Ancient Shipibo Plant Medicine
In the Peruvian shamanic tradition, plant and vapour baths are used before or after an Ayahuasca ceremony to rid the body of any unhelpful spirits or energetic blockages that would otherwise impair us from healing and receiving the full benefit from the sacred plant medicines.
Plant and vapour baths have been used by the indigenous cultures of the Amazon for thousands of years to:
Depending on the problems and difficulties we are facing, the curandero will use different plants that are known to have profound healing potentialities for our specific condition:
The plant and vapour baths are an integral element in the healing ritual’s we will undergo whilst on retreat. We encourage you to participate in them with reverence and respect for their sacred intention and capacity for purification.
A plant bath involves immersing oneself in a bath tub filled with water and the plant ingredients that the curandero believes will be most beneficial to our healing process. Water is then poured over our heads and intentions are made for how we hope the purification process will positively transform us. These baths will normally take place on the side of the river, so as all the negative energy that is lifted from our bodies can be washed out and transmuted by the sea.
AÂ vapour bath, in contrast to a plant bath, occurs while we are sitting in a chair, naked in a small tent. Water is boiled with the specific plant combination that the curandero deems will promote purification and healing. The water is placed beneath our feet and allowed to rise, creating a unique sauna like experience whilst in the small tent.
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