it has become more obvious to me in this last month of the peculiarity of my personality.

I can already hear those who know me well announcing in amazement;

"How can one so perceptive not realise how utterly peculiar he is!!",

but that aside, the thing that I have learned more of is my unquestioning attitude apropos the understanding that there is work to be done.

Terrence McKenna once said;

"Nothing less than the fate of the human species hang in the balance. We cannot afford the luxury of an unconscious. We cannot afford stupidity, closed mindedness, racism, sexism, consumer materialism, selfishness....These things are not necessary for our moral edification, so that we can feel like well bred ladies and gentlemen. These things are necessary for us so that we don't destroy ourselves."

Christopher on more than one occasion in this month has expressed surprise at my ability to be seemingly always "on duty". As with Terrence, this is not a situation I place myself in because of some perceived moral or developmental superiority, to me it is a matter of common sense. If I purport to love my family, my friends, all my brothers and sisters of my human and non-human family then this work must continue once the dust of the ceremony is washed from our feet. I have a peculiar set of talents and perceptions that I am honour bound to share. If I hide them for fear of upsetting the firmly held beliefs and intellectual structures of others, then I do not honour the gifts graced to me in ceremony by the plant teachers, and by all the other amazing teachers who have presented themselves throughout my life. I do not suggest that I am without stupidity, closed mindedness, racism, sexism, consumer materialism or selfishness for these currents run deep in the unconscious of individuals, nations and indeed the species. I do recognise their destructiveness has reached a fever pitch in our world, such that the fate of the species and many others besides, hangs in the balance. Again I am honour bound to work with those structures within myself so that I contribute as little as possible to the force of those structures in the world, and indeed give language to the possibilities of the grace and fluidity afforded by subsuming them into the heart felt acknowldgement of what it is to be truly human.

The work with the Teacher Plants is by no means easy, nor are they panaceas, but they do offer us the very real opportunity to set aside the language of our own habituations, and observe ourselves much more honestly that our personalities allow. Not only that, they offer the opportunity to have an intimate relationship with an "other" which is not human, thus giving us an opportunity for viewing ourselves as part of a much greater system of conciousness. By default this offers us also the opportunity to see our responsibilities within that network, and in an intellectual and political climate of increased individualism, perceived resource insecurity and the intellectual justification of preemptive aggression to grab whatever one wants at whatever the human and ecological cost, this opportunity is in dire need.

The positive side effect of this opportunity for self observation, is the "miraculous" possibilities for physical, emotional and spiritual healing we have witnessed in these last weeks. The medicines, and the spirits associated with them, do work at a biophysical level with amazing dexterity and efficacy, but the simple opportunity to see oneself with a lens cleared of the accumulated dross of a lifetime of cultural and personal thoughtforms offers the body/mind/soul a tremendous catalyst to healing. This opportunity to see the individual as a fluid part of a greater system, rather than as a machine at the disposal of an autonomous "I" allows the incredibly sophisticated internal self healing mechanisms of the being to come into play.

I am sure there will be further unfolding of personal stories in this regard in the near future.

Simon

The circle is closed.

It is now a few days since our last ritual, we have made three ceremonies since I last wrote. After a week of resting, reconsidering, recreating the space we needed to proceed, the final work seemed to be over relatively quickly.

Our fifth ceremony took place last saturday, and was a ritual for the medicines of both San Pedro and Ayahuasca. On the following tuesday we walked to the waterfall called Los Leones, the Lions, and made a ritual with San Pedro, and the closing of the circle was that night with the mother Ayahuasca in the traditional site at Valentin's house in the mountains in Tabay.

So much has happened in that time that I am finding it hard to write of individual moments, there have been so many illuminating experiences in these final ceremonies. Imagine a wave of consciousness carrying you for 30 days through the entire visionary and emotional spectrum of these indigenous story telling medicines, and you can imagine the level of deconstruction, the nature of information, the velocity of expansion that has delivered an unknowable ambience to our very blood, our cells, our neural pathways and beyond. Yeah, Buzz Lightyear.

In this materialisation of the magical dance, as light moves over dark, are all its histrionics - the psychodelic wheeling of both visions and hallucinations bringing both ancestors and demons across the earth and skies to reconcile in the domain so meticulously held by Valentin's invocations to Nri Shringam Dev, and Shivas pantheon of illuminati. We have stood up and been surrounded by the indigenous warriors of the earth, and shed painful tears into the ground for all of us who know how sorry we should be.

