Ayahuasca, Spiritual Deception, and the Search for Healing
Ayahuasca is widely promoted as a path to healing, awakening, and spiritual enlightenment. In this episode of Wake Up with Miya, I sit down with Christa Black-Gifford — singer, songwriter, and host of the Head to Heart podcast — to hear a firsthand account that challenges those claims.
Christa shares her journey from growing up as a preacher’s kid and touring in the Christian music world to becoming immersed in plant medicine ceremonies. What began as curiosity and a desire for healing led her into experiences she now describes as spiritually deceptive rather than restorative.
When Spiritual Power Isn’t What It Seems
We discuss ayahuasca and wachuma ceremonies, the environments in which they take place, and the sensations often interpreted as spiritual breakthroughs. Christa explains how deception can begin subtly — through language shifts, emotional vulnerability, and the normalization of spiritual practices that bypass discernment.
Rather than dismissing the intensity of these experiences, Christa emphasizes that feeling powerful does not guarantee truth. She describes encounters that felt supernatural but ultimately drew her away from her faith rather than closer to it. Over time, she recognized patterns of influence that mirrored spiritual manipulation rather than healing.
Our conversation explores the growing popularity of New Age spirituality and plant medicine culture, particularly among those seeking trauma healing or emotional breakthrough. Christa offers practical warning signs to watch for: pressure to surrender personal boundaries, spiritual language that replaces discernment, and an emphasis on mystical experience over spiritual truth.
Her story is not about condemnation but clarity. Through reflection and faith, Christa found her way back to Christ-centered grounding and a renewed understanding of discernment. Her message is simple but powerful: healing should bring peace, clarity, and truth—not confusion or spiritual dependency.
Discernment in a Culture Seeking Healing
My conversation with Christa Black-Gifford is a reminder that not everything labeled healing truly restores the soul. In a culture searching for answers, powerful experiences can easily be mistaken for truth.
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This show exists to explore Spiritual Warfare, Ancient Mysteries, Demons, Nephilim, and Alternative Health through a lens of truth and discernment. In a world offering countless paths to healing, wisdom lies in recognizing which ones lead to freedom.