“Medicine Circle #1”
Mixed Media on 18x24” Paper
Giclee prints available upon request.

Without in any way limiting the artist’s exclusive rights under copyright, any use of this artwork to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies is expressly prohibited.

#MixedMediaArt #SacredMedicine

Grateful for this beautiful encounter ✨
I had the honor of guiding a seeker from abroad in a sacred session here at our Temple 🌿💫

Our work goes beyond borders, languages, and cultures — it’s about connection, healing, and expansion of consciousness. 🌎✨

📩 If you feel the call, reach out and join us in this sacred experience in Rio de Janeiro.
Circulo Sagrado 7 Encruzilhadas ✨

#Ayahuasca #SpiritualHealing #SacredMedicine #SpiritualJourney #HealingEnergy #SpiritualRetreat #PlantMedicine

I just read of an Arizona tribe offering ketamine ceremonies in a church setting at $2,300 for two sessions. That’s crazy! Ketamine is synthetic, easy to make, and usually offered at about $20 a serving. It’s not Ayahuasca carried up from the remotest parts of the Amazon. It’s not the psychedelic Toad, which is basically endangered. It’s a lab-made medicine used worldwide. So charging that much feels like a minor crime. Why charge so much?

I see two reasons: First, it’s the commodification of everything in our society, where value comes from price tags instead of quality or rarity. The people administering the medicine usually just see dollar signs. The more it cost, the more value it has, irrespective of what the properties of the medicine actually are. I’ve coached people myself, only to see them presenting as “experts” just a few months later. One group of my friends began charging $444 for Ayahuasca ($888 for a two-night minimum!). I even know of ceremonies that cost $1000 for a single night. (In the Amazon, $50 is considered fair.) It’s outrageous! Most of these medicines are available in nature; in the forest, or the desert. At first i advice getting a complete understanding of properties of whatever medicine calls you, and then a qualified guide to put you on the correct path, But you don’t need to pay someone $3200 to have your own transcendent spiritual experience, which is your God given birthright. Spiritual connection is inherently free and part of being alive on this planet, so you don’t have to pay to pray.

The second reason: When you charge that kind of money, you’re basically rewarding the 1%. You’re congratulating people for having tax havens, hedge funds, investments in fossil fuels, deforestation, land grabs, industrial agriculture, real estate speculation, lobbying, greenwashing, or wage slavery. You’re saying: “You did a great job making all that money! Here’s your reward: an expensive, fully catered, transcendent experience with your higher self that I will give you”. Meanwhile, you’re not rewarding laborers, organic farmers, herbalists, taxi drivers, educators, conservationists, or activists. You’re saying: “Sorry, you don’t have enough money for my exclusive time and attention”. I hate that attitude, but it has become the dominant one.

Of course, I see a solution: Instead of giving people discounts (a sliding scale), flip the model. Set a reasonable base fee but fundraise from the rich 1%. Make it an expectation that those with more give more. If someone’s driving a new car or carrying the latest phone, you know they can afford it. Why should they pay relatively less than someone struggling? (One group even charged according to nationality: higher rates for the U.S. and Europe, lower for Latin America and Africa.)

And FYI: everyone earning about $35,000 a year is already in the top 1% worldwide, regardless of nationality. Personally, I try to stay out of the 1% by simply not needing that much money. I avoid rent (the biggest expense). I grow food, repair what I own, live in community, and travel (America is just expensive!). That way I can afford to ask for way less for my services. And like I said above: I don’t want to be paying for your new stuff, and especially not your rent or mortgage. Transcendence should be for everyone, not just the 1%.

Finally, if your life is screwed up so profoundly, either through methamphetamine, murdering someone, a life of violence, cancer, car wreck or something like that, your salvation will not come through some newsletter that asks you for $2300. In that case, you will need recon with your time here on Earth and somehow, in some way, make the necessary amends. -But that’s a very different story.

https://redecker.vivaldi.net/2025/10/14/pay-to-pray/

#Ayahuasca #Ketaminetherapy #PayToPray #Sacredmedicine #Sanctuary #spirituality