by Emma Reeves | Jun 8, 2023 | Plant medicines
Ayahuasca, a sacred master plant, has become more widely known in recent years due to the profound healing it offers. But there are also other plant medicines that can help you on your healing journey, including another master plant, often referred to as San Pedro, Huachuma, or Awakolla. So, what should you know about this heart-opening medicine?
We are fortunate to have access to different healing plant medicines, such as the San Pedro cactus in South America, which is found in countries such as Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Colombia. Ayllu Medicina retreat participants are often less familiar with this sacred medicine, so we have put together this Huachuma guide to help you learn more.
What Is Huachuma?
Huachuma is a sacred plant medicine also known by names such as San Pedro or Awakolla. It comes from the Echinopsis Pachanoi cactus, native to the Andes mountains. It is a fast-growing and ancient cactus with huge white flowers that bloom at night and are pollinated by bats. From above, the cactus ribs look like a star.
San Pedro is known for its healing and psychoactive effects. However, this plant medicine offers more than closed and open-eye visions; it is highly revered as a master plant teacher who can provide healing and guidance on many levels.
The History of the San Pedro Cactus
While Ayahuasca originates in the Amazon jungle, Huachuma originates in the Andes mountains. Evidence of the consumption of San Pedro dates back thousands of years, with evidence from ancient cultures such as the Chavin and Chimú cultures—for example, stone carvings depicting shamans holding the San Pedro cactus.
The name ‘San Pedro’ came after the Spanish occupation, referring to the Christian saint St. Peter. It is said that Huachuma was given this name as St. Peter is the saint that holds the keys to heaven. You can often see why San Pedro can be the bridge to reach those states by the end of your journey with the plant medicine, as it helps you reach a deep state of communion with nature.
Other names for San Pedro come from different countries, such as Awakolla in Ecuador. Evidence shows ancient civilizations used San Pedro in various ways, such as for healing, divination, ceremonies, and long pilgrimages. It is said people consumed San Pedro to walk for days in the Andes, often without other food or water sources, as San Pedro’s interconnectedness to nature helps improve stamina and attention.
San Pedro Ceremonies
One way to meet with San Pedro is in a ceremonial setting. It is best to work with an experienced medicine man or woman who has the blessings to work with sacred plant medicines like Huachuma. Sitting in a contained and secure space is essential so you can journey deep with the medicines.
San Pedro ceremonies often involve singing, sacred instruments, prayers, and other types of medicine, such as tobacco. The structure and type of ceremony depend on who is leading your ceremony. You can learn more about our medicine guides here, who honor the sacred plant medicines and traditions from which they come.
What To Expect from a San Pedro Ceremony
We advise Ayllu Medicina retreat participants to have no expectations, as sacred plant medicines such as San Pedro and Ayahuasca work differently, depending on your needs and intentions.
However, San Pedro can often remind you of the beauty around you, how to sustain your well-being, and your connection to nature. You often keep your eyes open in a San Pedro ceremony, and if there is a fire, you may experience visions. While visions and other sensations occur, you are usually in the driving seat, so you find the answer through experience.
Most of the time, people find it easier to walk unaided than with other plant medicines such as Ayahuasca. San Pedro can also help promote gut health, with purging being one of the purifying effects of San Pedro. Other effects include increased self-awareness, an unsettled stomach, and dizziness.
In Ayllu Medicina night ceremonies, the medicine lasts all ceremony and most of the following day. We enjoy the rest of the day by singing, meditating, resting, and spending time in nature. You can learn how to prepare for a San Pedro ceremony in the best way in this blog post.
Benefits of San Pedro
There are many reasons why people decide to sit with the medicine of San Pedro. Sometimes, it is because they are on a plant medicine retreat that includes this plant medicine. Other times, it is because they have heard about some of San Pedro’s potential benefits and have sought out a San Pedro ceremony. Potential benefits of San Pedro include:
- Enhancing your connection to nature
- Healing your mind-body connection
- Promoting strength and stamina
- Heightened states of awareness
- Providing insights and wisdom
Sitting with any plant medicine involves two main ingredients: the plant medicine and you. This means the benefits of sitting with San Pedro vary.
