The Shamanic Apprentice - life as a westerner learning about ayahuasca and plant medicine

How does someone become a shaman? Is it possible for someone from western society, and what kind of sacrifices do you need to make from your "normal" life? Its that kind of questions that I asked to Markham Jenkins who is an apprentice shaman at Marosa Ayahuasca Center in Peru.
Markham has spent multiple months working with ayahuasca and numerous other master plants in order to follow the shamanic path, and in this video he shares his story of how he got here.
#Marosa #ayahuasca #psychedelics
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[@Saturnarium]

As a Brazilian person who was born around the ayahuasca tradition, I used to believe that "outsiders" had no business trying to become "ayahuasqueiros" and profit from our plant medicines, but experience has taught me that no one can "own" the wisdom of Mother Aya - she indiscriminately heals those who need healing, she's like the ocean, she does not choose who can ride the waves and who can't, who am I to decide who can and who cannot benefit from what she has to offer? Culture is a social construc anyway. Nowadays I hope more people can experience what I have experienced with plant medicine. Loved this conversation! Btw is this napacho tobacco?

[@AdeptusPsychonautica]

Thanks, and yes it was! I brought a load of mapacho back with me to tide me over until my next retreat 🙂

[@Bender133723]

Have you ever heard of somebody being chosen by the Snake spirit guide and who has received 2 small snake teeth (real physical teeth)?

[@1111atreides]

I am blown away by you. This is the first time I've heard your speech thing though I've heard you speak of it. There's no way someone like you could have a successful youtube channel let alone interview. Yet, HERE YOU ARE, kicking ass and taking names. Your strength and determination are on display here, fully. Outstanding interview mate.

[@AdeptusPsychonautica]

Thank you! I'm just happy that I get the chance to explore these topics and talk about this stuff, the fact that anyone finds value in it is always a pleasant surprise to me 🙂

[@LemmyKutcherGrass]

Thank you thank you!! I gained so much understanding from this conversation. You made things so clear where I was confused. The part about salt and building a relationship with the plants, in feel more at ease now. Thank you so much.

[@deancameron3740]

Been waiting on this one thanks mate

[@AdeptusPsychonautica]

Hope you enjoy it Dean 🙂

[@tombham85]

Thank you for this Rob. Truly appreciate this upload. Very pertinent as my last psychedelic experience was with a Western Shaman. I have formed views on that experience since then as it was heavily 'new age' but still incredibly profound and useful. You've provided me with some excellent information in this interview and perspective, this for me personally is your best video yet. Nice one x

[@kazaakas]

What a great video! I also appreciated the comedic effect of you taking a puff from a cigarette right after Markham talked about how health matters more, and what you put into your body!

[@michaelwardenmusic]

well explained. thank you 👍

[@Phil-jn1hb]

Wow that was an amazing conversation

[@AdeptusPsychonautica]

Cheers Phil! 🙏

[@allanbond3673]

This was awesome

[@jazzyy45]

Best channel dedicated to psy. Good job!,,

[@AdeptusPsychonautica]

Thanks Jazz!

[@alsdean]

Thank you! This speaks to me on such a deep Level.

[@AdeptusPsychonautica]

Thanks David, I'm happy to hear it resonated with you mate 🙏

[@alsdean]

@@AdeptusPsychonautica i actually just booked a 2 week retreat there 😁

[@AdeptusPsychonautica]

@@alsdean I hope it goes well for you mate. Im actually going to be putting out a video review of Marosa this weekend, and honestly it does have a few issues. It should be live on Saturday, have a watch and let me know what you think.

[@alsdean]

@@AdeptusPsychonautica ok, thanks for the warning, mate! I'm curious what you have to say

[@12sider]

When he wondered about the North American plants …”can i diet an oak tree? I dont see why not” 🤯 I often find myself feeling restricted, even envious, when i think of the extensive amazonian pharmacopoeia being largely out of reach. Instead of importing people to the amazon and/or exporting amazonian plants to people, we may be able to export the amazonian methodologies (eg dieta) to people around the world to enable connectivity with native plant systems everywhere. This is quite the intriguing notion for me. An attempt at an oak tree dieta may just be in the cards for me. They are all around me in the Bay Area. They have seemed majestic, wise, and tranquil to me from the beginning of my memory. Thank you both for opening my eyes to the possibilities of my locality.

