Seeking the Numinous in the Amazon: Immersion in the Shipibo Tradition — December 2027

NOT AN AYAHUASCA RETREAT IN THE USUAL SENSE
Nine days of living, as respectfully as guests can, inside the Shipibo tradition of the Peruvian Amazon — with the forest, the river, the people and their medicine.

Ayahuasca is part of that tradition, and we honour it as a teacher and a tool. But the aim is wider: an encounter with the Numinous — the sense of the sacred, of awe and of deep connection with the living world.

THE JUNGLE AS TEACHER
Our small centre near the riverside village of Tamshiyacu can only be reached by boat along the Amazon. The slow journey up the “river of rivers” is the first part of the work.

With a local herbal-medicine guide we walk deep into the rainforest, first asking the forest’s permission with an offering of mapacho, as the tradition requires. We meet the plants that heal kidneys, liver and thirst, and hear how this knowledge is passed on and why it is disappearing.

You sleep in simple huts enclosed only by fine netting, so the night chorus of the forest is all around you.

RECIPROCITY, NOT EXTRACTION
Much of the Amazon has been stripped of the ayahuasca vine by retreat tourism. We work differently: we harvest only vine that has been planted. You will plant new vines yourself and take part in the long, careful brewing of the medicine.

We buy ceremonial cacao from a local family initiative, welcome artisans from the village, and work with the same healers and families year after year, so that the retreat supports the community and the tradition rather than consuming them.

MEETING THE TRADITION
Maestra Celia Panduro Huayta and her son Maestro Alessio Picota Panduro, Shipibo Onanyabo, lead three night-time ceremonies with their icaros, the healing songs, after preparation through plant and clay baths.

A cacao ceremony with an integration circle helps the group gather what the ceremonies opened. Optional Kambo cleansing sessions are offered for those who wish. You will also hear about Shipibo cosmology and see the art of the local Shipibo artisans.

Lester Soplin Ordóñez, medicine man and Amazonian guide, is with us throughout. Tomek “the Little Deer”, who built the centre and coordinates our work with indigenous communities, is apprenticing with Maestra Celia and Maestro Alessio and assists them in ceremony — under their guidance, not in their place.

WE CONNECT — WE DO NOT PLAY SHAMAN
The Numinous Ways team are psychologists and psychotherapists, not shamans. We do not lead the ceremonies, we do not adapt or “borrow” the ritual, and we do not sell a Western version of a tradition that is not ours. The ceremonies belong to the Shipibo and are led by them alone.

Our role is to connect: to prepare you for the encounter, to help translate between two very different ways of understanding mind and world, to stay beside you through the whole journey, and to help you integrate what you met when you return home. We come as guests, with respect and reciprocity.

HELD BY EXPERIENCED PROFESSIONALS
Dr Christoph Zwolan, Danielle Tanner and Michal Topolski travel with the group from arrival to departure.
• Before: screening and a call with a psychotherapist, a small-group and a 1:1 preparation session, our online Numinous Dialogues, and a 21-day preparation course in the Numinous Ways app.
• During: integration circles after the ceremonies.
• After: a 21-day integration course in the app helps you bring what you found into everyday life.
Frameworks — indigenous, Christian, psychological — are tools, not truths. What matters is whether they open the door to the Numinous, and how you live afterwards.

TRAVELLING WITH US FROM LONDON (OPTIONAL)
Guests from the UK can fly out with the Numinous Ways team. We share the route during the preparation sessions; each guest books their own flights, which are not included.

• Day 0 (Tue 30 November): London → Madrid → overnight flight to Lima. You can also join the same Madrid–Lima flight.

• Day 1 (Wed 1 December): arrival in Lima and flight to Iquitos. Meeting point for everyone: Iquitos airport, no later than 1:00 PM. From there we travel together by motocarro and slow boat up the Amazon to the centre.

• Day 9 (Thu 9 December): boat back to Iquitos, flight to Lima, hotel.

• Day 11 (Sat 11 December): evening flight from Lima via Madrid, arriving in London on Sun 12 December.

Joining from elsewhere? Book your own flight to arrive at Iquitos airport no later than 1:00 PM on day 1, or arrive in Lima a day early. We will help you plan the connection.

LIMA: A PAUSE BETWEEN WORLDS
After nine days in the forest we return together to Lima for two nights of rest, reflection and gentle re-entry before you travel home. Guests from the UK can fly out with the group from London.

IS IT FOR YOU?
This is real, simple and demanding — heat, rain, insects, long walks and strong ceremonies — and asks for physical and psychological readiness. It is not a luxury retreat.

If you are looking for a quick experience, this is not it. If you are looking for relationship — with the forest, the tradition and the Numinous — you are welcome.

WHAT THE PRICE COVERS
Everything is included except flights and travel insurance: ceremonies and plant medicines, accommodation and meals in the jungle, transport from Iquitos, all activities, and two nights in Lima. You also take home anti-parasitic medication, to use in the weeks after you return if needed. A minimum group size is required; dates may shift slightly with international flight availability.