However, you can trust that the plant medicine will give you what you need to let go of what no longer serves you and help you center. Once you are centered, you can receive its healing, along with experiencing the sacredness and beauty of your inner and outer world.
Ayahuasca and San Pedro Plant Medicine Retreat
Ayllu Medicina works with the plant medicines of San Pedro and Ayahuasca. During our plant medicine retreats in Ecuador, you will sit with Ayahuasca once or twice and San Pedro once or twice. A common question we receive is, why do you have San Pedro and Ayahuasca ceremonies during retreats?
There are different reasons why meeting with Ayahuasca and San Pedro is a beneficial experience. They are different medicines but complement each other well and balance the masculine and feminine energies.
As we see it with Ayllu Medicina, Ayahuasca focuses on your lower energy centers and roots. After journeying into the jungle, you can then raise your flight with masculine energy from the Andes.
San Pedro can help people balance their emotional states, dissolving mind patterns and old ways of being. He focuses on the energy of your heart so that you can enter into that energy, reaching a place of presence.
San Pedro can be indirect throughout the night, so you feel, experience, and reach your own understanding of what needs to be released. Often once you reach this point with the medicine, you can find clarity and weave together your experience. With Ayllu Medicina, the day after a San Pedro ceremony is also a time to be with your inner child and celebrate; life, healing, and the power of finding your way back to your center.
Journey to Your Center with Huachuma, the San Pedro Cactus
Huachuma, San Pedro is a sacred master plant teacher, offering profound healing, a pathway to your center, and a reminder that the child within never left.
Do you want to connect to the medicine of Huachuma? Ayllu Medicina offers San Pedro ceremonies in Ecuador as part of our retreats. We also offer public Huachuma ceremonies, with the next ceremony being on 10th June with medicine woman Andrea Calderon.
Our next retreat season begins in November. Our retreats provide helpful tools such as meditations, yoga, sharing circles, and workshops to help connect with the master plant teachers and your center during ceremonies. The retreat space provides the perfect container to allow you to take a look at your inner world and find alignment once more.
If you have any questions about our upcoming retreats or would like to reserve a space for the next San Pedro ceremony, please contact us!
by Michaela D'Amico | Mar 22, 2023 | Plant medicines
San Pedro is known to be a grandfather spirit and comes from a cactus of South America. The Incans used to use this medicine to walk for days on end – San Pedro gave them energy and a greater connection to their purpose as well as the Earth. If you are going to take part in a San Pedro ceremony, we first recommend that you ensure you are doing so with a respected and experienced medicine man or woman and that it is in a space you can trust.
Once you have ensured this and are ready to sit around the fire with this powerful medicine, we recommend the following ways to prepare for a San Pedro ceremony.
1. Meditate on Your Intention
As in any ceremonial experience, it is crucial to have an intention that you would like to work with the San Pedro medicine. This purpose will be something you can come back to any time, and it will help direct what you will see, feel, and experience throughout the ceremony.
It can be a question or a simple word for how you want to feel, like peace or joy. If you are not clear on what purpose, we recommend starting with gratitude for everything that has happened in your life so far.
2. Be Gentle and Clean With Your Diet
Having a mostly whole-food diet light in spices, fats, and sugar is the best route before the San Pedro ceremony. Ideally, eliminate drugs, meats, alcohol, sugars, citrus, and foods high in spices or fats 3 days prior to a plant medicine ceremony. It is also best to not engage in sexual activity during the days prior.
3. Continue or Begin a Meditation Practice
Breath can be your anchor during a plant medicine ceremony. It is possible that there are intense moments, both physically and emotionally, and the more you practice coming back to your breathing, the better! You can also try a yoga nidra practice or guided meditation before the San Pedro ceremony to rest and center.
