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The Setting
We offer San Pedro ceremonies each week in a cozy, private, safe, and relaxing space, The countryside around Santa Isabel, Ecuador (just outside of Cuenca) is stunningly beautiful and provides the backdrop for what is sure to be a profound experience for you, as it has consistently been for us as well.
The Medicine
San Pedro, also known as Huachuma or Wachuma, is a sacred cactus that has been used in shamanic plant medicine ceremonies for thousands of years in the Amazonian region.
It is said to be a plant teacher, and you will quickly discover why as you begin to have a conversation with the spirit of the plant, which is known as Grandfather San Pedro. Because, just a like a grandfather, he can swaddle you with a level of emotional warmth and tender affection that will touch your heart in a way you might not have even felt before, and he can also provide you with tough-love advice if it’s needed too.
The Ceremony
Every day starts with a warm cup of tea of coffee and friendly conversation as we settle into the new day.
Then, around 10a.m. Steve smudges us all with white sage to clear any sort of negative energies that may be present.
Next, we sit in a small circle, and Steve shares some basic guidelines to the ceremony, and then one-by-one, we each share our intentions with the medicine. This might be as simple as “My intention is to know myself better”, or you might choose to go into more detail.
The medicine is then poured in a glass for each person, and after taking as much time with it as you would prefer, you are welcomed to drink the medicine and find a nice place to settle in.
From then on, the primary element to the ceremony is a conversation that will begin in your head between you and the medicine. You might liken this to speaking to yourself silently, although it will very likely soon be clear that the entity you’re speaking to is a very wise plant teacher who is lovingly known as Grandfather San Pedro.
Just like a grandfather, he can swaddle you with a level of emotional warmth and tender affection that will touch your heart in a way you might not have ever felt before, and he can also provide you with tough-love advice if it’s needed too.
You will feel the primary effects of the medicine for about 10 hours, during which time you’ll be given plenty of space for solitude, surrounded by the amazing beauty of the Ecuadorian countryside.
This provides many opportunities to look inside yourself in many different ways, and you will have an unlimited amount of Steve’s support, not only as a warm, gentle human being, but also as a trained and experienced counselor, with specialties in addictions and childhood trauma.
Steve is always within earshot if support is needed, and he checks on you periodically to see how you’re doing. You’re also welcome to roam around the property to find whatever little perch suits you best.
Midway through the ceremony, fresh fruit is served, which is always a welcomed treat, and at the end of each ceremony, a warm and hardy meal is served which really warms your bones to the core.
Finally, Steve provides angel card readings which you will likely find quite illuminating and may provide some clarification to your experiences throughout the day.
The Facilitator
Workshops are held at the Eagle’s Nest – home of Steve Eagle Sewell – who is self-described as a plant medicine specialist and has chosen to dedicate his life to providing plant medicine to those who need it most.
And after a 2-year apprenticeship in Peru, he’s also facilitated ceremony for over 3,000 people and drank the medicine himself over 500 times. He is well acquainted with it’s healing power as the ultimate healer of addiction, dis-ease and dis-order.
The Bottom Line
If you want to discover who you are, what you believe in, how to heal, and how to find your path, you’ve found the right place 🙂
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Sarita
September 16, 2018 at 2:21 pmI spend almost four days with Steve, Sammy ( I hope I wrote your name right ) and their two dogs. I did one ceremony and one microdose.
It was my second time drinking San Pedro, one month before I did an Ayahuasca retreat.
Out of all sessions the one with Steve was the most profound and the most beautiful one. I closed my journey of healing at their retreat.
I wish I could have done more sessions, and I probably will in the future. The world in which San Pedro guides you is truly a magical place in which everything is connected and possible. I felt like I am a child again that sees all wonder of the world.
Both make you feel at home by cooking and caring for you. I felt really safe and protected, even by their dog who stayed by my side during my whole session.
Steve has a special talent to know what you have to hear. He pulled me out of a bad headspace I fell in when the experience was getting intense. Also, the conversations we had were like little teachings, with both of them.
They have a special bond and love to San Pedro which you can feel in their whole house and garden. In general the energy is positive, everything seems to blossom and bloom in their garden and house. And for sure you blossom too when drinking their San Pedro!
