Shipibo Plant Medecine
An ancestral system of healing, guided by Maestra Estela. Master plant, Ayahuasca and Huachuma, in a safe and caring setting.
Ayahuasca is only one part of the story
You have probably heard about Ayahuasca. Thousands of people now take part in ceremonies, in the Amazon and at home, and many report deep healing: emotional, physical and spiritual.
Whether you know the plant well or this is all new, you may have questions. What is Ayahuasca? Is it safe? How does it work? What does the shaman do? This page gives you the basics.
A whole system of plant healing
In the Shipibo tradition, which Maestra Estela belongs to, Ayahuasca is one tool among many. Historically, a patient did not always drink it: the shaman did, saw the cause of the illness, and sang the icaros needed to heal.
Simple food, rest and master plant
DIET
Healing songs sung by the curandera
ICARO
Cleansing with plants and flowers
VAPOR BATH
Hands-on work for body and energy
MASSAGE
Modern life can disconnect us from nature, from others and from ourselves. Plant medicine helps us reconnect with the living world, and much of its healing comes from there.
Every master plant works this way, with or without visions. You may feel emotions, memories, strength or fragility, or nothing at all. Every experience is different.
Everything is Vibration :
healing art of Shipibo
The Shipibo are an Indigenous people from the Pucallpa region of Peru, along the Ucayali River. They are known for their medicine, their art and their mastery of Ayahuasca.
For the Shipibo, the world is not made of objects. It is made of song. Every plant, every animal, every river carries its own melody.
The geometric designs woven by Shipibo women are that music made visible: sound you can see. The curandera sings it back as icaros, the sacred songs that carry the medicine.
An icaro is not a performance. It is medicine you can hear.
The plants teach her their songs
during her dietas, the curandera spends months in close contact with one master plant. Little by little, the plant teaches her its icaro.ors to your site with a short, engaging introduction.
In ceremony, she listens
she calls on her plant allies to see what is out of balance in your energetic body, and to know which icaro you need.
Then she sings it to you
the icaro carries the plant's healing pattern to you. It helps clear what is blocked, so your own rhythm can return.
Curanderas like Maestra Estela train for many years.
They do dietas with master plants: a spiritual practice of simple food, isolation and sacred plants, in order to learn each plant's icaros.
It is demanding. Guests who diet (dieteros) often describe it as one of the hardest and most rewarding experiences of their lives.
In ceremony, the shaman calls on these plant allies to see the energetic body and choose the right icaro. The shaman acts as a bridge between people and the plant world
Ayahuasca
Ayahuasca is both a jungle vine and the brew made from it, usually with Chakruna or Huambisa leaves. These leaves contain DMT, which the stomach normally breaks down. The vine blocks that process, which is why the brew is active.
Taken with proper preparation, in a safe place and with well-made medicine, Ayahuasca is relatively safe. Some people should not drink it. Please read our Preparation and Medical Precautions pages. We also screen every guest.
Huachuma
Huachuma is a South American cactus, often called "the Grandfather Medicine." It contains mescaline.
Effects usually begin after one to two hours. You may feel energized, warm and sociable, and hungry afterwards. Many people describe it as empowering, with clear insights and a renewed sense of purpose.
Kambo
Kambo is a traditional Amazonian medicine: the secretion of the giant monkey frog, applied to small, superficial marks on the skin. Amazonian peoples have long used it to cleanse the body and clear the mind.
The effects are physical and fast: heat, a racing heart, nausea and usually a purge. Kambo is not suitable for everyone, so please tell us about your health before you book.
Master plant diet
Leaves, roots, bark and flowers from the jungle, each with its own spirit and its own icaros. Through the dieta, Maestra Estela and her guests learn to work with them one by one.
They are not psychoactive. All of them are always working, with or without visions.
