A Solstice Ayahuasca Odyssey in the Peruvian Amazon

A Shamanic Revival Celebration
of Life, Spirit, Healing, and Renewal
in the Peruvian Amazon

A special ten-day spiritual reunion in the rainforests of Amazonian Perú honoring ancient shamanic Ayahuasca healing practices and ethnobotanical knowledge

"realizing cleansing and rebirth for new beginnings"

expertly facilitated by El Tigre Journeys since 1997
licensed in Perú
"Journeys" is a verb

Solstice Ayahuasca Odyssey
Agenda and Accommodations
Translate from
Traditional Shamanism of the Western Amazon:
Ceremonial Cleansing and Healing with Ayahuasca
The heart and soul of this Celebration of Life and Spirit is the unique opportunity to work with gifted Amazonian shamanic healers, masters of the ancient jungle healing arts. We work with genuine grassroots Amazon healers to bring a composite energy and scope of instruction to our ceremonies rarely found. You will have much time for private counseling and personalized healing work with them in addition to group ceremonies.
This is a spiritually-focused retreat requiring serious preparation, focus and concentration. You will be opened to new levels of spiritual consciousness which will render you vulnerable to subtle influences. You will want to temporarily disengage from the mundane world as much as possible, concentrate your thoughts and energy on the shamanic work at hand, keep the prescribed diet, and avoid potentially harmful distractions outside the retreat framework. In order to realize the fullest benefits of the deep and sensitive healing work we will engage, you will be expected to remain at the retreat except in the course of scheduled group activities.
Preparation of the ancient holistic healing medicine Ayahuasca commences on Monday morning and continues throughout the day. We will attend this process and learn about the role and significance of each component first-hand from our maestro shamans. This is a most important aspect of initiation in the ways and knowledge of the ayahuasquero.
This knowledge also aids the seeker of healing in making their personal connection with this magico-spiritual medicine at its source, in the most powerful ecological, cultural, and spiritual context possible.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Dietary preparation is required for serious work with Ayahuasca. Restriction or abstinence from salt, sugar, spices, oils, and sexual activity is recommended during the time surrounding the ceremonies. Strict abstinence from eating pork or lard for fifteen days prior to and following the retreat is required. Additional short-term (24 hour) dietary restrictions are recommended as an added safety measure to avoid potential complications from temporary monoamine oxidase inhibition.
Some medications may not be taken with Ayahuasca. These include antidepressants affecting, monoamine oxidase or serotonin levels (MAOI/SSRI), antihistamines, amphetamines, diet aids, opiates, and antibiotics.
Certain health conditions, particularly high blood pressure, coronary problems, diagnosed psychoses or other mental illnesses may preclude safe work with Ayahuasca.
Women in their menstrual cycle are sometimes at risk of excessive bleeding when drinking Ayahuasca. The shamans therefore discourage consumption of Ayahuasca under these circumstances. However, special ceremonial cleansing can be performed to minimize this risk. Please advise us if you think this might be an issue.
Revelation of all current medications, substance consumption and known health conditions is a requirement of registration to assure your safety.

Five nocturnal shamanic ayahuasca healing ceremonies will be conducted during the ten-day Odyssey celebration. The SpiritQuest Ceremonial Maloca is 14 meters wide and 14 meters high, designed according to ancient metaphysical principles found in the great ceremonial centers of ancient Perú. Our ceremonies are conducted within a circle and inside a pyramid which amplifies and potentiates the healing energy we summon in every ceremony. Nothing in the Amazon compares to the SpiritQuest Ceremonial Maloca as the ultimate place to engage the healing power and wisdom of the sacred plants at the peak of the art.
You will experience the incredibly skilled shamanic healing art of don Rober A., a genuine banco ayahuasquero (ayahuasca healer at the most advanced level) who will safely guide you deep into inner space and back with skill, integrity, and compassion. Don Rober is also masterful in the arts of tabaqueria (tobacco healing), perfumeria (perfume healing), and pusangeria (the magic of love and positive relationships).
In the presence of ayahuasca for "Power" and chacruna for "Light", our group will assemble in each ceremony with don Rober, don Otorongo Blanco, and invited spirits presiding. A lovely and stunning blend of beautiful icaros, the shamans' magical spiritual healing music, will guide our journeys as we venture beyond the ordinary together.
These powerful mystical ceremonies bring many wonders and surprises to initiates, often more than they are prepared for. You will be guided and attended throughout your journeys with care, love, and understanding. The SpiritQuest family has much experience with the Medicine and the Spirit World. You will be protected and nurtured through all your experiences.
Sacred flower baths, an integral part of the shamanic cleansing experience, are administered by don Rober each morning following the ayahuasca ceremonies. The combination of the fragrant essences of jungle flowers and the melodic icaros bringing blessings of love and cleansing is powerful, comforting, and unforgettable. On these mornings, you will feel joy and rejuvenation as you find fulfillment in your personal quest. These experiences will leave you with much clarity, energy and focus for your continuing personal growth work in the months to come.
After each ceremony we'll convene in group conversation, sharing our visions, dreams and impressions from the previous evening. This provides opportunity to gain further insight in the workings of the medicine and in ourselves by sharing the experiences of others.
Daily activities include facilitated discussion groups, river outings and guided walks in different kinds of rainforest. You will have various options for leisure daily activities. We have a very nice library on subjects pertaining to shamanism, Ayahuasca and other entheogens, Peruvian indigenous cultural history and traditions, ethnobiology, medicinal plants, natural history, spiritual practices and related topics.

