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Writer's picturePaulina Alanis

Uncovering the Healing Wisdom of Grandfather Medicine

The San Pedro cactus, or in the traditional Quechua language, ‘Wachuma’, meaning ‘plant drunk’, is a cactus based plant medicine from the Andes; with the strongest cultural traditions in Peru and Bolivia. The clearest historical traditions stem from the temple sites of Tiwanku, Bolivia & Chavin Peru.

In the Andes, Wachuma is considered ‘Grandfather Medicine’, because by its nature it is gentle and yet very deep work.

Wachuma is in a unique class of medicine called Phenylethylamine. This class of medicine is considered ‘heart based’.


On a physical level, they are vasodilators, but also work emotionally and energetically. What differentiates Wachuma from synthetic heart medicines is the presence of an empathic plant spirit or personality, referred to as ‘The Grandfather.’

The main alkaloid is Mescaline but there are over 100 other alkaloids in the cactus that help create the experience.

The journey with Wachuma is much different than the more familiar Tryptamine based medicines ie: ayahuasca, mushrooms, and toad. Unlike the Tryptamines, Wachuma is slow to metabolize, which is why it is long lasting and we often work with it during the day.


ABOUT THE CEREMONY


The average experience lasts between 8 -14 hours, we start early in the day. Throughout the ceremony, the nervous system can release and process stress & trauma rapidly. This can present in several different forms: laughing, crying, shaking, uncontrollably, or deep states of stillness.


Since this is heart based and not pineal based medicine, the stress or trauma release does not tend to be cathartic but rather, done in a blissful state. The medicine can be very much centered in the body, rather than the mind.


Wachuma (San Pedro) is a very serotonergic, heart-opening, heart consciousness medicine. Huachuma is timeless, universal, and accessible to those who bring the right intention and a good, open heart to it.

Huachuma is a marvelous healing medicine and a magnificent spiritual teacher. Huachuma not only turns the volume up on all of your senses - hearing, sight, smell, taste, and touch - it also molds all of your senses together. All of your senses start to become more alive on multiple dimensions.


We work in small groups of 6-7 people to allow the space for each individual to go as deep and do as much work as possible during this 8-10 hour experience.


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