The pastor of the Pachamama Sanctuary in Casco, Maine told Fox News Digital that his congregation’s worship practices are misunderstood and misrepresented.
Unlike most churches, the Pachamama Sanctuary uses ayahuasca mind-altering drug as a worship aid, something that is a long-standing tradition in some South American cultures.
Ayahuasca contains the psychoactive chemical dimethyltryptamine (DMT), which the Drug Enforcement Agency lists as a schedule one drug. Its use is legal in certain religious contexts.
Ayahuasca has been in the news because many celebrities, including Aaron Rodgers, Prince Harry and Miley Cyrus, have spoken positively about their experiences with the drug.
LIFE-CHANGING COLD THERAPY HELPS PENNSYLVANIA MOM WITH TERRIBLE SLEEP PAIN: ‘MADE MY DAUGHTER BELIEVE AGAIN’
After encountering eligibility issues that made the operation difficult, the Pachamama Sanctuary “took a hiatus” before purchasing the property in Casco.
Its official reopening was Friday, August 11.
“We serve a community, quite a large community, of people who are looking to improve their connection with themselves and with God, or with their spirit,” Januszewski told Fox News Digital in a phone interview.
A group shot at the Pachamama Sanctuary. The religious organization recently moved to Maine after it ran into zoning issues in New Hampshire. Unlike most churches, the Pachamama Sanctuary uses ayahuasca mind-altering drug as a worship aid, something that is a long-standing tradition in some South American cultures. (Pachamama Shrine)
Derek Januszewski, the founding pastor of Pachamama Sanctuary, said he started the church in February 2019 in New Hampshire.
“And we do that through the use of our sacrament, which is ayahuasca,” he said.
It is this use of ayahuasca, a plant medicine from the Amazon region of South America, that has led some to describe the Pachamama Sanctuary as “controversial.” But Januszewski rejects that label.
The interior of the Pachamama Sanctuary; the church is located in Casco, Maine. The church uses ayahuasca as its “sacrament”. (Pachamama Shrine)
“I don’t think there’s any controversy,” he told Fox News Digital. “I think it’s kind of a lack of education.”
Ayahuasca “has been used for thousands of years,” he said.
“It’s two plants that you boil together to make tea.”
AJAHUASCA MAY HAVE POTENTIAL TO TREAT EATING DISORDERS, SCIENTISTS FEEL.
That tea “creates a mystical, spiritual” effect that some describe as psychedelic or hallucinogenic, Januszewski said.
“Hallucination” is not quite the right description, he said, although it is a deeply spiritual experience.
“You’re not hallucinating like, little green men running around or anything stupid like that.”
“Hallucinogens kind of indicate hallucinations and that doesn’t happen with this medication,” he said. “A hallucination would be like seeing something that isn’t real.”
Instead, after consuming ayahuasca, a person may experience “visions,” Januszewski said.
“These visions are representations of things that are real. Usually it’s connected to some form of healing or trauma or growth opportunity that we’ve either experienced or need to experience.”
He added, “So you’re not hallucinating like, little green men running around or anything stupid like that.”
Ayahuasca is typically consumed as a brewed tea. Dried ayahuasca tea leaves are shown here. Januszewski, the founding pastor of the Pachamama Sanctuary in Casco, Maine, told Fox News Digital that he doesn’t photograph cups of ayahuasca tea because he considers them sacred. (iStock)
“It’s a very powerful medicine and it shows us things that we avoid, that we hide from, that we hide from because our ego likes to block out a whole bunch of things that would cause us pain if we actually interacted with it. ”
These feelings include painful emotions such as grief, shame, guilt or resentment things Januszewski says the human ego can prevent a person from experiencing in order to protect the psyche.
1,000-YEAR-OLD PSYCHEDELIC DRUG HAS SIGNS OF COCAINE, AJAHUASCA
“This drug takes away the ability to look away,” he said. “It removes the ability to lie to ourselves.”
Januszewski first dabbled in ayahuasca in an attempt to deal with his own struggles with addiction.
Before he was introduced to ayahuasca, he was not very religious or spiritual.
“I knew God was there, but He and I didn’t do business,” he told Fox News Digital.
Shamans, like Juan Carlos Arkawa, pictured here, are the ones who prepare and administer the ayahuasca tea, said Father Januszewski. (Pachamama Shrine)
Ayahuasca “doesn’t cure anybody,” he said. It “doesn’t cure anxiety, depression, PTSD.”
Instead, ayahuasca “allows us to remember that we can heal ourselves in these things. So getting closer to God is the way to do that.”
Because he’s not from South America, Januszewski doesn’t feel comfortable actually making and serving the ayahuasca tea at his retreats.
“That’s not my way of life. That’s not what I do,” he said.
PSYCHOACTIVE AMAZONIAN MEDICINE GAINING POPULARITY CAN TREAT HEALTH DISORDERS
Indigenous “shamans” from the Amazon, who “have been given the correct wisdom and training from their elders”, actually serve ayahuasca.
“My role is to bring together the shamans and the people who need healing,” Januszewski said. “That’s it.”
And while Januszewski said he is a strong proponent of the use of ayahuasca, he is careful to note that the drug “is not for everyone.”
He also said, “It’s not a fad. It’s not something to do because they saw [that] Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox did it.”
Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly made headlines in 2021 when they discussed their experiences consuming ayahuasca. (Lester Cohen)
Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox made headlines in 2021 when they described their experience using ayahuasca.
More recently, NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers has spoken positively about his use of ayahuasca.
Jansuzewski said people should only use ayahuasca if they feel called to do so, “not because their friends are doing it or anything like that.”
“Additional physical side effects include increased blood pressure, vomiting and dilated pupils.”
He said, “And because it’s not for everyone, it might look a little weird or different.”
Januszewski said he encourages people to consider the drug with an “open mind” and understand that it can have positive effects on a troubled society.
“All the things that we see out there that are uncomfortable today in society. People who sit with this medication end up becoming more positive members of whatever community they’re in,” he said. “It’s almost always that.”
Some concerns, says a clinical psychology professor
Dr. Joseph Troiani, associate professor of clinical psychology at Adler University in Illinois, told Fox News Digital that there are some concerns that ayahuasca consumption is unsafe, but that there have also been positive interactions.
New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers was an outspoken user of ayahuasca. On September 11, 2023, Rodgers’ first regular-season start with the Jets came to a halt when he tore his Achilles in Week 1. The star quarterback has since undergone surgery and begun rehab, as Fox News Digital previously reported. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
“The side effects [of consuming ayahuasca] include hallucinations and tremors, and additional physical side effects include increased blood pressure, vomiting and dilated pupils,” said Troiani, who added that there have been “life-threatening side effects and even death” associated with ayahuasca.
“Individuals experiencing anxiety have also reported additional side effects; others may experience mental health symptoms with its use,” he said.
CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER
Not everyone experiences negative side effects, however, Troiani said.
“People who took the drug reported an improvement in their psychological health, including some reporting a reduction in depression,” he said.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“Additionally, recent research reports that there are health benefits, such as improved brain health resulting from its use. Other reports state that there are long-term life-changing changes that result from taking this drug.”
Fox News Digital’s Chantz Martin contributed reporting.
For more Lifestyle articles, visit www.foxnews.com/lifestyle.
#ayahuasca #pastor #ayahuascabased #church #reveals #history #truth #drug
Image Source : www.foxnews.com