2.11 The role of the activation cycle

The Sacred Voyage: a holotropic perspective on mental health

Peter A. Levine about the activation cycle: ‘People long to be challenged by life, and activation provides us with the required energy to take on and conquer these challenges. Deep satisfaction is one of the results of a fully completed activation cycle. The cycle is as follows: activation peaks at the point where we gather our strengths to meet a challenge or a threat. Then it is actively reduced and leaves us relaxed and satisfied. […] Those who have been traumatized, deeply mistrust this cycle, usually with good reason. Victims of trauma associate the cycle with the overwhelming experience of being paralyzed with fear. Because of this fear, the traumatized person will prevent the activation cycle from reaching completion and will remain stuck in a cycle of fear. Victims of trauma must therefore become reacquainted with an elementary law of nature: What goes up, must come down.’

‘Frozen areas indicate the formation of tiny crystals in the cells, immobilizing them. By being aware of this virtually immobile condition or by slowing down further whatever hardly noticeable movement may remain, you are inviting your body to delve more deeply into the story. Through this warmth and attention, the crystals become fluid and are able to leave the cells, allowing the cells their natural movement. […] Through releasing the crystals, the cells do not only release their chemical waste products but also the memories retained therein.’ (Peirsman & Bakker, Cranio Sacral Therapists)

As asserted earlier, we assume that the source of many complaints and symptoms cannot only be found in the subconscious but also in the soma, in the centre of people’s inner life, where each human’s essence is seated. The Sacred Voyage uses ayahuasca not specifically to reach or explore new realms of consciousness. Our method is about finding and remobilizing somatic energy blockades, after which different (higher) states of mind may be reached. This has been described by Dr. Stanislav Grof: ‘…after resolving biographical childhood issues, and the perinatal trauma, individuals would often find themselves in realms of consciousness completely transcendent of time, space, and other parameters of our ordinary world view.’ (Grof, 1985)

Ayahuasca plays a major role in the Sacred Voyage because it has an unexplained but very powerful effect in breaking down energetic blockades.

It is essential to emphasize that our method does not involve shamanistic healing in the traditional sense, in which a shaman removes or heals his client’s ailment. The client’s focus is not on a mental experience aimed at encountering ‘the divine’ in a higher state of consciousness, as would be the case in the setting of the Santo Daime church. This may be a side effect, as is illustrated by Dr. Grof’s earlier quote. Ayahuasca is employed as an aide in breaking down the energetic blockades. Clients applying the method of the Sacred Voyage focus on their own body, on what they experience as energy blockades.

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