Let’s begin a little with the similarities between both master plants.
Both ceremonies require:-
- A serious self-commitment
- Intentional preparation
- Conscientious and long-term integration
- Vulnerability, acceptance and a willingness to forgive and let go of the past and/or current structures of belief
- Respect and gratitude to the capacities revealed during the ceremony
- Adherence to our medical and dietary guidelines
Ayahuasca and Wachuma are both visionary medicines with a significant history of ancestral use for healing and learning through visions and shifts in emotional perspectives. It is the continuation of the respectful and authentic tradition of ceremony, the meaningful subjective experiences and healing potential for our guests that is our primary area of focus.
Ayahuasca is the preparation of two plants from the Amazon, the Ayahuasca vine and the leaves of the Psychotria viridis shrub, locally known as chacruna or chacrona. Although the chacruna is considered a masculine energy, the Ayahuasca brew is considered a feminine energy, often referred to as Mother Ayahuasca. An Ayahuasca experience in ceremony will generally last between 4-5 hours and will be held in a ceremony circle with an experienced shaman and facilitators for support. The ceremony will begin after sunset and after the initial preparation by candle-light, will be held entirely in darkness. Each Ayahuasca experience can be enormously diverse, ranging from a mild physical or emotional sensations to a full-on disorientated hallucinogenic episode with severe purging. Many participants describe having encounters with a highly intellectual entity who seemingly reminds them of the information that they have forgotten along their life journey. It is this entity who the shamans name Mother Ayahuasca, a loving but sometimes strict persona who takes a direct interest in our personal lives and guides us towards understanding our better potentials and capacity for growth. Participants connect to this spirit intelligence and experience an understanding of both physical and mental blockages or obstacles which may be cured during the ceremony experience. Sometimes this curing may be a death and rebirth experience to leave the old behind and begin again with new motivation and courage.
Wachuma, or the San Pedro Cactus is often described as the masculine teacher plant of the Andes and its use has been traced back to over 3,500 years ago in specific ceremony sites throughout the Peruvian altiplano. The ceremony experience can be between 8-14 hours and we begin our ceremonies between 9 and 10 in the morning so that the majority of the experience can be within the wonderful nature of our garden and surrounding valley landscapes and trails that take you along a cold cleansing glacial river and through interesting semi-arid flora and fauna. Coming back to the house, we provide a wholesome lunch of quinoa and vegetable soup with locally baked bread. The effects of the plant medicine can be both deeply internal self-introspection and expansively immersive within the rich surrounding environment. Participants often describe bliss and inner-peace and an understanding of matters that previously were not available to them; An increase in emotionally intuitive information, feelings and sentiments that pass like waves and leave them nostalgically displaced. Participants also report an ability to hold an inner dialogue with nature, plants, trees, flowers and insects. There are also few cases where deeper and more serious cleansing and curing is taking effect, and it is often explained that Wachuma can provide a space for Mother Ayahuasca to continue her committed work. We recommend that participants begin with an Ayahuasca ceremony, and follow up with a Wachuma ceremony in order to gently connect to nature on a more profound level, leaving them grounded and ready to integrate for their return.
