As many of you know, in March/April 2008 I went to Brazil along with my husband and son. It was a fantastic trip. The main purpose of the trip, though, was to be a part of a workshop that involved the ceremonial use of the plant medicine, ayahuasca. This medicine has been used by native Amazonians for thousands of years for healing of all types (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, etc.). Each of the 3 ceremonies that I attended during the week was overseen by an ayahuasquero (a type of shaman) and his assistant. They brew the medicine prior to the ceremony, which is done by combining 2 different plants that are native to the Amazon jungle and cooking them together. One plant contains the DMT molecule, which is a naturally occurring substance that floods our brains both at birth and death (and there is a theory that it floods the brain of a woman giving birth as well, but it is not known for sure). The other plant contains an MAO inhibitor that allows the DMT to be absorbed by the stomach and then into the bloodstream where it passes through the blood-brain barrier.