Doing plant medicine in Peru

I imagine when most people read that sentence they will think of Ayuhuasca in the jungle - which is not too far off base if by jungle you mean your own cabin, running water, and three meals a day.. I spent 18 days in “The Space that Heals”, or Hamphichicuy, right outside of Tarapoto, Peru. For the first time in years I was able to truly rest - right before the many plants I was taking chewed me up, churned me inside out, and gently placed me back on my feet.

The center is run by a gentleman named Javier, who has been doing this work for many many years. He has created, along with his family, a beautiful calm oasis where the entire day revolves around watching for monkeys in the trees, admiring the highways of the leaf cutter ants, walking up a small hill to eat delicious meals, eating said meals and watching the hummingbirds visit the tropical flowers, and unplugging from daily list of doings.

So that was the resting part. The plant medicine was the working part.

In this country, in order to drink Ayuhuasca there is a series of illicit and stealthy communiques that veer around - cash is proffered, euphemisms abound (“I spent the weekend meditating./It was a spiritual retreat./” etc) You have to ask the Universe to send you a community. You have to be discreet and secretive. There is a sense of the cool kids sneaking cocaine in high school about the whole thing.

Not so in Peru - Ayuhuasca is part of the national heritage and is a protected part of the culture. I didn’t anticipate feeling so relieved to engage in open communication - but I really did. It was a joy not to feel as though I were sneaking the car out of the driveway with the lights off to go to a party vs being told to drive safe.

The Ayuhuasca part of the medicine mixture was certainly key - but I was given 8 other plants to strengthen, reforge, rebuild, and connect. The first day I did La Purga. I drank a glass of tobacco juice with many gallons of water to pull of physical/emotional/spiritual toxins before starting the tea of the plants. Then the dieta began. I was given a very simple diet of no salt and no sugar and tea twice a day to drink. After my body reached saturation of the medicine I was experiencing visions virtually around the clock.

The work was not fun, it was physically uncomfortable, and emotionally hard. It was physical/emotional/spiritual pickaxe work that delved deep into memories and experiences. Imagine really intense therapy magnified and magnified beyond. The plants worked on all levels of my being and thus all levels of my being were strengthened - my knees stopped hurting, a memory stopped tormenting, a concern dissolved, resolutions were made - and I felt more and more held and connected to the greater world. The greater Good, the greater Universe, my own role in the great I AM.

Doing plant medicine is work - work that cleaned and cleared a lot of baggage I am happy to divest. I have not been to other places to do this work in Peru, but I can say that working under the safe, kind, and practiced hands of Javier and his team at Hamphichicuy worked really well for me. I anticipate returning on a regular basis.

If you speak a modicum of Spanish, that would be a good thing - but it is not necessary.

Bon voyage!