There are many benefits of Ayahuasca. As well as helping people through several mental issues, it also has the capacity to unblock and expand certain parts of the brain. This is the case of the right hemisphere, where creativity and imagination develops. At Avalon, as Ayahuasca experts and conousseurs, we would like to talk about Ayahuasca art, how to recognize it and the most common themes depicted.
What is Ayahuasca Art?
Being a multidimensional experience, Ayahuasca ceremonies have become a great source of inspiration for artists. The hallucinogenic aspect of it makes it primarily a visual experience.
One that is impossible to forget.
One that withholds wisdom and beauty.
Many artists around the world were moved by their experience with ayahuasca to a point where they chose to infuse their visual art with themes experienced in ceremonies.
How do I recognise Ayahuasca-inspired art?
Although each experience with Ayahuasca is as unique as we are, several themes and motifs seem to be perceived by everyone in ceremonies.
The same ones can be found in Ayahuasca Art.
They serve as a reminder of that which we experienced, a reset of the heart, a message of unconditional love.
What are the most popular themes and how are they connected to Ayahuasca?
Multilayered realities
Ayahuasca’s No1 teaching is to trust in the unseen. The way she teaches it is through lifting the veil between our conscious and the subconscious mind. By making us aware of the nonlinear aspect of life and experiencing the multilayered universe we are all part of, we are being invited to trust in divine timing, let go of what’s out of reach and never feel lonely.
Continuity and Connectedness
Like a thread of silk, life is embedded in everything yet everything is life.
As unique as everything seems on the surface, at the core we’re all made of the same thread. We all bare the signature of our creator and we are one with it.
Themes drift and emerge from one to another as there’s no edge to be found in Ayahuasca Art.
Movement
Forget sharp lines and frames, Ayahuasca Art is far from being static.
Try looking at it longer than 3 seconds without blinking, and you will see it breathing, moving, and beating like a living heart.
Ayahuasca herself portrayed as a woman
She comes in portrayed as a mother caressing her child, a healer offering her brews, a sister praying for the wellbeing of the world and those in need, a lover whose beauty is unspoken of, and a grandmother whose eyes mirror her wisdom and love for us, forever, no matter what.
Lively colours
“I was blind and now I see“ pretty much defines everyone’s reaction after meeting Ayahuasca. The liveliness of colours seen during and after ceremonies make us think we’ve been blind before having this experience.
Animal world
The guiding spirits we meet through Ayahuasca are primarily animals. Among the animal kingdom, the ones that are mostly seen during ceremonies are the black panther, the snake, the hummingbird, and the eagle. They’re all guiding us through different phases of life, as there will be times when we need a panther’s strength to move forward, a hummingbird’s lightness to living life, a snake’s gift of letting go, and an eagle’s high perspective to understand.
The Cosmos
The moon, sun, and stars have been seen as Gods since ancient times and through the lenses of Ayahuasca, our view of them is being enhanced. They are no longer something out of reach, something we fear but they become a part of it all, living, breathing as we are.
Sacred Geometry
Geometry is everywhere but the deeper meanings found through Ayahuasca make it sacred. Complex, yet simple – what words fail to portray, art does it successfully.
The egg
Ayahuasca is a great teacher of hope which makes the egg a theme in the art she inspires. The egg stands for resurrection, new beginnings, new life, luck, and wealth. A seed, when prayed upon, becomes a portal and a celebration of rebirth.
Life and death
Although many of the ayahuasca visions involve the infinity symbol, her teachings don’t exclude the multiple cycles of life and death we experience throughout our life. Everything has a beginning and an end, starting with a breath, our relationships with others, and with ourselves.
“This too shall pass“ – ultimately, life is a blend of experiences meant to have their beginning and their end and both should be honoured equally.
Energy Strings
Probably one of the biggest shifts in perspective happens when Ayahuasca guides us to our heart.
Heart feels, thus it has no eyes to see and no storyline to follow. Everything is equally treasured, loved, and acknowledged. It’s all a string of energy that flows through endlessly, always transforming yet never losing its essence.
Hieroglyphs and symbols
Our body holds various portals that are meant to be open in a precise sequence. Most of these seals are being unlocked by symbols unknown to the 21st-century generations.
Although they are uniquely designed, some of them serve the collective consciousness. These are the ones artists are drawn to, these are the ones Ayahuasca Art contains. Every time we lay eyes on one of these seals, a portal opens within us.
Ancestors, Tribes, and Shamans
Are one of the most common Ayahuasca Art themes.
Their dedication to tradition, and their unshaken faith in the world, inspired artists to draw the portraits of shamans serving the medicine, blowing tobacco smoke, and inducing visions.
Shamans are the ones bridging the veil of time and the spirit world which makes them guardians of the equilibrium of the world.
Earth beings and celestial beings
Both earth and other celestial bodies have beings that can be perceived only in certain states of consciousness. Their shape and form might vary depending on the capacity of the seeing eye. This is where art becomes important because the remembrance of such encounters can become a great gift for humanity.
Plants and the earth
Every form of life rooted in the earth is all-knowing. There is no separation from all there is, they never lose track of their oneness, and that makes them all teachers to us – those who walk the surface of the earth as individuals, oblivious of what unites us.
The all-seeing eye
There’s no better teacher than Ayahuasca when it comes to understanding the all-seeing eye.
As a symbol of presence, intelligence, and oneness, if this aspect of life is being analysed through the mind, it can cause great angst. The best example is the way the church uses it to inflict fear of judgment.
With the help of Ayahuasca, this universal symbol becomes the definition of unconditional love. We are being held, felt, understood, and supported by a being that is us but at the same time is everything around us, a being that loves us unconditionally.
How can I find Ayahuasca Art?
Ayahuasca is the space that holds it all, therefore she can be reached, witnessed, and experienced through various other practices. This makes Ayahuasca inspired art come across under different names such as:
Psychedelic Art, Mandalas, Visionary Art, DMT Art, Sacred Geometry, Indigenous Art, Shamanic Art, Ancient Art, Channeled Art, Great Mother Pachamama, or Spiritual Art just to name a few.
If you are searching for new creative grounds, Ayahuasca may unleash the artsy part of your brain and find new ideas and grounds to create. Come to Avalon’s Ayahuasca retreats in Europe, hosted in Barcelona, and dive into your best attributes, think outside the box and pinpoint what makes you good at what you do in order to unlock what is waiting to be discovered.
Image credits: A. Andrew Gonzalez | USA | Song Of Sophia
