San Pedro ~ a world of awe and wonder

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The San Pedro Cactus is a tall columnar cactus and its traditional use as a master healing plant derives from the Peruvian Andes. His indigenous name is Huachuma, a Quechua term for ´chopping the head of ´ and leaving you therefore with your heart. Its psychedelic compound mescaline can be described as an empathogenic, a heart opening alkaloid that brings you into a gentle, trance like state. 

The use of the San Pedro cactus in Peru can be traced back over 4000 years. There is archeological evidence that was found in a region of Peru near the Cordillera Blanca mountain range - once home to the Chavin culture - that demonstrates the long-time use of Huachuma in that region. The Chavin were the very first developed Peruvian civilization and greatly influenced all the civilizations of that region, including the Inca.

 

The Grandfather medicine

San Pedro has been called a “grandfather medicine” and is often referred to as abuelo, which means grandfather in Spanish, because of the loving wisdom and lessons that can be accessed during an experience with this ancestral medicine. 

The point of the San Pedro experience is to awaken the purity of who you were in early childhood and empower you with the directly perceived wisdom that comes from the experience.

With Huachuma, a sense of a magical yet familiar world of beauty, wonder, and joy becomes within reach again, allowing you to experience your life and the world in a conscious and joyful way. 

The cactus produces visions and dream-like states. It is during these experiences that many users have received valuable lessons, guidance, clarity, breakthroughs, healing, and awareness of their divinity. People attending ceremonies have reported meeting their spirit guides, ancestors, and otherworldly beings who helped them in some way. 

San Pedro disconnects you from the fear paradigm and reconnects you to the source of truth and love within. This is the cure for all maladies infecting society, from depression and anxiety to self-destructive behaviors, addictions, toxic relationships, eating disorders, and a general sense of dis-ease in one's life.

 

Awakening to loving relationships

The Huachuma experience can be a wonderful journey to undertake together with your partner.

Here you can re-awaken to love and see your partner as you saw them in the beginning, before life got in the way. Awakening is clarity. And clarity is healing. When you see clearly, you understand.

And understanding is joyous. Once felt, awakening is known and you are changed by the experience. As time passes in relationships, we often lose the initial spark of love and passion we felt for our partner in the beginning. Love is sacred, and it's vital not only to remember this, but to actually BE in love with the person you are with. 

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San Pedro after Ayahuasca ~ Grandfather meets Grandmother

As we refer to San Pedro as the grandfather medcine, Ayahuasca is often referred to as `abuela`, the grandmother. Her spirit, perceived by many as a loving and sometimes strict feminine energy, opens us up to then perform energetic surgery on our bodies. From our experience and many participants' recollections, drinking San Pedro after an Ayahuasca retreat can feel like a soothing hand, currassing and healing you after surgery. The grandfather brings to you his gentle and loving clarity and helps you to integrate your healing. Aluna offers frequently The Immersion Retreat where we use San Pedro as an integrative tool after our Ayahuasca retreat.

 

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San Pedro in Nature 

This medicine is typically ingested as either a dried powder or as a tea made from the most potent parts of the cactus. The effects can take anywhere from 40–90 minutes to begin and typically last 10-12 hours.

A traditional Huachuma ceremony takes place at night, often not beginning until midnight. 
At Aluna, we prefer to start early in the morning to then celebrate the sunrise and go out into nature for some part of the day. This masterplant connects you as no other to nature spirits and invites you to communicate with the surrounding trees, plants, insects, animals and all of life, leaving you in awe and wonder. In the afternoon, when returning back to the cermonial space you continue your journey through drumming, singing and communicating with each other.
Technically, this medicine does not require any food restrictions however, any plant medicine works easier on you and gives you more clarity if your receiver (your body) is clear and clean. Traditionally, users will prepare themselves for ceremony with cleansing and fasting in the days beforehand.  

At Aluna we ask you to adhere to a Dieta we are sending you before the ceremony.

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