6-day Holistic Ayahuasca Retreat - Petit Comitè Ed.

ARCHETYPE: Loyal and smiling companion. Energetic learner of life. Problem solver. Friend of the sacred fire. PERSONAL JOURNEY: At the beginning of 2018, I was not well, I did not assume maturing, growing up, and becoming an adult. I looked longingly at my previous stage. That winter my brother invited me to an Ayahuasca retreat and since I have always liked trying new things, I agreed. After a very difficult night, I understood that growing up is good. From that retreat, I began a committed path of traveling; ceremonies of all kinds, readings, meditation, and breathing became very important practices in my daily life as they are helping me to better understand myself, adapt to the constant changes in life, and find higher goals and visions that became my purpose. This purpose is about the law regarding plant medicines, ancestral practices, and ways of healing. Today, protecting plant medicines, protecting participants’ right to choose sacred medicines to heal, and fighting peacefully and consciously for its legislation were the primary motivators that guided me to be part of the Avalon family. ROLE: Operations Manager. Lawyer.

ARCHETYPE: Genuine and noble altruist. Spreader of love. Dreamer of a new world. Imaginative creator. PERSONAL JOURNEY: My encounter with Madre Ayahuasca has entirely transformed my life. In 2016 I was stuck in a continuous search for something more while at the same time struggling with alcohol and over-eating. My first contact with the medicine has been very important because it showed me this part of me that I was so ignorant of in order to shed light on my shadows. Throughout the awakening journey I have gone through several phases. I have discovered that I was not just the physical body with which I so strongly identified. I have found what I was looking for all the time, I found myself, my true essence that never disappears and yet I was never aware of it. For the first time in my life I began to hear another voice, which was not my mind but the voice of who I really am. I have been able to understand that the separation was only in my mind and that it was part of the Whole. Throughout the transformation process, there was a time when I wanted to isolate myself from society – to spend more time feeling this connection. And then I understood that I am always connected and that I was already where I wanted to go. Ayahuasca has been the best thing that happened in my life because I managed to get out of my mental prison and accept my shadows. I learned that I am complete by myself and that all the love I wanted to share began with oneself. And here I am sharing that love with all those that just like me keep on searching. Welcome home. ROLE: Healing massage therapist with an extensive knowledge of osteopathy and quiromassage.

ARCHETYPE: Sage. Conventional and alternative medicine integrator. Seeker and sharer of truth. PERSONAL JOURNEY: I was born in 1963 in Atiquizaya, El Salvador. I am a medical doctor from the Autonomous University of Guadalajara, Mexico in 1986 and I am in service since then. I post graduated in general surgeon from the Central University of Venezuela in 1999. I have experience in emergency surgery, shock trauma and laparoscopic surgery. My path in the spiritual world begins with a near death experience in 2017, a heart attack. Since then I began to study thanatology -the study of death-, I investigated and innovated in neuroscience and found the best references on the study of the soul in Jewish Kabbalah. Shortly after, in 2018, the sacred medicines completely changed the lives of me and my family members. Since then I have dedicated myself to observe and study the effects, benefits and contraindications with entheogenic substances specifically: Ayahuasca, Yopo, Jurema, Bufo Alvarius, Psilocybin, Iboga and also Kambó. Currently I advise a group of independent facilitators, to reduce risks and achieve more benefits with the proper use of these substances. I have created the Kintsugi method. I have made multiple trips to many countries as a medical advisor, lecturer, teacher and as a facilitation supervisor. I consider that my humanistic and spiritual vision of health provides a transcendent approach to medicine that allows us to integrate multiple perspectives such as shamanic, allopathic and naturopathic. ROLE: Medical advisor.

