Discover the Sacred Medicines

What is Ayahuasca?

Ayahuasca is a sacred plant medicine used for centuries by indigenous peoples for healing and spiritual awakening. Known as "Madrecita," it offers a profound journey into expanded consciousness, helping individuals reconnect with their essence. The brew is made from:

- Jagube/Mariri (Banisteriopsis caapi) – The vine, representing masculine energy, brings the "Force" of the medicine.

- Chacrona/Rainha (Psychotria viridis) – The leaves, representing feminine energy, provide the "Light" and visionary effects.

At Light of Hope, our Ayahuasca is prepared with deep reverence and intention by experienced healers in the heart of the Amazon.

How Does It Work?

Ayahuasca acts uniquely for each individual, offering healing on physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual levels. It helps release deep-seated traumas, blocks, and limiting patterns, guiding individuals toward self-discovery and transformation. Rather than offering an instant cure, it teaches self-healing, empowerment, and alignment with one's truth.

What Can You Expect?

Each experience is personal, but common effects include:

- Expanded awareness: A deep sense of clarity and insight.

- Heightened sensitivity: Increased perception of physical and spiritual senses.

- Emotional release: Processing and purging of stored emotions.

- Deep healing: Realignment with your higher self and purpose.

The Role of DMT

DMT (Dimethyltryptamine), a natural compound in the body, facilitates expanded consciousness. Over time, the pineal gland calcifies due to lifestyle and diet, limiting spiritual connection. Ayahuasca helps activate and restore this connection, allowing for deeper insights and healing.

Purification: The “Cleansing” Process

Cleansing is a natural part of the journey, releasing what no longer serves you. It may manifest as:

- Vomiting (purging toxins and stagnant energy);

- Crying, sweating, or yawning;

- Feeling shifts in temperature or vibrations in the body;

- Purification through urine and feces.

Not everyone experiences purging, and it is not required for healing. The medicine works according to what you need in the moment.

Contraindications and Safety Guidelines

While Ayahuasca is a powerful healing tool, it is not suitable for everyone. Certain medical conditions and medications can create serious health risks when combined with the sacred brew. Before attending a ceremony, it is essential to consult with the retreat leaders to ensure you are fit to participate.

Contraindications includes:

• Use of antidepressants (SSRIs, MAOIs, or other psychiatric medications)

• Severe cardiovascular conditions

• History of seizures or epilepsy

• Diagnosed psychotic disorders or a history of schizophrenia

• Recent major surgeries or serious medical conditions

If you have any doubts about your health or medication interactions, please disclose your full medical history when applying for a retreat. Our team will assess whether it is safe for you to participate.

Final Thoughts

Ayahuasca is a profound teacher, guiding you to access the wisdom already within. It does not impose answers but helps you rediscover your own truth. By integrating its teachings into daily life, you create lasting transformation and alignment with your highest self.

Are you ready to embark on this sacred journey?

Rapé

Rapé is a medicinal powder prepared from pounded and ground organic tobacco and mixed with ashes from the bark of medicinal trees (some are prepared with natural herbs). This medicine is applied by blowing into both nostrils.

Each Rapé has unique properties depending on its composition. There are many reported benefits, both physically and spiritually. Unlike Ayahuasca, its effect is rapid and felt practically instantaneously after the first application. It is a Medicine of alignment, bringing firmness, direction, clarity, focus, cleansing and protection. In fact, in indigenous tradition there is much talk about the magical power of the blow, which charged with vital energy and good intentions is capable of warding off evil and harmful energies from the individual's auric field.

Of course Rapé, like the other medicines, will work individually on each person. Therefore your experience with it will be unique, according to what you need at that moment. The combination of Rapé and Ayahuasca can be very powerful, offering various healings and experiences to those who feel this necessity. However, be aware that you are not obliged to consecrate Rapé. It is up to you whether you feel the need to receive it during the Ceremony. If you do, you will be given all the necessary instructions at the time of application.

Regarding the contraindications of Rapé: we do not recommend the consecration of this Medicine by people who have recently undergone surgical procedures in the face/nose area.

Sananga

Sananga is an eye drop prepared from the root of the shrub-like bog plant called Tabernaemontana Undulata, which is crushed into a liquid extract. It is used to treat a variety of conditions such as headaches, sinusitis, conjunctivitis, cataracts and other eye diseases. In addition, within Ceremonies, Sananga is consecrated for the purposes of healing and purifying the physical and spiritual body, improving vision and intuition, bringing greater mental clarity and better sensory perception.

One drop is applied to each eye with the eyes closed. As soon as you open your eyes, you will feel a strong burning sensation that doesn't last long. Sananga is contraindicated in cases of recent eye surgery. If you wear contact lenses, they must be removed before application and can only be put back in 24 hours after the application. The recommendation is one application every three days.

Tabaco

The ritualistic use of Tobacco has been practiced for centuries by native peoples. It is considered a sacred plant, capable of purifying bodies and establishing a deep spiritual connection. Tobacco is usually mixed with other powerful herbs that will bring out its unique medicinal properties. This mixture is known as "Kumbaya".

It is consecrated through the Chanupa or Sacred Pipe. The herbs are placed in the bowl with the intention of bringing about the desired cures. When lighting them, the individual must pitar, i.e. pull in the smoke without swallowing it. When we release the smoke, we are raising our prayers to the Great Spirit and the Great Mystery, receiving divine inspiration and answers to our questions. The consecration must be carried out in silence and the contents of the furnace must be sprinkled to the end, otherwise it is considered disrespectful to the ancestral spirits present at the consecration. At the end, the ashes must be disposed of in nature (earth) or in the fire.

The experience with Tobacco is a profound and powerful prayer. As with the other Medicines, one must be sure of the call that is felt so that the consecration is carried out with total respect and responsibility.

Jurema

In some special Ceremonies we work with Jurema Medicine which, despite being very similar to Ayahuasca in many ways, has some peculiarities. Jurema is prepared from the Jurema Preta tree, which is very common in the northeastern hinterland. Its medicinal properties are impressive, as is its spiritual power. As it is a medicine extracted from the root, it tends to penetrate our innermost being, treating our ailments from their deepest origins. As the master juremeiros say, "if you want to know Jurema, then drink Jurema".