To All Those Pouring Ayahuasca and Other Plant Medicines Without Legitimate Training: Please Stop

Art by Luis Tamani

In my work as a psychedelics integration coach, I hear all the time from people that did their best to surrender to a powerful psychotropic plant in what they thought was a safe container, and ended up piling on more trauma instead of releasing past pains. This is the opposite of what we intend when we get courageous and alter our consciousness in a sacred ceremony, yet because the work of a shaman is not typically monitored in any way, it’s hard to know when we’re actually in safe hands.

Aside from the plant or brew itself, the individual facilitating any plant or psychedelic journey is literally the most important piece of the complicated puzzle. Why? Because they are the vessel by which the consciousness of the plant will come through. They are the one responsible for creating a safe container, and if that doesn’t occur, participants are likely to feel it, and very likely could end up worse off. The shaman is the conductor, their vibration will be felt by all, and it’s the foundation for what the plant works with as it enters the space. If that frequency is disruptive, unsettled, or inexperienced, this will show up in the space. The more sensitive the participant is, the more they will feel this dissonance.

As a facilitator of hundreds and hundreds of plant ceremonies, I can attest to how what I’m working with on the inside unmistakably shows up in the space I’m working in. And if I’m doing my own shadow exploration outside of the ceremonies I hold, the people that trust me with their spiritual lives will feel it.

Of course, the reverse is true too. It’s an awesome, intensely important responsibility.

This work takes a ridiculous amount of commitment, training, understanding, and humility. And no matter how good your intentions are, if you haven’t done the work – and continue that honest self-discovery until the day you die – the people who trust you are at risk.

This is serious business. Let’s dig deeper to find out how to make it graceful and rewarding for all.

Why Traditional Training is Absolutely Essential to Leading Plant Ceremonies

Yes, it’s true that no two shamanic facilitators do this work exactly the same. So why on earth is it so essential that we receive traditional training?

There’s a gazillion reasons. I’ll cover a few.

Art by Odobenus

By far the most important factor in why it’s essential to source an experienced teacher to learn from lies in the power of the ego. The operating system we all carry that creates the perception of control and knowingness is a tricky beast indeed.

Since our minds/egos are not the part of our consciousness we access for spiritual work, it’s essential that we repeatedly learn how to connect with wisdom that is much deeper than the thoughts in our head. Yet the fundamental question we all ask is – how? How do we know the communication we’re receiving is not from our own minds?

The real answer is – we don’t. Even 14 years in to this incredible training, I struggle with this at times, and have to seek honest feedback from peers, elders, and the medicine herself.

In the shamanic coaching I do, the people that come to me with the most traumatic experiences from ceremonies often have one thing in common: They sat with a self-trained facilitator, or one that didn’t complete the years and years necessary to be trusted. These folks, however well-meaning, have not had the benefit of getting direct and honest feedback from someone further on the path than they are. Additionally, I have found that anyone brazen enough to think it’s possible to teach yourself the mysteries of medicine work quite often have a very grandiose ego, and that’s a dangerous energy to trust in ceremony.

Think of it this way: Would you trust a self-taught surgeon? Chiropractor? Veterinarian?

When we humbly give ourselves over to learn the lineage of a being we respect and wish to emulate in shamanic spaces, we allow ourselves to first learn the tradition of shamanic work. There is a point in every apprentice’s journey where it becomes time to stand on their own, and that’s a very personal decision based in extremely refined self-awareness. That typically takes no less than seven years—sometimes volumes more. But without a core foundation of traditional and passed-down wisdom, we are walking on very shaky ground.

Humility as the Place of Safety

Stepping forth as a leader of intensely profound and vulnerable plant medicine ceremonies precipitates a deep level of trust in oneself. Yet the most important trait any shamanic guide can carry is this: Humility.

How do we both have the hutzpah to proclaim ourselves capable of protecting souls AND be a sincerely humble being? That right there takes a tremendous amount of self-discovery and shadow work.

Art by Renata Kacova

The reluctant shaman is the safe one. The one who rushes the process and is arrogant enough to assume they can bypass the protocol that’s existed for thousands of years—he/she is dangerous.

Related Post: Why Do So Many Shamans Abuse Their Power?

I have never met a facilitator that lacks traditional training that is not coming from ego. This is tricky, as many of these folks truly are well-intended. Many also have a sincere connection to the medicine. None of that matters if the energies of a ceremony blast through the cosmos and send participants into a frenzy, only to find they are left with an inexperienced and bamboozled guide who is faking their way through the process.

