I am told the minute you hear the call to do Ayahuasca the medicine starts doing its’ job. I first learned about Aya almost twenty years ago, in the months and days following my mother’s death. One could say that the call came to me then and it took me all these years and other modalities to get to it. The first thing people ask me is when did I know this was the path for me? Maybe it was all those years ago and everything in between was preparation. One thing I have become comfortable with throughout my life is the phenomenology of letting things manifest themselves. I am by nature, a pattern watcher and a documenter. I document and then I follow the signs of what to do next.
And as life would have it, a series of events (a pattern) led me to connecting with my partner Jen. Jennifer was this tiny, beautiful, blonde human with long, golden straw like hair, a petite figure and a huge southern personality. The first thing that caught my attention about her was the light in her silvery blue eyes. Her energy and vitality was palpable. Of course I fell in love with her dimples and her smile like most, but it was her presence that drew me in. Being around her was infectious. She made me laugh and think at the same time. It seemed like our worlds were so different, yet energetically we were each other’s mirror. I had been trying so hard to have relationships with people that were different from me, complimented me, eg., filled some missing part of me. Ultimately, nothing was ever missing in me and as soon as I was ready to see that, Jen showed up in my life as her own sovereign, beautiful, strong, stubborn, charismatic, whole, self. Right off the bat, we could both see that we spoke the same language even though I had never done plant medicine, I was on the path and she knew it. The same way I knew it about her. Our paths had collided for a reason. In came plant medicine and my first experience with Ayahuasca.
There was so much to wrap my head around in that session. I continued to make connections after the session. I don’t know if they were memories or that my awareness was on high alert, but images just kept pouring in. Jen and I had discussed previously, whether I would try plant medicine, specifically, Ayahuasca. Several days after the session, I had a moment, where I felt a sweeping energy move through my chest, it became tight and packed with air. I had the image of my mom making her presence known. It was in that moment I said yes.
By Adrianne Read
Executive Producer, Dakind Botanicals
“We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.”
—Joseph Campbell