Connecting to Spirit
Ayahuasca Ceremonies for Healing
An Ayahuasca Ceremony is a sacred event where participants can connect with plant spirits and their inner selves and initiate profound spiritual healing. Held at night to honor the introspective nature of the journey and create the optimal environment, participants arrive early to prepare and show respect for the curandero guiding the experience.
The curandero, or maestro, leads initial preparations, which may include introductions, prayers, and ritual blessings to cleanse the ceremonial space with palo santo or mapacho. Each step creates a safe and sacred environment, aligning the energy of the space to support the healing potential of ayahuasca. The ceremony begins once the space is ready, allowing participants to engage deeply with the ancient traditions of ayahuasca healing.
Opening the World of Ayahuasca
Beginning an Ayahuasca Ceremony
An Ayahuasca Ceremony begins in serene silence as the curandero individually invites each participant to receive a cup of ayahuasca. Before serving, the curandero may speak with each participant to discuss intentions, dosage, or any guidance needed for their journey.
After all participants have taken their cup of ayahuasca, the curandero also drinks, signaling a shared journey of healing and transformation. With lights extinguished, participants sit quietly in darkness as the ayahuasca begins to take effect, and soon, the curandero begins singing icaros, sacred songs that serve a variety of purposes to guide and deepen the ceremony, inviting healing energies and plant spirits to join in the transformative experience.
Sacred Healing Songs
Icaros in Ayahuasca Ceremonies
In Ayahuasca ceremonies, healing songs known as icaros are vital to the transformative process. These sacred chants are sung by curanderos to communicate with plant spirits and invoke healing energies for each participant. Every icaro addresses specific needs within the healing journey.
At the start of the ceremony, curanderos sing to invite guiding spirits into the space, establishing a protected and sacred environment. Throughout the ceremony, the curandero or the assistant healers continue to sing, guiding participants through their experiences, adjusting the energy and intensity of the journey through the power of their connections to the plant spirits.
“The spirits of the plants come first to guide me. I listen to them and they guide me to open the world of the plants, the world of Ayahuasca. I’m not doing it on my own, I’m being guided by the spirits of the plants” – doña Angela
Purification of Negativity
Healing in Ayahuasca Ceremonies
At the onset of an Ayahuasca ceremony, participants often experience a profound expansion of consciousness, which can be both powerful and, at times, unsettling. Early in the journey, physical purging, such as vomiting, may occur, though it is not universal. This cleansing, or purging, plays a crucial role in removing internal blockages, creating a purified space for healing energies to flow.
Curanderos engage in individualized healing, utilizing a range of sacred techniques. A common practice involves singing an icaro specifically tailored to each participant’s needs or ailments. Through this personalized icaro, participants may experience the release of stored pain or emotions, guided by the curandero’s deep connection with plant spirits. To further cleanse and protect, curanderos use tools like their pipe and mapacho smoke, agua de florida, their breath, and sometimes techniques involving touch. Guided by the plant spirits, these methods harmonize the energies of the group, fostering a shared journey of transformation.
Ayahuasca Ceremonies at the Ayahuasca Foundation
A high level of patient engagement is essential in an ayahuasca ceremony, which is why we prefer to use the term “participant.” Active participation enhances the healing process, especially for addressing emotional traumas that often underlie various afflictions. During the ayahuasca ceremony, participants are encouraged to engage fully, bringing their own energy, attitude, and intention to the experience, which aids in the healers’ work. About two-thirds into the ceremony, the healers will have conducted the majority of their spiritual work—calling in spirits, moderating the ceremony’s intensity, and connecting with plant, animal, and ancestral spirits to support the participants’ healing journeys.
An Invitation to Sing in Ceremony
At this stage, participants are invited to sing if they wish, contributing to the shared energy of the ceremony. This song need not be an icaro, but can be any melody, as intention and sincerity are what matter most. While singing is optional, we have observed its profound benefits for many, helping individuals overcome fears, release inhibitions, and contribute to a collective healing environment. This approach transforms the event from merely the curandero’s ayahuasca ceremony into a shared experience, empowering participants in a unique and supportive healing journey.
When the Ceremony Ends
Following the ayahuasca ceremony, after participants are invited to sing, the curanderos bring the ceremony to a close with additional icaros. A period of decompression or ‘coming down’, with light discussion about each participant’s experience is encouraged, although optional. This post-ceremony sharing fosters a sense of community, where participants connect deeply with one another, building bonds that create a supportive environment of friends who feel like family. Sharing experiences in this way can provide clarity, as assistant healers offer insights that deepen understanding and amplify the healing process. It also aids in remembering the ceremony, which, like a vivid dream, can become harder to recall without immediate reflection.
After the discussion, participants are free to rest in their rooms or stay and reflect as they wish. Post-ceremony sharing may also occur the following morning, allowing additional time to process and integrate the experiences from the ayahuasca ceremony.
Ayahuasca Retreats
The Ayahuasca Foundation’s Healing Ayahuasca Retreats offer an opportunity to change your life’s course and start fresh. You’ll take part in ayahuasca ceremonies guided by a Shipibo healer and experienced assistants. Along with these ceremonies, you’ll also receive various plant-based treatments to cleanse your mind, body, and spirit.
Ayahuasca Courses
Ayahuasca courses offer authentic training in the Shipibo plant medicine tradition, focusing on sacred plant dietas and the use of ayahuasca in ceremonies. These informative training courses are a condensed version of an ancestral initiation experience, teaching the core principles of the ayahuasca plant medicine tradition in Peru.