Spiritual Centre of Guatemala!

San Marcos is considered to be the most beautiful and peaceful village on the lake here.  Sadly it also attracts a huge variety of hippies who wish to worship the earth mother.  We recently asked to move back into the Loft after finding the big house was a little too big!  We were lucky enough to swap rooms with a couple here who really wanted the big house.  It was only after meeting them that we discovered we’d encountered a local celebrity!

Kailash

Kailash offers sound medicine and is advertising his services here in San Marcos for a month – staying in our complex!  We found him in the local group for San Marcos on Facebook.

Here are some more adverts we found on Facebook for the area:

Our personal favourite was an advert by Thomas White Eagle who is a lead shaman for Dharma mystical tours and offering an Ayahuasca retreat for only a couple of thousand pounds!

So what is Ayahuasca?

Of course!  It’s an hallucinogenic plant!  And what does the White Eagle offer in the retreat?

“This Ayahausca Retreat is a life regenerating and life changing experience. 
You will have the opportunity to experience the Ayahuasca in a safe, soft, elegant and professional manner.
Our ayahuasca ceremonies are designed for westerners, to facilitate learning and healing in the western world. The medicine is open for anyone to experience, and connects particularly well with practices of mindfulness, meditation and yoga.
Special diet, spiritual workshops and meditations will be provided.

The program includes:
1 preparation ceremony (tobacco or ayahuasca)3 ayahuasca ceremonies

Facilitators:
Leading shaman: Thomas White Eagle

Where:
Yoga Forest (TBC), San Marcos, Guatemala

Prices: 
USD 2,300 full price
USD 1,900 discounted price for early bookings, paid before 15 May 2017

Prices are all inclusive of quality accommodation in a private room with bathroom, all suitable meals, all ceremonies and workshops.”

Ok so what is involved in a ceremony??

(from http://dharmamysticaltours.blogspot.com/2012/06/ceremonia-de-ayahuasca.html)

“Ayahusca Ceremony

What is Ayahuasca?

Ayahuasca, the Mother of all things, is a spirit that can help reveal the wisdom of the Universe through opening new levels of perception of the inner and outer worlds.

This plant teacher comes to us as a brew derived from sacred Amazonian plants. The Ayahuasca vine (Banisteriopsis caapi) offers the connection to the spirit world, and is always used. Plants such as  chagropanga (Psychotria viridis) or chaliponga (Dyplocteris cabreyana) are used to promote vivid visions, and vary depending on where the ayahuasca is brewed.

The Ayahuasca I offer is a liquid treasure, prepared by the hand of a shaman of the Shipibo people, born of a family of many generations of shamans. The medicine carries the wisdom of this energy within it.

The liquid itself contains energies of all the elements that compose our body and the world around us: earth, water, fire, air – as well as the light and energy of the soul. As a magic ‘wine of the soul’ this universal medicine balances energies and fills in any deficiencies. It is considered an essence of pure nature, recommended for those born and living in cities.

Why is Ayahausca consumed in ceremony?

Ayahuasca is a powerful ethnobotanical medicine. We consume it in a Sacred Space that respects its power to facilitate healing and learning.

Our ayahuasca ceremonies are designed for westerners, to facilitate learning and healing in the western world. The medicine is open for anyone to experience, and connects particularly well with practices of mindfulness, meditation and yoga.

What will you experience?

Your ayahuasca experience will be as unique as your own life’s journey. You might receive deeper knowledge about yourself, unblock barriers in your life path, receive insight toward physical healing, reconnect with your ancestors, or expand your consciousness of the universe and nature of creation.

How the medicine works in you will depend on your body, your life journey, and the energies you and others bring into Sacred Space.

While experiences vary, everyone who comes to the medicine leaves transformed. Ayahuasca has the potential to deeply shift your perspective, enrich your life, and unlock the power to generate physical and emotional well-being, allowing you to emerge healthier, more loving, and in harmony with others and the world around you.

When you are under the effect of the medicine you do not loose consciousness nor reasoning ability. It does much the opposite, expanding your perceptions to include new dimensions of the physical world, as well as the spiritual and energetic worlds inside and around you. The medicine tends to intensify preexisting visions, thoughts and feelings – allowing hidden aspects to be revealed during the session.

These are some benefits that people have described:

* Dissolved emotional blockages

* Profound feelings of peace with one`s own past

* Mental and emotional clarity

* Healing from various physical ilnesses and health problems such as insomnia

* Reduced stress

* Revealed path to a more meaningfull, happy and harmonious life

* Enhanced openness towards spirituality

* Improvements in interpersonal relationships

The Ceremony

Ceremonies are conducted in small groups to allow a subtle, soft, and intimate experience with this transformative medicine. This allows the opportunity to provide individual care and focus to each person in the group.  I offer 3 main kinds of ayahuasca ceremonies:

Daytime outdoor experiences offer a great opportunity to connect with nature and last about 2 hours.

Evening ceremonies generally take between 3 to 6 hours, depending on the individual processes.

Fire ceremonies take between 4-6 hours. The intensity and spirit of the fire give these ceremonies a distinctive resonance.

We will have a short chat a few days before the ceremony to clarify your intentions for the journey, answer any questions, and address fears or doubts.

Preparing for the Medicine

Purifying the body is part of your preparation to enter Sacred Space in the manner most respectful to the power of this medicine. This will help to mitigate possible unpleasant aspects of your journey and allow the ayahuasca to best work its healing magic.

For the medicine to offer its best gifts, prepare for at least 3 days by observing the following:

* No Salt

* No Sugar

* No Pork or Red Meat

* No Sex

* No Fried or Oily Foods

* No Spicy Food – avoid onions, garlic and chile. Mild spices such as leaf thyme, basil and oregano are OK.

* No Drugs, Alcohol, or Marijuana – marjuana should be stopped at least a full week before the ceremony, as its effects tend to block the visions and work of ayahuasca medicine. If you have difficulty with this, please contact me and we discuss possible solutions.

* Suspend Certain Medications – particularly those that affect mental processes, such as anti-depressant medications.
If you have questions whether or not to continue a particular medication, please contact me.

Women that have their menstrual period are allowed to participate after the third day after the period is over.

If you had never had experience with a plant teacher such as ayahuasca, san pedro, peyote, etc. it is advisable to purge before your experience. See here for details on the northern Amazonian tradition of purging with tobacco.

After the Ceremony

If possible, allow yourself at least 3 days to reintegrate what you have experienced into your day-to-day life. You are likely to be very sensitive and open after your journey, so be gentle with yourself. Do your best to avoid stress and create a healing, quiet space where you can get plenty of rest, good sleep, healthy food and time in nature.

The medicine will stay in your body for 6-9 months after the ceremony, and will continue to offer lessons for at least this long. Unless you are doing ayahuasca  in the context of an extended retreat, wait at least 2 weeks before doing another ceremony.

You should not participate in an ayahuasca ceremony if you have any of the following conditions:

* Epilepsy

* A chronic heart condition or hypertension

* Schizophrenia or other serious mental illness

* Frequent ongoing use of recreational drugs

You should also not participate if you are in the first trimester of pregnancy.

Most importantly, you should come to the medicine with respect and reverence. Please choose another psychedelic substance if you are considering using ayahausca as a recreational experience. This medicine has its own wisdom. If you wish it to treat your body and mind with kindness and respect, you must come to it reverently and responsibly.”