[@AdeptusPsychonautica]

I have very similar thoughts. Even where I live in Europe we have this incredible diversity of plants which I feel like most of us (modern society) are disconnected from. Could I build a relationship with those plants like the Shipibo have built a relationship with Amazonian plants? I don't see why not 🙂

[@jazzyy45]

@@AdeptusPsychonautica that makes me think of one of the most famous restaurant in neatherlands where the chef cooks with dozens of local herbs and plants that are totally unknown to the locals. Westerner’s have literally been hidden atures remedy in profit of the disgusting pharmaceutical

[@samanthav3141]

Acorns come from oak trees. Check out Korean acorn jelly sidedish. The actually jelly tastes like almost nothing. Taste comes from the sauce. You can buy this sidedish pre-made at Korean grocery store.

[@gurukhalsa6964]

I think the older (pre-Christian) European cultures also had these connections to plants. The old Celtic relationship to the oak tree was very much described as a wise old being. I too have wondered about a oak tree dieta.

[@yoggerzzz]

I have been practicing core shamanism for about 15 years now, and in those 15 years it has been my experience in whatever culture I found myself in people were generally pretty welcoming and aren't afraid to show traditions to those who are sympathy and harmony with those people. For me, it was learning a bit from the Cree in Manitoba, but Peru was surprisingly a very welcoming and open country wanting to teach people a different way of seeing and working with the world. My goal was never to appropriate anything, just wanted to sit and listen to the wisdom. About 7 years within my practice I've incorporated this particular idea of taking what I've learned specifically from Andean people and diet plants within my area and better learn my land and what walks upon it. And that has been my goal ever since, I got better with the plants, but it was the insects and mushrooms I learned the most with. I learned to listen better to the trees and to the birds. Part of learning for me was also later in my life wanting to incorporate Plant Medicines, I initially didn't want that in my own life and I was perfectly happy with what I was doing overall. Life has funny ways of introducing these things when they're ready, and I learn alot from the Medicines that are available here to me. But I think this is what people are hoping for and are looking for, not the appropriation but appreciation of their culture and the teachings they're willing to share with those outside. Learning to give back to those who taught us or the communities that help to grow us is very important.

[@rayuelaas]

Would recommend Joseph Tafur's book "Fellowship of the river", depicting his fascinating story of training as an ayahuasquero as a western MD Also - you're such a good and eloquant interviewer Rob - thanks!

[@AdeptusPsychonautica]

Thanks for the recommendation - I just downloaded it!

[@gubi2507]

Great stuff

[@romancherno4652]

Beautiful interview, that is top notch content and brings back good memories. 1:12:39 made me giggle

[@janetjacks3406]

Really interesting and take the point that ideally it would be best to go to a retreat centre that has the expertise on hand to minimise possible risks but on the other hand this is just not realistic for 99% of people in the western world, and in a sense you are the lucky 1% who get to go there. I have been to a fair few different facilitators, some poor, some very good, all sincere but been so glad to be able to access medicine at all even with all the risks involved as it has been truly life changing for the better and thank my lucky stars everyday that i've even had that opportunity.

[@AdeptusPsychonautica]

I totally agree. I am certainly glad that retreats like this exists and am very thankful of my personal circumstance which allows me to visit them, but if psychedelics are truly to become part of our culture then there needs to be something which is more accessible - and I don't think we have quite worked that out yet

[@Peace.Beyond.All.Understanding]

I honestly have no words for how important and impactful this conversation was. It totally lit up parts of me that have been begging to come out. Amazing contribution thank you 🤍

[@AdeptusPsychonautica]

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it 🙂🙏

[@drumSick66]

Thank you so much for sharing, and giving me a clearer image! 🙏🏻

[@jacoby6000]

RE: tyramine Tyramine gets removed from the body with MAO-A and MAO-B. The betacarbolines in Ayahuasca mixtures are RIMAs (Reversible inhibitor of MAO-A), not MAOIs (MAO Inhibitors). This means MAO-B is still available to eliminate the tyramine, and should not be a huge concern. I'm not a shaman, so maybe there are non-physiological reasons to avoid tyramine, but at the very least it is safe for most people. If you have have high blood pressure, you may want to take the advice of avoiding tyramine, because it will cause some increase in blood pressure.

