Peru’s ayahuasca industry booms as westerners search for alternative healing

Every year, thousands of tourists head to the Peruvian Amazon to take the plant medicine ayahuasca. But what does the powerful drink actually do, and what do local shaman think of the rise in its popularity?

Imagine you’re in a simple wooden house in the suburbs of Iquitos, the largest city in the Peruvian Amazon, and drinking a bitter, dark brown liquid. The lights go off. Half an hour later the most extraordinary visions begin.

Fast forward four hours and it’s all over. You’ve seen Christ and Buddha, and you’ve almost been moved to tears by the incantations of curandero (healer) Juan Tangoa Paima and all the deep-throat vomiting you’ve been doing in his garden.

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from Health & wellbeing | The Guardian http://ift.tt/1TSVaxP
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