Master shaman Heberto (Shipibo name Coshi Niwe)  belongs to the Shipibo-Conibo ethnic group of the Peruvian Amazon and descends from a lineage of indigenous Shipibo Merayas (the highest level shamans for the Shipibo people) and Onanya (shamans).  A relative of Don Mariano, Don Alfredo and Dona Ercilia, he is the grandson of both Don Leoncio and Don Guillermo Ramirez, one of the last Merayas belonging to the Shipibo culture.

Maestro Heberto (Coshi Niwe) performing the Merayas’ Smoke Medicine Ritual

Photo Courtesy: Isabel Grau

He is native of the community of Maputae (also known as Quebrada con Greda), a place where many Merayas and Onanya gathered to conduct their shamanic rituals and ceremonies. All throughout his childhood Heberto was constantly and directly exposed to the shamanic teachings of his grandpa (Guillermo) and grandma (Lusmilla), who passed on to him their knowledge. Thanks to them he had also the privilege of receiving the Arkanas (spells of protection) and shamanic energies of two elderly Merayas: Don Lucho (Guillermo’s brother) and Bawan Sani (Guillermo’s cousin), in the last stages of their earthly life. Years later, Heberto began his shamanic diets under the guidance of his grandparents and other shamans (from the Shipibo as well as from the Ashaninka and Cacataibo ethnic groups), who transmitted him their shamanic powers.

Shaman of the Wind: The Initiation

It all started very early though, with a storm and the Gods of the Winds stealing his soul, when Heberto was only a two year old infant. One day, whilst his mother, Ines Ramirez, was taking the washing in, a very strong storm arrived suddenly. Heberto ran out crying into the yard, where at that very moment something strange happened: the Gods of the Winds took away his soul.

The Shipibo believe that babies and children must not be left outdoors or be exposed nakedly when strong winds blow. It is said that when storms arrive they bring with them the Gods of the Winds (los dioses de los vientos), who would steal and carry away the souls of defenseless babies or children, should they find them in their path.

When this happens, the soul-less baby or child is destined to die after a short time. Ines brought her child (who had become very weak and emaciated due to constant vomiting and diarrhea) to her curandero uncle, Incan Nima. After having tested the pulse of the baby he declared that he could not save Heberto’s life as he had already lost his soul. Incan Nima, however, recommended bringing the baby to the Meraya Don Lucho, to see if he could help. Ines, in desperation and as last resort, took Heberto to be seen by the Meraya. After making an initial diagnostic assessment he conducted a special ceremony in the afternoon, where he drank his tobacco potion and sat behind a large mosquito net, where entered into a trance. Upon completing the ritual, he related the following to Heberto’s mother:

“The cities of the spirits are similar to the cities of our world: there you have huge houses, buildings, military and civil personnel, amongst other things. In that spirit world dwell ‘storm-men’, ‘lightning-men’ and ‘thunder-men’. I went to the city of the wind gods. I went up and entered the highest storey of the tallest building there, and met some very strange men with large ears and snake-like hair. They were the gods of the winds, seated around in circle. One of them held in his arms your son and was giving him something to drink.”

I then asked:

‘Why did you take my nephew? I came to rescue him, give him back to me!’

And they replied:

‘He will be returned to you but you need to know that we have already given him our magical drink so he may be like one of us. Even if you take him back with you, he will not be any longer a normal baby. From the moment that he drank our magical drink he received our powers and if you will comply with the indications that we will give you, he will be like one of us’ ( a god-like creature or spirit). You’ll need to hide him for three months, so that no one – except you – will see him. Bathe him only with the Niwe Rao and Yoman Rao plants. And give him only vegetables and fruit as food. This will be the pact between you and us. This way he will always be in touch with us!’

The secret held by Don Guillermo, that of being a Meraya, was kept until his last day on earth. He was previously known as a Shipibo writer (specialized in Shipibo culture, legends, myths and shamanism) and a storyteller. It was only after his death, with the discovery of his diary where he had noted all his life achievements as a Meraya, that the different shamanic diets that he did with many different shamans (especially with the Merayas) came to light. Why this secret was kept for all his life remains until now a mystery for both the Shipibo family he belonged to and the Shipibo community in general.

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 brew and sings his powerful icaros in the Shipibo tongue of his people.

Shipibo shaman Don Alfredo Cairuna, preparing a Sweat Lodge in the Ashi Meraya Centre

Photo Credit: Heberto Hiran Garcia Ramirez

Don Alfredo – now almost in his sixties – started his first shamanic plant diet at the age of fifteen and had the great privilege of being in his youth a disciple of the last Shipibo banco (the highest possible rank of a shaman), Don Luis Cauper Guimaraes, also known as Don Lucho.

He has been living in the Alto Ucayali, in the Ashaninka community of Meranquiari, where he studied with master shaman Don Marcos Ocampo. More recently, he lived in the Cashibo/Cacataibo Indian community of Mariscal where he studied with maestro Don Baltazar Estrella. His knowledge of the Sweat Lodge is the fruit of his direct exposure to the Ashaninka and Cacataibo indigenous people.
He also had a female teacher, Doña Jesusa Pacaya, of the Cocama ethnic group. An Ayahuasquero, a shamanic master herbalist expert in the curative properties of Amazonian medicinal plants, and a Toesero, Don Alfredo has a unique style of working during the Ayahuasca rituals, flapping relentlessly his Cushma (Shipibo ceremonial tunic) in front of the patient, during a healing session, in the fashion of a bird’s wing, to clear negative energies. And yet at other times his ceremonies begin with a Prayer followed by an Invocation to the Spirit of Ayahuasca.

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.

A ritual body painting session where the Shipibo family will draw on you – in the form of an impermanent ‘tattoo’ (lasting about 10-14 days) made using a natural plant dye – the Arkana, or spiritual/energetic protection, laid on you by the shaman, during the Ayahuasca sessions.

Shipibo Ritual Body Painting
Photo Courtesy: Stephen Witte

The Arkana may be an animal, a bird, an insect, a plant or a tree, or else, an inanimated object like a stone or a geometric design. In the Shipibo world these abstract designs are intimately connected with the Shipibo cosmovision and are deeply intertwined with musical patterns: they are effectively musical pathways to the Spirit world.

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.