Drinking Tabacco

Drinking Tabacco(Holly Allen) Drinking Tabacco

Sometimes an assumption of truth is our reality until we take a gulp of poison, thinking it's medicine. This is what happened to me one time when I was in Peru. While in Peru, I was traveling in a group. As we neared the deep jungle we arrived in Tarapoto, Peru. It held some of the characteristics of the jungle: humidity, parrots, monkeys and tropical fruits growing on the trees in the plaza. Another known characteristic of the South American jungle is the sacred Ayahuasca. Ayahuasca is a vine that when processed is turned into a pungent, dark elixir. This elixir is used to cleanse impurities from the mind, body and soul. It also has the power to transport the mind to unimaginable places, which can be dangerous. The natives’ reverence for Ayahuasca is such that it should not be consumed without a shaman present, and without undergoing a spiritual and physical detox first.

One evening my friend Beto and I were walking around the city. Breaking the busy of my brain I hear a voice say “Hi.” “That’s strange,” I thought because people don’t say “hi” here, they say “hola.” I turn to see a young man standing by a street vender waiting for his dinner to finish cooking. He looked at me with kindness and asked me in English if I was from the United States. This was startling, because I am short and Asian looking. Most Peruvians assumed that I was from China or Vietnam, but never the United States. I answered him that, yes, I was from the U.S. and then Beto and I went on our way. Beto then informed me that he was a famous shaman. The shaman, Herman, was fluent in 4 languages and a musician of such a variety of interments that I could not count them all. He was a happy fellow, easy to laugh and effortlessly observant.

Upon returning to the group, Beto and I had learned that the shaman had invited our group of travelers to stay at his house and, if we wanted, to take the Ayahuasca. The shaman gathered us all together and gave us strict instructions. He said if we wanted to take the Ayauasca we must not drink alcohol, or smoke, and we must be on a vegan diet for 3 days prior to the ceremony. My Spanish was still in the learning stages and I missed some important details, such as the actual day we were going to be taking the Ayahuasca. I had learned to accept my inevitable confused state and walk around almost like a blind person, stumbling into all sorts of trouble.

Two days later, sitting in a circle outside, we were instructed to drink about 1/2 cup of a mysterious dark elixir, which I thought was the Ayahuasca. It was a night filled with darkness and mystery. Herman went around the circle, wearing special necklaces. He had an assistant who had an aromic chunk of wood burning lightly from one end like incense. They were giving each of us a drink. I observed my friends’ reaction. They were vomiting involuntarily. Some had to run to the bathroom. It looked very unpleasant to me. But when my turn came, they sang a song, blew the incense around me and handed me the small wooden cup. I swallowed, perhaps too fast. It was the worst tasting thing I have ever tasted in my life, outdoing both rotten milk and scotch liquor. It was as if I had drunk it with my ears, for my ear canals were on fire. I sat for a moment in pain, confusion and despair before I had no more time to think because I too was vomiting involuntarily.

The drink we had been given was liquid tobacco. The purpose: further detoxification. Everyone in the group had understood what we were drinking and why, except for me. Here I was expecting to be teleported into space with the mystical drink Ayahuasca, and we were drinking tobacco.

I have heard somewhere that only 7% of communication is through words. In this case, I was essentially sleep-walking through life. I had become so use to not understanding anything that I would assume to a dangerous degree. Being aware is not only just about safety, but awareness is also about experience and understanding. Often we don’t even know how confused we are until we sip cigarettes and it’s too late.