Page 8 - Ron Wheelock News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Take the precautions, and antidepressants, that's the real danger. >> tens of thousands of people juze ayahuasca worldwide today, and the ranked of the newly converted now appears to include stan, who'd just done a day time dose of ron's mighty brew. >> just out here in the jungle, wrestling with my demons. [ laughter ] >> it's probably about as good a place as any to wrestle with them. and a good place to leave them. >> want a little smoke blown on you? >> sure. >> a journey of change. a modern pilgrimage.

But there's the ones that don't take the precautions with the antidepressants, and that's the real danger. >> tens of thousands of people use ayahuasca worldwide today, and the ranks of the newly converted now appears to include stan, who'd just done a daytime dose of ron's mighty brew. >> just out here in the jungle, wrestling with my demons. [ laughter ] >> it's probably about as good a place as any to wrestle with them. and a good place to leave them. >> want a little smoke blown on you? >> sure. >> a journey of change. a modern pilgrimage. call it what you like, americans are traveling to ...

Though i'd been forewarned, these intense reactions are still disconcerting. ♪ ♪ but this is just the beginning. the gringo shaman steps up the healing, blowing smoke on the 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 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

From local medicine men, seeking help from healers like ron. a ten-day retreat at el purguero costs about a thousand dollars and attracts a wide range of seekers from across the globe. a father and daughter from canada, an online entrepreneur, the son of a successful ceo, and a professor from belgium. like stan, these travelers are serious. they want healing for mind, body, and soul. >> so what's the strongest part in the ayahuasca, is it the bark or the whole thing? >> actually, when you harvest the whole plant, best you take the root. the root is the strongest part. >> each one of you, tear ...

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. >> but such warnings aren't enough to stop another group of americans who have been to hell and back and are ready to try anything. they're veterans of war who have just arrived at this jungle retreat called phoenix ayahuasca. these vets suffer from profound ptsd, which kills 22 soldiers every day. they're here...