Arkana Spiritual Center, Peru | Photo Marlon Collova Mountain Weekly News
In a time when the toxins of western food, water, prescription medications, some vaccines, daily news, and social media are hard to avoid, a Spiritual Retreat with Arkana offered me a very refreshing, calming experience. Plant Medicine dates back to ancient civilizations where the knowledge of plants and there healing properties has been passed on generation after generation for thousands of years.
What is plant medicine or a spiritual retreat? I spent one of my 3 weeks in Peru at the Arkana Spiritual Center in Urabamba, Peru. It wasn’t my intention to write an article about it, I felt I wanted to share my story of such a unique, loving, cleansing, healing, and positive experience.
How Did I End Up Here?
I read a book called “Supernatural” by Graham Hancock over 10 years ago and that is where my journey began with plant medicine. I felt intrigued to learn more about Ayahuasca after reading this book. As I have been wanting to partake in an Ayahuasca experience for over 10 years I never was able to make it happen.
I mainly wanted to confront some of my traumas I have had thru life, in particular my mother passing away when I was 12 years old. I also have a nicotine addiction that I have struggled with for many years. Then one day I got a call from my buddy Peter. Or maybe it was an email…? Either way he said he was getting a group of friends together to embark on a Spiritual Retreat in Peru.
Our Group of Sexy Lamas in Peru
I felt like this was my time and decided to join. There was 8 of us, (all Alaskans) also known as the Sexy Llamas that made the journey to Arkana Spiritual Center in the Sacred Valley, Peru. Jule did much of the planning for everyone, being she participated in a retreat in 2022. After that experience she thought it would be amazing to share the experience with some good friends and even her partner Peter.
We signed up for a 7 day retreat which consisted of 1 Rape’ (HA-PAY) ceremony, 3 ayahuasca ceremonies and 1 San Pedro ceremony in that order. The 8 of us consisted of backcountry skiers and snowboarders, rafters, bungee jumpers, glaciologist, heli-ski guide, National Forest surveyor, heavy equipment operator, project manager, engineer and a yogi packrafter Extraordinaire!
The Sexy Llamas consisted of some unique individuals that all had different intentions but specific intentions for why they wanted to attend a spiritual retreat in Peru. The special thing was, we were just eight of the sixteen participants that attended the 7 day retreat for that week. There were also over 10 Arkana staff members that created our spiritual family for the week! We were all instantly greeted with love and acceptance from Arkana.
Rape’ Ceremony
Rape’ (HA-PAY) – Our first medicine was Rape’. The Rape’ plant is from the amazon jungle that has detoxifying, cleansing and healing qualities. The shamans had a liquid form that they administer into your nose with a small spoon.
Instantly you feel the power of it like a spoonful of wasabi. Your eyes begin to water and the back of your throat has a bitter tingle. Saliva amounts rapidly and spitting into a cup is a must. The shamans stated that Rape’ has properties that heals people from Covid-19. During the pandemic they said the plant almost became extinct. I felt it was like a nedi-pot on steroids. My sinuses, brain and throat all felt very clear after.
Ayahuasca Ceremony
Ayahuasca – The Vine of Death or Soul – Ayahuasca is known to help with depression, trauma, PTSD, anxiety and addictions. There are countless podcasts, YouTube videos, books, and documentaries on this sacred plant combination. Ayahuasca should be given the utmost respect.
It begins to work on you as soon as you agree to take the medicine. Weeks or even months before. It is beneficial to follow a dieta weeks before. This helps with allowing your body to detoxify and gain more benefits from Ayahuasca. Ayahuasca doesn’t always give you the insight you want, it can give you what you need though. You can experience intense mental, physical, visual and audible effects.
It isn’t for everybody and you should use good judgment on where to take it and who it is administered by. If you are taking SSRI’s, or are bi-polar or schizophrenic you should not take Ayahuasca. Consult a professional facilitator before planning on drinking Ayahuasca. Have specific intentions for use instead of thinking I am just going to trip out.
