HEALING WITH AYAHUASCA
Ayahuasca is a magical rainforest medicine made from ayahuasca vine (Banisteriopsis caapi) and the leaves of the chacruna plant (Psychotria viridis).
The mixture is prepared by cleaning specially-chosen vines and adding them and the leaves to water. This is then boiled and reduced for several hours, attended by shamans who blow their intentions and good wishes (soplada) into it, make prayers to their spirits for good healings to come and singing icaros (sacred healing songs) into the brew during its preparation and in ceremony.
When ayahuasca is drunk it can open up a new world for us that is extraordinary, amazing and healing – and yet it is the same world we are part of every day; ayahuasca simply opens our eyes to what is really before us.
The experience normally begins soon after drinking with a feeling of warm presence in the stomach which spreads throughout the body. Most people describe this as very pleasant, like being in a warm, body-temperature bath.
Approximately 40 minutes later visions begin, which may be of “other worlds” or new perspectives on “this” world and/or recollections in words, sights, sounds or feelings of episodes and events from your life which need to be healed and which you can now approach from a position of knowledge and strength, aided by the spirit of ayahuasca.
Healing comes through a subtle shift in awareness, a deepened understanding of your place in the world or an increase in personal power.
Icaros, healing songs of the shaman, are integral to the ayahuasca experience and direct the ceremony and the visions which may arise. The shaman has songs for each person’s needs, the vibrations of which summon healing energies with words that tell of Nature’s ability to heal.
As the shaman sings you might even see these things in your visions (ayahuasca was once known by the scientific name telepathine because of its ability to work in this way). Another common experience is to see rainbows streaming from the shaman’s mouth as he sings to you, becoming white light or healing colours as they enter your energy field.
Healing takes place as the vibrations of these songs rearrange the patterns, waveforms and frequency of your energy system, also empowering and directing the ayahuasca you have drunk so it can act with greater intensity and focus on your behalf.
As a result of this shift in energy you become, in a sense, a new person who can see and understand life from a new perspective and sadness, illness, anger or other unhelpful energies can be transmuted into ecstasy, well-being and love.
THE HUMMINGBIRD RETREAT CENTRE PERU
At The Hummingbird Retreat Centre Peru, healing with ayahuasca is also part of a process which involves other aspects of traditional purification and energy work. During your stay our shamans may therefore prescribe healings for you which might also include the following.
TRADITIONAL CLEANSING SAUNA
Traditional jungle “saunas” help you to cleanse, detoxify and “leave the outside world behind”. Participants are wrapped in blankets and absorb hot steam from a pot containing herbs which rid the body of toxins.
We are also constructing a sweatlodge (not a traditional Amazonian method but nonetheless effective) and when this is complete purification ceremonies in the lodge will also be offered.
FLORAL BATHS
Herbal and floral baths (banos de limpe y florecimiento) are also part of our treatments. Special plants and flowers for cleansing and empowerment are added to cooling water from our lagoon and the mixture is poured over you to restore balance and harmony to the soul. By “flourishing” us in this way they also prepare us for the deeper healing of ayahuasca. We undertake a course of floral baths as directed by our shamans and will normally bathe after every ayahuasca ceremony.
HEALING CONSULTATIONS
Individual consultations with our shamans typically take place each day so you have an opportunity to discuss your ayahuasca visions and healing needs directly with our experts. Translation services are provided.
As a result of these meetings additional treatments and plant medicines may sometimes be prescribed which our shamans will freshly prepare for you. Occasionally there is a small extra charge for this (for example if you wish to have larger quantities of medicines made up for you to take home) but normally these treatments are included as part of your programme.
CIRCLE MEETINGS
In the morning following every ayahuasca ceremony there is a circle meeting led by one of our counsellors so you can discuss your experiences and clarify your visions and insights. Participants usually find this very helpful but attendance at them is not compulsory and you may choose to rest or do your own integration work instead.
PLANT WALKS
The Hummingbird Retreat Centre is in the rainforest so the jungle is your playground and you are free to explore it every day. Some of our retreats also include guided walks with our shamans to introduce you to the medicine plants of the forest and explain their uses in healing.
The rainforest is home to many rare species which cannot be found outside this region and it is estimated that 60-70% of all pharmaceutical medicines are derived from its plants – yet Western science has still only explored about 3% of its healing potential. Our shamans know thousands of plants and are experts in their uses.
SHAMANIC WORKSHOPS AND SEMINARS
On some of our courses (for example, The Magical Earth and Plant Spirit Shamanism programmes) shamanic healing techniques are also taught and explanatory seminars and workshops are offered so you can put your experiences into context and learn more about the rainforest, its myths, legends and the approach of its shamans to healing. Previous subjects have included:
- Soul retrieval and ‘spirit extraction’
- The doctrine of signatures in rainforest healing
- Ayahuasca, icaros and spirit songs
- Making your own pusanga, the “love medicine of the Amazon”
- Exploring ayahuasca visions
- Ancestral healing and symbols of power
- The journey of the spirit canoe
- Shipibo art and the nature of reality
- And, during one event, a special spirit journey and baby-naming ceremony for a participant mother-to-be
If you’d like to know more about ayahuasca or our healing work with this jungle medicine visit our website at www.ayahuascaretreats.org or email ross@thefourgates.com for a copy of our brochure.
About the Author
Ross Heaven is a therapist, workshop leader, and the author of several books on shamanism and healing, including Darkness Visible, the best-selling Plant Spirit Shamanism, and Love’s Simple Truths. His website is http://www.thefourgates.com where you can also read how to join his sacred journeys to the shamans and healers of the Amazon.
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