When I arrived in Ecuador in 2008 with one-way ticket and little money, I was firmly decided to become a full-time apprentice with one of the local shamans. In the Napo province of Ecuador, the shamanic territory was rather unexplored, unlike in Peru, where “Ayahuasca tourism” flourishes and the medicine is sold everywhere. I struggled to find a suitable place and had to face many difficulties. I first had to go through many bad experiences before getting to know my future teachers.

The are many things that people dislike about shamans here. In the Napo province, it is common for shamans to drink alcohol during the ceremonies. Often they mix Ayahuasca with sugar cane liquor. Usually shamans would drink a little bit of Ayahuasca and then continue drinking the liquor, until getting drunk and starting babbling. In my view, Ayahuasca should never be mixed with alcohol, because it “blurs” the effect of the medicine, gives false ego, takes away the self-control and invites dark entities to the ceremony. One wise man has said: “One who drinks alcohol is surely a brujo, a dark magician”.

Unfortunately there were other things that shocked me. In many ceremonies I observed, women could not feel safe. I learnt that it is common for shamans to take advantage of the ceremony to abuse women sexually by touching, kissing etc. Sometimes the medicine is so strong that women cannot even move and defend themselves. Several shamans in the area were put into jail after complaints from female clients, others could get out using a good lawyer.

There were also shamans that were falling into another trap – lust for money. A shaman would tell a sick person that in order to be cured he must pay an exorbitant price sometimes even reaching $700 for one session. The shaman would “suck” on the body of the patient for a while, pretending to be removing the illness. But the patient would not get better. Sometimes he would even get worse.

Sometimes sincere spiritual seekers would come to drink Ayahuasca, but what was offered would be a very weak brew, a “tourist version” or “dud brew” as some call it. Some brews also give only diarrhea and no vision. Other times the brew would be very strong, but the shaman would not know how to modulate its effects properly by singing, and it would leave patients suffering.

Let’s make it short, it was disappointing. But it was a good school. Disgusted by such practices, I left those shamans and continued to look for somebody who would be a true healer. After some time, I was fortunate to find a shaman who was very powerful yet on the white side, who was abstinent and respectful to the women, a kind teacher and amazing person. During my apprenticeship with my teacher, I would help many people as his assistant. His medicine was very strong – again it was a great school where I could learn how to help people in ceremonies that were very intense.

Later I decided to do more studies and apprenticed with the Shipibo tribe in Peru, where I again found false healers as well as incredible people who used Ayahuasca to fill my life with positive energies, love and beauty.

I found great joy in helping people to reach the right place and not falling into the same traps as I did. For Feather Crown ceremonies I carefully chose the shaman, the setting, and I also intimately know the medicine that is being served, as I have drank this particular variety of the Ayahuasca vine at least 300 times. Because of my good knowledge of the local culture and language, I am not only a precise translator, but I can also help you to interpret and put things into perspective. Shamans often don’t speak much. I am different, I like sharing as much information as I can and I enjoy helping people to understand the incredible world of the Ayahuasca medicine.

Feather Crown has always been a joy of my heart and I humbly offer you my services through the Feather Crown Ayahuasca Ecuador project that offers Ayahuasca retreats and ceremonies.

I have just published this blog, so stay tuned for regular posts about my adventures in Ecuador.