¡Bienvenido! Welcome! Bienvenu!

Estimada o estimado visitante,
sea bienvenido al mundo del ayawaska, planta maestra de la medicina tradicional amazónica. En este espacio encontrará información sobre los modos de sanación de los pueblos originarios amazónicos, como el shipibo-conibo del Bajo Ucayali, en Perú, al que pertenecen mis ancestros,
Bekanwe! (saludos)
Maestro Senen Pani
(Antonio Muñoz Burga)

viernes, 24 de abril de 2009

Ayahuasca, the guide to the World of spirits

Since ten thousand years the people of the Amazon have been using ayahuasca and other master plants as a part of their magical religious system and cosmovision. Ayahuasca (Word in Quechua) is a brew considered the "rope to the spirits" or a rope that allows the contact with our inner self. Ayahuasca as a psychoactive brew is prepared with at least two vegetal ingredients: one is the liana ayahuasca (Banisteriopsis caapi) and the other is a plant known as chacaruna (Psychotrya viridis), together they have the force to provide a visionary way.

The process that generates the ingestion of this brew is similar to a dream, but with full conscience of the contents of the images and emotional contents that color the visionary ¨travel¨

The role of the Amazon shaman is that of a guide or maestro in the world of the essence, or spirits, from men as well as animals and plants. During the ritual ceremony, the shaman or maestro is converted into a medicine man who expresses its powers through specific chants, called icaros, whose tones reach very high vibrations to be perceived by spirits to be convoked, such as the spirits of the jaguar and the anaconda serpent, the sacred condor, etc. Through these chants, also, the participants in the ceremony are induced to reach the necessary vibration to enter in a healing extasis.

The sacred plants facilitate an adequate exploration of our inner world in order to obtain a better understanding of the internal factors that have an impact on our personal happiness or suffering, as well as an access to more profound aspects of our spirituality. Furthermore, it helps to restore the vital energies for the construction and improvement of our quality of life and develop a more flexible and ample concept of life.

In the interior travel, the contents might be expressed by visions, past experiences, reflections or intuitions that are being combined continuously. These can be interpreted, with the guide of the shaman Maestro Antonio and his helpers to be able to elaborate and restructure the past, presence and future of the person. If the person is looking for this, he or she will by widening its consciousness, obtain an encounter with itself and the individual purpose or mission in life, with an integral development of its potential, loosing fear and basic insecurities.

Therefore, ayahuasca not only works on a physical level as a purifying agent, it also works on a metaphysical level to eliminate emotional and psychological garbage that was accumulated during life time. The plant allows a person to revive in symbolized way the situation of origin of a problem or trauma, in order to understand and being able to free his of herself and modify old patterns and habits. Through this healing process it will be easier to enter into transpersonal areas and relate oneself to the spirituality, thus satisfying the spiritual quest to one self. As a result, a gradual calmness of the personality is obtained –in reasoning and emotion--, which lessens gradually the anxiety, bad humor and depression.

The program of a week in the rainforest

At the core of the Ayahuasca Healing Retreat program is self-empowerment. Once the effects of these plants begin on the user's consciousness they become introspective and engage in periods of personal review and self-reflecting, often times on the course of their life and personal relationships. We learn the value of self-reliance and how to reclaim our inner resources.
To this end, all plant ceremonies are facilitated by the Shipibo shaman Maestro Antonio, assisted by the therapists Miguel and Rinske. The plants we work with offer the means by which we can gently and safely explore the unconscious, the doorway to the soul. Insights into who we really are and what we're here for can be gained through this process. Our participants have reported profound life-changing experiences as well as healing on many levels.