Thank you both and your dogs for the experience. It was a great gift.
Sarah
southernskip
September 2, 2018 at 2:02 pmAs a reasonably hardcore skeptic, I was not sure that San Pedro would do anything for me. A week later and I am riding a wave of enthusiasm for life that was kicked off from an amazing experience.
I thank Steve and Sammy for providing a wonderful environment and introducing me to a powerful natural tool to explore an alternative past, present or future. One that allows you to test situations and emotions that you may not be able to experience in everyday life. During the day I explored love, sadness, arrogance, helplessness and anger. I will hold on that love. For people in my life, humour, playfulness and the absurd.
As bizarre as it is to travel halfway round the world and decide on a whim to bus two days to Steves hacienda to take a powerful hallucinogenic medicine I know very little about. I am very glad that I did it and have ended up writing many pages on the experience so I can refer to the lessons later.
Of course everyone’s experience will be completely different and I went through many different scenes during the day but here’s a small except part of it:
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Squigley the medicine dog bought me to the hammock seat nestled in the trees bordering the property. As soon as I sat down I looked up the valley, but it was not just a valley. On one side was the jungle, on the other side was an African savannah. Both sides in a chaotic war against each other. Elephants vs tigers, gorillas vs lions, monkeys and rhinos all charging into one another in a survival of the fittest. I actually shed a tear at the simultaneous beauty and destruction that somehow felt natural and necessary in the grand scheme of things.
But what was my part in it. Fatty Bears (another visitor to the retreat) words repeated in my mind. You are a warrior. But does that mean I’m doomed to compete in the valley of chaos? I ran my fingers over the ropes of the hammock seat. The vibrations seemed so slow I could hear each individual wave. i could feel the power of those vibrations, and was able to harness them.
I gripped the each side of the seat. The white ropes became my wings. Looking down my legs were bowed and clawed. I was now a great white eagle capable of soaring high over the battlefield. Feelings of both power and relief were washing over me as I realized that life is inevitable creative destruction, but you can choose to observe, to rise above if needed. I had done my time in the trenches of life. There was now nothing to fear up here in this eagles nest. Watch on, enjoy the scars you have gained, and pay no mind to those that want to drag you back into the chaos. Lesson one complete.
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Explorer
July 30, 2018 at 2:53 pmAn most awesome experience! Beatiful location, strong medicine, excellent staff and friendly, loving watch puppies. I have worked with Steve three times and he is a great guide and counsellor. I highly recommend this facility for the beginning or advanced psychonaut that has already earned their multidimensional wings!
carl
July 17, 2018 at 1:21 amAs someone who had already experienced San Pedro several times before in Peru, it was my first time experiencing the medicine in Ecuador. Having looked up a few retreats, I had to finally go with my gut instinct and trust that the medicine would lead me to the right person or retreat. And I’m glad it was at Steve & Samay’s beautiful new place that they’d just moved into.
The property is located in a lovely spot between two beautiful mountain views, each with their own unique energy and the medicine is just as good and powerful. While the real work is with the medicine itself, Steve is all ears if one needs guidance during the process or even afterwards and keeps it simple. Samay’s cooking is awesome and even her general sense of humor shines through when she’s about the property.
They make a good team and it always helps to have not one but two people’s energy to bounce off of.
Overall, I’m blessed to have experienced the medicine with them and look forward to working with them next year as well. One word of advice for those who are experiencing this medicine for the first time: As with everything, healing is also a process and it takes time. Its not about finding the right answer but a series of answers that are revealed over the course of a few sessions. If you do plan to work with Steve, try working over a few sessions (1-2 weeks atleast). San Pedro will be more rewarding and your journey, more fulfilling.
geoffsimmonz
July 15, 2018 at 9:27 pmSteve and Samay provided a comfortable, natural environment to explore San Pedro with. We felt held and looked after, but they gave us space and weren’t intrusive. It was a wonderful way to try SP for the first time. They also have a medicine dog Squiggle who is quite intuitive and provides cuddles when you need them.
Worth the trip.