Shipibo Shamanka Doña Leonilde

Photo Credit: José Garcia Ramirez

New Year (Magical) Ayahuasca Event Programme

30 December 2010 – 08 January 2011

An Awesome and Unparalleled Ayahuasca Retreat to Celebrate the New Year with *Real Magic*!!

Day 1

9:15 am: Meeting in Iquitos’ town centre.

9:30 am: Transfer to our shamanic retreat centre “Ashi Meraya”, in the Peruvian Amazon jungle.

11:10 am: Estimated arrival time in “Ashi Meraya”. Accommodation in private bungalows and single rooms. Shipibo welcome ceremony.

12:00 pm: Lunch.

2:00 pm: Cleansing ritual bath (Baño de limpieza) with Ayahuasca leaves. Individual consultation with the Shipibo shamans.

3:00 pm: Talk on the topic “Chullachaki caspi – the Great Mother Protector of the Rainforest. The Welcoming Ritual.” (Chullachaquin jato becanwe acai masha)

The Welcoming Ritual of the Chullachaki

After the talk we shall all drink a tea prepared with the bark of the Chullachaki caspi teacher tree. Then we shall begin – and take all part in – the Welcoming Ritual of the Chullachaki. This ritual consists in introducing oneself to the mother spirit (madre) protector of the selva, to ask permission before starting any shamanic activity in the rainforest. We shall also ask the spirit of the Chullachaki to grant our wishes, whilst we take part in different shamanic rituals, herbal/flower baths and ceremonies during our magical stay in “Ashi Meraya”.

6:00 pm: Dinner.

7:00 pm: Talk and participation to the Amazonian “Yora Niscanti” (Sweat Lodge) Ritual.

Day 2

8:00 am: Breakfast

9:30 am: Exploratory walk along the ethnobotanical garden circuit of “Ashi Meraya”, familiarizing with – and identifying – teacher plants.

12:00 am: Cleansing ritual bath (Baño de Limpieza) with Ayahuasca leaves.

1:00 pm: Lunch.

4:30 pm: Talk and Ritual: “Yora Payanti” (Ritual of Spiritual Purification)

6.30:pm: Talk by the shaman: “Toé, Great Mother of the shamanic music and eye of the occult science (ojo de la ciencia oculta).”

7:00 pm: Ceremony with the plant teacher Toé (Brugmansia suaveolens).

Day 3

8:00 am: Breakfast

10:00 am: Cleansing ritual bath (Baño de Limpieza) with the Rue (Ruta Graveolens) plant

11:am: Circle meeting with the shamans, exchanging experiences on the Toé ceremony of the previous night.

1:00 pm: Lunch

5:00 pm: “Yora Payanti” (Ritual of Spiritual Purification)

7:30 pm: Introductory talk and recommendations from the shamans on Ayahuasca ritual.

8:00 pm: Ayahuasca ceremony.

Day 4

8:00 am: Breakfast

9:30 am: Talk by the shamans followed by the Grand Ritual “Merayabaon Nashiti Masha ” (Magical Dance of the Merayas), to seal the pact with the invisible beings and sacred plant spirits.

1:00 pm: Lunch.

5:00 pm: Circle meeting with the shamans, exchanging experiences on the Ayahuasca ceremony of the previous night.

8:00 pm: Ayahuasca ceremony.

Day 5

8:00 am: Breakfast.

9:30 am: Exhibition-sale of Shipibo artifacts and textiles.

1:00 pm: Lunch.

4:00 pm: Talk by the shamans, followed by the taking of the Remocaspi tea and performance of the “Pacho yucati masha” (Remocaspi or Pacho) Ritual.

8:00 pm: Ayahuasca ceremony.

Day 6

8:00 am: Breakfast.

10:00 am: Cleansing ritual bath (Baño de Limpieza) with the leaves of the Piñon Colorado teacher plant.

1:00 pm: Lunch.