From us all to the Mother Earth, we are so sorry.

In my personal battles through the last ceremonies, I have purged deeply and relieved my body of the energies of my past addictions and the energetic structures that are imbibed along with those un-inspirational drugs. The exorcism of an entity known to the Indians, in its translation, as The Demon of the White Bone, will be a moment of healing that I will never forget. Appearing as an over-electric blue and bilious green disincarnate waster, it fought hard, for some hours, to find refuge in my convulsing inner organs and joints. It hit me hard, at times ruling my form, nearly dislocating my jaws and feeling like peeling the skin back from my face. It ultimately left defeated, appearing as a solitary whorl in a puff of white dusty cloud. Hard night.

But of it all, this must be said.......

Shiva, ( 6 ) my dear friend Simon, has brought, in our time, a gift so rare that only faith will enhance its capacity. His work with me that night and in the space he has held in our month in circle, is literally of another universe. Lists of superlatives could litter the page here, and all miss their mark, and no doubt cause much embarrassment to this maestro of the unimaginable. I have learnt not to ask many questions, and for that I have been shown, with the gracious permission of 6, fields of information through the eyes of his seemingly indominable spectrums of influence. Words, in the languages we are restricting ourselves to, wont allow us any further than this.

From us and the Mother Earth to 6... Thank you brother, Ahom.

Well, of course its not all battles, some of our experiences are of the most extraordinary bliss, though here I will not attempt to share the rest. I will tell you about it when I see you.

In their blessing of our adventures, the spirits of the sacred animals of the South America have often been with me to show me how to best use the gifts that I have been given. As an energetic healer, I know what I have to do, and I am more than excited about creating the space with 6, Deb and Kerry in the coming times.

If any successful navigation is to be made through the encroaching wisdom of the End Time, then surely it will take devotion. In his permanent communion with his God, and his willingness to share the perceptions accorded to him through nearly 30 years of exploring the Shamanic Ecstacy of Consciousness, Valentin Hampejs, the man, the shaman, the story teller, the healer and the hero is, if he is any of this, the devotee. To me, his biggest gift was the lessons in Faith. Perhaps it was not how he would have me receive it, but then that is the point. Even he has to trust that others can understand the same ideologies and principles in another tongue, another set of dimensional plots, graphs and numbers. Through the teachings of this greatly humble man, I have been reminded deeply that in all the power available through the hands of humanity, it all belongs to God. In our faith in God we find peace. We are but servants to the the Divine Wisdom of The Nature of Things. All that we can contribute to the world, to the universe, to it all, is Goodwill.

Thankyou Valentin, what you have opened here will be nurtured and shared in the truly sacred and honourable way that you have taught us. As an initiation into the Shamanic Medicines, my time with you has proven to be a lynchpin for the holding of safe and protected spaces in which the four of us will continue to work toward the sharing and healing and awakening of many.

From Christopher, Lakshmi, Durga and Shiva.. muchas gracias hermano, Aho Metukuye Oyasin. To your beautiful family, Edna, Manuella and Sebastian, Alexandro and Emanuelle and we send our deepest wishes for happiness and the safe and easy return to Ecuador. Ahom.

So finally to you all, thankyou for the support you have sent and the way that you have been in your lives. There are many teachings to be found in our world, and so it is with the utmost of humility that I offer this instruction I received from Mescalito at ther Waterfall of Los Leones...

The sacred transmissions that are permeating new portals around the globe are not for the prisons of dogma, nor for the promulgation of the fear mankind already has of itself. Now is an end time for the salvation of the spirits of all sentient beings, and it is moving with increasing velocity. All information that you have known can be treated with suspision, there are new maps, new grids, new poles arriving at the horizon. Lead yourself there, trust yourself if others follow.

Peace and Goodwill on Earth

Aho Metukuye Oyasin

Justin

The Taoist sage Wei Po-yang said something along the lines of;

"Worry is preposterous, we don't know enough to worry."

