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Temple of the Way of Light
The Temple of the Way of Light is a traditional plant-medicine shamanic healing center located in the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest that offers intensive ayahuasca retreats with female and male Shipibo healers. We are dedicated to providing our guests with the opportunity to benefit from the ancient healing wisdom of the Shipibo people, and to helping this unique culture preserve its knowledge and identity in the 21st Century.
We work with some of the most respected and powerful healers (Onanya) from the Shipibo tribe. They are highly experienced, gentle, caring, and deeply dedicated to healing and embodying the wisdom and sincerity of their people. The healing traditions of the Shipibo people offer an ancient yet pioneering path to health, re-discovering our true nature and re-awakening to our true purpose.
The Temple firmly believes in respecting and honoring the ancient practices of the Onanya, experts in ayahuasca healing and plant-spirit shamanism of the Amazon. They bring a rich cultural and medicinal legacy to the healing process: time-honored rituals, intricate practices, an expansive cosmology, an encyclopedic knowledge of medicinal plants of the Amazon, and a far-reaching ancestral lineage.
The Temple has safely facilitated healing for thousands of people since 2007 and has forged an exemplary reputation for stringent safety protocols, compassionate care, and a balance of female and male healers and facilitators. We have used our experience to fine-tune a synthesis of ancient Shipibo medicine traditions and modern and Eastern integrative practices that now extends to comprehensive aftercare and integration support long after guests have returned home. All this takes place with an institutional focus on sustainability, permaculture, ethics, and social responsibility.
We offer ayahuasca retreat programs of varying duration, focus, and intensity, with a balance of female and male Shipibo healers, experienced western facilitators, floral baths, a steam bath, a high ratio of healers to guests, a high number of ayahuasca ceremonies, individual consultations, a nutritional and balanced ayahuasca food diet, and a strong focus on how to process and integrate healing, both during and after each ayahuasca retreat.
The safety of our guests is paramount. We are constantly working to offer the safest container and most effective ayahuasca healing experience in the Amazon. We have developed the most stringent health and safety protocols available on any ayahuasca retreat in Peru. The Temple’s commitment to guests begins with in-depth medical and psychological screening during our booking procedure and continues after the retreat through our integration support. Guiding you safely through deep personal healing and growth is our priority, both in and out of ceremony.
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Moochie
April 10, 2014 at 12:00 amTOTWOL was the most inspiring and life changing experience Ive ever had. I have nothing but positive reviews of the center. It is well organized, great food, beautiful grounds. The tambos are comfortable with a lock box for valuables, and mosquito netting around the bed. The facilitators are smart, caring, and always available. We had 5 shamans, 3 women and 2 men which was plenty during the ceremonies. 7 ceremonies over 12 days which was perfect. There were massages, floral baths, yoga and meditation exercises, etc. The staff is incredibly kind and helpful. There is always enough to eat at meal time. The bonds you will make here with the participants will last a lifetime. Its really a special place. I can’t wait to go again. Happy journeying.
markeddie
April 10, 2014 at 12:00 amI attended the Temple over Xmas last year. This was after a huge amount of research. From the moment we were picked up in Iquitos i knew that i had chosen correctly. Everything was meticulously planned and organised in a safe but yet relaxed way. In fact one of the things i pondered during ceremony was how perfect the place and schedule was in conjunction with the Ayahuasca. I believe that the programme fitted perfectly and mentioned this in group meetings.
The facilitators, food, accommodation, maestros/a’s, surroundings were all amazing. Ive read some of the other comments on here and i can understand constructive criticism, but some of the stuff said seems beyond that. All i know is my experience and that of the 21 other people who were with me on the workshop, all were unanimous in saying that it was a) extremely well run and b) a hugely profound life changing experience.
The Temple offer 7 ceremonies which i think is more than other places. I really needed the full 7 and although tough at times this was perfect for me and one of many reasons i will return.
If anyone wants to either meet up in London to discuss anything about the Temple or Aya in general give me a shout or you can DM me here.
Cheers y’all !
JustinB
April 10, 2014 at 12:00 amI have been to the Temple for three 12-day workshops in the last 13 months. Initially, my first and overriding concern after a lot of research was finding a facility that was safe. Obviously the fact I returned twice speaks volumes for how I subjectively experienced safety. I always felt well taken care of, all my queries and doubts were answered by the facilitators promptly and in a manner that spoke directly to my view of the world; that is to say, they were astute enough to understand my unique concerns (neuroses would be more accurate!) and pitch the information/feedback in the literal and metaphoric terms that I “got”.
This included in ceremony itself. In the sometimes murky and confusing world of aya-space, the mere fact of knowing they possessed the necessary experience and skills – and of course the smarts to know when to call upon the maestra(o)s – meant I was free to go through a range of emotions and physiological releases, some acutely distressing, without ever feeling unsafe. On the rare occasion I needed their help directly, the advice I received from the facilitators was practical and very useful. In any case, with seven maestra(o)s circling the maloka, further help was always at hand. (It was awe-inspiring to both witness and experience what can be sung into the energy field by an experienced Shipibo healer; they could accelerate or slow down, intensify or modulate; calm or electrify).
The Temple has a magical quality, balancing the need for community and solitude in an otherworldly environment (for a city boy). The seven ceremonies and 12 days allowed enough for time and space for issues to be visited at a very deep level, accompanied by purging and insight; the medicine seemed to calibrate what I needed to learn, understand and let go of within the space of those seven ceremonies. As such, there was an arc and logic (perhaps best seen in retrospect) to the seven experiences that felt just about perfect.
