Night Ceremony

The plant is used in elaborate religious ceremonies, which vary from area to area. Adherents use the plant to communicate spiritually with their ancestors. In lower doses, it is used to counteract fatigue and hunger. Warriors and hunters have used it to remain awake at night. Some Europeans have claimed that it has aphrodisiac effects as well. More recently, anecdotal reports have indicated possible antiaddictive effects of iboga, stimulating a rush of scientific research into the neurochemical effects of the plant (Mash et al. 1998). 

I account of how I first discovered the extraordinary effect ipter of "Pharmako/poeia" by Dale Pendell. (Also availabl norum as an oracle. (Also available in an Italian translatio opitious night for a Salvia divinorum ceremony ... 

Thirteen pair of leaves, the stems all facing the same direction, are rolled into a cigar and eaten. That is the traditional way, the way of the Keepers of the Plant, the Mazatecs. The leaves are used the same way mushrooms are used, with candles (which are later put out), prayers, and singing. The ceremony is performed at night, in a darkened room. The darker the better. And the quieter the better both light and noise have a way of dissipating the experience. 

The first paper in this section, Osmond s "Peyote Night," is a reprint of an account of a peyote ceremony of the Native American Church. His participation in the sacrament and ritual changes him from an outside observer to an inside observer, and his observations develop an impassioned clarity. 

The ceremony consisted of chanting that continued all night long, except for brief intermissions every forty minutes or so. The sabia Maria Sabina danced for two hours in the dark. The ritual aspect, in the context of feeling both adventurous and safe, seems to have influenced the quality (or tone) of Wasson s experience. 

Mexican mushroom ceremonies are conducted by shamans, usually women, and are held for purposes of treating illness, solving problems, foreseeing the future in visions, and putting people in contact with the supernatural world. They take place at night, hy candlelight, and today are curious blends of shamanism and Roman Catholic ritual. 

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