Departing Guatemala, I fly to Peru, South America. We descend through the clouds and then I see it: the Amazon. Forest, as far as I can see. A giant snake of a river wind's its way through the forest cover. We land and taxi into Iquitos - the largest city in the Amazon accessible only by air or river.
In the following posts, I share my experiences with you of my healing journey with the mother spirit plant - Ayahuasca, while in the rainforest with indigenous Peruvian Shipibo healers and 20 other people seeking healing and divine guidance from around the world. This all occurred over 15 days, in a magnificent setting in the rainforest called the Temple of the Way of Light. I kept a journal and disconnected myself from all digital forms of communication. I received deep and profound healing that has delivered me an understanding of my childhood trauma, adult physical and mental injuries and illnesses and how this is all interconnected and my journey to well being that I share with you now.
Collection Day 3rd August 2012
The journey to the Temple begins with collection out the front of a hotel in Iquitos. I eye the people waiting for the collection bus: Americans, Canadians, Swedish and more. I spy one middle aged, wise looking woman and muse that she is probably a psychologist come along to learn more about the psychological healing of Ayahuasca to share with her patients, I look forward to speaking with her to see if my assumption is correct. We clamber on the bus. A local artist is at the bus window holding an exquisite necklace of a round green Peruvian stone called Serpentine and a small piece of lacquered Ayahuasca. At the last minute I buy it through the window, I love it and hold it close - beginning to feel a connection to the plant Ayahuasca.
We travel on the rickety bus for about an hour heading out of the city. We arrive at the bank of the River Nanay - a tributary of the Amazon. Our group of 20 board a boat and putt down river for about an hour. We arrive at a river bank.
We have been advised to rent rubber boots for the walk and hand our bags to one of the local men and women waiting to carry them. Although I am hesitant to hand over the burden, I soon see why we need the help. For us, the path to the temple is an hour of slipping and sliding in sometimes ankle deep mud under the canopy of the rainforest. The local men and woman walk with speed and agility even with the heavy bags. Along side me walks a fellow seeker, with a foot injury - as his crutches suck and pop out of the mud I wonder if he has come for healing of his injury and admire his determination to make it. We are sweating in the heat and with each step we aim to maintain our balance. At first there is determination, then despondence, eagerness and impatience. This all resides and turns to a form of walking meditation as the path goes on and on.
I walk the mud path. I love that Earth provides us with Clay. I love that my body is able. I love how my body heals, I love my strength and I love my clarity. How symbolic this walk is of the healing journey we are all about to take. There is but one path; we all walk it at different times and paces but we all arrive at the end. It is how we choose to travel that makes the journey easy and joyful or treacherous and painful.
After an hour, I notice beautifully kept gardens and paths, I have arrived to the Temple of the Way of Light. I walk through a small alcove and 7 Shipibo healers in traditional dress welcome me with kind eyes, cataract eyes, kisses and a flower bath. And thus begins the 15 day journey to my soul.
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| Two of the beautiful Shipibo female healers, Rosa and Amelia. |
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