What actually happens during an ayahuasca ceremony?

A traditional ceremony usually runs 4–6 hours in a dark or dimly lit space, held by facilitators through icaros (songs), silence, and careful attention. You drink a cup of the brew, lie or sit with an intention, and let the medicine move through you — often as visions, body sensations, purging, tears, laughter, or long stretches of stillness. Every ceremony is different; the container (people, music, setting) shapes the experience as much as the plant itself.