TRADITIONAL SHIPIBO HEALING IN THE PERUVIAN AMAZON
At Onikano, Ayahuasca ceremonies lie at the heart of the healing process. Each ceremony is approached as a sacred encounter with the plant medicine and the living spiritual traditions of the Amazon. Rooted in the ancestral teachings of the ancient Shipibo Merayas, the ceremonies unfold in deep communion with the spiritual world and the traditional practices of the Shipibo lineage.
During each ceremony, Maestro Niwen Koshi (Heberto García) calls forth unseen beings from different realms to support each participant’s healing journey. These may include a long lineage of Shipibo ancestors, great Merayas — among them his grandfather, Yosi Ocha — departed curanderos and luminous teachers, mystical beings from other dimensions, and the powerful forces of the teacher plants themselves — each a living presence within the sacred space.
PERSONAL CONSULTATION WITH THE MAESTRO
On the first day of your retreat, Maestro Niwen Koshi holds a one-on-one conversation with each participant to understand their intentions, personal history, and what has brought them to Onikano.
This is an important moment to communicate openly about your process, your hopes, and anything you feel is relevant — laying the foundation for a healing journey that is deeply aligned with your individual path.
Each person also undergoes an initial energetic and spiritual evaluation. During this first scan, the Maestro will assess your overall energetic state and identify areas of strength, imbalance, or vulnerability.
Often, the root cause of disharmony is not immediately visible — it may only reveal itself gradually over the course of several ceremonies.
Once it becomes clear, the focus of the work turns to clearing energetic blockages, extracting harmful spiritual influences, and restoring balance, so that the medicine can move more freely and reach deeper levels of healing.
This personalised dimension is important within Shipibo healing work. Although Shipibo maestros share a common tradition, there is no single method of working. Each curandero develops their own practice based on the teachings received from their masters, the plants they have dieted, and their personal experience.
For this reason, those who have previously worked with other shamans or retreat centres may notice important differences in the way diagnosis, healing, or dieta work is approached. These differences are not necessarily contradictions, but different expressions of the same living tradition.
HOW MUCH AYAHUASCA IS SERVED IN A CEREMONY?
At the beginning of each ceremony, the Maestro invites participants one by one to receive their serving of Ayahuasca. On the first night, most newcomers are served half a cup — just enough to establish a safe and effective initial connection with the medicine. In some cases, a smaller serving or a different type of brew may be given.
In subsequent ceremonies, participants are invited to share how the medicine affected them and whether they feel called to receive a stronger or milder serving. However, the final decision always rests with the maestros, who carefully adjust the amount to ensure that each person’s process remains safe and aligned.
Once everyone has been served, the candles are extinguished, silence is observed, and the ceremonial space settles into darkness.
As the medicine begins to take effect, the Maestro begins the first round of individual ícaros and personalised healing.
About an hour and a half later, participants are offered a second serving of Ayahuasca. If the first serving felt too mild or if you wish to go deeper into your process, you may request more medicine, and if the maestros consider it appropriate, a second cup will be offered. After this, the ceremony continues with the second round of personalised ícaros, with each participant receiving focused, individual attention throughout the night.
Because the programme at Onikano includes five ceremonies per week (four Ayahuasca and one San Pedro), only two servings of the brew are offered per ceremony. The structure and flow may also shift slightly, depending on the energy and needs of the group.
WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE WHEN THE AYAHUASCA BEGINS TO TAKE EFFECT?
Ayahuasca usually begins to take effect 15 to 45 minutes after drinking. The experience is very personal and may unfold in many different ways — through physical sensations, emotions, visions, or a quiet inner knowing.
Common signs that the medicine is beginning to work include tingling, waves of heat or cold, changes in perception, or a sense of energy moving through the body. You may feel as though time is slowing down, or that the space around you is becoming softer, wider, or more fluid.
Ayahuasca can bring feelings of joy, love, and peace — but it may also bring fear, sadness, anger, or grief to the surface. You may laugh or cry without knowing why. These emotional shifts — whether pleasant or challenging — can be signs that the medicine is moving energy within you.
