Overview
When you speak with Sharon Van Bramer, founder of Bluestone Ayahuasca Retreat in Cancun Mexico, she will be quick to tell you that Ayahuasca changed her life:
I don’t think I’d be here if it weren’t for that plant. By the end of 2023, Ayahuasca will have been a part of my life for 19 years. Using the plant, I accessed parts of myself I didn’t know existed and found mysteries, answers and the way home. I believe the plant performs the function of opening the door to your subconscious, where the erroneous perceptions, repressed emotions and traumas that are driving your life are tucked away. Having said that, I know your spirit will never reveal to your 5-sense awareness something for which you are not yet prepared to deal.
– Sharon Van Bramer, Founder
Plant medicine comes from Mother Earth, and the ‘rituals,’ or ways we honor her, are shamanic by definition—that is, earth-based practices. Rape (raPAY) optionally starts every ceremony, introducing masculine energy alongside the feminine ayahuasca. Fire appears at the ceremony’s closing, calling us ‘back’ and transmuting the energies released. Shipibo, Totonaca, Mejica and other cultures are honored in our ceremonies. Our ceremony follows the model developed by the great ayahuasquero Diego Palma. He believed that ayahuasqueros should channel the medicine in ways ‘native’ or natural to each, rather than borrowing alien traditions from others. He introduced fire, smudging and music. String, wind and percussion instruments were all part of his ceremonies and songs he composed.
Ayahuasca works with the heart, not the head. If you’re thinking of taking plant medicine, it is that wee small voice within prompting you to do so, not your brain! Listen to that voice (your heart) – it will never lead you astray. Follow your heart, heed its guidance, your intuition and feelings. Then put that heart and intuition of yours to work evaluating retreats!
Ask the organizers if they sit in ceremony and take the medicine. Do you feel the person is listening to you? Do you feel that you’re connecting with the person? Are they concerned with your well-being and willing to discuss medications and the precautions that need to be taken?
Ayahuasca is non-toxic, and most humans can drink it safely. But for those rare exceptions, you will want to know that your partners are up-to-date with literature and thoughtful. Risk factors such as pharmaceuticals, diabetes, hypertension, and recreational drugs must be addressed and understood. How centers speak about these issues will tell you much about their integrity and competence. At the end of the process, you’ll feel which is the retreat for you. And we do hope it will be ours!
