Ayahuasca and Yoga Retreat – Amazon Rainforest, Mishana, Peru. March 2008

Ayahuasca Retreat – Amazon Rainforest, Mishana, Peru. March 2008

A video collage of Eagle’s Wing Ayahuasca Retreat at our dedicated centre in Mishana.

Click to visit our website for info on our Ayahuasca Retreat Programme.

Healing Traditions of the Andes

Andean Curandera Doris Rivera Lenz, shows the traditional Andean divinatory methods using eggs. Video taken at Eagle’s Wing Andean Shamanism Retreat in Peru March 2009.

Shamanism and the Healing Traditions of the Andes

Click to read the interview with Doris Rivera Lenz by Howard G Charing and Peter Cloudsley

To view our website and for info about our Andean and Ayahuasca Shamanism Retreats

The 4th International Amazonian Shamanism Conference:Magic, Myths, and Miracles

The 4th International Amazonian Shamanism Conference:Magic, Myths, and Miracles

Iquitos, Peru; July 19th – 27th

This 4th Amazonian Shamanism Conference will be opened by the illustrious visionary scientist, Dr.Dennis Mckenna. Other Presenters (with more confirming soon are – That master of sound healing- Dr. Richard Grossman, the brilliant entheo-scientist and lecturer, Ananda, the Indiana Jones of Amazon Shamanism and noted journalist – Peter Gorman, the most excellent scientfic researcher on brain states while taking ayahuasca- Dr. Frank Echenhofer, the Amazon’s most famous visionary painter- Pablo Amaringo, the filmmaker and director Jan Kounen who brought us the documentary Other Worlds about ayahuasca and the Shipibo tribes and Renegade (Blueberry), specialist in Entheo-Religion and compiler of the book: Entheogens and the Future of Religion – Robert Forte, the intrepid Victoria Alexander speaking on her research of Medieval Mysticism and Its Empirical Kinship to Ayahuasca, the very profound Melvin Morse (invited but not yet confirmed) and his research into childrens near death experiences as well as his research on Myths, the renowned Dr. John Alexander (invited but not yet confirmed) and his years of training and research on Remote Viewing, one of the Director’s of Eagle’s Wing and author Howard G Charing, Conference Organizer Alan Shoemaker speaking on 15 years in shamanism, the visionary artists Robert Venosa and Martina Hoffman two curanderas specializing in Huachuma (San Pedro) Wendy Luckey and Mary Ann Endowes Presenting as well as holding ceremonies, Elisa Vargas Fernandez, the Shipibo curandera who works magic with her incredible icaros, and many more to be confirmed.The list of shamans (curanderos) is coming next and they are the most powerful we can find. There will be approximately 15 different curanderos/shamans giving presentations (all are translated into English).During the Conference Presentations you will have ample opportunities to hear the many shamans speaking alone as well as in panel discussions. It is during this time that you will get a sense of which healer you would like to be in Ceremony with, especially during the question and answer times.

There are three evenings set aside for you to be in Ceremony with the shaman – curandero or your choice. All Ceremonies are held outside of Iquitos, either up or downriver or way out on the Iquitos to Nauta highway and then a short 15 minute walk into the various Compounds. Transport is provided both to the location and returning to Iquitos the following morning.

For those that have never been in Ceremony before, a workshop will be held by Dr. Richard Grossman and Alan Shoemaker so that all of your questions can be adequately answered. The Ceremonies offered are completely voluntary and not in any way a prerequisite of attending the Conference.

Pre-Conference Tune-Up. Those wishing a program for a week before the Conference can come to the Pre-Conference Tune-Up. This is for more experienced Ceremonial persons. It begins one week before the Conference and will be held at the Soga Del Alma compound just outside of Iquitos. You will be able to make your own medicina and hold your own Ceremony without a curandero being present. Total price: $200 USDs This includes everything from the time you arrive at the maloca/compound.

Please contact us for more details.Visit the Conference website:

Ayahuasca Brewing with Huitoto Shaman – Video

Brewing Ayhuasca – November 2007, with Huitoto Shaman Lucho. Recorded at Mishana Ayahuasca & Plant Spirit Shamanism Retreat Centre, Amazon Rainforest, Peru.

