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.

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.

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.