[@sneferuzefayawachuma]

Yay thanks for adding this, love talking about pharmacology but I also to talk about genetics and would like to add for those who don’t know that the activity of both MAO-A and MAO-B are both genetic and individuals have varying amounts and variations in rates of activity in each of these enzymes. Some people have deficiencies in one or the other leading to a range of some well-known and other less well known diseases, for example Parkinson’s, alcoholism and Brunner syndrome. More info on this link (this is one of my favorite sites for reading biology, it’s not overly technical yet still scientific and reliable) www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3371272/

[@jamesdean5695]

Hey Rob, looking forwards to watching bro.

[@cosmiccalvin529]

This hit home sometimes I feel like a modern day shaman living g in the suburbs try to uplift those around me ❤️❤️😂

[@AdeptusPsychonautica]

I can relate mate 🙂

[@mraBJJ33]

Very interesting perspective, I really appreciate getting to hear the interpretation from someone closer to my cultural background. Sometimes it's hard to relate to someone else's view if you don't share the same background so this seems like a great way to bridge the cultural gap between groups.

[@AdeptusPsychonautica]

I think so too, and even the native shamans share this view. They recognize that ayahuasca and other plants cannot spread to everyone who needs it if they just keep it to themselves in the jungle, so they are happy to share the knowledge.

[@mraBJJ33]

@@AdeptusPsychonautica I think that's a very important mindset to have about it, it would be all too human for a culture to want to keep it secret and have the elitist mindset that it only belongs to them

[@rubadubgongo]

Thanks, really interesting interview! What's the name of the center you were at? Blessings

[@thomasd-w6453]

I’ve been put off before as I think at times you can be unnecessarily closed minded. Lately though I find myself coming back to your videos often and acknowledge you’re doing insanely important work. There probably isn’t a channel on KZbin that has publicised safeguards around psychedelics as much as you have; especially with the stories coming out these days with utterly irresponsible and insane people getting their hands on these substances, your work has surely saved many brains and even lives.

[@pepperoni012]

Thanks for the video! There’re some interesting moments here like the diet part, Markham seems like nice guy but honestly I’m not entirely sure how I’d feel about undergoing a psychedelic journey under the supervision of someone who mistakes hurtful words for telekinesis (as an example)... 🤐😅

[@AdeptusPsychonautica]

In all fairness he was DEEP into his personal process with the various medicines he was taking, so yeah he would say some strange stuff from time to time 😀

[@bearschmidt3180]

Nice bed sheets 😁. That alone would trip me out lol

[@AdeptusPsychonautica]

😅

[@WhiteNorthStar1]

SO INTERESTING... WONDERFUL interview... what were U both smoking?

[@AdeptusPsychonautica]

Mapacho tobacco. Its this sweet smelling natural tobacco that grows everywhere in the jungle, it gets used a lot in ayahuasca ceremonies

[@damirregoc8111]

1:14:20 No, this is not correct. You will certainly not need 40, 50 years of meditation to reach that state he's referring to. It's actually pretty easy, and can be done within no more than 3 years in average.

[@goodchinyin]

Keep it up! I am dropping 1 song a week for the next 3 years straight. It has never been done in music. Come along for the ride if you want. Stay blessed ! - Bryan

[@gratefulkm]

You have 4 brains insect, Lizard, mammal finally PFC The most important brain is the Lizard The cortexes really don't matter in the end Least of all the PFC

[@peacepuffz]

Bet those Owls jump out the mattress during the ceremony.

[@AdeptusPsychonautica]

Everything jumps out of everywhere 😀

[@nataliezementbeisser1492]

Is it cool to bring LSD as a gift for a shamane in Peru?

[@kurtshepherd2078]

I wouldn't recommend internationally trafficking drugs. Also the laws in Peru might be far more strict about this kind of thing than where you are from. If you would like to know what to bring, just ask :)

[@nataliezementbeisser1492]

@@kurtshepherd2078 but do you think a shamane would like LSD?

[@AdeptusPsychonautica]

Based upon the ones I know, they would not accept made in a lab like LSD. I am sure they would appreciate the sentiment though 🙂

[@nataliezementbeisser1492]

@@AdeptusPsychonautica i kinda like the idea to give something back. And LSD has given me nothing but pure bliss