“Tobacco allows us to see things as they actually are.”
When he finished the dream of creation, Buinaima [the Creator], left us something to remember him by. He left us tobacco. In this way we can dream like He dreamt. This plant grew alone by the mound where Buinaima sat, dreaming throughout the night. That’s why, when we take tobacco, we concentrate in meditation and think of the gods, and they advise us through our dreams.
Tobacco can be smoked, inhaled, and also chewed when it’s prepared in a paste made from crushed leaves. We use it with respect and caution, because tobacco is a great traveler. Those who have envisioned him in dreams say that he is a very thin man, almost like a skeleton. He walks in space, aided by a cane where his leaves grow, and he wears a necklace of skulls and knees. They are the bones of our ancestors, so old and ghostly like his white smoke. He looks like he’s tired, but he keeps walking, always carrying for us the memory of all that has happened since the earth and her creation formed.
In dreams we reconnect to Buinaima, the Creator, to Jusíguna, the tree-child, and to Buiñaiño, the mother of water from whom was born all that exists when Buinaima blew and illuminated the water with his white saliva. Since then, Buinaima wears a rainbow in his head of hair and dreams in color, and we also dream, because life is the dream of colors from the creator. We live and we dream in all the colors with which Buiñaiño is dressed when she stands up, holding the heavens to save us from storms and make the sun rise and shine again.
Witoto creation myth from Rember Yahuarcaní
Tobacco holds a unique place among plants. It was the crop most widely cultivated, used, and traded throughout the Americas. Tobacco has been found in antiquity from the southern tip of South America all the way to the Northern territories of North America and everywhere in between.
For the indigenous peoples of the Americas, tobacco was considered a sacred plant; for many peoples it was their most sacred plant. Many creation myths center around the tobacco plant.
Tobacco is a plant in the nightshade family. There are many varieties of tobacco but today only two are prominently used: Nicotiana tobacum is the species that dominates the tobacco industry and is what most of us think about when we imagine tobacco. The other, nicotiana rustica (wild tobacco), an heirloom varietal grown almost exclusively in the Amazon, is a much stronger variety.
Nicotiana rustica is an old variety of tobacco that has been cultivated in the Amazon for many thousands of years. This variety is very potent, often containing up to ten times the amount of nicotine that a standard leaf of nicotiana tobacum may have. Nicotiana rustica was actually the original tobacco that was planted as far as North America. But, probably do to its commercialization, nicotiana tobacum eventually became more profitable as its smoother, less harsh quality lent to people being able to smoke more.
The Grandfather [architect of the Universe] sent tobacco to take his place among men. Smoking, the people talked with God.
Carirí creation myth
Tobacco, or mapacho as it is called in the Amazon, is a sacred medicine of people all throughout the Americas, where it is indigenous to. It is often said that tobacco is the grandfather plant, from which all other plants sprung forth. In the Amazon, tobacco has an almost universe appeal as medicine, spanning most indigenous groups. It is taken in different ways, either smoked, snorted, or drunk. When smoked it us used as a way to clear energy; both of a space and of a person. In North America the passing of the pipe is symbolic of this type of use. When important decisions were to be made, before any man spoke, he and the entire group would first inhale tobacco from the pipe. In this way it was said that a man would speak from his heart, and he would speak the truth.
Tobacco is also said to help invoke the power of other plant medicines. The indigenous people speak of other plant ‘spirits’ liking the tobacco spirit. Anyone who partakes in an Ayahuasca ceremony, for example, usually sees the curandero smoking tobacco and often partakes in the ritual smoking themselves. The curandero believes that the plant spirits are aided by tobacco. Tobacco can clear the ceremonial space of energies and allow the curandero to enter a space where healing can occur. On a scientific level, this could be explained as tobacco contains monoamine oxidase inhibitors which help the dimethyltryptamine in the Ayahuasca brew take effect. Hence tobacco can literally enhance the experience in an Ayahuasca ceremony.
Tobacco is also ground to a fine powder and taken as a snuff. This was actually the most common way to take tobacco for a time amongst the newly arrived North Americans and Europeans. The tobacco can be taken pure or mixed with other plants to produce desired results. The tobacco is often applied using a long tube where one person blows the tobacco into another’s nostril. A common name for this snuff is rapé (pronounced ha-peh or ra-peh). Taken this way, the tobacco has a purging effect on the sinuses, releasing mucous and phlegm, and also tends to ground the recipient, clearing their mind and bringing them more to their center.
