Foreword
Ayahuasca cooking in the jungle: a dense and concentrated earthly brew!!
Photo Credit: Francesco Sammarco
Guests doing the shamanic plant diet in Ashi Meraya will be given upon arrival a personalized calendar of their diet. This calendar will specify the days when the plant teachers concoctions may be taken, the days of break (whenever present) – called descanso, and also the days when the actual Ayahuasca brew may be drunk, as part of a shamanic ritual, in the context of the plant diet shamanic initiation.
Below we have provided a detailed and updated calendar of a typical three months shamanic plant diet as practised by Shipibo shaman Don Alfredo, which is a very important & practical help for those who intend to commit to the plant-based shamanic training. This may give you a more accurate idea of how the shamanic plant diet works, yet it might be subject to change, according to individual circumstances, the type of plants one is dieting with and the length of the diet itself. It might also change, depending on the particular style of the shaman one may be dieting with.
The shamanic diet is a sophisticated and complex process, if you think at all the possible plants combinations that can actually be involved, and when one dwells on the fact that many maestros are altogether illiterate. All this makes one wonder at the meaning of the words “sabiduría” or ”conocimiento” (knowledge), and on how this may be achieved without going to a Western university! This is the “School of Advanced Studies in Amazonian Shamanism”….a parallel university to our own Western institutions, that has its own laws, dynamics, and ways to knowledge. Here plants are the teachers and the “maestros” the traditional guides and the keepers of “la ciencia” (the science).
Basic vocabulary to get familiar with
Brebaje = Plant preparation, in liquid form.
Descanso = Spanish name of the break period given (by the shaman) to the apprentice doing the plant diet.
Dieta = Spanish name of the diet. The traditional plant-based shamanic apprenticeship.
Dietera = The female apprentice who is doing the plant diet.
Dietero = The male apprentice who is doing the plant diet.
Palos maestros = ”Teacher trees” (the Trees one may receive teachings from).
Plantas maestras = ”Teacher plants” (the Plants one may receive teachings from).
Preparado = The actual teacher plants concoction that one takes during a diet.
Prueba de dieta = Spanish name for the ”tester of the shamanic plant diet”.
Soga = Spanish name for ‘vine’ (like ayahuasca, for instance).
Toma/Tomar = Taking the plants of the diet and/or the Ayahuasca, in liquid form.
In the FAQ section below, you may find answers to the most common questions asked re. the dieta:
FAQ: Ayahuasca and the Plant Diet
1) ”Is it possible to take Ayahuasca during the diet?”
YES, that is essential part of the training for the shamanic initiation, even though the number of times one will take part to Ayahuasca ceremonies depend intrinsically from the length of the diet itself, and from the type of diet one is doing (i.e. traditional diet or pre-diet/’prueba de dieta‘). When one engages in the healing diet – however – the answer is ‘may be yes, may be not’, as it very much depends from the condition one is affected from. We DO NOT offer the healing diet in Ashi Meraya, ONLY the SHAMANIC PLANT DIET.
2) ”How many times do I have Ayahuasca sessions whilst doing the Shamanic Plant Diet?”
It depends on the type of diet one is doing and from the shaman with whom one is dieting with. In the traditional plant diet the apprentice (dietero/a) may begin his/her first Ayahuasca session with the shaman, typically only from the tenth day of his/her own apprenticeship. Meanwhile, the shaman will prepare with icaros and other protections the physical and energetic body of the apprentice and only him or her (the shaman) will start to drink from the second night of the first week of diet. Click here to have an idea of how many times – in the context of a detailed calendar for the traditional 3 months shamanic plant diet – one may partake to Ayahuasca sessions.
In the case of the ‘prueba de dieta‘ – that is the tester of the diet, or ‘pre-dieta’ (an introduction to the plant diet proper, which goes from an absolute minimum of two weeks onwards) – one may not take Ayahuasca for the first week of the retreat, especially – but not exclusively – if dieting with strong ‘palos’ (teacher trees). Beginning with the 2nd week of the pre-diet training, one may normally take part to four Ayahuasca sessions each week, as for the Ayahuasca retreat. However, please note that these are guidelines only, and *might* be subject to change, at the discretion of the shaman, and/or according to the degree of experience one may have, to the length of the ‘pre-diet’ and/or to the types of plants and/or ‘palos’ one may be dieting with.
FAQ: Length of the traditional shamanic plant diet
3) ”What is the average length of the traditional shamanic plant diet?”
Guidelines may vary from shaman to shaman, even from within the same ethnic group. Some shamans (the more strictly traditional) do not call a proper shamanic diet anything that is less than three months in length, to begin with. This is – mind you – the minimum period one should engage with, not the maximum, that can otherwise last several years. To become a fully developed shaman, one would normally require a full five years of dieta (including periods of break). The absolute basic is learnt in the first three months, and one can consider himself (or herself) advanced in the apprenticeship after having completed a one year training.
4) ”What is the average length of the shamanic plant diet tester (‘prueba de dieta’)?”