Some participants may see lights, geometric patterns, symbolic imagery, or meaningful visions, while others experience the medicine in more subtle and internal ways. Physical sensations such as nausea, dizziness, or the need to purge may also arise, and are often understood as part of the body’s natural release process.
No two ceremonies are ever the same. What you feel, see, or understand depends not only on the medicine, but also on your state of mind, your level of surrender, and what your soul is ready to receive. If the experience becomes intense, you may feel an instinctive urge to resist the effects, but fear tends to amplify discomfort, while trust allows the experience to unfold more harmoniously.
Asking the spirit of Ayahuasca to guide you gently, while surrendering to the process with trust, can help you meet the medicine with greater openness and ease.
WHAT ARE THE ÍCAROS?
Ícaros are sacred healing songs used by Shipibo curanderos during Ayahuasca ceremonies. Far more than beautiful melodies, they are powerful energetic tools that guide, protect, and support the healing process.
Each ícaro carries a specific vibration and spiritual intention, acting as a bridge between the physical and spiritual realms.
Through these songs, the maestros “lighten” their bodies and access elevated states of consciousness, where they can perceive the energetic field of each participant and work directly with the medicine. As they sing, they call upon the plant spirits, ancestors, and other benevolent forces to support the healing process.
At Onikano, the maestros sing two types of ícaros: general ícaros, which invoke protective forces and hold the space for the group, and personal ícaros, sung individually to each participant.
Personal ícaros are not chosen at random — they are received and delivered in direct response to what the healer perceives in your energetic field. An ícaro may open or close energetic pathways, extract blockages, strengthen the spirit, or offer clarity and insight.
When a maestro comes to sing to you, you are invited to sit upright, open your heart, and receive the vibration. Many people describe ícaros as some of the most beautiful and moving songs they have ever heard, awakening emotions, visions, or energetic shifts. Even if you do not understand the words, your spirit will understand the language of the medicine.
The maestros are not only singing to you, but through you — guiding the medicine exactly where it needs to go. Ícaros are the heartbeat of the ceremony: they weave the energetic fabric of the space, clear darkness, and illuminate the path of transformation. Without them, Ayahuasca would still work — but with them, the journey becomes far more guided, protected, and purposeful.
Begin Your Healing Journey at Onikano
If you feel called to experience this work in person, explore the retreat options to begin your journey.
WILL I ALWAYS HAVE VISIONS DURING A CEREMONY?
Not necessarily — and that’s perfectly okay.
While many people associate Ayahuasca with vivid or symbolic visions, not everyone experiences this type of imagery. Their absence does not mean the medicine isn’t working. In fact, some of the most important healing unfolds quietly, beneath the surface, without any visions at all.
It is common to arrive at a retreat expecting to “see” something, and to feel disappointed if no visions arise. But at Onikano, the focus is not on chasing visions — it is on healing. The true intention is to identify and release the root cause of disharmony, regardless of how the process unfolds — whether it is vivid or subtle, visual or deeply internal.
Sometimes, energetic blockages — especially around the third eye — or emotional and physical imbalances may limit access to visionary states.
In other cases, the Maestro may choose to temporarily block visions if he senses they could be overwhelming at a particular stage of your healing journey.
When visions do arise, they can be beautiful, revealing, or challenging. Sometimes they may be uncomfortable or difficult, but this too may be part of the healing process — bringing buried emotions or unconscious patterns to the surface to be seen and released. Often, it is first necessary to clear what no longer serves you before deeper insight can arise, and this process unfolds gradually, according to what your body, mind, and spirit are ready to receive.
As deeper layers of the energetic body are purified and restored, the nature of your visions may begin to shift, becoming more harmonious and aligned with your evolving inner state. That is why it is far more helpful to surrender with trust than to expect a particular kind of experience. Remember, Ayahuasca will always give you what you need — even if it is not what you expected.
IS PURGING NECESSARY DURING THE CEREMONY?
Purging is a common part of the Ayahuasca experience, but it is not strictly necessary for healing to occur. While many people vomit — or release in other ways — especially during their first ceremonies, others may not purge at all, and that’s perfectly okay.
