Kava Kava - A deserved elixir after the hard day's work

Kava Kava is a wonderful ethnobotanical widely used, specially among the people in the South Pacific islands, where it natively grows.

The natives drink it for special ceremonies as a stimulant, much like alcohol in industralized societies.

The root, either powdered or cut, is made into a tea that numbs the mouth and the throat, and a bit later the body and mind is permeated with relaxation and bliss.

Medical testing has proved Kava Kava as an effective anti-depressant, anti-stress and anti-insomnia and it helps relieve different kinds of pain...

For me, it is a great alternative to aspirin, when I have headaches or sore muscles.

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Tips for making Kava:


- First, get some Kava Kava (you can get it here)

'You should get the cut root if you enjoy infusions, or get the powdered root if you prefer to make it on-the-go, both yield the same effect. Fortunately, Kava Kava is very cheap, so you could experiment with both to see which suits you.

Also, for a stronger effect, you may want to try the 84% Kavalactone paste/extract'

- Bring water to a boil and reduce the flame.

- Add 2 or 3 spoonfuls of the cut root and let simmer for 3 minutes. You can adjust the dose to your personal taste

- Turn off the flame and let sit for a couple more minutes

- Strain the liquid, pour into a cup and add honey or sugar if desired

'Kava is an aquired taste, although the flavour is not unpleasant, it has a unique taste to it'

- Enjoy with good company and music!

* The plant material can be re-boiled if desired onece or twice more

** If, instead, you have powdered root, just add a spoonful to a cup of warm water and sweeten it. Keep a spoon nearby and stir once in a while, as the powder tends to sit in the bottom of the cup.

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*** A WORD OF CAUTION ***


Don't drink Kava Kava more than once or twice a week: there are studies that show a (reversible) yellowing and scaling of the skin to users who drink it in big quantities for long periods of time.

Preparing Ayahuasca with the Banisteriopsis Caapi Vine + Chaliponga, Chacruna or Mimosa Hostilis

USING BANISTERIOPSIS CAAPI



+

EITHER CHALIPONGA, CHACRUNA OR MIMOSA HOSTILIS

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- Fill the pot with water and acidify it with the juice of one lime for every 2 liters of water (that is approximately what it takes to acidify the water to a ph5, the ideal level for alkaloid absorption) If you can, get the PH Test Paper Strips, they'll give you the exact level of acidity in the water (found in a chemical supply store)

- Add the Banisteriopsis Caapi vine (in the Amazon they use the whole vine... as we're making the process shorter, it is better to have it shredded or powdered, you can buy it in that condition) and the leaves of the Chacruna or Chaliponga, or the Mimosa Hostilis Rootbark (don't mix them! the vine plus one other ingredient is more than enough for our purposes)

- Bring the mix to a boil and once it's boiling take the fire down just to a point were the water is still boiling but the flame is not so high.

- Keep coming back every 10 or 15 minutes to move the brew until most of the water is gone and a very dark, semi-thick liquid is left.

Using Chacruna, you'll get a light brown, kinda grayish substance while Chaliponga will result in a darker brown, reddish brew. Mimosa will look brighter and even more reddish than Chaliponga (notice the powerful smell and color of it)

- Use the cheesecloth or the strainer to get the liquid into the other pot and save it. Fill the first pot with water again, acidify it again and repeat the process, using the same plant material.

Ideally, do the process a total of 3 times, always using the same plant material, the third time you'll notice that the color of the water is clearer than the previous two extractions, but you'll still get some alkaloids out of it.

- Once you have all the extractions into the second pot you can discard the plant matter (try to give it to your garden instead of throwing it in the trash) and simmer the brew / tea until very little is left. Be very careful not to burn it, keep the flame low and keep checking it every 5 minutes or so.

- Also, have in mind that the thicker it is, the least amount to swallow what most probably will be one of the horridest tasting things you've ever tasted.


Now the Ayahuasca is ready to be consumed... wait for it to cool a little, serve it in a special, ritualistic glass or mug and drink it in as few gulps as possible.