The content of the program
The first day we will pick you up at the airport of Pucallpa. We’ll go to the port of Yarina to pick a pequepeque (typical boat of the Amazon) which will transport us by the Yarinacocha Lake to the indigenous shipibo village of San Francisco. There we will be welcomed by the family of Shaman Maestro Antonio Muñoz Burga (Senen Pani). The family will lodge us in their home, where is a special guesthouse where also the ceremonies will be held. The house is rustic, but hygienic and is auspicious for introspection.
The Program is 7 days. During that time, we engage in four ayahuasca ceremonies. The sessions usually begin in the evening and go through the night.
The program has three important stages that will be developed during the Ayahuasca ceremonies

• Purifying and psychophysical cleaning
• Activation and widening of the consciousness
• Analyzing and elaborating internal contents
Everyone does the ayahuasca together. The group dynamic is very important, though there will of course be facilitators to look after you during the night.
Between the sessions there is a series of optional workshops to attend. There will be plenty of time for private discussions and time alone to reflect on the experiences. This enables for the effects of the plant to be assimilated more readily and thus incorporated into daily living.
Throughout the week, we also plan a series of excursions, including an excursion to the rainforest to get to know the medicinal plants such as cat claw, chuchahuasi, capirona in their natural environment, and visiting nearby shipibo villages.
Preliminary explanation
During the 6 days we follow a strict (though delicious) diet. This means no red meat, nor dairy products. Also the diet is salt and sugar free. The meals served are prepared using only local food and raw materials of the day. The special diet is specifically geared to maximize the ayahuasca experience. There is no alcohol served during the retreat. Sexual abstinence is also required during the retreat.
During the ceremonies we’ll use the following medicinal plants:
LOBOCANERO: Medicinal plant of the low jungle that has a vitalizing and activating effect, which improves the state of mind of the person and the self-realization (combats apathy, laziness, and depression).
AYAHUASCA Y CHACURUNA: These two medicinal plants together have a powerful psychoactive effect, which allows the awakening of internal contents and extra sensorial capacities helping the comprehension of the meaning of our existence, and which through insights and revelations enables the construction of a more rich and constructive perspective towards life.
MUCURA: used in floral baths to raise energy, or take you out of a run of bad luck, inertia or a sense of not living to the full. This plant gives mental strength and you can feel its effects, it has a penetrating aroma. Mental strength means it could be good to counter shyness, find one’s personal value or authority. Medicinal properties include asthma, bronchitis, reduction of fat and cholesterol.
The price for this retreat is US$ 800 per person.
The price includes:
• 6 days staying at the Shaman’s house, all meals,
• 4 ceremonies with medicinal plants,
• Therapeutic support during the whole program
• two excursions;
• transportation from the airport to the Community of San Francisco de Yarinacocha.
Not included: optional workshop in local Shipibo handcrafts (ceramics, textile, necklaces) (30US$).

The participation in the ceremonies involves some requirements, which are to be taken into account to have a good result:
§ Sexual abstinence is required, 24 hours before and after the retreat
§ The consumption of pig meat, seafood and spicy food is not allowed from 24 hours before the retreat and 24 hours after the retreat.
§ Try to avoid negative emotions, such as anger and displease during the retreat and the days after.

The Ayahuasca Healing Retreats offer a safe and supportive space in which to explore this extraordinary "spiritual therapy," but there are, of course, some precautions that need to be taken before ingesting the brew:
Ayahuasca is not compatible with:
§ High blood pressure (hypertension) or cardiacal problems
§ Problems with the gall bladder
§ Epilepsia
§ persons with acute illness
SSRIs like Prozac and Zoloft, or other drugs that are MAOIs. If you wish to take ayahuasca you must have stopped taking MAOIs and SSRIs at least 4 weeks before coming to the retreat. However, this must be done under your physician's supervision.
Health insurance is highly recommended – not for the intake of the brew, but rather because you will be abroad, and treating a sprain ankle (we go on jungle excursions) can be very costly overseas.

What to bring?
Generally pack for a jungle holiday. It's hot in the jungle. There may be cooler, rainier days though, so bring a couple of warmer things. Long-sleeved pants and shirts are important to prevent mosquito bites in the evenings.
Here's a suggested list.

