Ayahuasca Retreat to Cusco, Peru

May 1-13th, 2012

*all meals, accommodation, ceremonies, domestic transport and tours included!!*

To Register call Ashley 604-644-4447

This Sacred Ayahuasca Retreat is for those people who seek a responsible way of spiritually opening to their self awareness and higher consciousness. The retreat offers the key to ancestral shamanic practices which will lead to amplified states of consciousness. The opportunity for deep personal growth, reflection and holistic cleansing is invaluable. The ceremonial initiation with Ayahuasca will open a lifelong relationship with spirituality. The new internal order that emerges is obtained from a transcendental dimension which reveals the purpose and meaning of life.

"The intention of this journey is to create a travelling community of seekers that is intimate, conscious, and invested in one another growth and the health of the planet. There will be a meeting prior to and following the trip and many beautiful sharing, meditations and exploration in between.

We have organized this trip with people that we have worked with before and trust, to ensure the safety and integrity of medicine work and welcome you to open yourself to all that the Peruvian culture, the ancient spirits and civilization and the deep and healing wisdom of the Pachamama has to offer."   ~ Andrew & Ashley

During the retreat, we will have three Ayahuasca sessions, integrated in a harmonic process which will include discussion forums (satsang) about the experience.  Each session produces a profound reaction in the body, mind and spirit.  Ayahuasca sheds light into your reality, shows you what you need to heal or integrate in order to transcend into higher levels of awareness and harmony.
 
The Sacred Plants -  Ayahuasca
Ayahuasca (Banisteriopsis caapi) is a vine of the jungle, which grows in the entire Amazonia, from Columbia to Peru, Bolivia, Brasil and Guyana. It is known to and respected by all indigenous peoples as a healing plant or master “teacher plant” and represents the basis of their traditional medicines.

Ayahuasca is boiled together with the leaves of a shrub called “Chacruna” (Psychotria viridis), giving a brew or sacred drink of psychoactive character that is consumed in a ritual ceremony leading to reflection and cleansing. This brew, named also Ayahuasca, has been used for more than 5,000 years by the shamans of the Amazon as a way to reach amplified states of consciousness.

The term Ayahuasca is derived from the Quechua words “aya ” meaning soul or spirit and “huasca” meaning rope or vine. This is translated as the cord of the dead or the vine of the soul and is considered to be a drink used by the initiated ones to communicate with the world of the spirits. This brew is considered to be the foundation of the magical-spiritual connection of more than 75 ethnic groups of the Upper and Lower Amazonia.

The Ayahuasca experience can lead to different results, such as the surprising and ecstatic meeting with one’s “Self”, the identification of a true “Me”, not recognized and seemingly rediscovered.

This “transpersonal” experience naturally gives us security regarding ourselves and others. In the long run clear changes manifest in our rhythm of life and in the quality of our relations with others. It increases the security with regard to our intuition, flexibility and openness to changes, as well as visibly heightened capacity of our affective expression. All this is part of the result of a process of reconnection with our deep being, nature and the feeling of transcendency.

Sourced from “El Ayahuasca – La medicina del alma” (Ayahuasca – The medicine of the soul) published in July 2002.

San Pedro

San Pedro (Huachuma) is a teacher plant (Grandfather medicine) that grows in the Andes of South America. It give us the opportunity for stopping the stream of thoughts and reconnects us to the presence that emerges of the stillness of nature. Just by dwelling in that state of being we are able to connect to our true divine self within and feel the interconnection to all that is, in a level that you will never forget.

San Pedro is a psychoactive cactus native to the Peruvian Andes and has a long history of use in Andean traditional medicine. Archaeological evidence indicates its use for healing and religious divination in the region for over 3000 years. Today it is widely known in these areas, where it is used in traditional medicine and traditional veterinary medicine.

In humans the San Pedro cactus is prescribed to treat a variety of medical problems such as: nervous conditions, joint problems, drug addictions, cardiac disease, and high blood pressure. The entheogenic status of the cactus remains as strong today as it has always been. Not only do its uses in shamanic trances and healing sessions continue, but it has also demonstrated effectiveness in the treatment of more recent problems such as alcoholism.
 
 

  
~Excursions will be included during the retreat to several sacred Peruvian sites. ~ 

Pisaq Market

Ruins of Pisaq

Salinas of Maras

Chauaitiri Community

 
About Our Guides 
  
Diego Palma

Diego also has a buddhist background and real interest in different methods that expand human consciousness. As a result, his personal approach with Ayahuasca is one of deep understanding of oneself, healing and awakening, while introducing traditional as well as western elements.

The retreats offered by Diego are supported by meditation, yoga, and most of all by the integration process and feeling of oneness that can be given by this medicine plant.

Melissa Palma Canny

Melissa also works with local Andean communities, helping them to develop local expansion projects in areas of economic, agronomic, and artisanal development.  She is also devoted to the development of projects and cultural businesses that revolve around hotels and restaurants, both in Lima and in Cusco in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, and particularly in Pisaq, where she has lived for the past five years.

Melissa will be leading the group for the excursion to Machu Picchu.

Juan de Dios Garcia Gonzales (Kucho) San Pedro Shaman

 
About Our Accommodation 
  

Accommodation will be at Melissa Wasi, a bed and breakfast house located near the base of the ruins of Pisaq. The house is surrounded by wonderful mountains called “Apus” in the very centre of the Sacred Valley of the Incas. It is one kilometer from the village of Pisaq.

Each bedroom is shared double occupancy and includes bathrooms with hot water 24 hours a day, and electricity. The view includes the sacred mountains (Apus), farm lands, and the ruins of Pisaq.

Our retreat starts in Cusco. You will be met at the Cusco airport and transferred to Pisaq to start the retreat.

Retreat Pricing Does Not Include:

~Airfare to and from Cusco, Peru 
~Hotel or transfers in Lima
~Cancellation & Medical Insurance (ask us for a quote)

~Cost to obtain valid passport
~Tips & Gratuities