While living in the Southeastern Peruvian Andes and Amazon for 22 years, the co-founder leading practitioner Jessica has been trained and is working with Ayahuasca in the Shipibo tradition. She is certified as an “Onanya” (Ayahuasca master) by the School for Traditional Shipibo Medicine in Pucallpa and member of its advisory board.
A former Manu National Park rainforest guide, she does ongoing healing work requested by the indigenous people of the region. As a traditional practitioner she regularly participates in international conferences.
As a woman and mother, she is highly experienced in assisting people in bringing about positive life change by very practical and down-to-Earth means. She organizes and takes small groups of Westerners (2 to 5 persons) on 7-day-long retreats to “Parign Hak” (Grandma´s Home), a unique initiative of Manu´s indigenous Harakbut people to host her retreats, located in the mountain rainforest adjacent to Manu National Park, where she provides a culturally adapted healing and cleansing process that consists of traditional plant baths and three ceremonies in Ayahuasca´s natural home, combined with an intimate immersion into Harakbut culture.
Other local healer are usually on site and participants may be brought together in ceremony with Harakbut community people in an attempt to not only facilitate integral healing for all ceremony participants, but also to foster mutual cultural understanding.
As recommended by the International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research & Service (ICEERS), all participants go through an integral process of selection, preparation, ceremonies and integration. This process includes a pre-ceremonial information package, a previous personal interview, traditional dietary restrictions, integration circles, further one-to-one integration interviews in between ceremonies and availability for further consultations for as long as necessary after the third ceremony.
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Elika
September 23, 2018 at 12:57 pmI have stayed at Parign Hak twice. My most recent experience was like a much awaited homecoming, both for myself and my Parign Hak family. I can’t remember being happier to see a group of people because the Parign Hak family is open, honest, trustworthy, fun, and above all, full of love. These qualities were so essential for my healing because I felt safe enough to be vulnerable and delve into the messiness of facing my authentic self. As a result, I experienced healing of issues that I have struggled with and had not made much progress with over the last 20+ years. I would not have been able to reach such a degree of profound insight and understanding of myself and the world around me without the expert guidance of Jessica, a talented ayahuasquera, whose compassion, devotion, integrity and love, as well as her genuine connection with ayahuasca, and intelligence about culture and society is beyond measure. Additionally, Parign Hak offers a loving family that makes the beautifully breathtaking Amazon jungle a home away from home. I shared delicious, nourishing, locally-sourced meals with them and they joked with me and I felt my heart open more than it ever has before. I can’t wait to return to Parign Hak and see my family again!
Gato42
September 19, 2018 at 3:44 pmParign Hak is a small but phenomenal hidden-gem in the Peruvian Amazon. I was referred to Jessica by Dr. Dennis McKenna. I was looking for a reputable Ayahuasquera who could speak English, but Jessica is so much more than that. She’s the perfect bridge between the Western world, and the wonderful Harakbut culture in which Parign Hak is embedded. This isn’t just a Ayahuasca retreat center, it’s a family home and from day one I was welcomed in as one of Vicky’s (the indigenous owner’s) own kids. The center has a very strong maternal presence, and as a single female traveller, I always felt safe and taken care of. Not only was the host family amazing, but Parign Hak carefully screens all of its participants so everyone there was serious about their ayahuasca work and extremely respectful to our native hosts. They were also a LOT of fun to be around. Parign Hak was the perfect retreat center, and I’m incredibly grateful I was able to participate!
Tabi
September 2, 2018 at 8:45 amParign Hak is a very special place in Manu Biosphere Reserve with a wonderful, knowledgeable team that create a safe and healing atmosphere.
This was my first ceremony with ayahuasca and Jessica’s expertise, honesty and humour makes her an exceptional curandero. Parign Hak not only offers a respectful cultural bridge but is also a fantastic example of a sustainable enterprise within one of the most biodiverse areas on the globe.
I could not recommend Parign Hak enough and urge anyone who is being called to plant healing to visit!
marksina
August 16, 2018 at 12:28 amIf ayahuasca is coming for you, nudging you to imbibe, then a safe and wise choice is a visit to Parign Hak (Grandma’s Place) with Jessica.
A small group of us (4 only) left Cusco with Jessica and (via a lovely one night stop at the Qeros Communidad Nativa) and took the motorised canoe to Parign Hak (Grandma’s Place). At that point it was clear to us that we were family for the duration of the stay.
This is low-key, no bullshit, true trans-personal, trans-cultural experience. Some aspects that appealed to me:
* I felt welcomed, contained, accepted for the way I am
* The food was simple and delicious, cooked under the watchful eye of Gloria
* The cottages and conference room have a delicious humble feel
* The maloca, tucked away further into the jungle, is a sweet piece of mystery
* Jessica has hard-won wisdom and a deep understanding of ayahuasca and ceremony
* The jungle is magical and our forays into it and along the river added a depth to the ceremonies.
I have come back to Australia grateful, humbled, opened to the possibilities of ayahuasca, refocused back to the essentials of life, blown away by plant intelligence.
junglespirit
August 12, 2018 at 4:49 pmParign Hak – Grandma´s Home is named like this for a good reason: I felt extraordinarily well mothered by the Medicine, Jessica, Victoria and her amazing Harakbut family. This small native-owned retreat initiative brings together the feeling of being at home and being part of the local family, with learning about the gorgeous mountain rainforest, plants and animals and the local culture. The local organic food I found on my plate every day and excursions into the nearby forests made this experience difficult to surpass. I couldn´t recommend it more to anybody looking for a truly authentic and unique experience.