To Drink, or Not To Drink Mother Aya: That is The Question

After a fair number of Mother Aya ceremonies now here in South America at the Spirit vine center, I have observed something I want to share. I used to think Aya was for everybody, that the whole world should know about Aya and be as excited as I am. I do not believe this anymore.

What I have come to understand through practicing this shamanic plant work with skilled facilitators, is that Aya is an amplifier. That means it takes whatever is going on with you and gives it steroids. This allows you to see yourself, making things that seemed subtle and elusive super obvious. So, it is potentially a fantastic tool for self knowledge and in turn, the possibility of transformation.

What I didn’t understand before is that if you do not desire real transformation or do not have access to some kind of skill set for dealing with your own garbage, Aya increases your problems. And that sucks.

As my South American mentor once illustrated the problem to me as I was expressing my initial enthusiasm…The bottom line is: everything depends on your intention. So, if you are thinking you might like to take this gritty brew, a good question to ask yourself, in your heart of hearts, is, “What do you really want?”

Aya amplifies thoughts and tendencies so I have a tough time ignoring them. It amplifies things I like and things I don’t like. And in each moment of facing different aspects of myself, I have a decision to make: to feed or not to feed. THAT is the question.

And I mean literally feed. Trust me. Thoughts are energy, and ego-based thoughts give rise to demanding little (or big!) energetic beasts. I have seen good people whose true nature, upon being revealed by The Mother, were helpless to the temptations and the lies of this unsavory part that each one of us possesses.

So with Aya I observe, as through a magnifying glass, the extraordinary processes that go on within me on an ordinary basis. And perhaps most extraordinary, I see first hand how my life is created by decisions that I make moment to moment. The difference is that before I observed them, they were unconscious, based on out-dated conditioning and things that actually work in opposition to my conscious parts. They just sort of “happened.” Now, with the help of this amazing “psycho-active” tea, I see.  And with this comes nothing less than the possibility of a new life.

So Abuelita is not going to “save you.” But it is going to give you a grand opportunity to apply inner work to yourself. First, I recommend asking yourself, “What is my intention?” and, “Am I willing to do tough inner work: to see and acknowledge parts of myself that may be super uncomfortable?”

Mother Aya can help us evolve beyond the imaginable, so that we can live many lives in one.

*Original article by Ana Cortez journal.