"[...]
And always, at the same time, is ayawaskha.
Ayawaskha,
which for us is not fugitive pleasure, venture, or
seedless adventure, as it is for the virakocha.
Ayawaskha is a gateway, not to escape but for eternity,
to enter those worlds, to live at the same time in this
and in other realities, to travel through the vast,
endless provinces of the night."
We
invite you to experience first hand - in a supportive,
friendly and safe environment - the sheer power and
beauty of the Amazonian teachings of ayahuasca and
plants teachers, with the native people that for
millennia have handled down this knowledge in an
impeccable way, developing a most intimate relationship
with the jungle, almost embedded in their DNA. Besides
having a genuine direct exposure to these ancestral
practices and walk your personal path to vision,
knowledge and healing, your retreat in the Amazon will
benefit in many ways - and directly support - indigenous
people's economy, and will guarantee and encourage the
continuation and transmission of these ancestral
shamanic practices
The Ashi Meraya Centre and an
overview of the Retreat
Photo Credit: Heberto Hiran Garcia Ramirez
Photo Credit: Francesco Sammarco
Why Ashi Meraya?
To honour the memory and the
spirit of the legendary Ashi Meraya - a semi-divine being reputed capable of
supernatural feats respected among all Shipibos in general and
revered among all Merayasin particular as their own God - our shamanic retreat centre has now
changed its name to that of "Ashi Meraya" [...] Read more...
About the Ashi Meraya Lodge
We
co-founded Ashi Meraya in the year 2004. Not too far - and
not too close either! - to civilization, our lodge is reached after
about one and half hours drive from the heart of the jungle town of
Iquitos, the capital of the vast department of Loreto, in the North
West Amazon Rainforest of Peru. Immersed into pristine jungle [...] Read
more...
Accommodation in Ashi Meraya
All guests doing the Ayahuasca
retreat may stay in either one of the four very spacious comfortable
bungalows [...] Read
more...
The Sweat Lodge
Photo Credit Francesco Sammarco
Photo Credit: Heberto Hiran Garcia Ramirez
On the first night of retreat you may
take part to a Sweat
Lodge cleansing ritual, led by a Shipibo shaman. Read more... Watch
here our
YouTube video on the Shipibo Sweat
Lodge ritual in Ashi Meraya!
The Ayahuasca Journey
Photo Credit: Francesco Sammarco
This is a very intensive
Ayahuasca retreat with
up to four
Ayahuasca healing sessions scheduled to take place each week.
You may watch yourself how the sacred 'Vine of the Soul'' or ''Vine
of the Spirit'' is made into brew by the shaman, pounding the woody
ayahuasca
(Banisteriopsis caapi) vine cuts first and then boiling them for
long hours over a traditional wood fire. Read more...
Ritual cleansing
herbal and clay baths + flourishing, luck-bringing
flower baths (traditionally used for wealth, prosperity,
love and friendship).
Photo Credit: Francesco Sammarco
Day jungle
hikes along the beautiful ethnobotanical garden circuit
of Ashi Meraya (where the shaman will show you the many
plant teachers of the centre, explaining their
properties and traditional medicinal and shamanic uses).
Night jungle
hikes with the shaman - when you may be able to see the
magical glowing of the area below palos maestros
(teacher trees) like the Chullachaki-caspi
(Tovomita sp.) and the Remocaspi (Aspidosperma
excelsum), in total darkness.
Shamanic initiation
through a rigorous, traditional
plant
dieta.
(Available only to those
reserving their place for the shamanic plant diet,
minimum 2 weeks, maximum 24 weeks)
Chill out, read, write, meditate or
simply relax in the newly built Communal bungalow for
dieteros!!
Optional ceremonies with the famed
visionary
San Pedro cactus!
(Please
inquire for
details. Strictly, advance booking only. Not available
to guests doing the traditional shamanic Plant Diet. Subject to
availability. Minimum 2 weeks staying)
Bonfire at night,
grilling home-made unleavened
flatbread (subject to weather
conditions).
Great food, with
fresh Amazonian fish excellently cooked every
day....
