the
mimosa/harmala combination that is also used by Friends of the forest, and a
mushroom/harmala combination. One of the group's goals is to use as many
ingredients from this area as possible. They grow Psilocybe cyanescens
themselves in their garden. Vision Circle-members claim the harmala/mushroom
combination is the strongest.
Last spring I was invited to join in a ritual
with this particular combination. In contrast to almost all the other rituals
being performed in Holland, this ritual started in the afternoon instead of in
the evening. The participants lie in a circle. Every person is asked beforehand
to meditate on a personal question. They are also asked to be dressed in
white.
A big difference with all the other rituals is
that there is no real leader of the ritual. In the four years of their
existence, the members of the Vision Circle tried all varieties of conducting a
ritual and they ended up in an unique way: One person is responsible for the
overall character of the ritual. It should be quiet, no distractions, people
shouldn't disturb others. Somebody else is responsible for assisting people who
need help. This division of responsibillities is flexibel. Halfway the ritual it
is possible that somebody else takes over the tasks.
The members of the Vision Circle are long time
yoga practitioners. In contrast to all the other rituals I have attended, hardly
any song is sung, hardly any music is played. The silence is sometimes
overwhelming and forces the participants to go deeper and deeper. Or if you wish
Higer and higher.
Do It Yourself Ritual
Since the arrival of ayahuasca in Europe, some
people were more interested in the effects of the brew than in the various types
of rituals in whichthe brew was served. Many modern Europeans are allergic to
christianity and can't stand the christian atmosphere that is so essential in a
Santo Daime ritual. This allergy was one of the reasons Friends of the Forest
started with a different type of ritual. Quite a few participants think also the
Friends of the Forest rituals are not their cup of tea, because these rituals
are a mixture of Santo Daime and Osho belief systems. Until recently it was hard
to find ayahuasca in a more recreational context, because no one except the
above mentioned had access to the brew or to the plant sources. Recently quite a
lot of ayahausca ingredients became available to the European market, and this
opportunity was the starting point of a new type of ritual, which might be
nicknamed as the 'No Ritual Ritual' or the 'DIY Ritual' (Do It Yourself Ritual).
In this modern ritual an experienced ayahuasca drinker, or somebody otherwise
experienced in the effects of DMT or similar substances, acts as a guide for the
participants. Most participants like the idea of somebody leading the session,
since the effects of ayahuasca can become quite overwhelming and are sometimes
unpredictable.In a typical 'DIY ritual' there is no dressing code and no rules
regarding sexual behavior. Participants are asked not to eat any substances
thatmight interfere with the MAO inhibiting effect of the brew several hours
before the rituals starts. Otherwise participants are free to do what they want,
since they are responsible for themselves. In rituals I guide myself I ask the
participants not to talk to other people. Any sound might distract people, take
them out of the trip into mundane reality. I serve a glass of ayahuasca every
hour, until the effects are on a desirable level. For most participants two or
sometimes three glasses are enough. In my rituals I try to mimic a natural
surrounding. I play recordings of natural soundscapes, combined with recordings
of indigenous tribes and medecinemen from South America, Africa and Asia. I also
play trip music like 'Acid Test-Hommage à Albert' and the like. In cases where
people need help, I use my experiences as a guide in other rituals, and I use a
bundle of chacapa leaves to dust down the problematic period. Most important is
my knowledge that until now everybody came down from an ayahuasca trip.
Essential for these kind of rituals is a certain selection beforehand.
Psychedelics are not for everybody and for some people a mystical medicine like
ayahuasca sounds like the panacea they have been looking for so long. Beware of
the lunatic fringe!
Published in: Jahrbuch für Ethnomedizin und
Bewußtseinsforschung/Yearbook for Ethnomedicine and the study of Consciousness
Issue 6-7, 1997/1998. Christian Rätsch, John R. Baker, Claudia Müller-Ebeling,
VWB, Berlin, 2000. p. 355-340.