#05 (Part 1) On asylum and Ayahuasca: an Iraqi shaman talks about being refugee, battling addiction and healing with the ancient plant medicine

Third Culture Therapy

Louisa is an Iraqi Ayahuasca shaman and healer who trained in the Amazon jungle of Peru. After fleeing Baghdad during the first gulf war, Louisa sought asylum in The Netherlands. Louisa’s traumatic experiences of war and an eight-year asylum process in Europe impacted her mental and emotional health for many years, and she suffered from paranoia, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

She later became addicted to cannabis, which she had first started using to self-soothe but later found that the drug was only masking her underlying and unresolved pain. Louisa spent many years trying to find a way out of addiction and to better mental health through various treatments, but it was the ancient South American plant medicine, Ayahuasca, that she says finally brought her the peace and healing she was looking for.

Ayahuasca is a psychoactive and entheogenic brewed drink traditionally used both socially and as a ceremonial or shamanic spiritual medicine among the indigenous peoples. More recently, the substance has become increasingly known in the Western world as people use it to heal from past traumas, or to experience an Ayahuasca journey.

After experiencing the benefits of Ayahuasca, Louisa went through an intense two-year training process in Peru to become a shaman herself and has been leading ceremonies for several years.

Please read the important notice below.

Louisa's recommendations

To read

• How to Change Your Mind - Michael Pollan
• Jaguar in the Body, Butterfly in the Heart: The Real-life Initiation of an Everyday Shaman - Ya'Acov Darling Khan
• In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts - Gabor Maté
• Singing to the Plants: A Guide to Mestizo Shamanism in the Upper Amazon - Stephan V. Beyer
• When Plants Dream: Ayahuasca, Amazonian Shamanism and the Global Psychedelic Renaissance - Daniel Pinchbeck & Sophia Rokhlin

To watch

• The Wisdom of Trauma https://thewisdomoftrauma.com/
• The Reality of Truth https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sKQAcXWku8
• The Nature of Things: Addiction Specialist Gabor Maté Ventures Outside Western Medicine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMyd1QOP3mw
• How to Change Your Mind - on Netflix

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO READ:

Ayahuasca is a psychoactive brew made of two components - Banisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria viridis. When combined, these two plants form a powerful psychedelic brew that affects the central nervous system, leading to an altered state of consciousness that can include hallucinations, out-of-body experiences, and euphoria.

It’s strongly recommended that Ayahuasca only be taken when supervised by an experienced shaman, as the brew can lead to an altered state of consciousness that lasts for many hours and those who take it need to be looked after carefully.

Taking Ayahuasca can result in serious side effects, as it can interact with many medications and may worsen some medical conditions. Those with medical conditions should not seek symptom relief by participating in an Ayahuasca ceremony.

If you’re interested in participating in an Ayahuasca experience, be sure to do your research thoroughly and speak to experienced shamans. Louisa has a list of important questions to ask before you consider joining a ceremony.