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4.0
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A beautiful time for the vast majority
Please read the whole of my review or not at all to ensure a fair understanding. I have detailed the issues I had with Don Miguel around money in high detail, as I believe high ethical standards should be adhered to as a shaman and anything otherwise should be exposed. The amazing time I had and the kindness I received until the sad end remain at the forefront of my mind as they constitute the bulk of my experience.
I was planning to do 3 months, taking ayahuasca twice per week and san pedro only once. From the start I found little benefit of the Ayahuasca and much stomach pain. After 7 attempts with this medicine, I still couldn't say I'd experienced anything with much value. This isn't unheard of - unpredictability of the experience for each person is just part and parcel of consuming Ayahuasca. As weeks went by in the jungle with nothing new to process, it was clearly not for me.
I'd paid him $4,500 at the start - obviously this is a high price in the cheapest country in South America when you're eating a very basic shamanic diet for most of the time, but that's fine because you can find Sacha Runa online, you can see the reviews and know that the ceremonies are of a high standard etc. It's a good option for many reasons, many of which I mention at the end of this review, but one of them is that the online presence enables people to see reviews that ensure a safe experience, so it would be a good experience for vulnerable people, especially with mental health issues who cannot afford further problems.
For this reason, I write this review. Don Miguel briefly tried to use his shamanic authority to manipulate me to stay, implying that I shouldn't trust myself by telling me it was my ego running away. At first, I really questioned myself, but when I did make a clear decision he revealed he just cared about keeping my money...
"We had a gentleman's agreement", he said
Don Miguel gives a 44% discount to buy 3-months worth of medicine. Even the pharmaceutical industries that are happy to suppress these powerful medicines and cause the opioid crisis do no hook you in to such long-term commitments to their medicines. Yes, theirs are more addictive, but with free living costs and the greaer expense of these you don't want to waste the thousands of dollars by leaving, so in the sense you are on the hook.
In the end, after stringing me along with hopes of reaching an agreement just after the next ceremony, then the next, he made me a deal such that I spent $3,000 in 3 weeks. Don Miguel was defensive when I asked him for clarification. I simply didn't understand what he meant, but got the cold "No Negotiations". I only found out when he eventually handed me my partial refund. Later, I messaged a previous agreement we'd had of allowing me a 1-month escape option. After saying "if you wanna continue crying and pouting I'm gonna have to block you", he did ask Retreat Guru to give me $400 more dollars off when he'd actually read my message.
Having spoken about Don Miguel's defensiveness, and prioritisation of business revenue, it's as if he was wearing his 'CEO cap' then and during a ceremony he'll put on his 'Shaman cap'. Like the rest of us, he's only human. Don Miguel is in his element during the ceremonies, staying up late playing the most beautiful music, taking great care of you and ensuring safe and very special cermonies especially on my incredible, healing pilgrimage with San Pedro. The locations of the jungle and the mountains are second-to-none, as are the ceremony rooms more specifically.
I am grateful for all the incredible people I had met, the insight into the shamanic tradition and being in the most biodiverse national park in the entire world. I found more effective psychedelics elsewhere - Don Miguel being the only one at the site never to wish me well on my journey to find them.
It's also very importantant to consider the following when giving your money to this organisation. Ayahuasca is a highly valuable medicine that many people need, yet accessing it is difficult for people outside of South America. And there are not enough shamans around, at least not at the level of any of the shamans or apprentices at Sacha Runa. So if you support Sacha Runa, not only do you enable people to easily access these life-giving opportunities via a trusted website, but he promotes a lineage of great people that can provide these highly valuable and under-accessed medicines long after he is gone. For all of this, we can only applaud the work of Don Miguel.
All the shamans and apprentice shamans are incredible, and are so kind and helpful - I emphasise that I have detailed only the negative side of Don Miguel's character, which is only in relation to money, and he was totally different at other times. I really do hope this place continues to thrive. It benefits humanity massively.
To everyone else who is a part of Sacha Runa, I hope you can understand why I decided to write this. I believe it to be true, yet I write it with sorrow.
A message to all prospective users: make sure you agree with Don Miguel in advance to have an escape route - a partial refund - as he will try to win you round to long commitments without informing you that it doesn't work for everybody.
