We believe strongly in the spiritual power, beauty and truth of traditional Amazonian shamanism. We embrace it as a daily spiritual practice. We hold in high esteem the true shamans and curanderos who serve their communities. They bring much light, love, and healing to the world and we can learn much from them.

However, as in all aspects of the universal experience, there is a negative side. Unfortunately, a shadow of deceit, greed, and dishonesty often appears with shamanism and ayahuasca when foreign travelers are involved.  These factors and related risks are so prevalent that one is well-advised to use caution when attempting to contact "shamans" in Amazonian Perú.

We have spent years in the Peruvian Amazon working with many shamans and curanderos to find those with true knowledge, positive power, and personal integrity. We have been fooled a few times by people of guile and deceit who took advantage of our naivete, honest intentions, and most of all, our trust. These people were of both Peruvian and foreign nationality. Such is life. Certainly these incidents do not characterize the people of the Amazon any more than it does the majority of visitors coming to the Amazon.

SpiritQuest programs are honest in integrity, purpose, and execution. We go to great measures to insure your safety and protection from unnecessary risks.

SpiritQuest is an ideal way to avoid the many risks and uncertainties and achieve quick, safe and deep immersion in the ancient shamanic world of Amazonia.

The following information will give you a more complete picture of the challenges in finding safe and trustworthy shamanic pathways in Amazonian Perú.

The realm of shamanism in the Peruvian Amazon is frought with risks and dangers for the newly arrived traveler.

True shamans traditionally-trained in pure spiritual and plant healing are hard to find and rarely advertise their services to tourists. This is because one of the hallmarks of the classic shaman or curandero is their practice of healing and spiritual work within their own communities. On the other hand, most are open and receptive to anyone who comes to them with respect. It should also be understood that shamans and curanderos are professionals, make their living by performing healing and mystical services. They are therefore entitled to fair compensation for their services. The best guideline to follow is "value given for value received according to your means".

Authentic practitioners generally cannot be contacted through common tourist channels such as commercial lodges, motokar drivers, or street hustlers operating in tourist zones. Those contacted in this manner often cannot be trusted.  More than a few western travelers have found their wallets emptied by "spirit hands" in the darkness of an Ayahuasca ceremony. Female participants, especially 'gringas', are sometimes sexually molested or seduced under the guise of "treatment" by inscrupulous "shamans".  Sexual misconduct is the most common deviation of shamanic principles,  most often perpetrated by younger men purporting to be shamans but lacking the integrity borne of sacrifice, maturity, and wisdom.

Beware of commercial lodges offering "ayahuasca ceremonies". Most do so as a novel entertainment, with no attention to proper preparation or follow up in this delicate and serious process. This is both irresponsible and dangerous. To make matters worse, few lodge operators have ever drank Ayahuasca themselves! One should never be guided into Ayahuasca ceremonies by one unwilling to drink it with you.  This is a simple and logical test of integrity.

Commercial lodges rarely employ credible shamans who know how to make and administer good Ayahuasca.  The undiscriminating traveler may be exposed to risk of ineffective or possibly dangerous Ayahuasca preparations. Without witnessing the making one never knows for sure what is in the brew. Fatalities and prolonged psychological disturbance have occurred as a result of such casual encounters.

Ayahuasca is costly and time consuming (8-12 hours) to prepare correctly using the old traditional wood fire. Everyone knows the components but very few know the more subtle techniques to make high quality Ayahuasca. Furthermore, there is a broad range of quality among ayahuasca vine and chacruna leaf . These plants are now in high demand and demand is growing. The fact is, much old dry ayahuasca and weak or placebo 'chacruna' is purveyed. Only a few shamans and ethnobotanists can distinguish among types of chacruna by the leaves alone.

Careful selection of the plant constituents and detailed knowledge of the preparation process are essential to the production of high quality Ayahuasca. Most commercial enterprises offering 'ayahuasca ceremonies' as part of a entertainment tourist agenda lack the knowledge and commitment to these issues.

Brujeria - Black and Red Witchcraft

Yet another significant risk exists for the newcomer. This is the possibility of exposure to evil witchcraft, locally known as 'brujeria' or 'rojo'. This risk is very serious because brujos (evil shamans) are capable of causing great mental, physical or spiritual harm to the individual as a means of seduction, theft, scam, or even murder. They may do this for their own personal gain or for hire.

Brujos may use spells and potions to gain control of their victims. These methods may produce radical, irrational, sometimes self-destructive behavior in the victim which they perceive to be normal.

Brujos may use different forms of love magic (puzangeria) to produce the illusion of love in order to gain control for sex, money, or material gain. This is usually accomplished by secretly putting a 'love potion' (puzanga, a blend of rainforest plants) in the food or drink of the victim to aid hypnosis to gain control the emotions and thoughts of the victim.

Such matter-of-fact reference to witchcraft and spells may be met with some skeptism by the western mind. It is nevertheless a day-to-day reality in Amazonian culture and cannot be dismissed lightly. In the Peruvian Amazon, modern western cultural realities are largely absent. Here, much older realities prevail, and belief in the reality of both 'blancura' spiritual healing and 'rojo' black witchcraft are very strong indeed.

Trust and Confidence

Positive and constructive work with Ayahuasca requires a high level of trust among those involved. Quick attainment of trust and respect for the shamans and facilitators is essential to successful work. It is therefore vitally important to work with shamans who are positive, knowledgeable, skilled, ethical, and above moral reproach. The seeker must first ascertain if the shaman is indeed genuine, and if so, if he or she is a curandero or a brujo. One is not a "shaman" simply because they serve ayahuasca and sing a song or two in the dark. Knowledge of the character and reputation of the shaman is necessary in order to avoid misguidance, deceit, and disappointment.

A certain amount of fear and apprehension naturally accompanies an Ayahuasca initiation. These are amplified if the shamans are not fully trusted. Competent, experienced, and trusted facilitation is the safest and surest way to make the connection and move quickly into the constructive processes.

SpiritQuest maestros are grass-roots jungle people who have sacrificed much through discipline, study, and hard work over many years to gain the knowledge and skills of the true shaman. They deserve to be called shamans for they have paid the price and live the life.

Ayahuasca SpiritQuest ushers you through the cleansing and initiation process in an ethical, safe and conscientious manner. Our workshop retreats provide expert experienced transcultural facilitation so that one can encounter these ancient practices in a positive and rejuvenating framework.

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revised June 27, 2006