• 2 pair long pants
• 2 pairs of shorts
• 2 long sleeve T-shirts
• 5 short sleeves T-shirts
• Hiking boots for trekking
• Flashlight with batteries
• Sandals
• 1 swimsuit
• 1 Sweater
• Rain poncho or jacket
• Mosquito repellent spray
• Sunscreen and after sun lotion
• Antiseptic cream

• A writing journal
• Camera
• sunglasses

Where is the retreat done?
The program is developed in the shipibo-conibo indigenous community of San Francisco de Yarinacocha, nearby Pucallpa. The shipibos are part of the Pano family which combines three ethnical groups: the konibo (Alto Ucayali), the shipibo (Medio Ucayali) and the xetebo (Bajo Ucayali). At the present time, the members of this ethnical unity consider themselves in general as "shipibos" and their language is known in the scientific literature as "shipibo-konibo" (o "shipibo-conibo"). With almost 30,000 members, the shipibos form the third most numerous people of the Peruvian Amazon, after the asháninkas (Arawak) and aguarunas (Shuar. Awajún. Achuar). The majority lives in "native communities" separated from the national society. There are more or less 130 shipibo communities, almost all settled along the big Ucayali River (departments of Ucayali, Loreto y Huánuco). The shipibo live basically of fishing, agriculture of slash and burn, and hunting. On the other hand, the ceramics elaborated by the women have beautiful and complex designs, and are being considered as "…one of the most elaborate and flourishing polychrome pottery tradition in the Amerindian world today" (Roe 1982: 42).

For additional information and coordination, please contact your travel agency or write a mail to

E-mail: senenpani@gmail.com

A short description of the Shaman Maestro Antonio and its facilitaters


- Traditional medicine man or shaman in the indigenous community of San Francisco de Yarinacocha, department of Ucayali, Peru; shipibo-conibo, one of the 52 ethnic groups of the Peruvian Amazon, already works 30 years with the traditional Amazon medicine.
- Descendent of a lineage of onayas (shamans); his paternal grandfather had the highest grade of traditional medicine man: morraeya, which represent to have the therapeutic as well as spiritual knowledge.
- Started traditional medicine and the knowledge of the master plants as a child
- Represented the traditional shipibos medicine men in the Congreso de Medicina Indígena (Congress of Indigenous Medicine), organized by the Instituto Nacional Indigenista de México (National Indigenous Institute), in México DF, in 1986.
- Senen Pani has been invited to practice his traditional therapy with ayahuasca in several countries of Latin America, such as Chile, Colombia and México.
- Co-founder of various institutes (Nihueräo, Pino Joni) related to recover the traditional knowledge of the shipibo-canibo people, specially in relation to health and the integration with other disciplines towards a transpersonal therapy based on the Amazon medicine
- Development of programs of widening consciousness with young shipibos-conibos of his community.
- As a master he has teached various pupils, not only shipibos, but also people from other backgrounds (South Americans, Europeans) and professions (doctors, psychologists, philosopher, economists, social sciences, etc.).

Some information on shaman songs, the Icaros
“The lyrics of these songs represent a vocalization of power. They work profoundly, making powerful connections. They draw designs that can heal, bring back harmony, just like the patterns that appear in the Shipibo artwork. The songs have their origin in the visions of the shamans: they are a representation of what they see and learn from entities perceived in their visions. Those entities are multiple, similar and not-similar, and we cannot reduce them to one single expression; that is why the metaphor is the best way to describe them. Icaros are songs that come from a supernatural world, not divided from nature, difficult to express in English or Spanish. Their real significance is only revealed under the influence of the brews made of plants like ayahuasca the mareación produced by the taking of the brew is transformed in a channel for the knowledge to pass and is the way in which one can understand the songs. The supernatural beings that appear behind the songs bring forth melodies which are quiet similar to our respiration. The shamans travel between both worlds, and obtain similar powers to those of the beings whose songs they emit. And once they have perceived the world with clarity they start to act. The world is full of dangers: darts, bed things… the power can be a weapon with two sides. The shamans first have to conquer the dark side of what could be a lethal impulse. But the songs can save lives. If someone is drowning in his visions, he can hold on to the melody of the shaman to save him. These songs are made of knowledge and wisdom”

(Jeremy Narby, Swiss anthropologist , author of the “La serpiente cósmica” (the cosmic serpent), comenting the CD released in 2005, by Senen Pani “Cantos de Sanación del Ayahuasca” (Songs of Healing of the Ayahuasca) by IKAM- ikam_editorial@hotmail.com )

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