The Setting
We offer San Pedro ceremonies each week in a cozy, private, safe, and relaxing space, The countryside around Santa Isabel, Ecuador (just outside of Cuenca) is stunningly beautiful and provides the backdrop for what is sure to be a profound experience for you, as it has consistently been for us as well.
The Medicine
San Pedro, also known as Huachuma or Wachuma, is a sacred cactus that has been used in shamanic plant medicine ceremonies for thousands of years in the Amazonian region.
It is said to be a plant teacher, and you will quickly discover why as you begin to have a conversation with the spirit of the plant, which is known as Grandfather San Pedro. Because, just a like a grandfather, he can swaddle you with a level of emotional warmth and tender affection that will touch your heart in a way you might not have even felt before, and he can also provide you with tough-love advice if it’s needed too.
The Ceremony
Every day starts with a warm cup of tea of coffee and friendly conversation as we settle into the new day.
Then, around 10a.m. Steve smudges us all with white sage to clear any sort of negative energies that may be present.
Next, we sit in a small circle, and Steve shares some basic guidelines to the ceremony, and then one-by-one, we each share our intentions with the medicine. This might be as simple as “My intention is to know myself better”, or you might choose to go into more detail.
The medicine is then poured in a glass for each person, and after taking as much time with it as you would prefer, you are welcomed to drink the medicine and find a nice place to settle in.
From then on, the primary element to the ceremony is a conversation that will begin in your head between you and the medicine. You might liken this to speaking to yourself silently, although it will very likely soon be clear that the entity you’re speaking to is a very wise plant teacher who is lovingly known as Grandfather San Pedro.
Just like a grandfather, he can swaddle you with a level of emotional warmth and tender affection that will touch your heart in a way you might not have ever felt before, and he can also provide you with tough-love advice if it’s needed too.
You will feel the primary effects of the medicine for about 10 hours, during which time you’ll be given plenty of space for solitude, surrounded by the amazing beauty of the Ecuadorian countryside.
This provides many opportunities to look inside yourself in many different ways, and you will have an unlimited amount of Steve’s support, not only as a warm, gentle human being, but also as a trained and experienced counselor, with specialties in addictions and childhood trauma.
Steve is always within earshot if support is needed, and he checks on you periodically to see how you’re doing. You’re also welcome to roam around the property to find whatever little perch suits you best.
Midway through the ceremony, fresh fruit is served, which is always a welcomed treat, and at the end of each ceremony, a warm and hardy meal is served which really warms your bones to the core.
Finally, Steve provides angel card readings which you will likely find quite illuminating and may provide some clarification to your experiences throughout the day.
The Facilitator
Workshops are held at the Eagle’s Nest – home of Steve Eagle Sewell – who is self-described as a plant medicine specialist and has chosen to dedicate his life to providing plant medicine to those who need it most.
And after a 2-year apprenticeship in Peru, he’s also facilitated ceremony for over 3,000 people and drank the medicine himself over 500 times. He is well acquainted with it’s healing power as the ultimate healer of addiction, dis-ease and dis-order.
The Bottom Line
If you want to discover who you are, what you believe in, how to heal, and how to find your path, you’ve found the right place 🙂
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sanpedrorn
October 7, 2016 at 7:20 pmguided by a mutual friend, I made in Banos Ecuador, I traveled to Vilcabamba to experience San Pedro with Steve. Given his vast experience with both the medicine and as a counselor (in another life) he afforded the knowledge and comfort (great location) to guide me through some very rough emotional purging. He is a good guide and a caring friend…
Jonatan
October 7, 2016 at 6:39 pmI had the fortune of meeting Steve in Peru and he supported me in several San Pedro ceremonies. Especially at one point I remember that he really skillfully guided me to release a lot of anger I was carrying around. He has also been generous with his knowledge of amino acids years after we met when I contacted him for help.
boolacalaca
October 7, 2016 at 5:54 pmMy only experience with San Pedro before was one ceremony where it was mixed with Ayahuasca in a single dose, so I was looking for an immersion with the medicine by itself in which I would have enough time and a beautiful space to appreciate an in-depth conversation with Grandfather San Pedro. I am so thankful that I found the ceremony led by Steve Eagle Sewell – it was exactly what I was hoping to find.