4:00 pm: Circle meeting with the shamans, exchanging experiences on the Ayahuasca ceremony of the previous night.

5:30 pm: Dinner.

7:00 pm: Talk by the shamans followed by the performing of the “ Merayabaon Chi pakeni” (The Magical Fire of the Merayas) Ritual.

Day 7

6:00 am: Ayahuasca preparation

10:00 am: Breakfast.

12:00 am: Cleansing ritual bath (Baño de Limpieza) with the leaves of the Mucura plant teacher.

1:00 pm: Lunch.

5:00 pm: Talk by the shamans and performing of the “Rau Cuin” (Smoke Medicine) Ritual.

8:00 pm: Ayahuasca ceremony.

Day 8

8:00 am: Breakfast.

10:00 am: Ritual Flower bath (Baño de Florecimiento).

1:00 pm: Lunch.

4:00 pm: Talk by the shamans and performing of the “Onanyabaon Masha” (Shamanic Dance) Ritual.

8:00 pm: Ayahuasca ceremony.

Day  9

8:00 am: Breakfast.

9:30 am: Ritual Flower bath (Baño de Florecimiento).

11:00 am: “Nanebetan Mashen Siquíti Masha” (Tattoos: Transferring Symbols of Power) Ritual.

1:00 pm: Lunch.

5:00 pm: Circle meeting with the shamans, exchanging experiences on the Ayahuasca ceremony of the previous night.

7:00 pm: Talk by the shamans followed by the performing of the “Merayabaon jone jonibo quenaquin ani” (Gran Ritual of the Merayas).

Day  10

8:00 am: Breakfast.

9:30 am: Final consultation with – and recommendations from – our Shipibo shamans.

11:00 am: Shipibo Farewell ceremony.

12:00 pm: Special group lunch, with the Shipibo family and all shamans.

2:00 pm: Free time to pack and get ready to go back to “civilization”!

2:40 pm: Transfer back to Iquitos airport (we recommend you to get the “Lan Peru” flight to  Lima, which leaves Iquitos at 5:50 PM and arrives in Lima at 7:25 PM).

INCLUDES:
Transfer from Iquitos town centre and Ashi Meraya venue in the jungle; Transfer from Ashi Meraya to Iquitos airport; full board with private accommodation throughout; Shipibo Welcome ceremony; Chullachaki Welcome ceremony; Plant materials; One Amazonian Sweat ritual; ALL MERAYAS (BANCOS) RITUALS detailed in the Programme; FIVE Ayahuasca ceremonies; One Floripondio (Toe’) ritual; Interpreter Shipibo-Spanish; Interpreter Spanish-English; Shipibo Farewell ceremony;…lots of *REAL MAGIC*!!

Click here to learn about the ancestral rituals of the Shipibo high-ranking shamans (the Bancos Merayas) featured during this Event.

Shipibo Master Shaman Don Hector

Photo Credit: José Garcia Ramirez

Our Shipibo Shamans

Don Hector

Resembling a Franciscan monk from the Middle Ages (!), Don Hector is a thirty-seven years old Onanya (master shaman), native of the Shipibo community of Roaboya. He began his first diet at the age of fifteen. With the exception of his only Shipibo teacher, Don Juan Cauper Sanchez, Don Hector maintains that his only maestros were the plant spirits (genios de las plantas) themselves. During his diets with plants, in complete isolation in the rainforest, he received in dreaming the visit of spirit beings that taught him his icaros (magical tunes) and revealed him the secrets of the shamanic healing. Don Hector is renown for being a very compassionate and serious teacher, for the outstanding beauty of his icaros, for withstanding the intoxication with Ayahuasca to levels rare even among other Shipibo shamans.

Doña Leonilda

A fifty-two years old shamanka, native of the Shipibo community of Roaboya, descendent of Shipibo Merayas, Doña Leonilda dedicated – uninterruptedly – the last thirty-two years of her life to shamanism. Her teachers were Don Lozano Mahua and Don Ilario Huayta Sanchez.

