Prepare for Your Journey
Welcome to our Guides page at Casa Sanaciones. Here, we provide essential information to prepare you for inner work, healing, or ceremony. Our aim is to ensure you have a safe, enlightening, and transformative experience with us. Join us as we delve into the practices and preparations that will enhance your journey towards well-being.
A Brief Introduction to Ethnobotanical Practices
Especially for those attending walk events for the first time, many questions arise. This guide introduces the basics, focusing on the medicinal plants used in our ceremonies. The Ethnobotanical Tea is central to the Shuar tradition and many other tribes, employed for millennia in healing. Our method, following Grandmother Carmen and the Catan family, involves cooking the plant's wood with an enhancing plant in water for hours, creating a potent syrup used in ceremonies.
This Ethnobotanical Tea, also known as ‘Ayahuasca’ in the Andean region, originates from the rainforest. In traditional Shuar ceremonies, we also use Tobacco and Rape. Our Tobacco is distinct from commercial products; it's used in Tobacco-water, administered through the nose, to prepare the body for the Ethnobotanical Tea. Sometimes, Tobacco Mapacho is smoked and used in prayer.
Understanding How Ethnobotanical Tea Works
The primary function of Ethnobotanical Tea is cleansing, aiding in the removal of lower energies from your system. Its energy consciousness can expand your awareness, facilitating reflection on your life and personality. While some seek strong visions, the tea’s effectiveness lies in triggering necessary processes. Trust that Ethnobotanical Tea will initiate precisely what needs to be addressed.
The tea elevates your energy system's frequency, prompting the release of lower energies from both the physical and energetic bodies. This release can cause nausea, vomiting, or diarrhoea, as the body assists in dispersing these energies. These effects are temporary. We use songs and healing techniques to transform these lower energies. The initial effects, such as tingling in the limbs, usually appear after twenty minutes. Breathing into this sensation helps spread the plant's energy consciousness. For some, the effects may take longer to manifest.
Important Considerations Before the Ceremonies
Ethnobotanical Tea is incompatible with anti-psychotic and anti-depressive medications, including SSRIs and MAO inhibitors. Consult your doctor if you are on medication before participating in a walk events. We also request no chemical medicines 24 hours prior, if your prescription allows. Inform the organiser about all medications or health issues. Note that our organisers are not medical professionals and cannot advise on medication interactions. Organisers are not liable for individual responsibilities.
Our ceremonies start in the early evening and end the next morning, aligning with the body's optimal condition for spiritual quests during the night. The night's silence and darkness enhance the potential for visions as the Ethnobotanical Tea increases receptiveness.
Each walk events features an altar, connecting Mother Earth and Father Sky. Indoors, this usually consists of a blanket with sacred items, including Ethnobotanical Tea and incense. Outdoors, we create a Shuar altar: a mountain with seven ridges representing the seven directions. An anaconda head may adorn it, with a stick connecting Earth and Sky. Flowers may also decorate the altar.
Preparing Yourself for the Walk Events
Preparation is key. Reading this guide is a great start. Maximise your walk events experience with the following:
Prioritise peace and tranquility. Your mindset leading up to the walk events will influence your experience. Avoid exhausting activities physically and mentally. Engage in stress-reducing activities like yoga, meditation, or nature walks. Arrive early to connect with others and the location's energies. Approach the Ethnobotanical Tea-walk events with sincerity and respect. Avoid partying the night before, as it will make your experience difficult.
While the plant consciousness provides energy, food is also essential. Avoid rigorous fasting before the walk events. Eat lightly four to five hours beforehand, limiting dairy and non-chicken meat for three days before and after. Refrain from sex during this time, as sexual energy greatly influences cellular opening. Avoid alcohol or other substances before the walk events.
The organiser will inform you of necessary items, typically including a mat, sleeping bag, and cushion. Bring items related to your spiritual practice to place on the altar, excluding large objects. If you play a musical instrument well, you are welcome to bring it. Play or sing only when invited, to maintain the energy brought by Charles and his assistants. Ensure you understand the meaning of any songs or mantras, as they bring associated energies.
Clothing and Key Roles During the Walk Events
There is no dress code, but wear comfortable, modest clothing. Avoid tight clothing and anything sexually provocative.
Respect the organiser, who dedicates significant time and effort. Report to them upon arrival. They will guide you through preliminary steps, including a brief interview and paperwork. Follow their instructions during the walk events.
Assistants support Charles and you during the walk events, performing tasks from assisting with the process to tending the wood stove. They are experienced in many ceremonies and trained to manage the effects of Ethnobotanical Tea. They follow the same code of conduct as Charles. Ask them for help if needed, whether it’s getting to the bathroom or anything else.
Very good Organized
The organisation off Charles his ceremonies, was a pleasure to see and to feel, there is nothing he
don´t knows or see. We feld secure and carried the way he is checking everything. Even our sleeping place was a safe place to sleep, after every ceremony he was checking if it was all good. What a amazing way to give us this comfort.
Raquel Z Spain