I have been finding a real friend in ajo sacha.
I’ve drank ayahuasca a handful of times, and I am so grateful for what mama aya has taught me. Ayahuasca has kicked me black and blue, thrown me in hell, chewed me up and spat me out, but she did it all out of love and I wouldn’t change a single thing.
The most valuable lessons are sometimes the hardest ones, and that has been true for me.
However, taking ayahuasca is not something I can do very often. It requires planning and preparation, and then time afterwards so I can be gentle with myself and recover.
I also have a strong gag reflex and oddly enough, greater trepidation of drinking the brew than I do of the spiritual journey it’ll take me on. The memory alone of the smell and taste of ayahuasca can make me gag and shake my head. It’s made an impression, no doubt.
So the result is that I can drink ayahuasca maybe only once every several months or so.
The long gaps in between can be frustrating because I sometimes feel I need help, a strong push, or simply to learn what the universe wants me to next. I want to grow.
Enter ajo sacha.
Ajo sacha
Ajo sacha is a plant teacher like ayahuasca, but its effects are somewhat different. It’s not better or worse, just a different style of lessons.
I make ajo sacha tea by putting 1 stick of the root into a cup of water to infuse for several hours or overnight in the fridge. The resulting “tea” tastes fairly woodsy and bland, and is very easy to down.
I drink this cup (sometimes half or all) about 30-60 minutes before going to bed.
And what ajo sacha gives me are dreams.
For me, the dreams have always been instructional and it is fairly easy to surmise the lesson or message. This is unlike my normal dreams, which mostly can seem nonsensical, random or chaotic.
The dreams I get with ajo sacha are not particularly pleasant, but maybe that’s because I have a lot to learn and unlearn.
However, the lesson sticks with me and more often than not, gives me a new perspective on a problem or situation. The dreams feel real and visceral, and the feelings I have in them are very strong and clear.
For instance, in one ajo sacha dream, I dreamt that I had bought a new and very expensive car, a shiny BMW. I had a fleeting moment of triumph at this realisation. That did not last. The moment I entered the car, I knew it was all wrong. I hated it. It was big, spacious and luxurious, and I felt so very uncomfortable. Somehow I knew that I had made a huge mistake and that it wasn’t the car for me. I also thought about how I’m a poor driver, and to drive the car would surely mean damaging it as I would most definitely be crashing or hitting something.
This all may sound like a smallish problem, but in the dream, I was deeply distraught. I felt like I had failed myself.
And suddenly, I see a small, beat-up little yellow car driving slowly past my window. It looked a little like the old Volkswagen Beetle. And I felt such certainty and knowing that that was more my speed. I knew I would be very happy and comfortable in that modest little car, and then the dream ended.
I think the message in the dream was that I shouldn’t try to want or have what others do. Doing so would only do one thing — make me unhappy. It’s better that I know myself and go after the things I actually want, even if they go against the conventional “wisdom” of society.
