Also see:
Acid Trip by Annie Murphy
The Atlantic, January/February 2011
While ayahuasca can ravage a person physically--my skull and stomach feel like they're filled with wet sand--it has the opposite effect on consciousness. After the ceremony, the mind feels light. My thoughts are oddly lucid and I find myself calmer than I've been in months. I can see why ayahuasca appears so effective in treating mood disorders like anxiety and depression, illnesses in which one's flaws, trials, and disillusions often seem magnified and cripplingly heavy.
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Arnaldo Cintrón is a Puerto Rican-born photographer now based in Ventura, California.