Don Armando (Reshin Beso)

Descendant – and disciple – of Shipibo Merayas, native of the Shipibo community of Roaboya, he initiated his first shamanic diet when he was only ten, under the tutelage of his father, Don Custodio. After having built up an impressive background of shamanic diets with many different plants teachers (like Shihuahuaco, Tamamuri, Capirona, Chiric sanango, Sanango, Chuchahuasi de Boa, Bobinzana, Chuchahuasi, Lupuna, Renaquilla, Coca, different varieties of Piripiri, Gorra de Murcielago, Planta de Gallo and Ayahuasca), Don Armando passed to spirit in Pucallpa, on November 28, 2010, at 4 AM, taking away with him the secrets of the Grand Ritual of the Merayas. The way he performed his shamanic ceremonies was the direct fruit of the teachings he received from his Shipibo Meraya (Banco) teacher.

Don Alfredo

Master shaman Don Alfredo is from the Shipibo ethnic group of the Amazon and works permanently in Ashi Meraya. He is a maestro Toesero (a shaman specialised in working with the plant teacher Toé, i.e. the Brugmansia suaveolens), an Ayahuasquero, a Naturista (i.e. a master herbalist) and prepares a very potent Ayahuasca brew. Don Alfredo – who started his first diet at the age of fifteen – had the great privilege of being in his youth a disciple of the last Shipibo Meraya (or Banco, the highest possible rank that a shaman could achieve, in the Peruvian Amazon), Don Luis Cauper Guimaraes, also known as Don Lucho.

Whilst almost any genuine pilgrim/wisdom-seeker may take part in our Ayahuasca retreats in Ashi Meraya (please check health compatibility issues), we conversely recommend the traditional Shamanic Plant Diet – which does include Ayahuasca ceremonies as well, but with a different schedule – 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 ideally (but not necessarily) a good knowledge of the Spanish language, to get by during their apprenticeship.

We will be nevertheless more than happy to provide you with an interpreter Spanish-English, to help you out during your retreat (being it Ayahuasca or Shamanic Plant Diet Apprenticeship), as and wen required!!

Ayahuasca vine cuts cooked with Chacruna leaves to prepare the sacred medicine

Photo Credit: Francesco Sammarco

Not everybody may drink the sacred brew of the Amazonian shamans…

People affected by chronic heart conditions, severe high blood pressure, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, suicidal tendencies – as well as other psychiatric/dissociative conditions – must not take Ayahuasca and may not be accepted in our centre. Those under treatment with anti-depressant drugs like Prozac, Seroxat, Zoloft, Effexor, Paxil, Welbutrin (bupropion) – also sold under the trade name of Zyban as aid therapy to the urge to smoke – and similar, must not try Ayahuasca, unless their treatment has already ended – under medical guidance – for at least 6 weeks. Depending on length of administration, type of medication and individual response times, it may take up to 6-7 weeks for the system to clear from the prolonged use of certain anti-depressants pharmaceutical drugs. You are required to always inform your doctor and get professional medical advice on the potential risks involved in taking a Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitor (MAOI), in conjunction with your medical prescriptions. The Ayahuasca concoction is a MAOI, albeit weaker than most pharmaceutical drugs available on the market today.

Those who are currently on – or have recently finished an – antibiotic therapy are equally required not to drink Ayahuasca to avoid potentially strong adverse reactions. Also, if taking phenylalanine, non prescription drugs like antihistamines, systemic vase-constrictors or decongestant – both natural (ephedrine) and synthetic formulations (pseudo-ephedrine and other similar formulations) – normally used in case of cold & flu, asthma inhalers, or drugs with high content of caffeine, please discontinue their use from at least a week before until a week after your Ayahuasca retreat.