The heart and soul of the place are the maestra(o)s. They are, it seemed to me, part channel, part doctor and part artist, though such distinctions are unnecessarily liner and Western! They were hugely loving, sensitive and kind. There was a 50/50 spilt between male and female healers; though I was personally more focussed on the uniqueness of their individual gifts than gender. I felt truly blessed to receive their medicine, generosity and kindness.
Finally, I experienced the Temple as a place where integrity was the guiding principle, the food was better than an ayahuasca diet has a right to be, and the tambos more than adequate in terms of privacy and space.
JMG
April 9, 2014 at 12:00 amI can not speak highly enough of the Temple of the Way of Light. The staff, facilities, and Shaman are exceptional. The support of the facilitator and other journeyers is amazing. A peaceful setting and a truly authentic experience. I have been twice to the Temple and will return again one day. If you are serious about working with Aya in a safe, supportive environment, I can not recommend the Temple enough. A truly special place.
gbeustring14
April 6, 2014 at 12:00 amI remember Celestina?s laugh. The first day I came around a corner and we saw each other and she just laughed such an innocent and beautifully friendly laugh. You can begin to hear it at the end of her youtube video.
I learned with great power comes great responsibility. It?s been a year and that truth has continued to evolve more and more. It forced me to see that integrity sheds the old skin of fear and doubt. Great clarity and knowledge moved me from uncertainty to certainty. Even though in some cases I could remain certain that I was uncertain and that was the best approach in some contexts. I learned a deep personal safety and love that hadn?t been felt before. It was like I doubled what it meant to be alive and slow down time to really appreciate sensing the world around me and my ability to sense it more fully and completely. Discovering the conviction of a certain direction seems like it wants to pull you there.
. I couldn?t believe I had ever been rude or mean to anybody. It made no sense. You realize such compassion for people, it?s so true. Being back in the world, this is forgotten much less and only to a degree. And it never reaches the intensity it used to because the causes seem absurd and irrelevant to anything really. It seems others comment on me being way more easy going than I had before more often than I notice.
I lost about 20 pounds at the Temple of the Way of Light. You?re eating such healthy foods and the ceremonies really clean out the body pretty quickly.
Many people rest the whole time but I felt a massive release the first ceremony and just feel like going and going. Although there were some days I needed some deep rest now that I think about it. Even though I was eating massive portions of food at breakfast and lunch.
Sometimes I would go into the library and shift through all these books I had never seen or heard of before. I think I read a whole book in one day while sitting in the hammocks in the Maloka.
The way the Maloka is, the breeze sweeps right through it and it would just put me right to sleep sometimes as I swung back and forth.
I remember sometimes there would be a couple doing Yoga in my peripheral. The shade of the Maloka and the bright backdrop of the green jungle behind, makes for a beautiful silhouette of steady and graceful movement and was nice to have around. Sort of like being at the beach where people?s voices are so soft and off in the distance and you have such a sense of peace.
There was one morning, I don?t know how much has been added since I?ve been but, there is a circular path garden with all kinds of vegetables and flowers and in the middle, the smoke from last night?s fire is going, this other guy and I, we plucked out a new song on his guitar. The night before we had a campfire and we sort of sang songs we all knew from home. Songs that seem to carry new meaning in them now. I remember the stars at night are so bright out there it?s like your own eyes are a natural telescope.
One night we turned the Maloka into a jungle drum party. Some various Dj?s from around the world happened to be there. We found a generator and they hooked up and we had a dance party that night. I don?t know if we were supposed to do that but we did and it was fun, after the rough week of ceremony.
I did face some great difficulty through my personal journey. I saw how much I had been neglecting myself in ways I hadn?t known before. I saw a part of me that was so furious with myself for not giving myself more credit for things I?ve gotten done in the past. The hurt and pain I saw was shocking at the time. My ?weak? and ?fearful? areas had great hidden power over me. And my weakness was transformed into great strength and self appreciation.
When the Shamans get in front of you in the dark, knee to knee, face to face, it is amazingly overwhelming. These Shamans Give You There Last Breath throughout each of your songs. They give you everything they have in there body to your song. It?s such LOVE that it?s too much and it changes you for good.
One night I got up to purge outside and was lucky enough to step on a spider. One of the Shamans whipped out this goo and wiped it on the area and a few minutes later I felt fine. Later that night the song seemed celebratory in nature. I got up and went outside with the most amazing sense of comfort. The jungle became so Alive. The moon was bright that night and the jungle and I began to breath all together. The immense sound the jungle makes is like a concert of melody and rhythm. The jungle sounded celebratory in nature. It sounded like being at a concert when the artist stops singing for a moment and the whole crowd continues to sing the song. I had no fear of the future and will never again. I learned that night that if you move towards your fears they will give their life for you. All of the precious gifts you might ask for are there. Life is calling you to realize what?s true for you and what needs to be done in the world through you.
It?s been a year since I?ve been to the Temple. What this experience has done is open up an awareness of so many coincidences. I feel and see I have brought the Temple of the Way of Light with me and it makes distance irrelevant.
It?s like, not only do you have healing to do but the world is calling you to go there. If you feel that calling you must trust your instincts and your guts.