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Peru: To Hell and Back (National Geographic) (3/6/06)      There's a very interesting account of an ayahuasca experience on The National Geographic Adventure web site. It follows a young woman's efforts to heal herself of depression through traditional shamanic healing rituals using a hallucinogenic tea made from plants native to the rain forest: I will never forget what it was like. The overwhelming misery. The certainty of never-ending suffering. No one to help you, no way to escape. Everywhere I looked: darkness so thick that the idea of light seemed inconceivable. Suddenly, I swirled down a tunnel of fire, wailing figures calling out to me in agony, begging me to save them. Others tried to terrorize me. "You will never leave here," they said. "Never. Never." I found myself laughing at them. "I'm not scared of you," I said. But the darkness became even thicker; the emotional charge of suffering nearly unbearable. I felt as if I would burst from heartbreak; everywhere, I felt the agony of humankind, its tragedies, its hatreds, its sorrows. I reached the bottom of the tunnel and saw three thrones in a black chamber. Three shadowy figures sat in the chairs; in the middle was what I took to be the devil himself. "The darkness will never end," he said. "It will never end. You can never escape this place." "I can," I replied.... • Read the rest (a short video from the ceremony is also available.)