Other medications non-compatible with Ayahuasca include: narcotics, sedatives, tranquillizers, anti-hypertensive agents (used to treat high blood pressure), analgesics like Meperidine, anti-Parkinson drugs (medicines used to reduce the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease) like Levopoda, drugs used to treat heart conditions, like Dopamine (brand name: Intropin), neurological prescriptions like Carbamazipine (a drug that eliminates seizures, but has also severe side effects), and sympathomimetic drugs (substances that mimic the effects of the hormones adrenaline and noradrenaline) like amphetamine and tyrosine. People affected by Addison’s Disease must not take Ayahuasca (as well as any other medication/medicine that would alter their hydro-electrolytic balance).

If you are a user of any substance – like dope, cocaine, heroine, crack, mescaline – or Phenethylamines (homologues of amphetamines), you must please inform us immediately. Most of these substances are, on top of been illegal, incompatible – at various degrees – with a safe taking of the Ayahuasca medicine. Equally, if you have any alcohol dependency, please inform us beforehand. Strictly, people with diabetes must not take Ayahuasca, as for the consequent sudden alteration in blood sugar levels that the taking of the brew may (or can) cause. If you are affected by Chron’s Disease and/or Intestinal Ulcers, you may not take Ayahuasca for *at least* the first three months of your retreat and will be required to do a *minimum* of four months plant diet instead (at the beginning of the fourth month of diet, you may start – depending on the progress you have made – to take small quantities of Ayahuasca, on a once or twice a week basis).

For the safety of all participants and personnel, we regret we are unable to accept guests carrying any infectious disease to any of our retreats.

If any of the above condition apply to you, please seek appropriate professional medical advice before contacting us. You are kindly reminded that the responsibility of taking accurate and timely health precautions – alongside professional medical advice – remains entirely with you. You are the exclusive agent responsible for the following of these precautions and the liability for any adverse effect that may result during the taking of the Ayahuasca medicine, in the contest of a retreat organized by El Mundo Magico, remains – with no exceptions – entirely with you.

This list of conditions incompatible with a safe taking of Ayahuasca is not exhaustive. Please ultimately refer to your Practitioner for official and extensive professional medical advice. If any of the above conditions apply to you, first and foremost inform your doctor on the compatibility of your health status with MAO Inhibitors (which Ayahuasca – effectively – is), and then – upon favourable response from your doctor – us and our shaman of your conditions, to ascertain whether it would advisable or not for you to drink the Ayahuasca brew. Any disclosure re. your health status will kept in the strictest confidentiality. In certain cases, we may require a written letter from your Practitioner, before accepting you on the retreat (being it Ayahuasca or Plant Diet retreat). Thank you for your co-operation.

Women in their menstrual cycle normally should have no problem with the taking of Ayahuasca, but again please refer ultimately to the shaman you will conduct your ritual with, for this matter. The way this is approached by our maestros in Ashi Meraya is that they will sing special protective icaros for those ladies who wish to partake to the Ayahuasca ceremonies.

Pregnant women on an advanced stage of pregnancy – from their seventh months onwards – cannot take Ayahuasca, as for the possible risk of miscarriage.

Pregnant women at the initial stages of pregnancy and up until their sixth month, may still join our Ayahuasca retreats but may only take part to Ayahuasca ceremonies twice a week (instead than four times a week) and need to take a reduced amount of brew (up to half a cup), during each ceremony.

Last but not least, please familiarize yourself with the information on recommendations and food to avoid for the Ayahuasca diet!!

Chullachaki caspi “macho” teacher tree in Ashi Meraya

Photo Credit: Francesco Sammarco

Our Ayahuasca retreats are very intensive. You may now opt to have up to FIVE Ayahuasca sessions in your first week of retreat, swapping the Toe’ ritual with an extra Ayahuasca ceremony. Then it’s FOUR Ayahuasca healing and visionary sessions for each week thereafter!!

Learn, assist and join the preparation of the sacred ‘Vine of the Soul” (or ”Vine of the Spirit”, or else more, “Vine of the Dead”). See how it is made into brew, pounding the woody ayahuasca (Banisteriopsis caapi) vine cuts first and then boiling them for long hours together with Chacruna, Chalipongo (Ojo Yagè) and Toè plant additives, over a traditional wood fire.

