Friday and Saturday Ceremonies

I drank on friday night out with don Lucho. It was the first time I had ever drank with anyone since meeting don Juan, my teacher. But because don Lucho will be participating in the Amazon Curandero Seminar in April, I wanted to know him better and to know his ceremony style. It was a really good experience for me because I came to appreciate don Juan even more. Sometimes you take for granted what you have because you get used to it. It takes a change in perspective, a change in environment, some sort of change, to let you see things more clearly. That is what happened for me. I had many beautiful visions that night, although the ayahausca did not give me these visions easily. I had to concentrate very hard to see them, and then it took all I had to maintain them. I was meditating for a good portion of the ceremony.
I saw what I needed to do to improve my health, and I am on a new path. It feels great.

Last night I drank with don Juan again. I had fasted the entire day, and then before the ceremony I chewed some coca leaves. I was so energized for the ceremony that I sang like a champ and helped out don Juan and felt total joy and bliss the entire night. I vomited pure liquid and it felt great to really purge the toxins from my body. I had gorgeous visions of the future, including seeing my son born in the jungle. I helped with the childbirth, all natural, out at the jungle camp. It was a feeling like no other to see my son emerge to take his first breath, to hold him in my hands and look into his eyes. I feel so much love in my heart just knowing that my son will be born, that I will have a wife, and that we will have a beautiful life together.

What a pleasure it is to be alive. What a blessing it is to experience this marvelous and mysterious world. I am born again, revived, and I will never be the same. Ayahausca is truly a magical medicine, and it has helped me more than words could ever say. Thank you ayahuasca, thank you god, thank you to the whole universe and the universes beyond. I love you.

cuidate,
c

Birthday suprises

It was an unusual day yesterday. It was don Juan´s wife´s birthday. I decided to bake a cake myself for the family. However, I got a late start, as I am not accustomed to baking cakes, and was putting the cake in the oven at 6:30pm. I inadvertantly licked the spoon and tried the batter, which was mostly eggs, milk, sugar, butter, and flour, not exactly the best meal before drinking ayahuasca. I then tried the frosting to make sure it was ok, another mixture of milk, sugar, and egg. When I went to drink, I became nervous about what I had in my stomach and what I was now going to put in there.
I knew there was going to be trouble. I was right.
I drank the ayahuasca and began to think that everything was going to be ok, but Juan kept talking instead of drinking and the lights stayed on and before long, I was not feeling well. The energy was too strange for me. I needed the lights off, and when I got up to turn them off, I think I may have sent a message that I was getting up to throw up, because I quickly realized that I would have to leave. I threw up hard, and I felt sick doing it. Normally, I get it out of me and feel good, but this was not good. I knew this feeling. I had eaten some ice cream once before a ceremony and was totally messed up by it. This was that feeling.
Thank God it didn´t last. I went back into the ceremony and began concentrating on the Amazon Curandero Seminar, which is an event I am currently organizing. I looked into the six curanderos that will be teaching at the seminar, to examine their integrity and power. I investigated the optimum way to organize the workshops, so that the most comprehensive understanding of curanderismo can be achieved in the time we have. I looked into the films that will be shown, the indigenous tribes that will be in attendance, and all the small details of this wonderful event. The Amazon Curandero Seminar is sure to be a memorable experience that hopefully plants the seeds of plant spirit medicine all over the world, replanting the garden of spirit on the planet, and reviving the spirit in each of our hearts as well.
I spent the ceremony with smiles and joy. I sent love to our patient with AIDS, and I sent positive energy to the film crew that will be returning to shoot a feature film in January. Things were beautiful and they still are. I wish I hadn´t made myself sick, but birthday cakes are worth it, and don Juan´s wife seemed to really appreciate the effort. You will hear a lot more about the Amazon Curandero Seminar, trust me...
Curandero Seminar

Sunday November 18th

The last ceremony was an unusual one for me, as don Juan had a vision of a woman coming who would fall in love with me. He described what she would look like and said that she would be from far away. I spent the evening lost in thought about such an odd way to find the love of your life. Are you supposed to know what she looks like before you find her?

Ayahuasca can show you anything, and I had been looking for this information. I have decided to begin organizing a curandero seminar. I saw in visions the importance of such an event to help those called by the spirit of ayahuasca to become healers. I will be looking into this more and more in the next ceremonies. I hope it will be a wonderful guide for those who seek to study the science of plant spirit medicine here in the Amazon Rainforest of Peru.

More later.
ciao...

Saludos de Iquitos, Peru

Hola amigos y amigas,
My name is Carlos Tanner and I have decided to record my experiences as a curandero's apprentice on this blog. I have been studying with a healer from the Amazon Rainforest of Peru for over two years, and we have put together a healing retreat program for those in need of healing and for those interested in learning the science of plant spirit medicine. You can check out our website at http://www.ayahuayra.org/ for more information on our retreat programs in the Amazon Rainforest of Peru.


I live with my teacher, whose name is don Juan, in his house near the airport in Iquitos, Peru. We also spend time out at our jungle camp, which is a two hour hike into the rainforest from the nearest village.
My teacher holds ayahuasca ceremonies at his house every tuesday and saturday. He treats every affliction there is, from Cancer and AIDS to depression and bad luck. He deals with demonic possession, curses and spells, and spiritual afflictions that are unknown to western culture. He is a therapist for couples, a counselor for families, a guide for wandering souls, and a teacher and advisor to students. When he is not holding ayahuasca ceremonies, he still recieves patients throughout the day. For this he treats them using mapachos, tobacco cigarettes from the Amazon. If the affliction is serious in nature or difficult to diagnose, then don Juan will ask the patient to come back and drink ayahuasca in the next ceremony.

It is truly an honor to live and study with don Juan, and it is with great joy in my heart that I call him my friend. I am truly blessed. I would like to share this blessing with my fellow spirit seekers, the growing subculture of people who are willing to cross paradigms and live in a separate reality, the reality of the spirit. This is the world of curanderismo.

I will be putting posts up on this blog after every ceremony, describing my experiences and hopefully demonstrating important aspects of curanderismo at the same time. It is my hope and dream that our civilization return to the wisdom of the spirit, for this wisdom can be the guiding force that leads to our salvation. My teacher, don Juan, and I have put together a six-week educational program that takes place twice a year, and I am in the process of organizing a 9-day intensive seminar that will take place each spring.

If you would like more information on the work that we're doing down here, please visit our website: http://www.ayahuayra.org/