PREFACE

THE CALL OF THE PLANTS

By Howard G. Charing

We are not talking about passive agents of transformation; we are talking about an intelligence, a consciousness, an alive and other mind, a spirit. . . .

Nature is alive and is talking to us.

This is not a metaphor.

TERRENCE MCKENNA

My first real encounter with the plant world occurred when I first arrived in the Amazon ten years ago. The moment I stepped off the airplane in Iquitos, I felt as if I had been hit by a bolt of energy. I felt so energized that I didn’t sleep for the next two days: my senses were at a heightened state of awareness, and it was as if I could hear the heartbeat of the rainforest itself.

Iquitos is a city in the Amazon rainforest. There are no completed roads into it, and the only way to get there is via airplane or riverboat. In the nineteenth century it was the center of the rubber industry, but by the early twentieth century the rubber trade had moved to the Far East and the city had fallen into neglect and disrepair. It is now a place without apparent purpose, resplendent in postcolonial splendor, but literally in the middle of nowhere—a true frontier town.

I recall my first moments in Iquitos: standing on the malecon (promenade) at the edge of the city, overlooking the river with some three thousand miles of pure rainforest spread out beyond me, I felt an exhilaration that still fills me with wonder and awe. I had come to Iquitos out of a longstanding interest and desire to experience at firsthand the living tradition of plant spirit medicines and of course the magical ayahuasca I had heard so much about. I was not to be disappointed; my first ayahuasca sessions with a shaman in a jungle clearing brought about a spiritual epiphany that changed my view and understanding of life. I experienced being at the very center of creation, with the realization and experience that I was not in any way separate, but an intrinsic part of the vast cosmic mind or field of consciousness, and that we were all connected, all part of this one great mind, our experience of separateness being no more than an illusion generated by our senses.

My ayahuasca sessions showed me much about the great dream of the Earth and how disconnected we humans had become from our relationship with the living planet. I experienced the evolutionary process of DNA and was shown that many of the problems that we as a species experience occur because we are basically primates, driven by our monkey glands and hormonal systems; yet at the same time we are also in harmony with a higher consciousness that approaches that of dolphins, which I experienced during the ayahuasca ceremonies as being part of a group consciousness.

In one of my most profound experiences, I found myself transported to what I perceived as the center of creation, where I witnessed planets, stars, nebulae, and universes being formed. Everywhere stretched vast patterns of intricate geometric and fluid complexity, constantly changing in size and form. The chanting of the shaman was filling every cell with an electric force; every part of my body was vibrating, and I felt as if I was being lifted into the air. I was in a temple of sound, vibration, and bliss. Gathered around me were giants in ornate costumes of gold and multicolored feathers blowing smoke and fanning me. These were the spirits of ayahuasca, whose soft, gentle, and exquisitely sensual voices spoke to me of creation and the universal mind. To reinforce this poetic insight, their words appeared before me in bold neon script.

Many of my visionary experiences with ayahuasca were personal, leading to a deeper understanding of my life and the role that various people had played in it. Sometimes I became those people, lived their lives, and came to understand why they did what they did, what decisions they had had to make in their lives. These experiences invariably led to either some form of closure, as if an open chapter had been completed, or a profound healing of my relationship with that person.

An example of this pertained to my mother. We had had a difficult relationship, a part of me never fully trusting her. During one session, I experienced a deep visionary communion with the Earth Mother; I understood the love that the spirit of our planet has for all who live within her. The vision and the experience of being gently held in a loving embrace was exquisite and sublime. Then the vision changed to my own mother—and I relived her life, her childhood, the things that had happened to her, the reason why she was taken away from her family home, the decisions that she’d had to make to have a child. And then I realized that I had judged her, and it was her misfortunes that had created this lack of trust between us.

After the session I was filled with joy, knowing that the gulf between us had been bridged; and ever since then the affection between us has flowed freely. That wonderful insight I owe completely to ayahuasca, the exquisite gift of the plant world.

I discovered that ayahuasca is a medicine, but one so unlike the Western understanding of medicine, which applies mainly to healing of physical symptoms. Ayahuasca is a medicine that works on every level: on the physical and nonphysical being, on our consciousness, on our emotions, and on our spirit. It is as if we are imbibing not just a liquid brew, but an “other” intelligence that knows exactly what is needed to help us. This act constitutes a communion in the true sense of the word. It can be an intense experience of euphoria: a journey of deep and profoundly meaningful personal and transpersonal insights. It can shine a searchlight on the hidden thoughts and feelings in the subconscious mind. It can bring an erasing of the ego boundaries and a merging with the whole of consciousness and creation.

There was more and more to experience. With some of the shaman’s other teacher plants, such as ajo sacha, I felt my senses being altered—expanded in some ineffable way—and I became aware of the song of the rainforest. There were sounds, smells, and sights all around me that I had not been aware of in my normal everyday waking state. I could zoom in on the scents and the sounds, knowing that the rainforest is one entity, with the insects, birds, and animals as parts of its totality. I was in paradise lying in my hammock there, floating in a living, three-dimensional experience of sound, color, smell, movement, and vibration, all in harmony and great beauty.

Since that first encounter, I have spent many months in the rainforest working with and learning from the shamans, the holders of this beautiful knowledge. My enthusiasm and interest has never flagged. Plant knowledge has helped my life become vibrant and vital in so many ways.