Ayahuasca ceremony at night

Photo Credit: Francesco Sammarco

Ayahuasca rituals take place in the jungle, at night, around 9 pm, in almost total darkness (exception made for candle or lantern-light, right at the beginning of the ritual). The healing treatments (“curaciónes”) of the shaman-s will take place during the sacred – and magical – time of the ceremony, regardless of whether you would be effectively taking – or not – the Ayahuasca brew. It’s therefore of paramount importance to attend all the sessions – a requirement to all – whilst the taking of the Ayahuasca tea proper is entirely voluntary.

Shamans before the beautiful Remo caspi teacher tree
Photo Credit: Francesco Sammarco

One of the night rituals with the medicine may be done in the open wilderness, in a special area cleared for the purpose of conducting ceremonies, and protected by the oldest palo maestro (teacher tree) of Ashi Meraya, a massive and beautiful Remo caspi (Aspidosperma excelsum) tree.

Healing may take place in many different fashions whilst one is journeying with the “Vine of the Soul” (or “Rope of the Dead”, as the word Ayawaska may also be rendered in Quechua) and may well take the form of auditory – or even silent – revelations, sudden emotional unblocks, cleansing of negative feelings and – on the material plane – simply the expelling of toxins and/or parasites through bodily purges, and a sense of having been cleansed thoroughly.

Each participant is invited to focus on his/her own healing and/or concentrate on the revelatory and visionary elements that may bestowed upon one when accessing the realms of the “Vine of the Soul”. Don Mariano recommended that one of best ways to go to the appointment with the Ayahuasca is to beg the spirit of the medicine – in total humbleness – to grant you visions.

The Native American Tradition of “crying for a vision” may easily be adopted to the way one should approach the Ayahuasca experience. All will benefit, in one way or another, sooner or later, from this experience. Ayahuasca – when taken properly, under the guidance of a respectable shaman, and when the necessary dietary restrictions are observed – can heal our hyper-loaded neurons, and can give sense, direction and purpose to our lives.

Ayahuasca cooking over traditional wood-fire in Ashi Meraya

Photo Credit: Francesco Sammarco

The main plant additives employed in the making of the Ayahuasca concoction – as currently prepared in Ashi Meraya – are:

• the fresh leaves of the Chacruna (Psychotria viridis) green shrub
• the fresh leaves of the Ayahuasca (Banisteriopsis caapi) vine
• the fresh leaves of the Toè (Brugmansia suaveolens) plant
• Mapacho (Nicotiana tabacum/Nicotiana rustica), i.e. organic black jungle tobacco.

At times, the fresh leaves of the Huambisa (Diplopterys sp.) and Chaliponga (Diplopterys cabrerana) plant – also known by the names of Chagropanga and Ojo Yaje’ – are also used in the making of the brew, as alternative (or supplement) to the Chacruna leaves. Depending on the length and nature of your retreat, you may also learn (under supervision) how to prepare the Ayahuasca medicine (this last aspect of the training is, however, more suited to those who will be doing the shamanic plant diet apprenticeship).

Ayahuasca brew cooking in Ashi Meraya
Photo Credit: Francesco Sammarco

The Ayahuasca prepared by our Shipibo shamans is very strong and thick and – under normal circumstances – one should only need a small cup to enter and deeply experience non-ordinary states of consciousness.

You are strongly invited to carefully read all the Guidelines and Health Notes we have provided, and to follow and abide to the required dietary prescriptions, before, during and after taking the powerful Ayahuasca medicine. We always endorse and support safety and responsibility when it comes to journeying with shamanic entheogenic plant medicine. The paradigm within which we operate is and remains shamanistic, not psychedelic. We are firmly committed to the traditional use of entheogenic plant sacraments only and exclusively within the operative ritual framework that has been designed by the Amazonian shamans themselves.