Ayahuasca, Pharmahuasca & Ayahuasca Analogues === Preparation

How to prepare traditional Ayahuasca, Pharmahuasca & Ayahuasca analogues


Ayahuasca, Pharmahuasca & Analogues preparation is an easy, but lengthy process.


Depending on the ingredients we choose to use, slight variations to the cooking method are made


Here are some easy to follow steps to prepare this sacred, ancient brew, but first, make sure to measure the dose carefully, following this chart:

Beginners - Banisteriopsis Caapi === 40 grms - Chacruna (Psychotria Viridis) === 30 grms Experienced - Banisteriposis Caapi === 40 grms - Chaliponga (Diplopterys cabrerana / Chagropanga) === 10 grms =========================================================== AYAHUASCA ANALOGUES (PHARMAHUASCA) Beginners - Syrian Rue (Peganum Harmala) === 3 to 6 grms - Chacruna (Psychotria Viridis) === 30 grms Experienced - Syrian Rue (Peganum Harmala) === 3 to 6 grms - Chaliponga (Diplopterys cabrerana / Chagropanga) === 10 grms or - Syrian Rue (Peganum Harmala) === 3 to 6 grms -Mimosa Hostilis Root === 5 to 10 grms or - Banisteriposis Caapi === 40 grms -Mimosa Hostilis Root === 5 to 10 grms

The difference between Traditional Ayahuasca and an Analogue (also called "Pharmahuasca") is simply that the traditional is the one used in Central and South America.

To prepare the brew, you will also need:

- 2 big, stainless pots (any other will get stained by the plants) - 4 or 5 small, green limes - a lot of distilled water - Cheesecloth or, easier yet, a big strainer

And now, lets move on to preparing the tea / brew...

Here's to Earth

Living on Mother Earth --- An Evolution of Consciousness

It is time for the global realization of what we have to do, to stop the non-sense and dive into the experience of life, in our lovely planet, our mother… the Earth.

Everything’s pointing to the right direction, and we humans are learning to evolve and get rid of the many vices we have acquired along the way… people are finding this out in their own ways, as the “Big-Realization” impacts our perception and performance of and in this world, and it is an individual task to turn into a being of life, peace and happiness, making this world a better place simply by existing, doing what they know they came to do to this land and season.



Whatever each of us do, it is certain that a readaptation of the way we relate to nature has to occur, we need to experience the joy of being able to exist with what our soils, rivers, plants and animals share with us; we shall consider all living beings our brothers, co-existing in a beautiful place, threatened by stupidity… no more kings of the world, instead, happy free life-forms in an oasis of life and possibility.



I owe much of my life-changing insights to some very dear plants to me. It is not exactly them the ones that “pass on the information” to me, but how they allow me to see through their knowledge and experience all along their time on Earth.
I should mention here that by this I am not implying that entheogens are the only way, and that the insights I’m able to access wouldn’t have come in any other way, without the influence of an external agent, maybe I would maybe I wouldn’t, but let’s acknowledge that it is time that biased authorities let the world be, let the plants, of any given characteristics, exist, and let all living beings interact with one another with love and freedom.


Ayahuasca has opened up my soul to the infinite possibilities lying every second, everywhere; unveiling the obvious realization of the fact that you are me and I am you and we are all together, no being is left behind as we move in the endless wave of light intersections …


Peyote showed me I can change, that I am a universe of countless inter- and inner-relations and that by stopping, opening my eyes and listening, in tranquil, silent awareness, I’ll hear honesty, and welcome any insight that could point to an improvement of specific aspects of my life.



Mushrooms simply turned me back into just another life expression among millions, no more and no less important than the next species on Earth; realizing that the only difference is the tools we have chosen to have to explore a physical reality and what we do with them – which raises the question of what are we doing with our tools to spread the light in cool and beautiful ways.



Iboga, LSD, LSA, DMT, MDMA, THC... There is a long list of potential allies, reminders that there is much more than the human kind and ways, used responsibly and intelligently, these allies provide an extremely helpful doorway into ourselves and how we choose to live life.


