Ceremonies revolving around the ingestion of ayahuasca differ from location to location and from person to person. For example, an ayahuasca ceremony that takes place in South America might look different than one that takes place in Australia, where ayahuasca has become popularized in modern years. Additionally, the individual taking the ayahuasca effects the ceremony as does the shaman performing the ceremony. Traditionally, ayahuasca ceremonies involved men singing and dancing for a variety of purposes. Most often, participants in the ceremony would ingest the brew and perform in order to connect with the spirit world and provide blessings on hunting and warfare (Fotiou). The shaman that performs the ceremony provides a connection from the human world to the spirit world and mediates communication between the two. In many cases, ayahuasca is seen as an embodiment of the spiritual realm and is often referred to as a physical being such as Ayahuasca Mama or some similar iteration (Fotiou). Ceremonies tend to take place over the span of many hours, sometimes even exceeding six hours to bring the ceremony to a full close. Typical ceremonies begin at dusk when the sun has just gone down below the horizon, the significance of the brew is explained and ingested and the effects start to take place as the full darkness of night takes over (Hagens and Lansky). This provides symbolism for the members participating to fully give themselves over to the drink and sacrifice their ego for the duration of the ceremony. This is an especially important aspect of the ceremony as the drink typically causes crying, wailing, vomiting, retching, etc. Equally important it the absence of sex during the ceremony because it allows the individual to connect with only the spirit world rather than each other (Hagens and Lansky).