When we are deep inside Ayahuasca’s embrace, we are cracked open and oh-so vulnerable. If the person that comes to us in assistance is terrified, inexperienced, or otherwise does not trust that everything is going to be ok, that is deeply felt. I have watched helpers go with sincerity to assist someone in a deep process, but without the tools to do so, and it can go horribly wrong.

We have to know what we know, and even more important, be humble enough to know what we don’t know.

My teacher would tell me if we are not as grounded as the earth itself, connected to our beingness and trusting the medicine to our core, we have absolutely no business helping someone else through a challenging altered space. Remember how the road to hell was paved? Right-o—good intentions.

Why Paying $6k for a Weeks-Long Program Does Not Make You a Shaman

Thousands and thousands of people are hearing the call to facilitate ceremonies these days, and that’s a beautiful thing—the medicine doesn’t reproduce, she recruits. And it will take an army of us to continue to transform consciousness.

Because we humans tend to lack patience and are uber fond of the turbo-route, there are multiple courses and programs showing up that promise to teach and train participants in a matter of weeks or months. These programs may contain valuable information and experiences, but no one becomes a master of anything in a matter of weeks or months. The well-meaning programs in this category are at best a place to get started in the path, and at worst a scam to give a false sense of mastery in exchange for a hefty fee. Regardless, folks that graduate from these programs often know little more than people who have drank 30+ times as participants.

The point is, these courses can be valuable as a knowledge-share, but they do not under any circumstance have the authority to name you a shaman or facilitator. That always, always comes from the plants. And it always, always comes from YEARS of experience.

There is no shortcut to becoming a doctor, a lawyer, a psychologist, or a professor. And there is no shortcut to spending years and years understanding the nuances of energetic and spiritual communication + protection.

A Call to Participants: Are There Exceptions to This Rule? Yes. But Don’t Risk It

To those very rare, very few among us out there who just innately came into this world knowing how to hold sacred space, how to navigate the wildly erratic energies of a plant like Ayahuasca, and how to keep themselves and others safe in perilous and vulnerable altered experiences—bless you to pieces. You are a unicorn and I honor you.

As a sitter, however, I personally would never trust my safety to anyone who hasn’t done the work. Plant diets are a must, otherwise the mystery of plant consciousness still prevails, and safety cannot be guaranteed. A lineage is a must – otherwise there is no firm foundation to use for self discovery. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of ceremonies are also pivotal – otherwise there are just too many mysterious scenarios that the facilitator won’t know how to handle. Sitting next to my teachers for 10 years helped me know I can handle whatever Ayahuasca throws my way. But even then, my training is never really done.

Art by Joelin Tan

Don’t risk sitting with someone who seems well intended and sincere but lacks the experience to back up those warm fuzzies with results. Your spiritual and emotional well-being is far, far too precious.

A Call to All Ceremony Guides: Please Be Humble Enough to Know When You are Not Ready

Assuming the role of shaman and healer is a sexy path indeed. The ego adores the accolades, the pedestals, the fanfare. But those inflations come crashing down the moment we are in over our heads, and at that point, there is no turning back. Please, if you are reading this and you know in your heart you haven’t had the training to guide people through a dark night of the soul, take a step back, do your own work, find a teacher that will guide and validate you, and keep us all—and you—safe and protected.

This is in no way meant to discourage anyone from doing this sacred work. We need as many sincere and strong beings answering the calling as the plants can muster. But there is a path to this role, and there is no avoiding the work. You can’t drink Ayahuasca 30 times and self-proclaim you are ready to pour. That requires years of apprenticing and guidance - and even then, it’s never guaranteed that you’ll really be ready. That’s up to the plants, not us.

But for all of us that feel that calling - answer it. Throw yourself into this incredible journey. Be willing to sacrifice any aspect of your lives that doesn’t align. Find a teacher and a lineage that speaks to your soul. And enjoy the ride; it’s the most magical, demanding, mysterious and beautiful path imaginable.

About the Author

Tina “Kat” Courtney, The Afterlife Coach, studied the Mother of All Medicines as an apprentice for a over a decade. Kat now works as a vocal advocate for all plant medicines and sacred spaces, and for the proper integration of all peak experiences. Additionally, Kat works with people confronting issues around death and shadow. She’s a transformational junkie with a major love of polarities, and she adores helping others love their darkness too.