Vomiting may be preceded by nausea or physical discomfort, though the urge can also arise suddenly. It is important not to feel ashamed — in the Shipibo tradition, purging is seen as a powerful release of negative energies and physical toxins.
Afterwards, many people feel lighter, clearer, or greatly relieved. Purge buckets are provided for each participant, and if the discomfort becomes too intense, the maestros use traditional techniques to help ease the process.
Not purging does not mean the ceremony “didn’t work.” Healing can manifest in many ways. Some people cry, sweat, yawn, shake, or feel the need to use the bathroom. Others experience more subtle shifts — emotionally, energetically, or spiritually.
In some cases, deep-rooted traumas may need time to soften before they can be released. In others, the Maestro may intentionally block purging or direct the medicine to carry out a specific internal process instead. At times, the Ayahuasca may need to remain in the body longer to complete its healing work after the ceremony.
For this reason, the absence of purging should never be seen as a failure — on the contrary, it may indicate that something more complex is already unfolding within. Trust the process: the medicine works in its own time and its own way, and the maestros are always present to guide and support you throughout the experience.
WHAT ARE THE LEVELS OF MAREACIÓN (TRANCE)?
During Ayahuasca ceremonies, participants may experience up to seven levels of trance — or mareación — each representing a different degree of immersion in the energetic and spiritual realms.
The first two levels are mild, often bringing light sensations such as tingling, shivering, changes in temperature, or subtle physical discomfort. Though these may seem minimal, the medicine is already working.
Levels three and four are the most common for healing: a deeper state of immersion where visions, emotions, or insights may become more vivid, while the participant generally remains aware and in control of the body. Some discomfort may arise — nausea, dizziness, or loss of coordination — but the experience remains manageable.
From level five onward, the process intensifies. Physical control may begin to fade, and visions can appear in rapid or fragmented sequences. Level six may bring strong emotional or energetic releases, such as crying, vocal expression, or involuntary movements. Level seven involves complete surrender, occasionally resulting in fainting or total stillness.
These deeper levels are rare and are usually reached only when significant healing is underway. If a participant becomes overwhelmed, the maestros will intervene with traditional remedies — salt water, ginger, specific shamanic techniques, and in rare cases, a cold shower — to help ground the person and reduce the intensity of the trance.
What may feel intense or chaotic in the moment is often a highly focused process of release — participants who enter these deeper states may process the equivalent of several ceremonies in a single night. Throughout your journey, you will be held in a safe and protected space under the guidance of experienced maestros. At Onikano, Ayahuasca is approached as a wise and compassionate medicine — not as something to fear, but as a force that brings to light what is ready to be seen, felt, and healed.
HOW LONG DOES A CEREMONY LAST?
At Onikano, Ayahuasca ceremonies typically last between three and four hours, depending on the number of participants and the depth of the healing work.
With five ceremonies per week (four Ayahuasca and one San Pedro), the programme is designed to create a consistent ceremonial rhythm. This frequency allows the medicine to work gradually and thoroughly over time, supporting cumulative transformation.
Rather than prolonging each ceremony late into the night, the focus is on concentrated and carefully guided energetic work. With only two servings of the brew offered per ceremony, the maestros can work during the peak of the trance without overwhelming the participant.
When only one serving is taken, the effects usually begin to subside after around three hours, though this can vary depending on the person’s sensitivity and the amount received. If a second serving is taken, the journey may extend well into the early hours of the morning.
Later in the night, some participants may find it difficult to sleep as inner processes continue to unfold, while others ease into a peaceful and restorative rest. Ayahuasca’s work does not end when the ceremony closes — it continues quietly and persistently, often in ways that only become clear with time.
Choose the Rhythm of Your Retreat
Each retreat duration offers a different rhythm of healing — from a first introduction to a longer process of integration and transformation.
1 WEEK RETREAT
Introduction
2 WEEKS RETREAT
Recommended
3 WEEKS RETREAT
Deeper Process
4 WEEKS RETREAT
Full Immersion
5 WEEKS RETREAT
Path of Training
ESPAÑOL
DEUTSCH