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 Michaela D'Amico | Feb 2, 2021 | Ayllu Medicina Retreats
We got a question recently about why our retreats had so many ceremonies – 2 Ayahuasca and 1 San Pedro. Why not just 1 ceremony, some yoga, and a chance to relax and detox?
Our response was, it is actually 5 or more ceremonies – since Sweat Lodge (or Temazcal) is also considered a ceremony, and we always do at least two if not more of these powerful purification processes.
In fact, we believe that there is actually very little that can happen from ONE ceremony. Everyone has many layers that need unravelling for true transformation and commitment to integrating what you experienced back in your life to be possible. So a process involving a series of ceremonies is much more effective, and during a 1-week retreat, much can be healed and realized.
As we talk about in this blog about Sweat Lodge, we always begin a retreat with this strong purification process which allows you to begin grounding your energy. It is also continuation of the detoxification which you hopefully began before arrival via your diet.
During a retreat, and starting in the sweat lodge, you are receiving a complete detoxification from:
- certain foods that are not supporting your health (no sugar, salt, spices, caffeine, alcohol),
- what you are seeing (the sweat lodge involves praying and singing in the dark, and Ayahuasca ceremonies involves the focal point of the fire),
- the speed that you usually move in (all ceremonies are long and slow processes that also need long and slow unstructured time in between for integration),
- and from the things you are normally speaking about (we encourage participants to pause from normal conversation topics, and to take time to integrate before fully sharing about their visions/learnings. We lead circles to give you a chance to share what feels necessary and helpful).
After the first Sweat Lodge on Day 1 of the retreat, we have the 1st Ayahuasca ceremony on Day 2. This is when you will begin to ground and work the outer layers that you brought with you. This is just the beginning. We are like flowers, that little by little begin to open as we dedicate to this transformational process of detoxification and grounding.
Then, we have a rest day, and another Ayahuasca Ceremony on Day 4. This is when you will not only be working to understand and peel back your outer layers, but also beginning to ground your energy back to yourself, where it’s meant to be.
Ayahuasca especially works on the roots of your being and your family tree. With two ceremonies working with Ayahuasca, you will be opening space so you can gain a deeper understanding of your roots, clear the roots that are not supporting you, and begin to connect back to your heart.
And then from that grounded point, and having done some healing with your Ayahuasca journey, we go into a San Pedro Ceremony on Day 6. It is with this Grandfather spirit Awakolla, San Pedro, that you will begin to work with the upper branches of your tree. After grounding with Ayahuasca, you will now be ready to work more deeply on the heart.
During our retreats, you have the rare chance to spend the entire week in a focused, calm, and supported space so you can truly clear out what you no longer need and connect deeply to your purpose. The ceremonies are just one piece of the journey, and can assist you to see and clarify your path. However, the real ceremony begins when you leave the retreat – the ceremony of life. All of our participants so far have expressed their readiness and excitement in applying all they experienced back to their life and with their friends and family. AND you may even find that you would like to continue to do even more ceremonies, and can likely find a place to join a Sweat Lodge or singing circle!
by Michaela D'Amico | Aug 11, 2020 | plant medicine ceremonies, Uncategorized
Our retreats with Ayllu Medicina always begin with a Temezcal, or a sweat lodge. For me, it is a time to sweat out what is stuck, and reconnect with my inner self and intention.
After weeks or months of anticipation, traveling for several hours, and finally arriving to the space of a retreat, it is of course normal to feel excitement, relief, and nerves. We are carrying energies and thought-patterns from our “everyday life” that do not just float away on the airplane. To mark the official arrival to the space, we will begin every retreat with a temazcal, or sweat lodge. Seated around a fire, you will begin connecting with the element and your purpose to start your process of deep inner work and transformation.
We then enter the sweat lodge. Led by our experienced guides, this is a chance to experience a rebirth brought upon purely by your intention and attention as you focus on praying, singing, and appreciating the elements of Mother Earth.
The sweat lodge is one of the oldest ceremonies that exist, also known as the Ceremony of Origin. It is a profound experience of rebirth in the womb of our Mother Earth. As an ancestral ceremony of the Native American Tradition, their cosmovision says that this ceremony is a way to recreate the creation of Life.
When I enter a sweat lodge, crawling on the ground and sitting up right, legs folded, waiting for the heat to begin, I breathe with the knowledge that these moments of prayer and release are here to remind me of my connection to the Earth, her elements, and my ancestors which are now a part of the Earth.
The sweat lodge is in a circular space located in the East, which represents the maternal womb, and is covered by canvas until it is completely dark. In the West is the fire, which represents the Sun and its creative power. Volcanic stones are heated in the fire until they are completely fiery red. Once these ancient stones are ready, they are placed in a hole in the sweat lodge. Then we close the door, beginning an experience where we connect intimately with our inner being through the darkness of the space and heat of the old stones. The movement of our energies begins through prayer, intentions, native songs and silence. There are four rounds, each one in honor of the 4 elements of life: body (earth), heart (water), mind (fire), and spirit (wind), taking us to soul spaces where we experience the understanding of being part of an indivisible whole.
Returning to this womb of Mother Earth makes it possible to recreate our impressions and projections on the world, consciously modifying our original codes.
For me, this ceremony is my form of church. It reminds me that we are all a part of Nature and that our life has a purpose, from which we must take responsibility. It is a deeply spiritual way to move unwanted stress, body-aches- release toxins from body and generate vitality.
The only way to begin a true retreat and transformation.