(Vegetarian food available.
Guests doing the Plant Diet must be prepared to stay on a special - and stricter -
food regimen)
Optional Shipibo-style daily massage sessions offered by
the Shipiba Eunice.
(These
sessions may be booked on the spot, and last between 30
to 60 minutes)
Strongly recommended to anyone wishing to have a deep,
genuine, serious and supportive exposure to the
Ayahuasca and other visionary, sacred shamanic
medicines with indigenous and local people!!
By taking part to this special journey
in Ashi Meraya you will have a direct, hands-on exposure to
traditional Amazonian shamanic culture, practices and entheogenic
plant medicine. Yet, without sacrificing comfort and tranquillity
in the process. You will
also benefit our indigenous Shipibo shamans and partners to maintain their traditional
way of life, increasingly threatened by impending modernization,
globalisation and acculturation.
On top of up to four Ayahuasca
weekly sessions, we shall have one night dedicated to a dream
journey with the Plant Teacher Toe' (Brugmansia suaveolens).
Read more...
Tatuajes: Transferring Symbols of
Power
A practical
ritual body painting session where the Shipibo family
will draw your own spirit animal (in the form of an
impermanent 'tattoo'), according to the Arkana -
spiritual/energetic protection - laid on you by the
shaman, during one of your final Ayahuasca
sessions.
The Spiritual Purification
Ritual
The ritual of Spiritual Purification
is an ancestral, special and exclusive practice which is now offered
for the first time as a standard to all participants staying for the
Ayahuasca retreat for at least two weeks or longer. Read more...
The Sacred Visionary San Pedro
Cactus or Huachuma
Photo Credit: Heberto Hiran Garcia Ramirez
It may be possible sometimes, subject to
availability and as an optional extra, to take part to a special
night ceremony with the sacred visionary San Pedro
(Trichocereus pachanoi) cactus - or Huachuma - led by
a Peruvian
Maestro Sampedrista (i.e. a curandero specialized in working with
the San Pedro).
Please
inquire for details and availability (confirmed guests for the
Ayahuasca retreat only, staying for a minimum of 2+ weeks).
Guests who wish to deepen their
experiential understanding of Amazonian shamanism and are prepared
to commit themselves in a disciplined - yet very friendly,
comfortable and welcoming - traditional setting, may also engage in
the proper shamanic training and initiation with the
plant teachers diet. The
shamanic plant diet - which is, essentially, the shamanic
initiation the Amazonian way - is mostly suited to those who have been
previously exposed to the Ayahuasca experience in the jungle
and who preferably speak Spanish. We are happy to offer short
"testers" of shamanic plant diet - from just 2 weeks
onwards - to those who have a specific interest in
experiencing Amazonian shamanism, but cannot altogether commit
to the lengths of the traditional shamanic
apprenticeship/initiation with plant teachers (which would
require - aside from strong commitment and flexibility - at
least 3 months, to start with).
There is no
difference of price for taking part to the Ayahuasca
retreat or to the shamanic plant diet. Click
here to read more....
Ayahuasca Retreat or Plant
Diet??...
Whilst almost any genuine
pilgrim/wisdom-seeker may partake to the Ayahuasca retreats in Ashi Meraya (please check
health compatibility issues),
we conversely recommend the
traditional
shamanic plant diet -
which does includeAyahuasca ceremonies as well
-
more to those who have matured a
very strong bound with shamanism, have already been
successfully exposed to the Ayahuasca experience
before, spent time in the jungle, and have - last but not
least - enough good knowledge of Spanish to get by
during their apprenticeship. An interpreter can nevertheless
be arranged, for those who don't speak much Spanish, in most
cases.
Different shamans usually alternate in Ashi Meraya,
on a regular basis:
◘ Master shaman
Don Alfredo Cairuna - whose
native name Sinamano means ''very brave man'' - is from the
Shipibo ethnic group of the Amazon and currently the main shaman in the
centre. He is a maestro
Toesero (a shaman specialized in working with the plant teacher
Toe', i.e. the Brugmansia suaveolens), an Ayahuasquero
(a shaman skilled in the
use of Ayahuasca) and a Naturista (i.e. a master
herbalist). He prepares a
very potent Ayahuasca brewand sings his
powerful icaros in the Shipibo tongue of his people!!