ARCHETYPE: Mother. Nurturing, gentle and caring feminine energy creator of safety and security feelings. PERSONAL JOURNEY: Listening to the call of her spirit towards personal development and what was her true mission, Ness began approaching different specialties on human behaviour and other holistic therapies. Thus she began to approach medicines, which have ended up becoming her path. Among other medicines, she learned about Ayahuasca from her Master of the Shipibo tradition in Peru, where she was given permission to share the sacred ceremony, in which she connected with the music and this powerful healing. Later she has continued and continues to expand her knowledge by visiting the jungle regularly and learning from different traditions of the ancient tribes of Putumayo (Colombia), from her Grandparents and Grandmothers. At the same time, she learned about Bufo Alvarius in Mexico with her Teacher and sister and different facilitators who gave her their blessing to bring it to Europe. As a shawoman, Ness brings a unique approach to the ceremonial space and the practice itself. Her maternal, nurturing, very gentle and caring feminine energy creates in us a feeling of safety and security which leads us into a state of deeper abandonment. She believes that the ceremonial space is not only a healing space but also a co-creation space where everyone participates by singing, chanting, dancing or playing music. Her dedication to the people with whom she works reflects her devotion to medicine and service and speaks volumes about her integrity and sense of responsibility. Her ceremonies are very lively. Ness and her family members, all musicians and singers, make sure that live music accompanies our journey from the beginning till the end to provide us with a very broad, heartwarming and enjoyable sensory experience. Eternal apprentice of life, medicines and healing, dedicated in soul to Spirituality, the purpose of her life is to be at the service of Love and Wisdom, at the service of humanity for its highest and highest purpose. Contribute to all human beings awakening to this way of walking the world. And for that she understands that it is completely necessary to look within, clean, unblock, break patterns, heal wounds, return to the path of the heart and the joy of living and get rid of everything that limits us to being our best version. ROLE: Medicine woman. Guardian and musician of sacred ceremony space.

ARCHETYPE: Feminine creativity that moves artistic energy at the service of consciousness. Social fire. PERSONAL JOURNEY: Hello! I am Lala, and I am a recovering people pleaser. After a decade long professional journey in modelling, fashion, tv, and music… I found myself broken and burned out. It was like someone had flipped the self destruction switch. This event (or what I like to call divine Yintervention)  forced me to question everything I was told I “needed” to make me happy. And so began the journey of self knowledge and discovery, surrender, of coming out of my mind and back onto the present. Yoga was the starting point. After completing my yoga training I began teaching immediately, and quickly I learned that I wasn’t alone in this feeling. Yoga means “Union”. My mission is to take you out of your head and into your body. Through yoga and breath, we will prepare and recover the body to receive the medicine. The meditative and self reflective aspects of yoga are a practical way of helping you integrate the teachings you learn during the ceremony into your daily life. ROLE: Facilitator of yoga and guidance. Avalon story teller.

ARCHETYPE: Angel of music and dance. Friend of instruments. Female innocence that heals with the voice PERSONAL JOURNEY: I started my spiritual journey in 2012, when I met Taita Florentino Agreda Chindoy from the Kamëntšá indigenous community, Putumayo (Colombia), who gave me Ayahuasca for the first time in a sacred ceremony. I immediately connected with the plant and the world of deep healing it offers. Since then I have walked with different teachers and facilitators, especially with the Kamëntšá and Cofán indigenous communities, getting deeper and deeper into the universe of ancient medicines, learning the art of cooking and sharing them. At the same time, I have been in constant development of my musical gift, enriching each ceremony with singing, guitar, drum, flute, harmonica and charango. This healing method has become my way of living and walking. My vocation of service has always made me have a place in this world and medicine will always embrace me. At all times with the intention of sharing love to grow and help all beings that cross my path. ROLE: Guardian and musician of sacred ceremony space.

ARCHETYPE: Mother. Grounded voice devotee. Nourishing and life protector. Body caretaker.  PERSONAL JOURNEY: My name is Romana Alarcón, and my arrival in the world of voice was by chance, a chance that today makes me sure of what I came to this life for. For this, I have experienced that, by uniting corporal and vocal techniques and methodologies with emotions, the voice reaches a vibrational point where everything is possible: the change and liberation of the one who sings or emits the sound and the openness and receptivity of the listener. I was born in 1976 in Ceuta, Spain, and raised in Tetuan, Morocco. I started singing in the church choir. Soon, the music teacher talked my parents into studying singing because I had an amazingly accurate tuning. While soaking up the culture, I began studying music and the body. When I was thirteen, I moved to Málaga, Spain, in 1989. There, I studied at a music school, where I was taught to breathe and strengthen my diaphragm. Two years later, I passed the exams and entered the music conservatory. I always wanted to be a nun until I understood I could serve others without being one. Life gave me the opportunity to work for ten years with HIV patients. In 1999, I graduated in pedagogy.  In 2000, my steps took me to Senegal to learn traditional songs from different teachers. Thanks to this long learning journey, I gained a deep understanding of the body and its relationship with different musical styles. This knowledge brings richness, connection, and freedom to everything I express when I sing. My influences are Arabic, Flemish, Lithic and African. In 2004, when I was living in Madrid, I sold my car, bought a van, took my dog and my music, and moved to Ibiza without knowing anyone. To this day, I still live on this wonderful island.

