Introduction & Background
What Happened?
In early 2014, I was traveling through Central America with my previous romantic partner, Hannah, on an educational adventure of culture and community. In late February, while participating in a "Clarity Breath-Work" training program at the Pachamama community in Costa Rica, a spontaneously intuitive decision was made to register and attend a soon approaching Transformation retreat at the Paititi institute in the Peruvian Amazon. Our initial intention was to stay at Pachamama for another week and a half to complete the 3rd and 4th levels of the breathwork program, though due to keen observation, intuitive sensing, and a strong inner calling I felt a clear "Yes" to Paititi and followed it down into the deep and mysterious Amazon Jungle.
Why Paititi & Plant Medicine?
Paititi is a transformation based center focused on providing educational experiences, shamanic apprenticeships, and retreat programs which support individuals to dive deep within themselves to uncover their true nature and more authentically express the infinite potential of who and what they are. A key aspect of the institute is the integration of western psychological analysis, eastern philosophy, and shamanic practices, woven together and experienced through the utilization of traditional Andean/Amazonian psychoactive plant-medicine-ceremonies for healing, introspection, and self-discovery.
Personal Background
Since age 15 I have been deeply fascinated, inspired, and impacted by the study and use of shamanic practices, particularly dealing with psychotropic plants as tools for consciousness expansion, healing, introspection, and self-development. Next to these more affirming perspectives on psychoactive plants, sat confusion and fear around the immense power that these plants have to influence our thought processes, behaviors, and beliefs, fearing that if I went to deep into a given state of intensely over-sensitized perception, there was a chance of no return to a grounded, present, and practical state of being. After my experiences with Paititi, I can confidently say that with proper self-management and supportive integration, these fears were found to be false and basically opposite... More info regarding this can be found in the following pages of this OP...
Notable Inspirations
A major topic which intrigued me about Hannah and our relationship was that she had worked extensively in the previous year with a plant-mixture called Ayahuasca, which was a key shamanic medicine used ceremonially in the Paititi program. Her experiences along with my own passion for personal growth and self-initiation drove me to more deeply explore the possibility of utilizing this as well as the other plants involved in the retreat for further healing and self-exploration. I had one previous experience with Ayahuasca which was one of the most psychologically uncomfortable situations I had ever witnessed, due in large part to the unprofessional "space holding" by the "facilitators" whom had no official training on how to appropriately guide others' through these kinds of experinces. After reading through Paititi's website, watching testimonials, viewing a documentary about the center (The Sacred Science), and intuitively sensing, I felt that this retreat would provide a safe and supportive environment for me to explore the unconscious parts of myself I feared would be revealed through the power of these ceremonial medicine-plant experiences.
Specification
The purpose of this OP is to
- Share my experience of participation, education, and personal growth in a transformational retreat with the Paititi Institute in the Peruvian Amazon.
- Describe the activities, sacred plants, educational framework, and structure of the retreat as well as how it is designed to activate and support individuals on their personal journeys of self-transformation.
- Show the ecological/regenerative practices implemented by the institute along with how they are helping to empower native cultures to preserve and share their wisdom in a ceremonial and educational setting.
- Reflect and review the major lessons, observations, and outcomes from my participation in the retreat and involvement within the Paititi community.
Personal, OP, & World Context
Personal Context
Why did I attend this Retreat?
I attended this Transformation retreat because I
- Felt a deep resonance of values, vision, and practice which Paititi aimed to share and embody both as an organization and within the context of the retreat.
- Wanted to work in a deep, safe, and integrated way with the plants involved in the program for further healing, introspection, self-growth, consciousness expansion, and personal evolution.
- Am fascinated by tribal cultures and shamanic wisdom traditions & practices - knowing that I would be able to participate in ceremony with native groups including the Shipibo and Yahuas.
- Was inspired and mystified by what I would experience and learn from the mighty and wild Amazon rainforest.
OP & World Context
Why Have I Chosen to Design an OP based on this Experience?
I designed an OP based on my experience with Paititi because
- I feel inspired to share my personal process, challenges, insights, gratitudes, and un/leanings for both Gaia associates and anyone else whom may be interested in these topics ( Consciousness, self-transformation, shamanism, plant-medicine, inter-cultural bridge-building, earth stewardship, & community) and/or participating in a program similar to this one.
- Through the immersive experiences of this and other programs including shamanic traditions & plant medicine, so many people, including myself, have been significantly impacted and inspired to become more whole and integrated humans, both for themselves and the planet.
- Paititi, building itself in the wake of a spiritually-starving degenerative society, is a highly relevant and wonderful model of immersive, eco-social-spiritual education, similar to Gaia U with a focus on regeneration, earth stewardship, permaculture, integrated systems, and conscious living, helping individuals to reconnect to the core values and experiences of what makes life live and worth living.
OP Design
OP Design
I designed this OP by
- Initially hand writing a specification including the purpose and goals of the OP, which acted as the starting point in the building of this mahara page collection.
- Utilizing the skeletal framework and best practices (page tabs & subject requirements) from other associates' OPs to create an outline for the structure and flow of this report.
- Keeping in mind the balance of delivery between autobiographical detail, un/learnings, OP design requirements, personal experience, educational info & source references, as well as relevance to a larger context of personal and planetary transformation.
- Gathering materials for reference and research such as my Paititi journal, photo documentations, field recordings of ceremonies, lectures, and sharing circles, as well as references to related work in the field i.e. literature, websites, articles, and wikipedia