The Ayahuasca Initiation Course
A Six-Week Introduction to Plant Spirit Medicine

A growing number of future healers are hearing the call to study with a curandero or curandera in the Amazon in order to become ayahuasqueros, vegetalistas, and natural healers in the Amazon traditions. During the six week course, students will spend nine days with four different healers, two men and two women, and will drink ayahuasca in three ceremonies with each of them. Those nine days will be spent out at their jungle camps, all of which require hiking, and two require a boat ride. During that time, the curanderos and curanderas will demonstrate the various aspects of plant spirit medicine. Students will have the opportunity to see the differences in style between different schools of curanderismo, and get to know these maestros and maestras in the tranquility of their jungle camps. In between stays in the rainforest, students will spend a night or two in a hotel in town, where they can do their laundry, use the internet, call home, and get whatever supplies they might need for the next adventure. Carlos Tanner will assist with translations and will provide insights when the teachers are unavailable. His perspective is often helpful for he is also a gringo student of Amazon curanderismo.

Students will experience the effects of several plant remedies that will be prepared by the healers for specific purposes. Some of the remedies will be to heal the students, others to calm down their minds, others to strengthen their bodies, others to deepen their connection to the spirit, and still others to give them more profound visions. Sometimes, all the students will take the same plant remedy and discuss their experiences, but most often the remedies will be prepared for each student individually.

The most important aspect of healing is the diet and Initiation Course students will follow various diets during their stay. Nearly every meal eaten during the course will respect a certain dietary recomendation from one of the healers leading the course. Some of the diets involve eating food with no salt, sugar, or oil, while others are quite strict. All diets include absitnence, and some of the diets will also include the ingestions of a particular plant remedy in order to better get to know the spirit of a particular plant. Students will learn from their own experiences the importance of the diet.

The use of healing tools will be covered during the course and students will take part in the making of the central healing tool used in Amazon curanderismo, called the chakapa. The use of mapacho cigarettes to soplay will be covered extensively, as well as incense like palo santo, plant baths, and perfumes. The idea is to prepare students with a basic understanding of many aspects of Amazon healing, so that they know what an apprenticeship would entail, should they decide to take the next step and commit to a long term study period with one of the curanderos. By spending time with four different healers from different schools and with different styles, students also have a better chance of finding the teacher that suits them.

The Foundation will offer two six week Initation Courses each year, with a total of seven different curanderos teaching the two courses. One of the curanderos will be featured in both courses, but the rest will change from course to course. Students must apply for the course, for there is a limited number accepted for each course. The application itself is an educational experience, and many factors are taken into account to determine who is accepted. The greatest factor is the applicants personal desire to become a healer, for one's intentions are the greatest measure of their worth.