What Does Ayahuasca Say About the Coronavirus and the Global Pandemic?

Illustration by Craig Stephens

Nothing could have prepared us emotionally and spiritually for the arrival of a virus that threatens not only every life on this planet, but the culture, economy, and lifestyles we have all become accustomed to.

Nothing, except maybe Ayahuasca.

I started my journey with her almost 15 years ago in the jungles of Peru, having zero awareness I was on the path to becoming an Ayahuasca shaman. Even then, not long after the turn of the century, the medicine began sharing different insights with many of us regarding what might be coming for humanity, and the roles we would have to assist in the shift.

We collectively knew we were on a dangerous journey involving the mistreatment of the planet, and each other. We could see the growing body of evidence that the Earth was showing serious signs of trauma, and that our shaky economy kept reflecting the reality of valuing progress and wealth over basic human rights. We knew something would have to shift us. We just didn’t know what it would look like.

It turns out the shift we were waiting for looks like a pandemic that forces folks to duck for cover by quarantining and “social distancing”, by wearing masks during rare public outings, by learning to let loved ones transition without the opportunity to be there, and by facing a full-fledged police state.

I’ve recently had some deep dialogues with lady Aya about how to work with this brave new world, and I’m sharing her insights with the hopes that it helps you, too. Duly noted that this comes through my perception, and is therefore only how I interpret her wisdom, but my long and intimate dance with her allows me some measure of credibility. A smidge, anyway.

So what does Ayahuasca have to say about the Coronavirus?

Spoiler alert: She’s absolutely overjoyed.

Why Ayahuasca Says this is a Time to Celebrate

Many of us had deep musings about a coming bout of chaos because anyone that’s been at this spiritual awakening process long enough knows that a good old fashioned breakdown is precisely what creates a breakthrough. Ayahuasca is by far the best teacher of this in the psychotropic world because she is unequivocally the most uncomfortable of the plant medicine crew. She embodies shadow work. She lovingly helps us find our edges, our spaces of resistance, so that we may expand and become consciously more spacious than our limiting stories and beliefs.

What we are in right now is a global ceremony. We have collectively manifested a worldwide event that is reflecting the truth of how misaligned we’ve been as a planetary culture. We are cooking in uncertainty, marinating in fear, and going head-first into the ramifications of abuse, ignorance, resistance, and selfishness.

And yet it IS a time to celebrate. Just as we drink Ayahuasca and accept her discomfort as an opportunity to learn and grow, the Coronavirus offers the same opportunity. Ayahuasca knows the Coronavirus is simply the catalyst for our global awakening. We are all currently in quarantine, pondering the truth of our existence, examining what we have to do to survive both individually and collectively, and confronting issues like mortality and the abuse of the planet with a newfound urgency.

Since we weren’t ready or willing to do this work pro-actively, the universe has forced our hand.

Through great intensity and conflict comes a higher degree of consciousness. Although this is not ubiquitous, many of us will use this pressure cooker as a mode of awakening. I see the dialogue on social media, and it’s stewing with integrity in many distinct corners. Although we are all talking about the very real challenges, the losses we are facing, the lack of security and the financial fears, we are also not in the same level of denial about how it is we arrived here. I see so many people owning the responsibility of this event.

Accountability is arising. Without it, we will not advance as a species. So this is an incredible gift.

Related post: Can Ayahuasca Make you Go Crazy?

Deepening Our Conscious Relationship with Death

Without a doubt, integrity with our emotions and understandings of death is the highest work we can do to improve our lives. It’s the elephant in the room that people spend lifetimes attempting to avoid, which is of course laughable as no one gets out alive.

This pandemic is facilitating a massive shift of honesty in how we relate to, and understand, death. Loved ones are transitioning at an alarming rate, and the media is hell-bent on doing a play by play through the lens of fear. Many of us are facing the helplessness of knowing a loved one is ill, and yet we do not have the freedom to stand by them as they face the virus.

This, too, is part of the magic.

The truth is, we are always helpless to stop the threat and reality of death. Even if we are standing at the bedside of our transitioning friend or family member, we are powerless to make it stop.

We can, however, turn to face it. And when we do, what we find….is extraordinary.

Art by Gustav Klimt

As a woman who has had both a traditional Near Death Experience (in that my body did in fact shutdown), and the glorious ego death brought on by various altered states, I know to my very core that death is safe.

It is this knowingness that keeps me calm, trusting, and even joyful as I witness this global shift.

I am almost 3 weeks in to a master plant diet with a powerful plant teacher aligned with truth; she is sometimes brutal with this reflection, but I love her for it. She helped me remember two weeks back that we never, ever lose a single soul on this planet. They just leave their bodies and return to their essence.

Let me say that again. We never lose anyone. That is an illusion.

There is only one thing in the entire multiverse that dies.

Resistance.

It is therefore a supreme opportunity to get honest with ourselves about what we really know death involves. Deep inside each of us lies the memory, the absolute knowingness, that we aren’t going anywhere. Sometimes the best way to access that truth is by facing the illusion of loss.

If you want to learn about what love is, you fall in love.

If you want to know what death is, you experience the process—either yourself, or through the lens of someone you know.

We are doing this collectively right now. This is a once in a lifetime chance to wake up to the undeniable love the universe offers us, by letting us “die before we die.”

Working with the Pandemic, Not Against It

This pressure cooker is a golden opportunity to let resistance fall away. Ayahuasca knows the Coronavirus has opened this portal of possibility.

If you’re one the millions who is facing new levels of fear, lean in. Inquire about what you’re really afraid of. Then take an honest account about what is really happening.

The more we fixate on a worst case scenario, the more we actively co-create it.

As Ayahuasca teaches us, we need to be aware of the road you we traveling, because we’ll get there, wherever it is that we’re focusing on.

The more we lean in and alchemize our fear with the power of intention, and the trust in life and death, the more we are guaranteed to co-create a better world.

This new world is coming. It’s just a matter of when. Now is good!

Intensity is an opportunity to expand, and to know a bigger truth. So if you don’t like the reality you’re currently feeling, define where you are headed, what you’d like to experience instead, and set out on a spiritual journey to get there.

That which we are seeking is seeking us too. Now is the time to create a much brighter, more loving, and infinitely more compassionate reality. We do this by living it. And that is contagious.

This is Ayahuasca’s message and invitation to us during the Coronavirus. We have the power. Let’s use it wisely, and from love.

What is the world you are co-creating in this monumental time?

NEXT BLOG: To All Those Pouring Ayahuasca and Other Plant Medicines Without Proper Training, Please Stop

About the Author

Tina “Kat” Courtney, The Afterlife Coach, has worked as an Ayahuasca shaman for almost 15 years. Kat is always a vocal advocate for all plant medicines and sacred spaces, and for the proper integration of peak experiences. Additionally, Kat works with people confronting issues around death, fear, trauma, and shadow. She’s a transformational junkie with a major love of polarities, and she adores helping others love their darkness too.