Peru

Visit our website www.shamanism.co.uk for details on our Ayahuasca Yoga Retreats in the Amazon 

Andean San Pedro and Amazon Ayahuasca Yoga Retreats in the Amazon – 2008 Programme

Since the late 90’s Eagle’s Wing has conducted Ayahuasca and San Pedro Retreats in Peru. We have our 2008 programme available for viewing, downloading, or printing on this blog.

View or Download our 2008 San Pedro and Ayahuasca Yoga programme in Adobe PDF format

Visit our webpage for info on our Ayahuasca Retreats

Ayahuasca – Medicine for the Soul Part 4

Ayahuasca, is regarded as the ‘gateway’ to the Soul. The fourth part of this article continues to explore this fascinating plant brew from the Amazon Rainforest. Ayahuasca is the jungle medicine of the upper Amazon. It is made from the ayahuasca vine ( Banisteriopsis Caapi) and the leaf of the Chacruna plant (Psychotria Viridis). The two make a potent medicine, which takes one into the visionary world. The vine is an inhibitor, which contains harmala and harmaline among other alkaloids, and the leaf contains vision-inducing alkaloids. As with all natural medicines, it is a mixture of many alkaloids that makes their unique properties.

I discovered that Ayahuasca is a medicine, so unlike the Western understanding, a medicine which works on every level, on the physical and non-physical beings, our consciousness, our emotions, and our spirit. It is as if you are drinking not just a liquid brew but imbibing an ‘other’ intelligence which knows exactly what is needed to help you. This is a communion in the true sense of the word, an intense experience of euphoria and ecstasy. A journey of deep and profoundly meaningful personal and trans-personal insights , a searchlight on the hidden thoughts and feelings in the sub-conscious mind, an erasing of the ego boundaries and a merging with the greater field of consciousness of creation.

The was more and more to experience, dieting some of the teacher plants such as Ajo Sacha and Guyasa, I felt my senses being altered , expanded in some ineffable way, and becoming aware of the song, the very rhythm of the rainforest. There was sound, smells, and sights around me, which I had not been aware of in my normal everyday waking state. I could zoom in on smells, and sound, I realised that the rainforest was one entity with the insects, birds, and animals being a part of the totality of the rainforest. I am in paradise when lying in my hammock; it is like floating within a living three-dimensional sensorial experience of sound, colour, smell, movement, and vibration all in harmony and great beauty.

The work with the visionary plants not only provides a philosophical frame of reference for my life so to speak, but is also a path for deep soul healing, and generates a desire to engage fully and with enthusiasm the world around me. Celestial visions are always very nice and pleasing but they must never cloud, disguise, or distract our real purpose to live in the full embodiment of being a human on this beautiful planet and striving to enrich that special and unique experience, our ‘earth walk’. I recall some years ago when I led a group to the Amazon Rainforest, our initial gathering with our shaman Javier Arevalo so we could all introduce ourselves. Javier was very curious about Westerners, and was interested in knowing what we were searching for with the visionary plants. One participant stood up and said she wanted a clear and definitive understanding of the male and female principles of the universe, the cosmic “ying and yang” as she put it. Well Javier was totally mystified by this question, as when I have attended his sessions with local people who visit him for a consultation or session they ask about everyday problems and concerns such as “is my boyfriend / husband / girlfriend cheating on me?”, or “why am I unlucky in finding a job?”, “I need help to overcome this disease”. Well we worked with our participant to explore what the real question was behind her initial enquiry, finally she said that she was really looking for love in her life, and of course, Javier could understand this deep desire completely, and was subsequently able to help her discover and reconcile the inner obstacles, which had been preventing this.

Visit our website for details on our Ayahuasca and Yoga Retreats in the Amazon

Ayahuasca – Medicine for the Soul Part 3

Ayahuasca, is regarded as the ‘gateway’ to the Soul. The third part of this article continues to explore this fascinating plant brew from the Amazon Rainforest. Ayahuasca is the jungle medicine of the upper Amazon.

My first real encounter with the plant world of the shamans was when I first arrived in the Amazon some fourteen years ago. The moment I stepped off the aeroplane in Iquitos it felt as if I had been hit by bolt of energy. I felt so energised that I didn’t sleep for two days, my senses were at a heightened state of awareness, and it felt as if I could hear the heartbeat of the rainforest itself.