Sometimes it has no effect on participants though. I witnessed my friend take 3 times as much as me and it had no effect on him. The spiritual energy it possesses should be handled by shamans that have dieted the plant for some time. Some say you must take it with just you and only one shaman and have to be in the Amazon. Others say you should not sit in ceremony with friends or partners. All three ceremonies I took it with 7 friends and within our group of eight there were two couples.
Multiple Shamans Healing
We also had 4 shamans in ceremony all at once. The Shamans are a Shipibo family from the Amazon that were able to channel mother Ayahuasca very well. It is a very personal experience even know there are 16 participants in very close proximity. All gathered in the temple.
During the purge is the only time I felt I couldn’t focus sometimes. It may have something to do with me being an empath. The violent purges of others was hard to ignore for me. Barfing, burping, and farting all around! Not everyone purges but it is very common. Mapacho was also an integral part of each ceremony. Mapacho, is a very powerful sacred tobacco. The shamans use it to protect the space from negative energy and negative spirits. It contains over 9 times as much nicotine than a normal cigarette but has very little tar. Some say, Mapacho is how Ayahuasca was discovered.
I did 3 Ayahuasca ceremonies and all 3 were different but connected. It is hard to describe everything that happened. I would need to write a book. I didn’t have too many intense visuals, I had many, many profound feelings though. I farted a little, which felt great! I didn’t throw up or get diarrhea in any of the ceremonies. I felt like my purges were energetic purges where all theses feelings would build up and then be dispersed.
The audible sounds of the ceremonies connected with me most. Even know I didn’t understand the language of the Ikaros (magic songs), I felt them communicate very clearly to me. At times I was having conversations through or with the Ikaros. I felt the sense of telepathy. We did a ceremony every other day. Allowing a day in between to digest and share our experience with others.
Ceremony #1
Ceremony 1 – I can’t lie, I felt a little nervous after tipping back the first dose of Ayahuasca. Luis the shaman told me that my posture and my intentions are very important and to trust the medicine. After an hour of sitting cross legged with my eyes closed I started to feel the effects Ayahuasca. It was a bit uncomfortable and a little confusing. I wasn’t sure what was happening. The sounds I began to hear I have never heard before.
Whispers, hisses, voices, and humming. It sounded a little scary to me! I told myself to maintain focus on my intentions and posture. As I sat there, breathing very deeply and falling into a deep meditation state I began to experience many feelings.
Feelings of love mostly. The Ikaro began. Ikaros are magic songs conducted by the shamans. They are different in every ceremony. For me, they set the tone for each ceremony. In this ceremony love was the tone. It was so magical! I felt surrounded by love. Every feeling I had was just love. Love and nothing else. I felt so comforted. This lasted for 3 hours or so.
Ayahuasca has the ability make time slow down, 3 hours felt like 8. In this ceremony Ayahuasca showed me how much love is possible and to channel this by showing myself and others more love. Treat myself better. Not to be too hard on myself and I am loved by many. I felt all of my intentions being communicated to me.
Ceremony #2
Ceremony 2 – I felt a little more confident going into this ceremony. I had such a enjoyable loving experience in the first ceremony I was excited to see what was next. I felt like my ego got the best of me in this ceremony. Once again after an hour of sitting with my legs crossed and eyes closed, I began to feel the effects. This time it was more intense! Same amount of Ayahuasca but more intense feelings. As I felt this intensity, I told myself to focus on my posture and intentions. I had a tough time focusing. I eventually began to slouch back into my sitting pad.
The Ikaro began and it got more intense! This magic song had me so confused. It sounded like there were 100 people singing but there was only 4. It was really cool but eventually it started to scare me! I had to get up which is not the easiest task at this stage of the night. It’s pitch black, balance is weak, and you have to figure out how to use a flash light… Haha! I signaled to one of the facilitators with the red light to help me stand up.
Chandler came over and helped me walk over towards the bathroom. He asked if I had to use the bathroom, I replied “No, I feel scared” He said that is normal and remember to trust the medicine. I stood there for a little bit, wondering where the love from the first ceremony went?
