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Hi!

Virginia, a friend of mine, is in Peru since 3 years, learning the traditional medicine of the Shipibo-Conibo at the Amazon region. There the teachings come from the plants with which you get into contact (the best known with which is worked is Ayahuasca).

I hope this information is of interest for you.

The Invitation is about the closing ceremony of her two-years-diet. It will take place outside of Iquitos, Peru on Nov. 9th 2010. Virginia stayed most of the time in solitude, only eating fish and plantains, in the jungle.

We would be glad if you forward this invitation on to others!

I copy here a description of the diet from our website:

The meaning of the term "Master Plants" encompasses all medical plants which imply a spiritual additionally to their energetic component. These spirits of the plants display their own personality and hold the position of a teacher and healer. The contact to the plants is built up by diets. According to your intention there is a difference between an "apprenticeship" and a "healing" diet. This way of fasting means the restriction of certain foods, abstinence from alcohol, the avoidance of sex and the connection of the person with the energy of the plant.

The ceremonial opening of the diet starts a process which ends after the closing ceremony. In this time a lot of energy and knowledge is assembled and consolidated in every person participating but the most is received after the closing. The strict compliance with the restrictions of the diet is of paramount importance as a breach in diet can cause severe illnesses.

There are many different types of diets.
A traditional one year diet followed by annual 3 months diets under the supervisión of a maestro is required in order to be able to work with plant medicine.
During this time, you reduce all activities, communication and material needs to a bare minimum remaining the majority of the time in your tombo. The maestro will choose a plant for you which you diet. Being alone with no distractions, you can concentrate fully on the plants teachings.

Supervision from a maestro is essential. Only he can open the diet, choose the correct plant for you, re-align the diet and close it. Ceremonies where you also take ayahuasca occur at irregular intervals and according to your need. This is also determined by the maestro.
The teachings are sacred. A maestro has the ability to support your learning process and to open new avenues for you which are otherwise blocked. The primary work however is done with you during the time you work with the plants. Icaros will also be studied.

Ceremonies

Shamanic practices, exercises, and attunements are used to deepen our connection to our enlightened ancestors and the natural world, and during our ceremonies, icaros - sacred chants of the Amazonian shamans - will guide our journeys and call the spirits of healing and vision. The medicine is transported through the use of the icaros.

A ceremony can be two hours or longer. Participants wear comfortable clothes and sit in the circle on mattresses where they later can lie down. Often many participants including the maestro spend the night sleeping in the maloka.

After ingesting Ayahuasca, the maestro begins to chant. The first chants or icaros balance the energies in the Maloka freeing it of negative energies and allowing the positive ones to flow. Subsequently the maestro opens the visions, cleans the participants and closes the visions. Each ceremony is unique and needs the guidance of an experienced shaman or curandero who has been diet trained.

Ayahuasca

Ayahuasca is the jungle medicine of the Upper Amazon and the "diet" is considered by shaman-healers to be an integral part of the healing work with this plant. The word healing is used by shamans in its widest context, to mean a change in the energies of the body, mind, spirit, and emotions, leading to greater well-being, balance, and insight into the self, or the ability to let go of unhappy events, issues, and attachments which are causing illness or distress.

The diet seeks to enhance these purifying effects by reducing the intake of foodstuffs and other substances which do not work well in combination with ayahuasca. This facilitates a more powerful and pleasant experience by preparing the mind and spirit so we are attuned to the energies of the plants.

In the Amazon, diets can sometimes be strict, with the participant kept away from others, guided only by the shaman and staying in a jungle hut called a tambo, so he or she becomes one with the plants around him. Food may be only rice and water, brought once or twice a day. These procedures further reduce the participant's attachments to the outer world.

Virginia describes some events that happened to her in the diet, one I would like to post here:

I drank my plants, went to sleep or rather conked out like I often do and awoke in my garden area, dressed (surprise) with a flashlight; an even bigger surprise. I wandered around a long time trying to find my tombo. Toe (Brugmansia) had altered the surroundings. I was unable to recognize it at first. It took me a while to find my tombo.

Upon entering, I found the tombo different. I don't know why but I neither lit a candle nor used my flashlight and searched for my bed. It was gone, missing. It was around 2 am. My bed is double bed with sideboards for all the junk I like to have within arm reach: lighter, tobacco, a bit of toilet paper, a bucket (under the bed) a washcloth which is good if I purge, need to kill an insect or let the wax drip on as opposed to me, I-pod, water to drink, glasses, fly swatter. It sounds like a lot of junk but it is all needed and the tombo is a masterpiece of organization where I have everything I need except a kitchen and is comfortable.

The bed is not an item which could be stolen and yet it was gone. I wrote down the time and then started searching for it. I walked one foot into the other until I hit a screen turned and went back. At the end there was no bed. I crawled around. Still no bed. I rolled from one side to the other. Still no bed. I cried, I pleaded, I begged, I tried to make a "deal" with God / plants but neither answered. After 2 hours and 12 minutes which is a lot of time to search in a tombo which is 4m x 5m I gave up. I told them whoever it was who took it: keep and just leave me alone as I was tired and wanted to sleep. I heard the plants laughing and I asked what was going on: they said light a candle which I did. I was sitting in the middle of my bed in perfect lotus position and I have never done yoga.

The plants enjoy making games with you. They use this to teach, to show you different realities and just to have fun. At a later point in the diet, I spent 10 days in a plant game having short visits back into linear reality which I used to describe the experience in a detailed manner before the next game or slide as I define them began.