The call is for everyone: the human race needs to wake up to this Universal Realization and simply co-exist with total, peaceful awareness. Psychedelics & Entheogens are great help, no doubt, but if it isn't your thing, that doesn't weaken the message... Let's keep finding others that are peacefully aware and active... Diversity is the most beautiful thing we have



Go here to take a look at the endless possibilities that nature has to offer

Ayahuasca: the Mother of Entheogens

WHAT IS AYAHUASCA?

The word Ayahuasca is used to describe two things:

- The brew containing usually two ingredients: a vine called Banisteriopsis Caapi and the leaves from a DMT containing tree (more on this below) although shamans sometimes add extra ingredients, like Datura or Brugmansia flowers and leaves (which by the way, contain very dangerous alkaloids and it is strongly recommended to avoid any ingestion of these kinds of plants)


- The vine (Banisteriposis Caapi), one of the two main ingredients from which the brew is made.
As there are a couple of plants that contain the same components as the Caapi Vine and a lot of different plants containing DMT, there are many possible combinations to make an Ayahuasca-like brew. When other than the traditional plants are used to make the brew, it is commonly called “Pharmahuasca” or an Ayahuasca Analogue.


HOW AYAHUASCA WORKS


When ingested, the DMT molecule is quickly metabolized by our stomach enzymes, thus preventing DMT from crossing the blood-brain barrier; which is pretty useful as DMT is everywhere: many plants and animals contain it, even human beings are carrying and producing DMT at all times, so if we didn’t have these “protecting enzymes”, we would all be switching back and forth from this reality to the strange and immaterial DMT realm, I suppose we wouldn’t be very functional in the matter-based reality in an altered state like that.

This is where the components of the Caapi Vine come into play, they contain a substance called Monoacid Oxidase Inhibitors (MAOI’s) which temporarily block our stomach enzymes, allowing DMT to cross the blood-brain barrier. It is, as shamans call it, “The Force”.
The other ingredient, the plants containing DMT, are the ones containing “The Light”, the DMT chemical, the one that shows us “the Matrix”.
Taking any of this substances by themselves (orally) will not cause any worthy effects.


AYAHUASCA INGREDIENTS


Here we will discuss the two main ingredients of this entheogenic brew; as mentioned before, some shamans add extra ingredients to the mix, but being that some of these extra ingredients could be dangerous, and having experienced the magic of "Huasca" without any extras, I’m not really interested in the other ad-mixtures, nor think it is really worthwhile.


MAOIS.


- Banisteriopsis Caapi: this is the vine used in Central and South-American Ayahuascas. Shamans believe that there’s a divine intelligence in the plant, it guides and protects the user by revealing only what is needed and what we are capable of receiving, not more, not less.


Normally it is brewed together with the DMT containing plant and drank altogether.



- Peganum Harmala / Syrian Rue: these are the seeds of a middle east, desertic plant. The MAOI content is stronger than that of the Caapi vine, only a spoonful (3 grams) of these seeds is enough to allow DMT absorption.


These seeds are normally crushed, soaked in water and drank 20 to 30 minutes before the DMT-containing brew.



DMT-containing plants.



- Psychotria Viridis / Chacruna: the leaves of the tree contain DMT. It is the least potent Huasca-brew (Beware! By that I don’t mean that it is a “weak” entheogen, nothing could be further to the truth) For the first time user, it is advised to start with this mix. The effects will be specially visual and it is recommended to do it in the dark. The finished brew turns light brown.




- Mimosa Hostilis: the root bark contains DMT in high concentration, so the material used is significantly less. Visions could be more intense, people report seeing and communicating with all kinds of beings, from shapeless beings of light to lizards and gigantic bees. The brew turns to a reddish brown color.





- Diplopterys Cabrerana / Chaliponga: the most powerful of the Ayahuascas. In addition to DMT, it contains a similar, more potent substance: 5-MeO-DMT. This is the substance found in the Bufo Avarious toad venom. Visions are not the main or most pronounced effects, instead it opens us up to the infinite energetic realm, it is not so much seen as it is felt, it cleans chakra blockages and shows us reality as a whole, interconnected being. Experiencing this infinitely loving simplicity at work, all I can do is shed tears of joy and thankfulness.



If you are interested in preparing Ayahuasca, you can start by finding some ingredientsHERE