ACS workshops

These workshops have been designed with the guidance of the curanderos to provide a comprehensive understanding of the fundamentals of curanderismo. Everyone will be separated into smaller groups to attend the four-hour workshops, which will give each participant an opportunity to get to know the teachers in a much more personal way, to truly see who they are. The ceremonies will offer a glimpse of the spiritual dimensions, and together with the presentations, you will know what curanderos do, and who they are. You'll be able to grasp the heart of plant spirit medicine and begin to work with spirit in your own life.
	MAKING AYAHUASCA There is a field in the back of the hotel grounds where a hut will be set up for participants to witness and take part in the making of the sacred brew, ayahuasca. Observe the quantities used and the ratio of vine to leaf and lend a hand in mashing the vine segments or starting a fire. Discuss admixture plants, personal recipes, and their different effects. While the brew boils, learn how curanderos fill the medicine with healing power and discuss 'la dieta,' the special diet that is traditionally followed after ceremonies. Also, learn the recipes for several other plant medicine remedies. LED BY DON PERCY
	CHAKAPA, INCENSES, AND BATHS Made from the leaves of a plant by the same name, the Chakapa is an important healing tool used by many curanderos throughout the Amazon. See how they are made by making one for yourself. You will recieve Chakapa leaves and, with the guidance of the curandero and facilitators, you'll make your very own heal tool. You'll also discuss the use of incenses like Palo Santo and Rosemary to cleanse the energy of a space, and to prepare cleansing baths with various types of flowers. Witness the reading of mapacho cigarettes, a form of divination, and learn about the use of a medicinal tea made from roses. LED BY DONA OTHELIA
	MEDICINAL PLANTS Take a bus to a nearby reserve, Allpahuayo-Mishana, to visit a beautiful botanical garden. Stroll amongst plants like Noni, Una de Gato, Sangre de Grado, Piri Piri and many others. Learn about the different uses for the various medicinal plants, the recipes for remedies, and listen to stories that demonstrate their healing effect. Discuss the spirits of the plants and the particular songs that are sung to contact the spirits. Walk in the jungle amongst medicinal trees, taste ripe fruit right off the branch, and personally connect with the Amazon Rainforest. Discuss the need to know the plants where you live. LED BY DON LUCHO
	ICAROS Spend four hours learning about the music that is essential within the curandero tradition of healing. Listen to don Juan sing different icaros and learn about the spirits associated with them, their purpose in various situations, and their significance within the amazon healing philosophy. Hear stories about the situations and events that brought the curandero in contact with specific spirits, and how the icaros were taught to him. Learn an icaro by singing along with the maestro and practicing on your own with a CD you'll recieve that has selections from each of the curanderos at the seminar. LED BY DON JUAN
	MAPACHO & PERFUMES Learn the significance and importance of tobacco within Amazon curanderismo and how it is used to heal. Observe demonstrations of soplaying, or charging tobacco cigarettes with healing intentions, and how don Guillermo uses the tobacco smoke and his own breath to cleanse the spirit of a patient. You'll recieve a bundle of mapacho cigarettes to practice soplaying along with the curandero. Hear stories of healing with mapachos and feel the effects for yourself. Also, discuss the use chewing and drinking tobacco, as well as the use of perfumes like agua florida, timolina, camphor, and kamalonga. LED BY DON GUILLERMO
Each workshop is roughly four hours long. You will be taken to and from the off-site workshops in buses. You will attend one workshop a day for six days during the seminar until you have attended all of them. Workshops will be in small groups where you'll have ample time to ask questions and really understand what's being demonstrated, as well as really get to know the curandero or curandera as a person.