Still listening to the Ikaro and blown away at what my ears were hearing. I could see and feel the pulse of the whole ceremony. I had a feeling of insecurity. I then decided I would go back and sit down and trust the medicine. After sitting for a while, I felt like I was still struggling with my posture, focusing and breathing and then snap, I heard the most soothing voice and feeling come over me. I instantly had this feeling of my mother. She serenaded me and told me she loves me and everything is ok. She supports me in my nicotine addiction and there is no reason to feel guilty. She said I can stop whenever I want, it is up to me. I began to calm down and then I started to see visuals as I lit up a Mapacho.
Each exhale of Mapacho I could feel my vision become more and more clear. I felt like I was holding an everlasting light in my hand. The radiance of the Mapacho was like a neon red torch. For the rest of the ceremony I was in a very peaceful place and amazed at the power of Ayahuasca and Mapacho It is so unpredictable and isn’t afraid to slap you in the face and move you out of your comfort zone.
Ceremony #3
Ceremony 3 – I chose to lighten my dose a little for my final ceremony. I feel without taking any Ayahuasca for these ceremonies, they would still be very powerful. There was one member of our group that sat in all 3 ceremonies without drinking any Ayahuasca. I still drank the medicine though. I wanted to learn more and experience more of the medicine within myself.
I felt the third ceremony was the conclusion but also the beginning. The beginning of a new journey. In this ceremony you receive your Arkana which is a personal Ikaro that offers you protection. At this point of the night, my Ayahuasca felt very subtle and I was very interested in what was happening. I sat up and watched each and every participant receive their Arkana. Though it is dark, I watched what I could as it was happening. I was amazed at the endurance of the shamans as they sing a different Ikaro for each participant. The third ceremony told me I have to take these learning’s and integrate them into my life.
Love and acceptance. Show love, feel love, and accept love. With this, I can deal with addictions, toxicities, trauma and hardships.
Huachuma Ceremony
Huachuma (WA-CHEW-MA) – Also known as San Pedro, is a cactus found high up in the Andes mountains. It also can be a very intense experience but often a little more cordial than Ayahuasca. Arkana offers you a dose of this on your last day at the retreat. We all drank it with intention, in an outdoor setting. It was administered by a shaman that specializes in Huachuma ceremonies. It helped me reflect on how lucky I am to be alive and treat each day like its your Birthday! Happy Birthday!
What does all this mean..? 90 days after this retreat, I have felt a sense of clarity and peace. Over time, society has boxed me in. That box is now open. As I continually integrate into life, I have noticed I am more attuned with everything around me. In the past, encounters that I perceived as negative or toxic, I would let consume me. In some cases, I would become an extension of negativity.
Now, it is very clear to me that negativity needs to be dealt with the power of light, love, authenticity, honor, courage, and peace. When I am addressed in a condescending way, when someone’s ego is overcharged, I am able to respond with grace. Trauma that I have had throughout life I am at peace with. When the bombardment of global tyranny, corruption, genocide, war, and deceit tries to get me down, I have faith that better days are among us and I am just one particle of light connected to it all. My constantly evolving intuition is receiving messages daily, to carve out my own light, and shine it with love, grace and honor. You only live this life once, who knows what your next life will be.
Arkana Family in Peru
The Arkana Family – I very much appreciated the way Arkana conducted there retreat. Each and every member of the Arkana staff displayed 169% care, love and professionalism. They truly wanted to help every individual with there journey. The food, accommodations and ceremonies, were all prepared with great detail and compassion. The facilitators were very supportive, helpful and knowledgeable. The Shamans were masters teachers of the medicine and amazing artists. I felt very special to be in there presence. All of this combined offered me such a lovely experience that I will never forget. Thank You, Arkana
Also a special thanks to Jule and Peter for their hard work at setting the trip up, all of the Shamans, the Facilitators, Chandler, Julio, Bob, Nikita, Tunde, Cinzia, Luke and Theo. Super Gras to John, Gary, Ann and Theo for helping with post integration. Thank you to the other family members that I got to sit in ceremony with! You know who you are. Lots of love!
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My cousin this is so awesome that you were able to experience this and share.
Thank you Bettylu, I am glad you enjoyed the article! ❤️