Iquitos is a city in the Amazon rainforest, there are no roads (completed anyway) to it. The only way to get there is via aeroplane or by river boat. The city in the 19th century was the centre of the Rubber industry but by the early 20th century the rubber trade had moved to the Far East, and the city had fallen into neglect and disrepair. It is now a place without an apparent purpose resplendent in its post-colonial splendour literally in the middle of nowhere, a true frontier town.

I recall my first moments in Iquitos standing on the Malecon at the edge of the city overlooking the river and some 3000 miles of pure rainforest spread out in front of me, an exhilarating experience which still fills me with wonder and awe.

I had come to Iquitos out of a long-standing interest and desire to experience at first hand the living tradition of plant spirit medicines and of course, the magical brew of Ayahuasca of which I had heard so much about.

I was not to be disappointed; my first sessions with a shaman in an open jungle clearing changed my view and understanding of life, a spiritual epiphany. I experienced being in the very centre of creation. I had the realisation and experience that I was not separate but an intrinsic part, a discrete element in the vast cosmic mind or field of consciousness, and that we were all connected. All part of the one great mind, and our experience of ‘separateness’ was no more than an illusion, generated by our being in our bodily vehicle which housed our senses.

One of my most profound experiences in an Ayahuasca ceremony, when I found myself transported to what I felt as the centre of creation. I was in the cosmos witnessing totality, planets, stars, nebulas, and universes forming. Everywhere stretched vast patterns of intricate geometric and fluid complexity constantly changing size and form. The chanting of the shaman was filling every cell with an electric force, every port of my body was vibrating and it felt as if I was being bodily lifted into the air. I was in a temple of sound, vibration and bliss. Gathered around me were giants in ornate costumes of gold and multi-coloured feathers blowing smoke and fanning me, these were the spirits of Ayahuasca, and then this soft gentle and exquisitely soft and sensual voice spoke to me of creation and the universal mind.

To reinforce this poetic insight, the words appeared before me in bold neon like script. When I related this after the session to the maestro said, “Ayahuasca wanted you to understand”, and he continued; “Ayahuasca opens doors to different dimensions. Often the mind can be obstructed from accessing inner knowledge. Ayahuasca can open up the mind to abstract things that cannot be seen in the material world. If I hadn’t had the experience, I would not be able to believe that a tree could have its own world or have a spirit. But when you begin to discover these dimensions personally, little by little you begin to recognise and accept the mystery of it.”

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The Pusanga – the Attraction Powers of the Amazon

The Western rational mind can only struggle, to take as an example the famed ‘love potion’ of the Amazon known as the Pusanga. In rational terms it makes no sense whatsoever, how can a concoction of leaves, roots, and seeds attract a lover, or good luck to you?

My experience working with shamans in preparing Pusangas (which normally is prepared away from their clients so it was a privilege to be invited to participate in the preparation) showed me that far from interfering with the freedom of other individuals or putting a ‘number’ on them, we were altering something within ourselves, which was brought out by the ingredients, the magic of the plants. Whatever it was, it felt wholesome and good. It is what is in oneself… one’s own magic. Asking Javier Arevalo (the shaman) what does the Pusanga actually do, is it inside us or outside of us? His response was “When you pour it onto your skin it begins to penetrate your spirit, and the spirit is what gives you the force to pull the people. The spirit is what pulls”.

The anthropological term ‘sympathetic magic’ does not give this justice, to illustrate this, the water used in the preparation of an authentic pusanga (which has been specifically made for you) has been collected from a deep trek in the rainforest, sometimes 40 or 50 miles, where there are no people and where clay pools collect and thousands of the most beautiful coloured parrots and macaws gather to drink from them for the mineral content. Now the great leap of imagination required is to bring into yourself the knowledge, the feeling, the sense that the water in the Pusanga has drawn in or attracted thousands of the most brightly coloured creatures on the planet. If you do this, it can generate a shift in consciousness in you.

You can sample this for yourself, just find a quiet moment and space, close your eyes, and with the power of your imagination as the launch pad, draw in the verdant, abundant forest filled with life, colour, and sound. Sense the rich vibrancy of the rainforest as a single breathing rhythmic totality of life force. When you have this image, expand it to include, the humid warmth, the smell of earth, the scent of plants, hear the sound of insects and bird song, allow all your senses to experience this. Then with a conscious decision draw this sensory experience into your being. Whenever you are ready, open your eyes, and check how you are feeling.