Indigenous People of the Rainforest

We will spend time with our Bora Indian friends of San Andres, sharing traditional dance and trading for their beautiful handicraft made from natural products of the rainforests and rivers. We'll attend rarely-witnessed Bora manguaré ceremony of the talking drum and share traditional foods made of yuca (manioc) and other native edible plants and fish.
We'll also have a chance to sample the traditional Bora hunting and ceremonial aid called ampíri, a powerful stimulant made from mapacho tobacco and pulverized wild coca leaf mixed with sepico (Cecropia) ash.
The Bora still live a largely traditional lifestyle but 21st century influences are beginning to erode traditional cultural values as a money'based economy and competition take hold. Be generous and aware of your potential impact for better or worse,

We'll visit the shy and more reserved Yahua people who are quite different from the Bora in appearance, personality, and customs. This extended Yahua family group of about 25 individuals emerged from the remote rainforest to engage the outside world only a decade or so ago.
We will visit Muray Indian communities in the course of a pleasant day hike to the edge of the monte, pristine primary rainforest still unoccupied by people.
You will be intrigued and enlightened by the variation in lifestyles and cultural identity among these indigenous communities within a short distance of each other.

Explorations in Rainforest Culture and Ethnobotany
(We reserve the right to modify the agenda if required by circumstances beyond our control.)

We'll travel on the Amazon River to a riverside village where we'll stroll through beautiful old-growth rainforest to the invigorating waters of the quebrada encantada (enchanted stream). This beautiful and unique carbon springs is one of only two in the Iquitos region. You can relax in the cool water and treat yourself to a rejuvenating mud bath with the rich gray medicinal clay for which this stream is famous.
Our retreat location affords ample daily opportunities for casual jungle walks and delightful boat outings. The diverse native plant and animal life here provides constant sensory stimulation and discovery. You'll find the local people delightful and very willing to share their lives with you.
We'll visit the famed Belén Indian market from the river perspective. During the high-water season, canoes fill the streets as residents continue their daily life undeterred. It is often called the "Venice of the Amazon" for this reason. Typical residential homes are elevated on stilts or float on balsa logs as the rivers rise.

Accommodations

The extraordinary SpiritQuest Shamanic Sanctuary Ceremonial Retreat Center is dedicated to holistic healing and higher consciousness. It is designed specifically for highly focused shamanic healing and spiritual growth work in a beautiful natural setting surrounded by rainforest and rivers.
It is the center of a 125-acre private rainforest nature reserve. Here you will become immersed in the genuine Loretano and indigenous cultural lifestyle of the Peruvian Amazon. You will quickly feel at home here, not as a tourist, but as a member of a growing global family preparing for the coming renaissance of spiritual consciousness. Our retreats are conducted in a relaxed and casual family atmosphere. Children are often present and the atmosphere is warm, friendly, compassionate, and supportive.
Our site offers a wonderful natural ambience, great local cultural diversity, friendly and competent staff, and outstanding food. Our spacious double-occupancy guest quarters are comfortably screened for ventilation and protection from insects, with private tiled bathrooms. Solar-generated electricity and solar-heated showers provide all the comforts of home. The SpiritQuest Shamanic Sanctuary is the most comfortable and well-serviced facility of it's kind in the Iquitos region.
A two-story mirador overlooks the river at canopy level where one finds majestic views and a perfect place for meditation and reflection.
You'll rest well here, basking in serene tranquility by day and in unforgettable jungle symphony and shamanic icaro concert by night.
Typical Loretano breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served in our lovely screened dining and recreation maloca overlooking the Rio Momón. All food is washed and prepared using bottled purified drinking water thus avoiding any food or water-borne illnesses. Vegetarian diets are cheerfully accommodated.
Vegetable staples include yuca (manioc), rice, chonta (heart of palm), aji dulce (sweet peppers), cucumbers, potatoes, tomatoes, avocados, beets, radishes, carrots, onions, and a rich array of tropical fruits, many of which are rarely seen outside the Amazon. Vegetarian diets are cheerfully accommodated.
Fish and chicken are the principal meat fare.
Among the delicious native fish served are paiche, an enormous ancient fish relished in the region, corvina with trout-like flavor and texture, and tucunaré, the peacock cichlid, all according to seasonal availability.
Fruits and juice "refrescos" are served with and between meals. Evening meals before shamanic ceremonies are customarily light and bland consisting of rice, fruit, and juices.

more about
Ayahuasca Odyssey

cost and terms	facilitators
maestro curanderos	ayahuasca healing ceremony

Ayahuasca Odyssey is designed for the mature, sincere, and respectful seeker of cultural knowledge, spiritual enlightenment, and personal healing.
The process undertaken requires serious advance preparation for fullest benefit.
Some aspects of this process may be temporarily physically and emotionally difficult. We have extensive experience in the administration of this process and will nurture your passage through it with sensitivity and competence.
We will assist in all aspects of your journey preparations and provide all the follow-up guidance and counseling you desire.
For the benefit of all, applicants are screened to determine personal goals and fitness for this experience.
We reserve the right to respectfully decline any application without prejudice.
Notarized waiver of liability and acceptance of risk and all written terms is a requirement of registration.
Workshop activities and programs are conducted in accordance with the laws and statutes of the jurisdictions in which they occur.
We hold in high esteem the rural Loretano people of the Peruvian Amazon, their rich and varied cultures, and their profoundly-rooted spiritual beliefs.
We believe they have much to teach us if we'll listen. We therefore require the same respectful attitude from our fellow travelers.

Press El Otorongo Blanco to send e-mail requesting application materials for the Ayahuasca Odyssey shamanic celebration in the Peruvian Amazon. You can call us in Perú at (011-51-065) 60-0179 (ask for Howard), or in the U.S. at (303) 449-5479 (ask for Jan) . Your questions and inquiries are welcome. We look forward to hearing from you!

Travelers' Health Preparations and Concerns
Health and wellness for travelers to the Peruvian Amazon

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