After three consecutive days of Kambo at another center, I felt purged of anything that might get in the way of receiving the benefits of San Pedro. But I was a bit anxious whether or not being so wiped out after Kambo would mix well with the way the San Pedro ceremony was conducted and if the space provided would be conducive. Meeting Steve and being introduced to his space put all of those concerns to rest immediately. Steve is obviously loving, gracious, and very knowledgeable of the medicine as well as counseling modalities. He is never intrusive on the experience but you feel him holding the space for you and being there for you should you need anything, including if you need to speak to someone about anything going on. I really appreciated his calm, compassionate presence.
The location he has was perfect for my experience – big enough to roam around in but small enough not to wander off and get lost. I liked the variety of things to do in the space – from lying down on a bed, to mats that could be carried off to lie down anywhere else in the garden, to chairs and a hammock on the patio with calming music, or a short hike down the hill to the river. Lying under a tree by the river, with the sound of it rushing by was greatly inspirational for meditations.
I am also so grateful for receiving the medicine for a 10-hour experience at one time at the start. Other retreat centers give a little bit of medicine when they begin and then they return to you multiple times to ask if you want more. I feel this is intrusive on the process and results in a series of small possible revelations instead of going deep. For true immersion and a profound conversation with Grandfather San Pedro, the way that Steve administers the medicine I think is best.
The days I spent at Steve’s place, receiving the medicine back-to-back over those two days was one of the best experiences of my life. Without going in to details here, the lessons I received and the conversations I had with Grandfather San Pedro sorted out sixty years of stuff I was dealing with. I am so grateful for that. And I know none of it would have been possible if Steve hadn’t led the ceremony as he did, brewed the medicine as he did, provided an awesome space as he did, and been so loving and supportive. I highly recommend the Eagle’s Nest.
Tim
October 7, 2016 at 2:55 pmI had the pleasure of attending two of Steve’s San Pedro ceremonies in beautiful Vilcabamba, and I actually remember saying to a friend “I think this is the best money I’ve ever spent.”
The ceremonies were at Steve’s home, which is simple and peaceful, and I stayed 3 nights there in his outdoor patio area. Mosquitos were never an issue for me, though I slept with a hoodie on anyway, and I also sleep with relaxing music playing in my earbuds, so I can’t really speak to the noise level either.
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from the ceremonies other than the fact that they provide you much time for contemplation and reflection, without much of any talking. And I was looking forward to that aspect in particular because in the previous San Pedro ceremonies I had been in, there was nothing but talking going on (though in a controlled sort of group-therapy sort of way), and that was well and good, but I felt it was really important to really listen to the medicine.
I enjoy a rather cozy, loving relationship with Mother Ayahuasca, and I wanted to develop the same thing with Grandfather San Pedro. We had spoken briefly on two different occasions, but we’d never really had a chance to speak for very long.
And let me tell you, the difference between the structure of the San Pedro ceremonies that Steve offers and the ones I had experienced before made ALL the difference in the world.
I went from having 2 very brief interactions with San Pedro to 2 entire DAYS-worth of conversations with the medicine, which was just immensely helpful, so much so that I really feel like this is really the best way to experience the medicine.
You’re given much time and space, but Steve also keeps a watchful eye out and even comes to check on everyone periodically.
He’s a trained counselor but also clearly knows the value of simply sitting with someone.
On a funny side note, I remember thinking that while I was gently swinging from his hammock, watching the little patches of cloth that hang from his patio roof flow and sway in the breeze, with the beautiful Andes mountains in the background, “Plant medicine is so much better in a hammock!”
So anyway, if you feel the calling to partake in San Pedro, I don’t believe you will be disappointed, particularly if you get a hold of Steve and make the trip to Vilca.