Maestros do not invent diets, they are given by the plant spirits themselves, but there is more to it than simply abstaining from certain foods and activities. It involves a state of purification, retreat, commitment, and respect for our connection with everything around us – above all the rain forest. When we listen to our dreams, they become more real, and equally important as everyday life.

Morality, Ethics and Power

This is a subject that is worth looking at as we in the West and particularly those who are engaged in following a perceived spiritual path in which there is an implicit or explicit ethical component, find the use of a pusanga (or equivalent) to attract a specific person an action which takes away and subverts that person’s free will. This is criticised as an unmoral and harmful action occurring within a tradition or system without perceived , never mind understood moral values.

This moral view is not shared in other societies and traditions, and there is a profound difficulty experienced by Westerners in assimilating this concept of values surrounding power.

For example the Amazonian (amongst others) tradition portrays a spectrum of existential states, with the highest or most desirable being that of the powerful person, and the lowest or least desirable being that of the powerless person. Power is defined as the ability to do what one wishes, obtain wealth, make others perform desired actions (even against their will), or harm others without being punished or harmed in return. The proof of power is the individual’s material wealth, or social and political status, and their ability to offer patronage. These are not received as immoral acts, and I recall with my colleague Peter Cloudsley attempting to relay the Western view to Javier Arevalo without any success. The conversation went as follows;

Howard & Peter: “Something we make a big problem out of in the West, is that a shaman might be a magician to one person and a sorcerer to another. Asking for the pusanga to attract a specific person takes away that person’s choice. We see it as bad. How do you see it?”

Javier: “Take the case of a woman who refuses when you offer her a Coca Cola because she thinks you are lower class and that she is better than you. She might want others to think that she is better than you. That makes you feel like rubbish so you go to a shaman and tell him the name of the girl. He prepares the pusanga. Three days go by without seeing her and she begins to think about you, dreaming about you and begins looking for you”

Howard & Peter: “Yes, we understand, but in our culture we think its wrong to counteract someone’s will.”

Javier: “But its only so that she will want you for the moment, so she’ll go to bed with you and then she can go”.

Howard & Peter: “(laughing) But if it happened to me, and let’s say I originally found her unpleasant and she did it to marry me I’d be outraged! It would be awful if I only discovered after having children and making a home with her! And would I ever know?”

Javier: “You would be hopelessly in love with her, you’d never know. That’s why it’s a secret.”

Howard & Peter: “Can a jealous third party separate a couple or break a happy marriage?”

Javier: “Yes, they can ruin a happy home. They come as if to greet the couple and soon after the couple are arguing and hating each other and the third party is secretly having sex with one of them”.

Howard & Peter: “Is this why the women from Lima are afraid of the girls from Iquitos?”

Javier: “Yes it happens, they think they are dangerous and will break up their homes.”

Howard & Peter: “Does anyone have freedom if everyone is using pusanga?”

Javier: “its normal you get used to it.”

Howard & Peter. “We like to think we are free, this suggests that we are constantly subject to other peoples’ Pusanga.”

Javier: “laughing, but you all want women, and women all want men!”

Eventually we realised that there was no way that we could communicate this Western ‘moral’ viewpoint. Javier did not see that there was a problem. It was a massive cultural divide we could not cross. His people feel free the way they are and can have extramarital sex using magical means of attraction and without attaching our Western guilt to it.

Looking at this ‘down to earth’, guilt trip free viewpoint, on an earlier occasion when Javier asked the group that I was leading, what they really wanted deep down in their lives, many people gave cosmic, transpersonal, and spiritual sounding answers and were quite mute when he spoke about Pusanga. After a while the participants opened up to their feelings and many admitted they wanted love, apparently behind their desire to put the world to right, resolve planetary issues, and speak to the flowers. It was as though it were not acceptable to wish for love. Javier remarked “These thoughts tangle up their lives. Love solves problems”.