From an absolute minimum of two weeks onwards, and usually anything between two weeks up to eleven weeks.
FAQ: Temporary breaks of the diet & communication with the outside world
In a three months diet (more specifically, from two months up until three months and three weeks), one may only go to town after having completed the first phase of the training. This period – more or less – coincide with the end of the first month and half of drinking the plant concoctions prepared by the shaman. Times may vary from person to person, depending on individual energy, and response times to the shamanic diet. In a six months diet, a dietero/a may go to town only after – or from – the end of the third month of diet. That is, only after having completed the first period of the diet, taking the plant concoctions.
If needed, you may be able to communicate with the outside world using the battery-operated long range cordless phone in Ashi Meraya, in the jungle. You need to come equipped with a “Hola Peru” international phone card, available from most Airports in Peru.
A Typical Three Months Shamanic Plant Diet
Below is a description of how a typical three months/12 weeks (84 days) shamanic plant diet will work, with a calendar of the days you will be taking the plants and the nights you will be having Ayahuasca ceremonies with the shaman. Plants may vary, also (and especially) according to the length of the apprenticeship. In the time frame of a three months shamanic diet you will be dieting with nine different plants (three palos maestros and six plantas maestras), and will take part to Ayahuasca ceremonies, as follows:
Plant Diet – Stage One (Day 01 to 09)
Day 1: Sweat Lodge
Day 2: First toma of Remo caspi
Day 3: Second toma of Remo caspi
Day 4: First toma of Chullachaki caspi
Day 5: Second toma of Chullachaki caspi
Day 6: First toma of Bobinsana
Day 7: Second toma of Bobinsana
Day 8: First toma of Toe’
Day 9: Second toma of Toe’
Ayahuasca Ceremonies – Stage One (Day 10 to 44)
Day 10: Ayahuasca ceremony
Day 12: Ayahuasca ceremony
Day 14: Ayahuasca ceremony
Day 16: Ayahuasca ceremony
Day 18: Ayahuasca ceremony
Day 20: Ayahuasca ceremony
Day 22: Ayahuasca ceremony
Day 24: Ayahuasca ceremony
Day 26: Ayahuasca ceremony
Day 28: Ayahuasca ceremony
Day 30: Ayahuasca ceremony
Day 32: Ayahuasca ceremony
Day 34: Ayahuasca ceremony
Day 36: Ayahuasca ceremony
Day 38: Ayahuasca ceremony
Day 40: Ayahuasca ceremony
Day 42: Ayahuasca ceremony
Day 44: Ayahuasca ceremony
Plant Diet – Stage Two & Final (Day 45 to 54 )
Day 45: First toma of Huaira caspi plant
Day 46: Second toma of Huaira caspi plant
Day 47: First toma of Ajos sacha
Day 48: Second toma of Ajos sacha
Day 49: First toma of Piñon colorado
Day 50: Second toma of Piñon colorado
Day 51: First toma of Piripiri
Day 52: Second toma of Piripiri
Day 53: First toma of Motelillo
Day 54: Second toma of Motelillo.
The fifth-fourth day will be the last day of taking plant teachers (i.e. this will be the last toma of the plants), and then the shamanic diet will continue taking the Ayahuasca brew, together with the shaman, any other day (except the last):
Ayahuasca ceremonies – Stage Two & Final (Day 55 to 83)
Day 55: Ayahuasca ceremony
Day 57: Ayahuasca ceremony
Day 59: Ayahuasca ceremony
Day 61: Ayahuasca ceremony
Day 63: Ayahuasca ceremony
Day 65: Ayahuasca ceremony
Day 67: Ayahuasca ceremony
Day 69: Ayahuasca ceremony
Day 71: Ayahuasca ceremony
Day 73: Ayahuasca ceremony
Day 75: Ayahuasca ceremony
Day 77: Ayahuasca ceremony
Day 79: Ayahuasca ceremony
Day 81: Ayahuasca ceremony
Day 83: Ayahuasca ceremony
Your diet will terminate with a special Ayahuasca ceremony and your retreat will end on the last day of the twelfth week, in the afternoon.
During your shamanic apprenticeship you will get also to learn how to prepare cleansing herbal baths, clay baths and baños de florecimiento (ritual floral baths, to increase luck and prosperity) as well as singing icaros on a plant remedy, and even treat a patient affected by “susto” (fright), among other things.
PLEASE NOTE:
Candidates applying for the traditional shamanic plant diet may be screened for suitability and should ideally – but not necessarily – be able to communicate in Spanish.
We offer a SPANISH-ENGLISH interpreting service, for up to three months in a row, available as an optional extra to guests without Spanish skills…
There are no limitations in terms of freedom of movement/going to town, for the Ayahuasca retreat (even though we invite you to make the most of your retreat time in the jungle!!). However, in line with traditional rules, these limitations may remain in place for guests doing the traditional shamanic plant diet, at the discretion of the shaman.
