Page 6 - Ron Wheelock News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Begins. ron blesses the hut using rituals he's learned from local indigenous healers. this is where the ceremony is going to take place. in a little while it's going to be pitch black in here, and ron is going to be presiding from his altar. this first part of the ceremony is called the purge. so you'll see a lot of basins in front of the chairs. that's because it's inevitable that people will start to vomit profusely or even have to defecate. but many people have said that this one experience can be life-changing. as i watch ron's guests file in, it's clear there's more to ayahuasca than just...

That pay tribute to the plants of the forest and a spirit being called mother ayahuasca. >> thank you for all the plants in the world who give us life, who teach us, who heal us. for without them nothing and no one would live. >> everybody is supposed to have an intention before they go through with this ceremony. do you have one? >> i was thinking about just focusing on my own healing, kind of letting the wisdom of the plant and ron and you know, kind of let that procession happen in this ceremony. >> in careful measures, ron doles out shots of his potent tea, which he guarantees will send th...

But in most cases the cause of death remains unconfirmed. for old pros like ron, these tragedies forecast a troubling trend. >> given the explosion of ayahuasca tourism and the amount of money people are making, do you think there will be more deaths? >> i hate to say it, yes, there probably will be. it's in the cards. [ rooster crowing ] >> but such warnings aren't enough to stop another group of americans who've been to hell and back and are ready to try anything. they're veterans of war who've just arrived at this jungle retreat called phoenix ayahuasca. these vets suffer from profound pt...

These intense reactions are still disconcerting. [ chanting ] but this is just the beginning. the gringo shaman steps up the healing, blowing smoke onto seekers like stan to drive off negative spirits. these are native traditions repackaged by ron to give his guests an authentic ayahuasca experience. you know when everyone around you is intoxicated or drunk and you're the only one not under the influence? that's kind of how it feels to be in that room. there are people in there who are having extremely intense experiences. and then there's stan who has been kind of sitting there just

El purguero as the gringo shaman breaks down the mix for his brew, acclaimed as the most powerful in the region. >> these are the leaves of the wambita, the chaliponga, they contain five dmt. this is chacruna, this contains indian dmt. and these are from the -- [ indiscernible ] >> for millennia, native shamans in the amazon has tapped this jungle pharmacy for all types of cures. but in the past decade, thousands of american tourists have flocked here, seeking help from medicine men, healers like ron.