I wouldn’t want to keep you waiting for long before you decide to take off. Here are the remaining six places where you can go on a mind-altering holiday. If you haven’t seen the first five places, then go through Psychedelic Vacations on Earth to Inner Space.
Temezcal or a Sweat Lodge in Mexico
You don’t always need substances to feel elevated, a purification ceremony can help you achieve higher levels of consciousness. A ritual happens in Mexico that originated with pre-hispanic indigenous people in Mesoamerica.
Temezcal or sweat lodges are small round stone or mud structures which look more like old fashioned beehives, and are used to cleanse your mind, body and spirit.
In fact the word Temezcal is taken from the language of the Aztecs and its oriented according to the cosmic directions, its very interesting how this entire ritual works, will speak more in detail later on the blog.
Participants lie on the floor gazing into a central fire while a shaman creates a steam with medicinal herbs and guides you through the one-to-three-hour ritual, where temperatures range from 90 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. You can expect total euphoria at the end of it.
Bhang in India
During the festival of colours, Holi, in March nearly the whole of India in stoned on bhang, which is synonymous with holi. This drink is made from leaves of cannabis mixed with almonds, spices, cold milk and sugar. Technically, cultivation and consumption of marijuana is illegal in many parts of the country, but during holi cops turn a blind eye.
Bhang is widely available at roadside carts, small shops and restaurants. There is only a mild social stigma attached to consuming bhang as compared to smoking marijuana, which is outright. Many people consume bhang (a marijuana drinh) while others get drunk.
Although some places like Jaisalmer in Rajasthan you can get Bhang any time of the year. It does a couple of things apart from making you laugh, its an aphrodisiac, as well as helps you sleep like a baby after the come down, although you get a mighty heavy head.
Peyote in Mexico
An old song by The Eagles ‘Bitter Creek’ goes, “Oh, peyote, She tried to show me, You know there ain’t no cause to weep, At bitter creek.” Peyote has a long history of religious and medicinal use by indigenous Americans during pre-Columbian times; possibly as early as 300 BC.
Within half an hour of ingesting peyote, you begin to feel the effects. Initially you might feel muscle tension, nausea or queasiness, but within an hour it disappears and then the real trip begins to manifest itself, as there is a shift in consciousness. There is a feeling of inner peace, heightened awareness, rapid thought flow and oneness with life.
As time passes the trip intensifies and it enhances visually, colours become more intense, halos and auras can form above things, objects begin to seem closer, big or small. Your experience can last from 6 to 12 hours depending on the amount you consumed. Peyote cactus grows like weed in the deserts and mountains surrounding Real de Catorce, a town in central Mexico, where it’s totally legal!
Ayahuasca in Brazil
From Mexico we move further down to the jungles of Amazon where the Shamans have been using Ayahuasca for centuries as a window into the soul. Ayahuasca is a psychedelic combination of plants and chemicals which varies in potency, depending on the maker. {The brew is a traditional South American preparation most commonly combining the Banisteriopsis caapi vine (harmaline/harmine as MAOI) and Psychotria viridis leaves (DMT)}
The shamanistic ceremony is quite intense, there is chanting, songs in tribal languages and of course drinking the tea. It induces vomiting in many users, considered to be the curative part of the process. Music shapes the visions as it gets more complex. Ayahuasca is known to heal several ailments including depression, or anxiety disorders and even cancer.
Its known to be a powerful mind-changing entheogen, because it evokes profound state of altered consciousness, its like a divine manifestation.
Cobra wine in Vietnam
From the highly spiritual experience, lets come down to a few mellow options as compared to the rest. Rice wine poured in over the body of a snake and left to ferment for some weeks to make snake wine, found in most of the decent bars in Vietnam. Now a serpent to get you high!
There is a snake wine festival that takes place in Le Mat, a village close to Hanoi in northern Vietnam, where a glass of potent rice wine is served with a still beating heart of a cobra. If not wine there you can also opt for fermented snake blood or snake liqueur.
Absinthe in Paris
We move across the globe to Europe now. Have you heard of Absinthe? The hallucinogenic drink found in Paris, that led to bizarre behavior among artists like Baudelaire, Van Gogh, and Oscar Wilde. It has 45%-74% alcohol and is made from herbs and leaves of wormwood. Absinthe became a part of bohemian Paris in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many artists thought it gave them visions.
With suspicions that the drink is too potent, it was banned in Paris for nearly a century, until 2000 when the ban was lifted. There is nothing wrong with Absinthe, as portrayed in the 19th century, its merely an up tempo drink that make things around you look brighter.
The best way to enjoy this alcoholic drink is to dilute it with ice water. You also get Absinthe mixed with fancy cocktails. What more you can enjoy this drink during the three-day absinthe booze-fest every October in Pontarlier in eastern France.
All the above mentioned mind-altering hallucinogens are not meant to abuse, but used wisely and respect its sanctity and healing properties!
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