4. Rest!
A meeting with San Pedro is best done when you are well-rested and nourished. Especially for all-night ceremonies, it is crucial to take a nap or take it very easy that day. The more energy you can conserve, the more you can use to focus on your intention.
5. Wear Something Beautiful and Comfortable
When we go into a ceremony around the sacred fire, it is believed that our ancestors come to join us to see how we are doing. So, we recommend wearing something nice for these spirits to see you doing well!
You can wear something meaningful to you, like jewelry or a special scarf. For women, a long skirt or dress is highly recommended – as a way to honor our connection to the Earth, and it offers a ring of protection. However, do not wear a tight dress or a very itchy pair of pants – you want to ensure your focus during the night is on the fire and your purpose, not on your discomfort.
6. Wear Protection and Braid Your Hair
Traditionally, people will wear a protection belt, or a “faja” as they are called here in Ecuador. It can be wrapped around your womb area and almost feels like a seat belt – this protection can help you feel more grounded and contain your energy.
Braids are also recommended for longer hair as it is a way to weave your energy in connection to the Earth.
7. Listen to Some Medicine Music
In traditional San Pedro ceremonies, the person who is leading the drum goes around the circle with a rattle and staff, offering each participant a turn to sing sacred prayer songs with these sacred instruments. It is good to have some songs prepared in case you feel the call to sing.
By listening to some San Pedro ceremonial songs, you can get an idea of what kind of songs are appropriate. Check out the Pájaros de Luz album for some beautiful prayer songs. We recommend songs that mean something to you and that come from tradition, such as traditional songs from your childhood (not pop songs).
Join Us Around the Fire in a San Pedro Ceremony
Going into a ceremony with a mind and body that is prepared will make all the difference for your encounter with this powerful medicine of San Pedro.
Reach out to us if you have any questions about these recommendations or our upcoming retreats and plant medicine ceremonies. We hope to see you around the fire soon!
by Emma Reeves | Jun 5, 2022 | Plant medicines
Ayahuasca (pronounced ‘eye-ah-WAH-ska’) is a plant medicine that originates from the Amazon rainforest in South America. Shamans from this region have used it for centuries, and now people are seeking this medicine from all corners of the world. So, what are the reasons why people take Ayahuasca?
Everyone has their own story about how they first came to sit with Ayahuasca. While there is no right or wrong reason to seek out Ayahuasca, finding a trusted setting that honors the ancient traditions of this plant will help shape your experience. Considering your intention for why you want to sit with Ayahuasca can also help you prepare.
If you are wondering why people attend Ayahuasca ceremonies or an Ayahuasca retreat, read on. Here are seven reasons we have gathered why people feel the call to sit with this sacred plant medicine from the Amazon jungle.
1. Improve Physical Ailments
Ayahuasca is a medicine. One of the main reasons people historically drank Ayahuasca is for physical issues. Ayahuasca can be used as a purging and diagnostic tool.
It is still used this way in many indigenous communities in the Amazonian rainforest where it originates and is a reason why people take Ayahuasca. While the plant works in its own mysterious ways, it is believed that physical ailments begin as trapped energy. The Ayahuasca brew can help release some of these trapped emotions in the body.
However, there is also more than one technique for how to brew Ayahuasca and how to drink Ayahuasca. In a ceremony, it is common for the Ayahuasca brew ingredients to include both the Banisteriopsis caapi vine and the leaves of the chacruna shrub (Psychotria Viridis). The mix of the vine and leaves can cause the psychoactive effects of Ayahuasca, such as visions.
2. Curiosity
Sometimes curiosity is the main reason people decide to sit in a ceremony. Some people hear whispers of Ayahuasca while traveling through South America, while others come to the continent explicitly seeking an experience with this plant medicine. Some people are curious about Ayahuasca after hearing about friends’ experiences, whereas others may be curious about the subconscious mind or other great unknowns.
