San pedro ( washuma ) ceremony

itinerary

San Pedro is one of the oldest magical plants from South America, where it grows in the mountains of the Andes. The earliest known depiction of San Pedro cactus is on a stone tablet found in Peru dating to 1300 B.C. The plant belongs to the family of cacti, the Latin name for this family is Trichocereus and there are different varieties, such as Trichocereus Pachanoi and Trichocereus Peruvianus.

The main psychoactive ingredient in San Pedro is mescaline, but it contains also a lot of other psychoactive compounds. The effects of San Pedro are quite similar to that of peyote, but the spirit of San Pedro is more tranquil and in a certain way more friendly. The Shuar Indians call this plant Aquacolla, because it has a strong connection with the water-element. Therefore it works especially healing and balancing on all the fluids in our body and also on our emotions, for example, it has strong anti-depressive and therapeutic qualities.

The plant gives beautiful colorful visions and it opens the heart and mind in a very gentle and loving way. A claim frequently heard about the San Pedro experience is that the user embarks on a flight of a telepathic nature being transported across time and space. A user who embarks on this "astral journey" may perceive events happening in distant parts of the world, or in metaphysical realms. I have experienced this myself several times.

I have learned to work with this plant from Hilario Chiriap, medicine-man and spiritual leader from the Shuar Indians from the Amazonas in Ecuador. I like this plant a lot, because it is more soft and friendly than ayahuasca or peyote, but it is still very healing and powerful. The taste is bitter, but not so strong as ayahuasca and there will be hardly any vomitting. Besides this, San Sedro is also suited for people who use medication on prescription.

The purpose of this ceremony with San Sedro is healing, transformation and aligning our bodies, minds and spirits to the mystery and the love of the One.
We will start with a guided meditation to help you to make a spiritual journey and after this there will be shamanic music made by Rasta Robert (mouth-harp, didgeridoo, percussion) and myself (singingbowls). Later in the night there will be beautiful songs so that we can sing bhajans, mantra's and rainbow-songs. There will be text-books of the songs so that we can all sing together and I hope you bring your own instruments and rattles.

Be aware of the following:
Mescaline belongs to a family of compounds known as phenethylamines, making it quite distinct from the other major psychedelics which belong to the indole family. LSD, psilocybin, harmaline, and DMT are all indoles. Many synthetic "designer" psychedelics, such as ecstasy (MDMA) and 2C-B, are phenethylamines, and are related to the chemistry of mescaline.

Mescaline has a strong uplifting effect. You will not be tired or sleepy and you can still experience the effects of mescaline during the Sunday after the ceremony. Take your time to enjoy this medicine, don’t rush or hurry and do not make very important appointments the day after the ceremony.