Cactus of San Pedro – Don’t Try This at Home! (3 of 5)

In the evening I built the bonfire and invited our neighbors, Victoria and Ian. The night in the valley of Vilcabamba was tranquil and dreamy. The cicadas serenaded into space while the stars glittered on the humid surface of tobacco leaves. The fire encouraged a good conversation that advanced into more obscure and surreal areas proportionally to the beer consumed. Our dinner consisted of all the classic campground delicacies: potatoes, onions, grilled chicken, and chilled beer. Before hitting the sack, Lara and I divided the watch in the kitchen. She was to wake up at 3am, stir the pot, hand me the alarm clock, and go back to sleep. I was to repeat the procedure at 5am.

It was a very restless night. My sleep was brief and light. Lara woke me up at 3am to hand me her alarm clock. Instead of setting it for 5am, she mistakenly moved it to 6am. It was only due to my bladder swelled up with beer that I woke up at 5:30 and, returning from the restroom, popped in the kitchen to save the plant from overcooking. The water in the pot had almost evaporated while the pulp started to smell burnt. I added the water just in time to save the entire endeavor.

Then I rolled back to sleep, sinking into dreams so intertwined and enigmatic that I eventually woke up with a strained brain. I recall traveling through my former and current affairs: interlaced people and places, juxtaposed clowns, buffoons, and people wearing ties. When I woke up, I felt very uneasy about the dream. I fixed a cup of tea and lay down in the hammock with Dostoyevsky in my hands. Soon, Lara and Victoria got up. The moment of trial finally arrived.

The Cactus Shares Its Power
Before I describe our mystical encounter with the cactus, I feel obliged to explain one important aspect. The after-effects of the potion upon my mind and body were beyond anything that I had ever experienced.

Based on the accounts of those who had tried the plant before, their experience ranged from extreme sickness, combined with vomiting and turning yellow, to profound delusions and hallucinations, as well as fears and paranoia. I was also reminded on several occasions that the plant was not to be taken by those with unresolved problems, concerns or worries for fear that such issues hiding in sub-consciousness emerge to become a ten-hour nightmare. It was exactly through such stories that I was a bit apprehensive about our trial. You can ask Lara.

The following events didn’t indeed conform to my prior expectations. The state to which I was subsequently carried did not resemble any recorded sensation, both conscious and subconscious, from the past. It was as if I had been carried away, sacked into another reality, and set on a different platform. My dormant senses blossomed, exposing the world from a distinctive angle. Owing to what I call a ‘beautific gift of spectacles‘, I entered the state of union with Nature.

It is for this reason that I find it very difficult to present the course of events that day in terms of my “regular” perception. I linger in uncertainty about how much of what I experienced can be rightly exposed in a journalistic style, and how much has slipped down to my sub-consciousness.

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