As an observation, if we (and that’s all of us) had more love in our lives, maybe we wouldn’t be worried so much about the state of the world, and be less judgemental, destructive, and just simply be willing to help others and alleviate suffering. It is because people do not have enough of this precious and enriching commodity that we live our lives increasingly bombarded by aggression, with new definitions , ‘road rage’ , ‘air rage’ , ‘safety rage’, ‘word rage’, ‘whatever-you-want rage’ We would also need less material goods, and titles all of which reinforce the boundaries of the ego-mind and separate us from each other and the natural world.

Below is a video of Plants used to prepare Pusanga. The soundtrack is a beautiful Icaro chanted by mestizo shaman Artidoro (recorded on Eagle’s Wing Ayahuasca Retreat).

Visit our website for details on our Amazon Ayahuasca and Plant Spirit Shamanism Retreats and workshops

Ayahuasca Brewing – Video Clip taken on Eagle’s Wing Ayahuasca Retreat Nov 2007

Ayahuasca Brewing – Video Clip taken on Eagle’s Wing Ayahuasca Retreat Nov 2007

Our group participating in the brewing of Ayahuasca, with Huitoto shaman Lucho. The background voice is Eugene Bersuker who has joined our team facilitating our Retreat Programme.

Eugene is a Russian-American Yoga teacher, trained in India, Shivananda Saraswati School of Yoga. Traditional Hatha and Yoga for Healing. Yoga postures and meditations used to relieve tensions, purify mind/body, and raise vibrations. An instructor in Chi Gong, and Eugene is also a Licensed Massage Therapist – Swedish and Shiatsu.

Eugene will be offering Yoga and meditation classes, with individual massages available (fee payable) during our Retreats at Mishana.

Visit our website for details on our Amazon Ayahuasca and yoga Retreats

Soul Companions: Conversations with Contemporary Wisdom Keepers – A Collection of Worldwide Spirit Encounters (Paperback)

Soul Companions: Conversations with Contemporary Wisdom Keepers – A Collection of Worldwide Spirit Encounters (Paperback) – by Karen Sawyer

As our world rapidly moves towards ever greater spiritual, environmental and political challenges there is an urgent need for us to listen to the voices of respected healers, seers, visionaries and shamans whose wisdom, insights and leadership will inspire and guide us to make our planet a healthier, more peaceful and equitable place to live. For over two years, the author met and entered into profound dialogue with such remarkable people.

This unique and important work brings together over 40 of the conversations that took place, revealing that there are many dimensions of existence overlapping and permeating the world as we know it. Every one of us has spirit helpers that can guide, heal and inspire us on our journey through life.

This outstanding and intimate collection includes conversations with renowned teachers Sandra Ingerman, The Barefoot Doctor, R.J Stewart, Robert Moss, Simon Buxton, Denise Linn, Leo Rutherford, Howard G Charing, William Bloom, Philip Carr-Gomm and Llyn Roberts.

Join Karen Sawyer as she also talks with Elena Avilla, the ‘Curandera’ or curer from Mexico – Uncle Angaangaq, an Eskimo-Kalaallit Elder from Greenland – Icelandic Druid Jörmundur Ingi – Sami shaman Ailo Gaup from Norway – Rabbi Gershon Winkler, Aboriginal Jewish shaman – Tiokasin Ghosthorse, a member of the Cheyenne River Lakota Nation of South Dakota – Egyptian Sufi, Master Ali Rafea – Andras Corban Arthen, ‘Cunningman’ of the Glenshire witches in Scotland and many, many more.

This treasure trove of spiritual wisdom will inspire you in your own quest for spirit guide contact with practical ‘how to’ advice. Learn how to recognise the signs and talk with the spirit beings guiding your life.

John Matthews: author of `Walkers Between Worlds‘
“Soul Companions is a stunning book. It assembles an amazing collection of interviews with some of the finest and most unusual people from the worlds of alternative thinking and teaching. For anyone interested in the future of human growth
and development this is an absolute `must read’.”

John Perkins: New York Times bestselling author of `Confessions of an Economic Hit Man‘ and `The Secret History of the American Empire‘.
“Soul Companions is an amazing and enlightening anthology of profound experiences shared between some of the world’s most revered wisdom keepers and their spirit guides. Inspiring and empowering, it lights a path for all of us to follow.”

For a full list of contributors and more about this book visit the Soul Companions Website

Visit Eagle’s Wing website for details about Leo Rutherford and Howard G Charing