Yawanawa & Madha Immersion

Hola, I'm Ixchel I’m a mother, medicine woman, dancer, musician, spiritual midwife, facilitator, mentor, community builder, permaculturist and eternal optimist. I am the co-founder of Yacumama eco-village in Costa Rica, Chakya Muna an artist community in Bali and Living Wisdom. For the past 30 years I have been on the path of self enquiry with the support of yoga & psychedelics and in the past 2 decades plant medicines. I have received such profound gifts from the master plants of Ayahuasca and Huachuma for the past 20 years, that for the past 9 years I have been dedicated to sharing ceremonial retreats and keeping indigenous wisdom alive. I am forever a humble student of the ancient ways. My life is dedicated to the liberation of all beings, to the remembrance of our divinity, to the embodiment of our full potential. My passions are creating immersive experiences of devotion, authenticity, liberation and integration programs. I bring the fierce unconditional love of the divine mother to hold you through anything that may arise. I am a committed for your return to wholeness to be a journey of grace, joy and fun! 


The Madha people live on the banks of the Purus River, right between the state of Acre and Amazonas in Brazil. Their people have come into contact with the western civilization only about 40 years ago, so they are considered a nation of recent contact. The Madha speak their own native language, and have recently started to learn Portuguese. The Madha have Pajés, medicine men and women, that carry the spiritual knowledge of the people, and act as doctors in the villages. Their healing techniques, language and chants have been preserved and passed on for generations in an unbroken lineage. Their healing chants are called ‘ah’ries’, and the medicine ‘Rami’. The ‘ah’ries’ carry the energy of the ancestral memory of the earth, and of the exchanges between the spirit world and the human world, since a time when the animals and plants spoke. The chants speak in an ancient tongue to the spirits of the healing animals, such as the pink river dolphins, the serpents, the parrots… They bring a meaning that seems simple, and at the same time, has the capacity to call in powerful healing and protective energy. The study is very profound and truly hard to explain in words what a treasure it is to be in ceremony and feel the power of the Madha ‘ah’ries’. Mana and Ratsuha Madha are a beautiful couple of elder pajés that hold the spirituality and knowledge of their people with love, respect and devotion. They are a rare find in today’s world, representing the very source of the rainforest’s spirituality, and having received the initiations of their people by their families from a very young age. The healings done by the Madha are incredibly profound and thorough - they will do as many sessions as needed to make sure the negative energies or illnesses have been removed from their patients. Mana and Ratsuha work together as mother and father, as grandparents that they are, with kindness and open hearts to anyone in need of their guidance. - Pajé Maná Madha is a very special, patient and loving teacher and healer. He embodies the mission in the service of healing with all his being. Mana received traditional training since he was a young boy from his father- a rarity among modern pajés- and possesses extraordinary knowledge of plants and spiritual healing techniques. Considered a doctor and surgeon by the standards of city medicine, Maná's spiritual healing technique allows him to ingest his patients' illnesses, materializing them into small stones that he then expels, curing patients of serious ailments. He is renowned as a "complete curandero," addressing both physical and spiritual maladies, and for his expansive knowledge of plants, prayers and songs. - Ratsuhá Madha’s beautiful presence brings the quality of the grandmothers, the gentle but strong feminine touch in the deep healing forces that are moved. She is a rare female healer who received traditional training in the Madha tradition and specializes in childbirth, healing chants and plant medicine. Over her life, she has attended the birth of approximately 2,800 babies. Ratsuha is a custodian of the "ajiés de cura”, the healing songs of her people, and together with Maná, they employ a unique knowledge transmission method called "opening the voice”. Her voice and presence is powerful and an incredible guidance during Rami ceremonies.

For many generations, the Yawanawa and the Madha have had very strong spiritual ties and cultural exchanges, focused on healing and preserving ancestral traditions. Yawanawa means “people of the wild boar”, and they are known for their communal living and efforts in territorial and cultural preservation. The Yawanawa have expanded their music globally, bringing abundance, protection and recognition to their people, revitalizing their culture while preserving their ancestral traditions. The Yawanawa are also known internationally for their powerful voices and the beautiful melodies the youth have created by incorporating the guitar into their sacred chants, which they call the ‘saitis’. In this retreat we will have the presence of two Yawanawa guardians, Vesku and her son Runuina. - Runuiná Yawanawa, the youngest member of the group, is a seed of the union between the Yawanawá and Pupỹkary peoples, dedicated to protecting and preserving his people's ancestry. Runu has been studying the musicality of his people from an early age. Currently, he serves as an apprentice to Pajé Maná Madha. Runu has undergone spiritual studies and initiations at the Aldeia Sagrada Yawanawá, focusing on studying and composing new melodies and arrangements using instruments such as the guitar, expanding upon songs traditionally performed only with the voice, and bringing beautiful new melodies to ceremonies. - Vêsku (Leticia), a Yawanawá guardian, grandmother, midwife and caretaker, is passionately dedicated to preserving indigenous cultures, particularly focusing on medicinal plant usage. Vêsku has been traveling and aiding the Madha together with her son Runu for several years, acting as a bridge between the amazonian indigenous cultures and the rest of the world. She is trained in the healing ways especially through her deep love for plants, and has organized several impactful indigenous events gathering pajes from various nations to preserve ancestral plant knowledge. She is the sister of the spiritual leader Putanny, and has since childhood absorbed the stories and songs of her people from her father, Raimundo Tuin Kuru, becoming a guardian of Yawanawá ancestral knowledge.