In working with the Medicines of the South Americas, this becomes quite obvious. The amount of information which is afforded one is in itself preposterous, as there is no cultural language to contain it's breadth. The more I work in these realms, the more I realise I know nothing. I do know something of my role, however, and it is obvious to myself and others that the plants are very keen to work with and through me.

Walter Houston Clark suggested that

"much of mainstream religion reminded him of a vaccination. One goes to church and gets 'a little something which protects him or her against the real thing'".

Carl Jung said in 1958 that;

"the function of formalised religion is to protect people against the direct experience of God" (Grof, 1988)

This suggestion is certainly not without precedent amongst "important" thinkers in our culture, and yet those experiences which offer a marked increase in the possibility of contact with broader reaches of conciousness than mundane egoic habituations are routinely banned in our society.

There has been much discussion in this last mont of the nature of "God" and the dangers of endeavouring to standardise the experience thereof with dogma. The possibility of these Sacred Medicines to offer individuals the very real opportunity to see themselves in a much more integral light is without question. To be sure this experience may not be pleasant. The medicines in their respectively unique fashions hold up an often startling clear mirror to allow the individual the opportunity to see aspects of themselves as individuals in a vast web of life that they may previously have lacked the courage or the tools to look at. Even after such an experience the efficacy of the healing thus afforded is obvious, and even the most petulant would have great difficulty denying the great gift that access to these conciousness' offer.

Nonetheless, these Medicines remain illegal in many parts of the world in a time when their wisdom is most desperately needed.

In our final ceremony we drank San Pedro in the jungle, in order to cleanse ourselves in a beautiful waterfall in the Andes named "Los Leones". The opportunity to sit in nature and receive the wisdom of San Pedro's teachings is profound, and it was with some sadness that we began the walk back to Valentin's house to prepare for an Ayahusca experience that evening. As we arrived after an hour or so of walking, it became obvious that there was to be powerful healing that night. The langauge of the Yidaki was introduced to the land, and the work began perhaps somewhat prematurely with a powerful expulsion of old demons. One of the great gifts of the integral perspective which the plants afford, is the opportunity to see hitherto unknown aspects of conciousness which have an existence of their own within the psyches and bodies of those who might consider themselves beyond such "superstitions". Once the nature of a thing is known it is much easier to work with, and to see "disease" as a personality offers the opportunity to work with it in a very different manner than is usually known in the West.

The tension of the moment was alleviated somewhat by the arrival of the very cheeky spirit Mescalito, the spirit of the San Pedro cactus and also the Peyote sacred to the members of the North American Native Church. Tears of laughter turned to tears of sorrow as Australian Aboriginal spirits were sung into the ceremony, bringing with them tales of degradation of the land and her people. The realisation that Australia is in a unique position to offer much to the energetic healing of the planet was obvious to all there, as was the need for much singing of sacred song and dancing of sacred dance.

Grandmother Ayahuasca was offered and accepted, and the previously light tenor of the evening gave way to a dense and heavy atmosphere. Much purging ensued, and it became clear that the night was to be long indeed. Valentin's usual pronouncements to stay upright gave way to the offer of lying on one's belly, and offering all the sickness which did not belong in your body back to Pachamama, the Mother Earth. This offer was oft taken up, and there was little singing or interaction during the night. I was shown again many images of environmental destruction by Grandmother Ayahuasca, and there seemed in that little opportunity for redress. It was with great relief that the church bells were heard to toll 6 am, and that shortly thereafter the sun arose and brought with it the Water Offering which signaled the immanence of the closing of the ceremony. We shared the Food Offering with Valentin and his wife Maria, and then took our leave to return to our posada for the unpacking of what had been a difficult culmination to our process here.

The lessons learned with these Sacred Medicines continue to unfold over many months, if not the rest of a life time. No doubt new realisations will be made as the weeks progress and as we respectively go about our lives. Because of the nature of our 'lens' of unique personality our realisations will of themselves be unique, but there are many realisations that Durga, Christopher, Lakshmi and myself share. That the need for the healings offered by these medicines is much needed in the West is unanimous. That the way to healing must be found within the heart of the individual is also commonly held true.

There have been many "miraculous" healings in this last month, which I shall leave to the individuals involved to share. I am sure you will hear their stories in time.

With much love to all in my native land, and all my brothers and sisters about this beautiful Earth our Mother.

Aho Mitukuye Oyasin

Simon