Upon Reflection

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Rebekah was the only single woman>in your ayahuasca retreat

That the spirit of the enlightenment and the help with addiction, depression and trauma. But a number of accusations suggests That there is a dark side of the ayahuasca scene.

warning: this article contains the details of the alleged sexual assault Rebekah first tried ayahuasca on a "fully-mood", when traveling in Peru in 2015.

"I thought it sounded interesting and I thought I might as well give it a try," says Rebecca, a new Zealander in their 20s, who asked the BBC with your family name. "So I found a retreat center That I felt was good and I just went for it and it was amazing. "

Ayahuasca visions of things such as snakes, palaces, and extraterrestrial beings are able to induce and bring long-forgotten memories. Like many, the drunk The Brew , Rebekka has a wide-eyed faraway look as she recalls The Experience .

"It was Like -run, very gentle and very friendly through some really terrible experiences That I had in The Past ," says Rebekah. "And the return Back Home , I felt Like my relationships were much stronger. I felt it was much easier to share and to receive love.

"they say That ayahuasca is Like 20 years of psychotherapy. And I completely convinced. "

Ayahuasca and chakruna leaves, cooked before The Ceremony in Peru, Ayahuasca is usually in ceremonies on the night, led by a Healer , sometimes as a shaman. He or she will drink the sticky brown Liquid - a mixture of two Amazonian plants - then portions to hand out to the participants.

It was open from tribes in the Amazon region for centuries, but now there is a boom in what has become known as "ayahuasca tourism", with more and more specialists retreat centers. Travelers often come for help in dealing with Mental Health problems - and a growing body of scientific research suggests That ayahuasca could be treatment effective.

About half an hour or so in a Ceremony , which is taking some medicine, its effect and The Healer start to sing sacred songs, known as icaros, the leaders, the participants, through their visions. Drinkers in the rule of "cleansing" during the ceremonies, vomiting, and sometimes diarrhea as well.

When Rebecca went on their first ayahuasca retreat, she was the only single woman there, and noticed That the male Healer has to pay her special attention.

", How he treated me, was not very different, which I find suspicious at the Time . But after some reflection, I am now doing. "

A year later, now by an experienced ayahuasca drinker, Rebekah again in the same retreat in Peru. The same Healer led the ceremonies.

Once Again , she says, she was treated differently than all the others. There were a lot of compliments. Then The Healer began to trust Rebekah.

"He told constantly to me That he had a lot of problems," you, "and he said he had problems with his wife That he was satisfied sexually and I was The One who was able to cure him of That . "

Rebekah was 20 at the Time ; The Healer in his 50s.

"He has promised me a lot of spiritual development or a lot of mental strength, if we had a relationship - while his wife was on The Road . "

Find out more Rebekah The Healer says has been sexually abused, urges you to sexual acts.

"It's disgusting," she says. "Because he was a shaman, I thought he had a moral superiority in mind and I trusted him. "

After it was abused, Rebekah, on the left of the middle - and the country: "I have booked a flight and got there the hell. "

it was a tangle of painful emotions: "disgust, rejection, Betrayal , the Confusion shall be liable, as well as why a guide would do this, why A Teacher would do this and why they use their power Like That . "

Rebekka alleged perpetrator, The Head shaman is still in its center - the five-star reviews on review platforms.

"He's still here," Rebekah said, clearly deeply upset about The Situation . Are tremors of the hands visible. "There are other centers That I know of, as well, That are still in operation. There were several women who were sexually abused in these centres. "

experiences of sexual abuse seem to be more widespread in this world. We have heard That many of the allegations against a number of healers and you can read many testimonies of sexual abuse on online forums.

One of the names That always comes back Guillermo Arévalo, a well-known Healer who has been honored by the Peruvian Congress for his work on sustainable development.

"He came to Canada , many times," says a woman in her 40s, whom we called Anna.

"It was very lucrative - great ceremonies. They would fill up quickly, to get people to the payment of C$300 (£175), and sitting with Guillermo. He was kind of a status. It was an honor for me to sit in Ceremony with him. "

Anna, the been interested in for a long Time , alternative medicine, hoping ayahuasca could help her with her deal with addiction to heroin.

At first, she was impressed by Arévalo.

"How many of you are excited about The Man That says to run the presence and the power, and the ability of The Ceremony - it's pretty deep," she said. "The singing. He is a good Healer . "

, But a Ceremony That about seven years ago, dramatically changed Anna's opinion.

"It was completely Pitch Black , The Room had no Windows. There were a lot of people.

"I was under the influence of the medicine. If you are under the effects of many different sounds. The people are crying, verbalization of things That make no sense at all, rinse or groan.

"Even if I had been able to Say Something , nobody would respond. "

Anna was a difficult Time . Reminds you to be moan and groan. "Guillermo came in and he sat with me and in the beginning there was a feeling of relief, because I think I'm going to get some help," she says.

"He started to sing to me and Put his hands on my belly over my clothes, this is normal. And Then he Put his hands down my pants. And there is this feeling frozen. I lay there, In Fear , And Then he Put his hands on my T-shirt and felt my Breasts. "

she remembers thinking: "What the hell was That all about?" Just a feeling of disbelief and Confusion . "

she has to talk to Six Years for Anna to feel able to, about what happened to her.

"women are conditioned to accept this behavior. For me, coming from a history of addiction and I abusive relationships with men, I've tolerated in My Life - and a history of sexual abuse in childhood, it is a familiarity there, of normality.

" - And this weird co-dependent relationship for me to speak where the medicine did not help me, so That I want to, because I was afraid I would be ostracized from the community And Then I would cut off me somehow of the medicine. "

risks and benefits? During the preparatory scientific studies have suggested That ayahuasca therapeutic use, it contains DMT, which is illegal in the UK, and there are potential risks.

in 2015, the report found, the six subjects with depression showed a decrease in the symptoms after taking. A separate study two years later That he promise as a treatment for eating disorders. Psychologists have also speculated That it could help those with PTSD.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office some people have "suffered severe diseases and in some cases, death", after participation in ayahuasca ceremonies. It indicates That retreats are usually some distance from populated areas and That , while some have the basic medical facilities, others do not.

Around the same Time , a group of Ayahuasca calls itself community awareness of Canada - which included senior academics - Put your name on a letter about Arévalo behavior, and it is widely used in the ayahuasca scene. The Letter 's authors say they took action because The Number of complaints against The Healer , relying on reports of non-consensual or inappropriate sexual behavior.

When you ceremonies more named signatories have been added, to guide The Letter in the year 2015 and it was made public, Arévalo completed in Canada ayahuasca.

But if we find him, it seems That he was active around The World in The Past few years and is now in a retreat Centre in Peru. The Place formerly Anaconda called, but when we get there has its first group of foreign guests under a new name, Bena Shinan.

you are about to milling in a dining room behind us when we have the allegations of sexual abuse Arévalo, a slight 71-year-old with silver hair and gold teeth.

Guillermo Arévalo in 2004, "I don't think you accept the accusations, because they are not true at all," he says. "Because people sometimes think of these things. "

he said He had heard about The Letter from members of the Canadian ayahuasca community, but has never read it.

peru, drug use, sexual violence, long reads

Source of news: bbc.com