Today I want to talk about a question I get asked a lot—especially by people who are coming to our retreats for the first time. It's a fair question and one that touches on a deeper fear many carry:
"Can I catch bad energy, sorcery, or something negative—like black magic—during a ceremony?"
In my experience, after many years of working with the medicine and guiding countless people, the short answer is: no—it’s extremely unlikely. Out of hundreds of ceremonies, I’ve only had two moments where I even questioned if something beyond the norm might be happening. But even then, I found more grounded explanations.
Let me tell you one of those stories.
The Vision: A Witch and a Pyramid
There was a young woman from France attending a retreat. She was actually helping me during the ceremony and drank a small dose of the medicine. At some point, she collapsed and couldn't continue, the medicine went strong on her. I had to run the session by myself with two other participants from the U.S.
That entire day, I had felt off—heavy, with a headache, and intense nausea during the session. As I sat there holding the space, I had a vivid vision of something dark coming from her feet. It looked like a wild-eyed witch/clown—dry, brittle hair, and eyes that were unsettling: one like a star, the other like a black hole. It was so intense that I opened my eyes to stop the vision from overwhelming me. (or traumatizing me)
I immediately began cleansing the space with tobacco, trying to move the energy out, praying to the Ayahuasca to help me, this energy wanted to knock me down for sure. I saw a second vision—this time, the candle in the middle of the room transformed in a brilliant light shining from a pyramid. This vision was with open eyes. It reminded me of a physical pyramid structure a former assistant had brought to the temple for protection. He used to place it in different corners of the space when there were no ceremonies, saying it helped shield me from energies I wasn’t yet prepared to face. That night, I felt that protection clearly. This strong powerful light coming from the pyramid cleansed everything and I immediatly purged very strongly. I knew for sure it was gone and I continued the session. I doubt the participants from USA noticed anything and I didn’t tell them to guard their experiences. You see as I am explaining this here, I conclude that all of this could have been created by my imagination, the references of the pyramid, the attitude of the girl and me feeling off, plus the purging concept that I learned in ceremonies. I was like I was having a dream in real life.
After the Ceremony: A Strange Confirmation
Later, I told the French woman what I had seen. She shared with me that she had once stayed in a house in Paraguay, doing work-trade as a backpacker, and believed she had picked up some kind of dark entity there. That was I was seeing was truth. Some of her friends had also sensed it. It matched everything I had seen and I made a drawing for her to know what I saw. Once she told me what happened in Paraguay I said, if you are coming to a place like this, you should warn everybody about it, specially guides or shamans. I understand why she didn’t do it at the beginning, I would have never accepted her in the program.
This was one of the only times I genuinely thought: Maybe this kind of energy transfer can happen?
But after reflecting more deeply, I realized that what I saw might not have been something she “picked up”... but a reflection of her own inner state. She was condescending, mistrusting, controlling—even called me fat once, which I wasn’t (at least not back then!). We lived in the center for over a month. That experience felt more like an energetic manifestation of her personality, not an external dark force, same with difficult experiences in ceremonies.
Exorcisms, Psychotic Breaks & the Shaman’s Role
Let’s talk about "exorcisms." When someone is having an extreme journey of Ayahuasca, some shamans may say they need to perform an exorcism in order to remove the evil energy from the person, as if it were a possession of the person. I respect their cultural framework and traditions, but in modern times, when an Ayahuasca experience goes out of control, these moments often look more like psychotic episodes, especially when the mind is vulnerable and the body is undergoing intense plant medicine work. I am not saying that shamanic techniques don´t work to bring the person back to normality, they actually do pretty well, but the root of this is just not convincing enough for me, after witnessing so many ceremonies myself and not encountering any of this.
This is their explanation of people having an uncontrollable experience and being at risk, when in modern times, medicine can be dosed much more precisely to avoid unnecessarily difficult journeys. We will talk about Ayahuasca admixtures in a future blog.
Shamans help manage these episodes by singing icaros, talking to calm the person, and using their belief system to guide and ground the experience. It’s not necessarily about casting out demons—it’s about holding space in a compassionate and structured way. and using the placebo effect very efficiently.
But sadly, some places exploit fear. They tell people they were cursed, or that dark forces are attacking them, in order to manipulate them into more sessions or more payment. I find that not only unethical, but dangerous.
There Is No Evil in Nature
Please remember: there is no evil in nature.
Plants are teachers. They give us oxygen, medicine, fruits, shade, and peace. They don’t carry curses. You cannot absorb “bad vibes” unless you believe in that possibility and internalize it.
Negative energy or “sorcery” is a manmade concept—often created to control people or prey on those who are more trusting or mentally sensitive. If you're told someone can curse you during a ceremony, or that you need protection from others in your group, I encourage you to stop and ask: Is this grounded? Is this helpful? Or is this fear-based control? Things are not negative or positive, they just are.
Ayahuasca Is a Mirror, Not a Threat
The medicine reflects back what’s inside us—our wounds, our fears, our shadows. If you show up closed off, skeptical, or unready to grow, the medicine may not reach you. But if you’re open, humble, and willing, then it offers deep healing.
In all my years, I have never seen anyone be harmed by Ayahuasca itself.
The only real harm is not integrating what you learn, or giving your power away to people who claim they know more about your soul than you do.
Let’s stop spreading fear-based narratives. Let’s return to the wisdom of nature, and trust in its purity, its strength, and its love.
Thanks for reading.
With love,
Andrés
PD:
(Translated from Spanish)
Taking medicine has diverse intentions. It can be for physical, mental, or spiritual healing, for gratitude for your life, or to give thanks to nature. You can take it when you feel that gratitude, and it shouldn't be because someone tells you to.
In ceremonies, you can't imbue negative energies. That's not possible. It's only possible if someone tells you to and you believe it. That way, it's possible.
No one can perform witchcraft on you during ceremonies, nor can it be done in any way. It's only possible when that concept or ancient belief exists.
Here's a brief explanation of how energies work, magical vibrations, and connection with everything that exists within the magical and physical world. Nature knows no evil, nor does it transmit negative energies. If we observe plants, they offer healing when we ingest them. They offer oxygen, shade, tranquility, fruits, leaves, and stems. If we ingest them in infusions, we can find benefits to soothe various ailments. And if we add them to our diet for a few days, we can find a connection with their spirit or energies that reach the body and transform our thoughts into a stable mode, transmitting dreams of teachings so we can live our lives in freedom and freedom of existence.
Bad vibes, witchcraft, negative energies, or pacts are concepts created by man to take advantage of people with dormant thoughts. Only those with such thoughts live in constant protection and cleansing throughout their lives.
This is a contribution of information for you to analyze, observe, or contemplate, and choose which path to take so you can have stability, tranquility, and enjoy life
