Learning To Die in Peru - Part 1: Ceremony

I never thought I would have found myself there, riding down the main street of Iquitos in the back of a rickety moto-car. I was riding on faith in my host, SpiritQuest, because I don’t speak Spanish, and my contact at the airport had led me over to said moto-car, tossed me in with a pat on the back, and sent me off. The driver didn’t seem any different than any other moto-car driver, for all I knew he was taking me to have some organs removed. I would have had some reassurance, but the other guy who was supposed to be in my group missed the flight apparently. Everyone else in our group were already at the sanctuary, having taken part in the Ayahuasca ceremonies the week before.

I'm here for Huachuma.

Riding down the main street in Iquitos is an experience itself, we weave through traffic, which varies between two and eight lanes based on vehicle size. There aren’t any line markers, it’s a free-for-all, and these moto-car drivers are darting in and out as if their little motorcycles actually protected them from the cars and buses on the road. Rangy dogs cross wherever traffic lightens and scents of street foods mix with exhaust as we putter along.

For some reason I’m as calm as can be. This is the most adventurous thing I’ve ever done, I’d never left the states(except Canada with my family), and this is a solo trip into a country where I don’t even speak the language. I’m heading to meet a shaman in the Amazonian rainforest, and I really thought he’d be at the airport to meet me.

After about a fifteen minute ride we pull up to a gate which is promptly opened. The gate is for the docks, which apparently aren’t open to the public. A local with a SpiritQuest shirt, blue jeans, and white sneakers comes up, introduces himself with a handshake, grabs my bags and tosses them onto a little ten seater boat. I hop on board and we’re off, heading down the Amazon river.

The Amazon is massive at Iquitos, it feels like the ocean.

After about a 20 minute ride we make it to a lovely looking little settlement on the banks of the river. We dock and I'm lead to Don Howard’s room, he’s been napping a bit. I didn’t see anyone else in the group on the way, and the place didn’t seem that big. Don Howard is a tall, lanky, white guy from Kentucky. Classic.

We chatted for a minute and he got me settled into a room. Then I met a few of the group members. There was Michael, Tony, Leontina, Sam, Ben, and Tony #2. Everyone was so nice and they were all pretty peaceful after a week of Ayahuasca Ceremonies. They showed me around the sanctuary before dinner.

At dinner we discussed the upcoming events. There was going to be three ceremonies, one for each Mesa - Earth, Water, and Air, each with a day to rest and assimilate previous ceremonies. The food was actually pretty fantastic, just my kind of simple food, beans, rice, veggies, and fruit with some chicken or occasional fried fish. The bananas there were amazing, they were mini and tasted way better than what we have in the states.

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Ceremony

The day of the first ceremony, the water Mesa, started out in pretty standard fashion. There was some downtime before our first ceremony, so we relaxed in hammocks, did yoga on the stardeck, and chatted among ourselves. We were meeting at the ceremonial hut, so skipped lunch and lounged in the lawn chairs just outside. There’s some minor chatting, everyone is pretty quiet with some nervousness and anticipation. Don Howard shows up and we all enter the hut and take a seat in the tall backed rocking chairs.

At the center of the room is the altar, various things adorn it, from crystals to ancient skulls, artifacts, candles and sacred pieces Don Howard has collected throughout the years. It’s a powerful image.

Don Howard approaches the center of the altar, he’s in his sixties, short hair other than the long pony tail. He's wearing a SpiritQuest white & green t-shirt, cargo shorts, and socks and sandals. His appearance could deceive anyone who hadn’t met him.

Everyone is quiet as the Shaman goes through the ceremony. He hasn’t described what he is doing at any point during the ceremony, but you can see the respect and reverence he has for this work. He pays respect to the earth & the sky, the elements, and the four directions. Incense wafting lightly through the space, he goes around the room marking us with floral perfume. Meditation bells rang repeatedly, reverberating for ages as he struck them together.

After completing the necessary rituals he took out two canteens and a cup and poured the brownish liquid, a Huachuma recipe that was prepared by Don Howard, to near full before asking the first of us to approach the altar. He cleared the energy around the person with tobacco smoke, maracas, and light touches with a feather. After a moment or two of collection, the first group member drank the brew.

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Eventually it was my turn. Watching is the easy part, once up at the altar there is a slight bit of nervousness, eyes were on me and I didn't know exactly what I was getting myself into. I touched my fingers to the corners of the altar, as was instructed to us, and closed my eyes while he cleared my energy. After he had finished he hovered behind me, shaking the maraca, waiting for me to drink. I took a breath, lifted the cup to my lips, and drank the full glass of bitter brew down in one go. It wasn't exactly pleasant, but there was fresh limonada after.

I went back to my seat and silently awaited the rest of the group to finish the ceremony. Once everyone had finished up, we stepped outside and for a break before we were to head to a nearby tribal community. While waiting for everyone to get ready, I started noticing the initial effects of Huachuma. Every sound near us felt like it was right next to me they were so clear, after a few moments I could make out the directionality as well. Along with that came the need to smile, everyone was in high spirits, almost giddy for those first few minutes. My perceptions of the world began to take on more depth and clarity.

After a few minutes everyone was ready, we took a quick walk to the dock and boarded the boat for our first experience with Huachuma. We were all on some random dose of Huachuma, and were about to hang out with small tribe we'd never met, spoke a unique dialect, and wanted to host us just down the river. But that's a story for Part 2 ;)

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I hope you all enjoyed the first part of my adventure in Peru. My details might be a bit off as this happened nearly two years ago, this was to the best of my memory. I have two more parts planned for this series, and hope to get them out as quickly as I'm able.

For more information check this article out!