A message to Don Miguel: please show some more respect to the medicine by not making it into a commodity and end this malpractice of locking vulnerable people into long contracts.
I was planning to do 3 months, taking ayahuasca twice per week and san pedro only once. From the start I found little benefit of the Ayahuasca and much stomach pain. After 7 attempts with this medicine, I still couldn't say I'd experienced anything with much value. This isn't unheard of - unpredictability of the experience for each person is just part and parcel of consuming Ayahuasca. As weeks went by in the jungle with nothing new to process, it was clearly not for me.
I'd paid him $4,500 at the start - obviously this is a high price in the cheapest country in South America when you're eating a very basic shamanic diet for most of the time, but that's fine because you can find Sacha Runa online, you can see the reviews and know that the ceremonies are of a high standard etc. It's a good option for many reasons, many of which I mention at the end of this review, but one of them is that the online presence enables people to see reviews that ensure a safe experience, so it would be a good experience for vulnerable people, especially with mental health issues who cannot afford further problems.
For this reason, I write this review. Don Miguel briefly tried to use his shamanic authority to manipulate me to stay, implying that I shouldn't trust myself by telling me it was my ego running away. At first, I really questioned myself, but when I did make a clear decision he revealed he just cared about keeping my money...
"We had a gentleman's agreement", he said
Don Miguel gives a 44% discount to buy 3-months worth of medicine. Even the pharmaceutical industries that are happy to suppress these powerful medicines and cause the opioid crisis do no hook you in to such long-term commitments to their medicines. Yes, theirs are more addictive, but with free living costs and the greaer expense of these you don't want to waste the thousands of dollars by leaving, so in the sense you are on the hook.
In the end, after stringing me along with hopes of reaching an agreement just after the next ceremony, then the next, he made me a deal such that I spent $3,000 in 3 weeks. Don Miguel was defensive when I asked him for clarification. I simply didn't understand what he meant, but got the cold "No Negotiations". I only found out when he eventually handed me my partial refund. Later, I messaged a previous agreement we'd had of allowing me a 1-month escape option. After saying "if you wanna continue crying and pouting I'm gonna have to block you", he did ask Retreat Guru to give me $400 more dollars off when he'd actually read my message.
Having spoken about Don Miguel's defensiveness, and prioritisation of business revenue, it's as if he was wearing his 'CEO cap' then and during a ceremony he'll put on his 'Shaman cap'. Like the rest of us, he's only human. Don Miguel is in his element during the ceremonies, staying up late playing the most beautiful music, taking great care of you and ensuring safe and very special cermonies especially on my incredible, healing pilgrimage with San Pedro. The locations of the jungle and the mountains are second-to-none, as are the ceremony rooms more specifically.
I am grateful for all the incredible people I had met, the insight into the shamanic tradition and being in the most biodiverse national park in the entire world. I found more effective psychedelics elsewhere - Don Miguel being the only one at the site never to wish me well on my journey to find them.
It's also very importantant to consider the following when giving your money to this organisation. Ayahuasca is a highly valuable medicine that many people need, yet accessing it is difficult for people outside of South America. And there are not enough shamans around, at least not at the level of any of the shamans or apprentices at Sacha Runa. So if you support Sacha Runa, not only do you enable people to easily access these life-giving opportunities via a trusted website, but he promotes a lineage of great people that can provide these highly valuable and under-accessed medicines long after he is gone. For all of this, we can only applaud the work of Don Miguel.
All the shamans and apprentice shamans are incredible, and are so kind and helpful - I emphasise that I have detailed only the negative side of Don Miguel's character, which is only in relation to money, and he was totally different at other times. I really do hope this place continues to thrive. It benefits humanity massively.
To everyone else who is a part of Sacha Runa, I hope you can understand why I decided to write this. I believe it to be true, yet I write it with sorrow.
A message to all prospective users: make sure you agree with Don Miguel in advance to have an escape route - a partial refund - as he will try to win you round to long commitments without informing you that it doesn't work for everybody.
A message to Don Miguel: please show some more respect to the medicine by not making it into a commodity and end this malpractice of locking vulnerable people into long contracts.
