Peru Retreats— In Collaboration with the Shipibo People
Our retreats in the Peruvian Amazon are a central expression of Project Roots, Numinous Ways’ initiative to honour and support the world’s enduring traditions of reaching the Numinous. Rooted in deep collaboration with the Shipibo people, these retreats are not built around our frameworks—but theirs.
The ceremonies are held and guided by experienced Shipibo healers (curanderas and shamans), whose ancestral knowledge, plant dieta practices, and sacred songs (icaros) form the heart of the experience. We do not interpret or intervene; instead, we hold a respectful container around their work, offering preparation and integration support grounded in listening, humility, and reciprocity.
These are not wellness getaways or therapeutic intensives. They are invitations into a world shaped by the forest—where the plants are teachers, the songs are medicine, and the work is spiritual. For those called to explore this path, we offer an opportunity to enter slowly, with reverence, and to support the continuity of a culture that has long served the Numinous.
The Three Ayahuasca Ceremonies
At the heart of the retreat are three traditional ayahuasca ceremonies, each held in the maloca under the guidance of experienced Shipibo healers. These are not curated experiences or hybrid rituals—they are conducted in the way the Shipibo have inherited.
Ceremonies take place in complete darkness. This is intentional. Without visual distraction, the senses turn inward. The songs—icaros—are not background music. They are the medicine’s form. Each icaro is a precise transmission, often directed to an individual, sung into the body, the field, the spirit.
The atmosphere can be intense. The space is held in silence, pierced only by the chants of the shamans and the occasional movement of the night. Tobacco is used liberally—not recreationally, but ritually—to cleanse, to protect, to open. This can be difficult for those unaccustomed to it.
Ayahuasca itself—often called la purga—is a demanding teacher. It cleans, unearths, disorients. Each ceremony may bring visions, emotions, or physical purging, but it may also bring stillness, confusion, or silence. There is no guaranteed insight. What arises is what is needed.
These three nights form the core of the retreat. Everything else—plant walks, rituals, rest—supports this central encounter. And while the ceremonies are brief in hours, they unfold long after, resonating through the body and psyche for days, months, even years.
What to Expect
This retreat is unlike our offerings in Portugal or the Netherlands. While it shares our commitment to safety, depth, and transformation, its structure, atmosphere, and leadership are entirely shaped by the Shipibo tradition.
The retreat is held in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon and guided by Shipibo shamans—elders and curanderas whose ceremonial knowledge is rooted in generations of spiritual and ecological intimacy with the forest. Our role is not to lead, but to support. The space is held with care, but the healing is conducted by those for whom this path is a way of life.
Participants are invited into a rich and embodied encounter with the jungle and its medicines. This includes:
Thorough preparation and integration, guided by Numinous Ways facilitators to support understanding and grounding
Three traditional Ayahuasca ceremonies
Guided journey through the forest with a local herbalist
Boat trip on the Amazon River to witness its vast and living majesty
Ritual plant baths and clay baths for cleansing and grounding
Visits to local markets and cultural exchanges with the community
Deepening relationships with jungle medicines including rapé, sananga, mambe, coca leaves, and bobinsana
Participating in the brewing of the ayahuasca vine and replanting efforts as part of reciprocal practice
Preparing ceremonial cacao and sharing in a cacao ceremony under the forest canopy
After nine days of immersion in the rainforest—of ceremony, plant work, and deep connection to the Shipibo tradition—the European mind may feel saturated or overwhelmed. To support the return, we spend our final two days in Peru’s capital, Lima. Here, in a comfortable local hotel, there is space to rest, continue integration, and prepare for re-entry into the Western world. The climate—warm yet tempered by ocean breezes—offers a gentle contrast to the rainforest’s heavy humidity, and the city itself, with its vibrant culture and cuisine, provides a soft landing before the journey home.
Our Role: Preparation, Integration and Assistance
In the Amazon, the use of psychedelics is inseparable from the cosmology and way of life of the local people. These experiences are not isolated events—they are integrated into a worldview rooted in community, ritual, and relationship with the forest.
For the European mind, shaped by a different history and a severed spiritual lineage, these experiences can be disorienting or even harmful without proper context. Preparation and integration are not optional—they are essential.
Numinous Ways facilitators serve as a bridge between these worlds. While the ceremonies are led entirely by Shipibo healers, we support you in making sense of what arises, helping to translate the encounter into something meaningful, grounded, and enduring.
Who This Is For
This retreat is a demanding undertaking—physically, psychologically, and spiritually. It is designed for those who feel genuinely called to work with Ayahuasca in its traditional context and are ready to meet the challenge with seriousness and respect.
Travel: reaching the retreat site requires commitment. From Europe, the journey typically includes a 12-hour overnight flight to Lima (via Amsterdam, Paris, or Madrid), a domestic flight to Iquitos, a 2.5–3 hour boat journey down the Amazon, and a final 30-minute ride by motocarro (local tuk-tuk). This level of travel can be exhausting, and the remoteness is part of the experience.
Psychological Readiness: Cultural difference, jet lag, the humidity, and the unfamiliar sounds and smells of the jungle can be disorienting. The retreat centre is basic, this is not a luxury retreat. It offers what is necessary, nothing more. Participants must be prepared to adapt, to surrender comfort, and to engage with the setting on its own terms. This is La Selva.
The Medicine Work: Ayahuasca—sometimes called la purga for its powerful cleansing effects—is not a gentle medicine. The three ceremonies can be intense, physically and emotionally. The way of the Shipibo may also be challenging for the European psyche to accommodate. The extensive ritual use of tobacco, the penetrating force of the icaros (sung healing prayers), and the experience of sitting in complete darkness can be overwhelming at first. This work is not recommended for psychedelic first-timers. It is for those with a stable foundation, prior experience, and the willingness to face the depths of the psyche with courage and humility.
The Retreat Centre
Tucked deep within the Peruvian Amazon, the retreat centre offers a quiet but well-supported base for deep work. Surrounded by forest and river, it provides the space and stillness needed to listen—to the plants, to the land, and to what arises within.
While simple, the centre is not without comfort. There is electricity from solar panels, light after dark, a fridge for storing essentials, and even Wi-Fi for occasional connection when needed. Accommodation is in single or twin wooden huts with mosquito nets and basic furnishings—private, airy, and immersed in nature.
The rhythm here follows the forest: slower, grounded, and free of excess. Meals are shared in a central maloca, prepared with local ingredients and traditional Peruvian simplicity. The ceremony space—also a maloca—is open to the elements but protected, a place of reverence, darkness, and song.
This is not luxury, but it is real. The jungle holds both beauty and challenge, and the centre reflects that balance: clean, supportive, and designed to serve the work—not distract from it.
Join Us
This is not a retreat for everyone. It is a call to those who feel the pull of the forest, who are ready to step outside familiar frameworks and meet a different way of knowing. It is for those who understand that real transformation asks something of us—time, humility, and the courage to be undone.
If you feel called, we invite you to walk with us—into the forest, into ceremony, and into conversation with the ancient intelligence of the plants. This is an opportunity to learn not only from ayahuasca, but from the people who have carried its wisdom through generations.
Applications are open. Spaces are limited. We encourage you to read carefully, reflect deeply, and reach out with any questions.