Thanks to my ability to bring, share, and connect my voice to different areas and styles, my creations and collaborations can be part of different types of performances, rituals, and musical styles. Among my collaborations stand out Heart Ibiza by Cirque du Soleil, flamenco shows with the Teresa Rojas company, events by the Ritual Ibiza production company, and creations with Bedouin, Paax Tulum, Be.lanuit, and John Kintar.

My other passion is my work as a vocal instrument luthier. In this role, I facilitate and coach singers, dancers, actors, and people with vocal pathologies, assisting them in their preparation, recovery, improvement, and staging.

In 2005, sacred medicines appeared in my life through my friends. Four years later, in 2009, I put myself at the service for the first time in a ceremony guided by Dr. Josep Maria Fábregas. It was then that I realised that I could be of service and sing –my two great loves. These two, along with being a mother, make me live the clarity of what I came to do in this world, in this life.

I love singing for others and being able to care for them and accompany them with my songs and my presence. I truly feel that my singing is medicine. When I am present at a ceremony, I can feel what the person needs and how I can shed light with my voice in those moments of darkness that they are experiencing.

ROLE: Guardian and musician of sacred ceremony space.

ARCHETYPE. Ancestral artist. Mother Earth evoker. Creator of native instruments and traditional melodies. PERSONAL JOURNEY. My name is Jairo Palchukán, and I was born in the Sibundoy Valley, Putumayo (Colombia). From the hand of my artisan, indigenous parents, I learned to love the traditional sounds, the woods, the vines, the reeds and the seeds that shape the sound and thought of our ancient heritage. From an early age, I began exploring art, crafts and music. My experience as an artist moves from the distant lands of the (Bengbe Uaman Tabanok) Valley of Sibundoy to the great city of the capital district (Bogotá). My artistic, craft, and musical work is focused on evoking the ritual ceremonies of the Kamëntsá community and its traditional festivals, especially the Big Day (Clestrinye) or carnival of forgiveness. My artistic works and instruments of wind and percussion imitate the sounds of Mother Earth. They have been inspired and recreated, an allegory to the song of the birds, the whisper of the wind, the strong passage of the waterfalls, the great song of the shamans and the wisdom of the Taitas and Maimas that still continue to conserve its ancient uses and customs. For study purposes, I created the Taller Putumayo Andino, where I have dedicated myself exclusively to the design, creation and execution of musical instruments and the creation and investigation of objects and elements that Mother Earth offers for the creation of ancestral artistic works. Putumayo Andino Workshop is a space for art and meeting their cultural traditions, thus strengthening the education of their indigenous people. I co-founded Grupo Putumayo with my brother William Palchukán in 1985 thanks to our desire to perpetuate indigenous melodies from the Amazon through ancestral instruments, part of the cultural legacy received in ritual ceremonies, traditional festivals, and from the same craftsmanship of their communities. My trajectory has great recognition from the Kamëntsá indigenous people for being a cultural manager of art and ancestral music and for the participation with my artisan work in innumerable musical events and artisan exhibitions of local, national and international order, among which stand out: 2018, collective exhibition in Escuela de Artes y Oficios ESCAROF, 2016, collective exhibition in Academia de Artes Guerrero in Bogotá, D.C., with recognition for creating sound, innovative and investigative work, 2013, winner of the incentive award for the 3 best artists and artisans in Bogotá organised by IDARTES. In my artistic performances I create a journey that invites us to return our gaze to ancestral thought. A journey in which, through magical songs and sounds, you feel the wind (binye), the water (bejay), the fire (iñe) and the earth (fshants): healing forces and energies that have been part of our existence, directing us in the art of healing to live beautifully with cosmic and spiritual beings. ROLE. Medicine man. Guardian and musician of sacred ceremony space.