A common question Ayllu Medicina receives is if everyone has experience with plant medicine or psychedelics. Usually, there is a mix of experiences and reasons why people are curious about Ayahuasca. Some people have sat in ceremonies or know other plants and psychedelics, while for others, it is their first experience.
3. Emotional Healing
For most humans, there are a lot of situations we go through and emotions we experience that we save for later. A plant medicine retreat is that later week; it is time to let go of the many impressions we accumulate over time to continue on your path.
In the words of our Shaman Aime,
❝We begin to carry these impressions like weights on our backs, like a backpack full of big heavy stones that we are going to deal with, later, someday. We say that an Ayahuasca ceremony and a plant medicine retreat is the time to deal with this ‘later’.❞
Some people seek Ayahuasca ceremonies for emotional healing. While emotional healing is possible, It is essential to talk to your Shaman about any mental health difficulties, medications, and other issues beforehand.
4. Seeking Answers
The spirit of Ayahuasca is said to be a Grandmother, often referred to as Grandmother Ayahuasca or Abuela Ayahuasca in Spanish. We often view our elders as wise, and Grandma Ayahuasca is no exception. This Grandma is ancient, growing in the Amazon for centuries, so often, people seek Ayahuasca for answers or to help resolve something in their lives.
Some people may be at a crossroads in their lives or want to dive deeper into their spiritual journey. Ayahuasca can open the way to the answers inside you, or she can give you more questions! In a trusted space with experienced guides, a retreat or Ayahuasca ceremony is one way to explore answers to some of your questions to continue on your path.
5. A Retreat
One of the reasons why people take Ayahuasca is when they retreat from their everyday life for a week or longer plant medicine retreat. A retreat offers the space to go inward without daily distractions, and plant medicine ceremonies such as Ayahuasca can aid this experience.
The retreat may specifically be a seven-day Ayahuasca retreat in the Amazon or another location in South America. Or, it may be a yoga or plant medicine retreat that includes different plant medicines and activities. For example, during an Ayllu Medicina transformational plant medicine retreat, there are also sweat lodges, sharing circles, breathwork, yoga, workshops, and other activities for an integrative healing experience.
Sometimes, people are drawn to a plant medicine retreat because of other medicine included, such as the San Pedro cactus plant medicine. Or, they may want to join a retreat because of factors like knowing and trusting the yoga instructors partaking or co-leading the retreat.
6. Reconnect to Self
Another reason why people take Ayahuasca is to re-center their mind, body, and spirit. With so many distractions and commitments in everyday life, it can be hard to find the time to stop. It is time to connect to your true essence.
The process of what happens to participants during Ayahuasca ceremonies is sometimes described as an onion. Our guide Hwaneetah says,
❝The plant can help you peel away many of your layers that no longer serve you, to help get to the core of who you truly are.❞
This process is not always beautiful, as there can be a lot of tears, purging, and other forms of release. However, it can be an insightful process that helps you let go of many parts of yourself that do not serve you anymore. You can then feel centered in your heart once more.
7. Hearing Your Heart’s Call
Sometimes people think they know why they are sitting in the ceremony, but Grandma Ayahuasca may show them there is another reason or four for being there. And other people may realize years later why they decided to attend an Ayahuasca retreat. But what connects the many reasons people sit with Ayahuasca is that they have heard a call from the heart.
There Are Many Reasons Why People Take Ayahuasca
It is a deeply personal decision to sit in a plant medicine ceremony, meaning there are many reasons why people take Ayahuasca.
This plant medicine will not always answer your questions, and the reasons for sitting in a ceremony do not just go away after Ayahuasca. Integration is key to embodying all the work during ceremonies. However, communing with this wise Grandma has the potential to bring healing to your life so you can continue on your path.
