This article is a submission for the Ayahuasca Awareness Program, an initiative by the Spirit Vine Center in Brazil. The program aims to help increase awareness of the potential of ayahuasca by sponsoring free ayahuasca retreats every month for people who feel the call for spiritual development with ayahuasca and other methods.

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Being Spiritual or Spiritual Being?

Spirituality, to me, means the understanding that EVERYTHING is energy and we are all connected. Every person I meet is just another perspective of myself. Our souls are all growing, in the illusion of time, through our lessons and our perspectives of this life experience.
I believe that all religions hold some truth ; but when you try to put God, or LOVE energy in a box, called religion, and say; “believe this or else!”, it goes against FREE WILL. We are all a Spark of the Divine and God wouldn’t limit himself that way. The word ,God, is very misunderstood and misinterpreted. REAL religion comes from within.

God isn’t something external. It’s a part of you.

Sixteen months ago, I had an experience of being in a void, or nothingness, and I have never felt such peace. It just felt GOOD. Then, I felt an overwhelming energy of PURE LOVE and ONENESS with everything. I’ve never experienced that kind of extasy with ANY drug. The experience changed my life. At first, it was disorienting. I felt like everything was foggy and not REAL. Like I was watching everything happening from a distance. I became fascinated and passionate about meditation. This experience was a fundamental shift in my reality so I joined a Buddhists sangha and did shadow work, dark night of the soul,and death of self. It’s truly been a Rollercoaster of allowing and releasing this year. I don’t think I ever really knew ME. I am getting to know self and higher self and my goal is to get to that place where there’s not so much difference between the two. A place of equanimity.

I do breathwork and Reiki and not only do I feel the energy of others but I SEE it. I started seeing colors around people after a LONG meditation with Gaia. I’m always trying new meditations and exercises to strengthen this.

Being Spiritual means that I am constantly working on my character defects and limiting beliefs that hold me back. I am excited and eager to do the work. I want to build and expand my connection to God Love. Complacency is just laziness. If I’m not moving forward in my growth, then I’m going backwards; because energy is always in motion. Impermanence is the First characteristic of EVERYTHING..
Dr. Joe Dispenza talks alot about quantum fields and rewiring the brain and this fascinates me. My beliefs, habits, environment, education, ect leaves grooves like snow ski trails in my brain. It’s easy to just stay in that familiar thinking. DMT is naturally made in our body by the pineal gland. It allows us to jump the groove into new snow; New ways of thinking. The problem is that we’re all so clogged, blocked, and calcified that we don’t feel it.

An ayahuasca retreat is something I’ve longed to do since a friend told me of their experience with it. I’ve read tons about the process, chemistry, and the drug. It’s important to me that I have a FULL experience with a Shaman. Just trying psychedelics on my own doesn’t interest me. I REALLY want to connect and understand. I’ve tried past life regressions and readings. I can’t be hypnotized and the VIVID dreams I used to have disappeared after my experience with nothingness. I have so many questions why? I think ayahuasca might help me understand more and I want to feel the connection and oneness with earth.

A Spiritual Being is one who understands the trinity of Mind, Body, Spirit. When all three are balanced and in harmony together, a person has a full realization of one’s self. There is no limit to what is possible at that moment. I am so grateful for what has happened in my life to wake me up and I’m passionate about life now. I look forward to an incredible retreat.

Written by Crystal Drummonds for the Ayahuasca Awareness Program

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Spirit Vine COVID-19 Update

Last Updated: 9th August 2022

We have established guidelines to ensure that we provide the maximum amount of safety to all participants who attend the retreats.

We are following the guidelines provided by the Brazilian government which you can find below and have added some necessary precautions suitable for the retreats.

In the Itacare area, where we are located, there are very low number of COVID cases.

We will update this section when new information is available.
Content listed here is subject to change.

If you have any questions, please contact us.

Brazilian Government Recommendations for COVID-19

The current guidelines from the Brazilian government state that anyone who wants to enter Brazil must present a Covid vaccine certificate. You do not need to take any other vaccines to enter Brazil. These guidelines may change in the future.

Travelers must also fill out an affidavit 24 hours before departure acknowledging the health measures that must be complied with during the period that they will remain in the country. You can find the affidavit here.

Prior to leaving Brazil, depending on the requirements of your destination country, you may be required to present an RT-PCR or Antigen test. If you need a PCR test we recommend you to budget the required time of 6 hours to take the test and get the results at Sao Paulo Guarulhos airport. Antigen test can be taken in the town of Itacare near our center before you go to the airport or at the airport in Sao Paulo.

Please note that Itacare and Ilheus do not have RT-PCR testing centers.

Spirit Vine Guidelines for COVID-19

We require that vaccination must be done at least 2 months prior to drinking ayahuasca. This is for the safety of participants to make sure the vaccine doesn’t have any reaction with the ingestion of ayahuasca. 

We also require all visitors to provide a valid Covid-19 test prior to entering the Center. The Antigen test is only valid for 24 hours and PCR test is only valid for 72 hours. A valid negative test result must be sent by email prior to entering the Center.