◘
Don Mariano is an exquisite 71 years
old master shaman, also from the Shipibo ethnic group of the Amazon,
whom we treasure and love for his humbleness, inner beauty, moving
icaros, silent knowledge and integrity. Read more...
◘
Don Walter Martines Guimaraes (Shipibo name: Chono Tsoma),
originally from the native community of Nuevo Loreto, in the
Ucayali region of the Peruvian Amazon. He is a
Palero
Ayahuasquero and a master herbalist (naturista). Don
Walter has distinguished himself for doing his work with much love
and enthusiasm. Read more....
It is important to note
that the traditional view of indigenous and Mestizo
(mixed blood) shamans alike in the Peruvian Amazon is
that each power plant - which is often, but not always,
also a plant with psychoactive/psychotropic properties -
has its own "madre", a mother-spirit that has -
when dieted properly - the capacity to actualize
teachings, reveal things, heal, lend power, give
protection and guide one's life. Some of these
mother-spirits are seen in vision by the shamans, and
may have different anthropomorphic or theriomorphic
aspects. The Puka-lupuna (Cavanillesia sp.) tree,
for instance, is said to be a "great magician that
developed in other dimensions and came to possess this
tree" (Luna,
Berkeley 1999: 108). Amazonian shamans
maintain that the longer the diet and the more the
teacher plants, trees and vines one has dieted with, the
more wisdom and knowledge is attained directly from the
plant spirits.
Like in traditional tribal communities,
in modern days society the function of the shaman still remains
that of a medium of equilibrium in the world. Those attending the
Ayahuasca healing retreat, and/or doing the shamanic plant diet
in Onanyan Shobo, will be offered
special cleansing and luck-changing ritual baths all prepared by the
shamans, and known respectively as bano de limpie, bano de
barro and bano de florecimiento.
The Herbal Bath
(Bano de Limpie)
Photo Credit: Francesco Sammarco
Bano de limpie
means literally "cleansing bath" and is a purifying
herbal bath aimed at the dissipation of negative
energies/thoughts that may have penetrated the auric
field and/or the body of a person, creating a situation
of unhealthy emotional imbalance.
The Flower Bath
(Bano de Flores or Bano de Florecimiento)
Photo Credit: Francesco Sammarco
Bano de florecimiento
means exactly "flourishing bath", and has the purpose of
attracting good-luck, wealth and prosperity into one's
life. Read more...
We have cherry-picked four
optional day excursions that may be combined - for a little
extra - with your Ayahuasca retreat in Ashi Meraya.
These include:
A guided visit to
the Allpahuayo Mishana Ethnobotanical Garden, located
within the Allpahuayo Mishana Natural Reserve (the area
officially administered by the prestigious IIAP - Instituto
de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana, i.e. the"Research Institute of the
Peruvian Amazon").
A day trip to the the beautiful
Pilpintuwasi (a private butterfly
farm and
centre of custody for rescued and endangered jungle animals,
including the jaguar).
A day tour to Quistococha
Ethnobotanical and Zoological Garden, to get acquainted
with Amazonian life forms....
A day tour to the Isla de Los
Monos (i.e. the Monkeys' Island), a protected, private
natural reserve, and the only place near Iquitos where it's
possible to see monkeys swinging around in total freedom, in
the rainforest. Minimum 2 participants required for the
Monkey's Island excursion.
Please note:
All optional day excursions above may be available only
to those partaking to the Ayahuasca retreat, but not to the
shamanic plant diet.
Each excursion shall be done on a
different day, and is always subject to availability and
weather conditions. Please
inquire for details.
A guided visit to
the Allpahuayo Mishana Ethnobotanical Garden, located
within the Allpahuayo Mishana Natural Reserve (the area
officially administered by the prestigious IIAP - Instituto
de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana, i.e. the
"Research Institute of the
Peruvian Amazon"). 