Are you interested in Ayahuasca ceremonies or attending a plant medicine retreat? Reach out to us at Ayllu Medicina to learn more about our offerings. We would love to help answer any of your questions and hear your reasons for wanting to connect to this powerful plant medicine.
by Michaela D'Amico | Jan 4, 2021 | Plant medicines, spiritual practices
During our retreats, everyday we cleanse and purify our minds in different ways – with meditation, purification, and with different forms of tobacco. Gaining new relationships with different parts of nature, or improving your current connections, is a crucial part of integrating your experience. However, before any power plant medicine ceremony, we have to begin a holistic detox and purify ourselves, mentally, emotionally, and physically.
Purification
There are several purification (what some might consider a form of detox) practices that we use to cleanse ourselves before entering the sacred space to work with plant medicines. One of these practices is meditation. Another is temazcal, or sweat lodge, where the heat allows us to purify all of our 5 senses, including releasing the toxins in our body. Through sweating and with the addition of various herbs and prayer, we purify our emotions and undergo a full 360 degree purification process. We also use Sacred Tobacco for purification, in 3 forms – liquid, smoking, and offering it to the Earth.
Sacred Tobacco
Tobacco, which is native to the Americas, is of course well known for its use in commercial cigarettes. However, it was used first thousands of years before within native traditions, and is considered the highest power plant of all the medicinal plants. One reason for this is because of its use is linked to the 4 elements – Earth, Fire, Air, and Water. During a retreat, you will get to experience the many beneficial and sacred ways to connect to this power plant.
Perhaps you are surprised to hear that tobacco is part of ceremonial spaces. We are NOT talking about cigarrettes. There are two species of tobacco that are commonly used today – Nicotiana tabacum and Nicotiana rustica. Nicotiana Tabacum is the variety used by cigarette companies, mainly because it is smoother and less potent so it can be used more habitually. Nicotiana Rustica, a much stronger variety, is used in the native traditions, including in Native America and the Amazon.
Liquid Water Tobacco
The Amazonian cultures of Ecuador use liquid tobacco for purification. The practice includes making a “tea” in which the tobacco plant is soaked in water. Then, we inhale this water through each of our nostrils, cleansing all the breathing channels that lead to our mind. That same water we exhale by spitting it out our mouth. Beyond the physical cleansing, energetically this practice allows us to open and activate the pineal gland so our breath can connect to it directly. This process is used to literally cleanse the thoughts. It allows us to refocus and cleanses the mind. If we do it well, we cleanse all of our thoughts.
This is one of the main ways we use this strong power plant. We inhale water tobacco before sweat lodge and before ceremonies, to get our minds ready to focus on our main purpose.
Smoking Tobacco
In native cultures all around the world, it is said that the tobacco plant has a memory of the way that humans have used it. We give direction and power to the plant depending on the use that we give it. The tobacco plant has been used for centuries to communicate with God, or the Great Spirit. When we smoke tobacco, we are opening a direct pathway to connect to God, and to the Universe.
This is how we can communicate our intentions through the smoke. The belief is that every inhalation of tobacco is one less breath for your life. That is why when we are smoking tobacco, we pray carefully and focus our intention. And we send this little bit of energy of life through the smoke up to the sky to connect to the rest of the Universe.
Offering tobacco to the Earth
Beyond cleansing and praying, we also use tobacco for offerings, protection and connecting to everything that is sacred. It is well known all over the world that nature recognizes the language communicated through the tobacco plant. For example, when we get to a new place, we give a little bit of tobacco to the Earth. It is a ritual action just to say, “Hello, we are here, we are going to honor and care for you, Mother Earth.”
And there’s more!
There are several other ways we begin the process of purification and detoxification, including rapé or snuff which is the ash from tobacco and other sacred plants, and offering tobacco to the fire to set our intention. Another key step for purifying and detoxing is following a simple cleansing diet. Head over to our FAQs to read more about this, and subscribe so you can receive our next blog which will dive into the explanation behind eliminating certain food groups in preparation for a ceremony.
