Yopo, Peyote & San Pedro Retreat
February 20 - March 02, 2023
Once a year, Casa del Sol opens its doors to receive our dear brothers from the North, Norma Alvarez and Luis Ochoa, to share these powerful medicines in such a luminous and authentic way as they walk the prayer of their service.
In addition to the rigorous practice with the grandparents of the original traditions from which these master plants come, they have also integrated their Buddhist path and in the Yopo ceremony they pray, sing mantras and make offerings of merit, weaving and channeling the energy in a sensitive way, altruistic and sublime.
In the native medicine forest of Casa del Sol, the Willka tree grows naturally along with the San Pedro cactus. From the seeds of the Willka Tree comes the Yopo mixed with other ingredients prepared and prayed ancestrally by the Piaroa people of Venezuela.
It is an especially unique and powerful experience the opportunity to take the medicines in their own Sanctuary, where the spirits that protect and enlighten them surround you.
PROGRAM
Day 1
- Arrival
- Personal Interview
- Sweat Lodge
- Introduction and Guidelines
Day 2
- San Pedro Daytime Ceremony in our temple in the Medicine Native Forrest
- Sound Healing Relaxing Bath
Day 3
- Yoga and Meditation
- Workshop of Medicine’s Songs
Day 4
- Morning Dance Activation
- Neuro-emotion balancing technique workshop
- Sharing circle
- Yopo nighttime ceremony
Day 5
- Rest and Integration
Day 6
- Hike to the mountain with San Pedro Medicine and traditional offerings
- Voice Activation workshop
Day 7
- Yoga
- Optional Activities
- Peyote nighttime ceremony
- Sunrise sweat lodge
Day 8
- Rest and Integration
Day 9
- Yopo Daytime Ceremony
Day 10
- Workshops about resources and techniques to help a proper integration of the experience
- Sharing circle
- Sweat Lodge to close the journey
Day 11
- Departure
Extra:
*Optional Nighttime Ayahuasca Ceremony on Day 10, Rest on Day 11 and departure on Day 12 (+180$)
SHAMANS
Norma Alvarez
(Venezuela)
Norma was blessed with the opportunity to receive the knowledge and prayer of the Yopo Medicine from the hands of the legendary Taita Bolivar, from the Piaroa tribe in Venezuela (since ancient times, they have been considered the most devoted guardians of this tradition). Three years ago, at the age of 110 years old, Taita Bolivar embarked on his journey back to the stars. He started drinking Yopo medicine since he was 8 years old, every other day until the day he passed away. It is thought that the Yopo medicine safeguards our connection with the Pleiades, it is like a meteorite that takes your soul in a journey to meet the ascended masters that dwell there. This medicine allows us to travel inside ourselves and connect with the brightest and deepest part of our true essence. It’s a mirror that shows us our ‘blind spots’ in how we conduct ourselves in life and in our relationships in order to heal them and go forward in our path, connecting us with the Love and Kindness that resides inside our hearts so we can manifest in our search to become better human beings. It’s a very introspective, direct and clear experience. It can be a visionary experience and works at a deep level of our consciousness: It’s very loving and profoundly transformational. Rigorous preparation is required beforehand in order to drink this medicine. If you feel called to experience this powerful medicine, let us know so we can share the details with you.
Luis Ochoa
(Mexico)
Luis Ochoa is originally from Jalisco, Mexico. He has been walking the Northern Red Road for more than 30 years and sharing the medicine of Grandfather Peyote, originally from the desert of San Luis Potosí, Mexico. The Peyote ceremony is very rigorous in the manner of the traditional Teepee design of the Grandfathers of the North. Using all the ritual instruments, traditional songs and sacred offerings, this ceremony has been kept impeccably guarded – since its original prayer – through countless generations to date.
Ximena Morales
(Ecuador)
Woman apprentice of the teacher Life, hiker of the mountains, mother, guardian grandmother of the Medicine Forest Casa del Sol in the Valley of Longevity in Vilcabamba, Ecuador.
I was born in Lima during the internal war in my country, which deeply marked the rest of my existence. I studied journalism and before finishing my degree I moved to Mexico where I lived in a mobile home traveling and connecting with different peoples and traditions from North and Central America.
Then I returned to the South and for 22 years I have lived with my husband Santiago Ayala and my family in the mountains of the Vilcabamba Valley in the native forest of the medicine of the San Pedro cactus and the Willka tree. My 4 children and recently my granddaughter were born here, next to a river that sings and heals the soul.
I learned – and I continue to learn – in the Andean mountains with my Q’ero teachers a very old and sweet way of relating to the living altars of Mother Earth and that is the medicine that I walk in love with sharing and giving continuity to that sublime understanding of reciprocity in gratitude through offerings, rituals, pilgrimages and ceremonies. I am also a Vision seeker, Sun Dancer and Pampamisayoq woman.
Santiago Ayala
(Ecuador)
Santiago is a highly respected Shaman and a gifted healer. He has learned sacred teachings from many ancestral traditions. Santiago carries the blessings of his tribal chiefs, family and many indigenous elders. He is a Sun dancer, carrier of the sacred Chanupa (sacred pipe), and holds space for Vision Quests.
Santiago devoted his life to the shamanic path at age 26 after overcoming a serious illness. He is the guardian of one of the last San Pedro and Willka trees forests in southern Ecuador, preparing it in the traditional way to be used for healing purposes. His medicine songs, prayers and blessings carry a powerful intention to heal the heart with the sacred spirit of San Pedro.