. . . . .
The woman and the man dreamed that God was dreaming about them.
God was singing and clacking his maracas as he dreamed his dream in a cloud of tobacco smoke, feeling happy but shaken by doubt and mystery.
The Makiritare Indians know that if God dreams about eating, he gives fertility and food. If God dreams about life, he is born and gives birth.
In their dream about God’s dream, the woman and the man were inside a great shining egg, singing and dancing and kicking up a fuss because they were crazy to be born. In God’s dream happiness was stronger than doubt and mystery. So dreaming, God created them with a song:
‘I break this egg and the woman is born and the man is born. And together they will live and die. But they will be born again. They will be born and die again and be born again. They will never stop being born, because death is an lie.
Makiritare creation myth
. . . . .
The other way tobacco is taken, and by far the most potent, is when it is blended into a tea-like concoction and drunk. When we speak of tobacco as medicine, as a teacher, and its ability to cure disease, this is the manner where it has the most power. The drink is an extremely powerful purgative and very effective in cleansing the intestines, the blood, and the body including killing parasites, viruses, and bacteria. Whats more, on the mental/emotional level, the tobacco has a very grounding and clearing effect. When people drink they often speak of a great clarity. Unlike other powerful plants such as Ayahuasca, which often tends to transport people to other states of consciousness, tobacco, taken this way, leaves one feeling extremely present and grounded, with a very strong clarity and insight into the nature of life and oneself. Blocks can be undone and answers to questions we have had are made simplistically clear. Partaking in a tobacco ceremony is considered by many indigenous people to be the most powerful way of learning from the plant world. Tobacco is considered the great teacher and the great healer. The ceremonies can be quite intense and difficult to endure as tobacco has a very strong effect. But when completed it leaves the participant grounded, clear, strong, connected to the Earth, and often with great insight into the nature of themselves and the world around them. Caution must be taken to only work with someone who has experience working in this manner as the effects can be potentially dangerous if not administered correctly.
For better or worse tobacco has become a much maligned plant. Sadly, when people speak of tobacco what they are often referring to is cigarettes. Cigarettes are usually made with reconstituted sheet tobacco of very low quality. The tobacco leaves are often grown with a tremendous amount of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers. Cigarettes also normally contain around 70% tobacco, leaving an additional 30% of fillers and chemicals. In fact, the standard cigarette has over 600 added chemicals to it. When combusted, these 600 turn into 4,000. This doesn’t include the chemicals and bleaches and dyes that are added to the paper and filters. A little known fact, when filters were first introduced, they were actually made of asbestos! This melange of chemicals is what a person inhales into their lungs every time they light up a cigarette, often many times per day throughout one’s lifetime. Many of the chemicals that are contained in cigarettes are know carcinogens, substances know to cause cancer. Tobacco has been used medicinally for thousands of years, if not many many more. Its sacred nature and medicinal properties have been used to learn and heal for many peoples throughout time. Pure, natural tobacco, has never been associated with disease; quite the opposite, it is associated with the sacred, with the divine, with learning and healing. The chemicals contained in cigarettes are know to cause disease. And so we must ask ourselves, who is the culprit for disease, 4000 added chemicals, or a plant held sacred by countless people through time immemorial? The answer, when investigated, and more so when experienced, should become quite clear.
As with any and all strong medicinal plants, the quote of Paracelsus is true, Poison is in everything, and no thing is without poison. The dosage makes it either a poison or a remedy. We must always approach all plant work with honor, respect, and knowledge and with a true desire to learn and be healed by the powers of the plant. In this ceremonial space, true transformation can occur.
. . . . .
In the beginning there was nothing but nights, and other Indian words call them the two nights—man and woman. They tried to create, to produce a child, but the child was lost before time for its birth. For four times the same happened. Then with a flash of lightning (num yum a wit) came strong twin boys.
The name of the first one was Mo-Cot, and the name of the second was Mo-Cot-tem-ma-ya-wit, meaning creator. These were the first people. They were sitting in the air. There was no earth, no water, no light, nothing but darkness; so they could not see each other, but they could hear each other. They did not call each other “brother,” but “my man.”
Now this Mo-Cot, he asked, “What are we going to do, my man ?“
Mo-Cot-tem-ma-ya-wit answered, “You should know, my man.”
Mo-Cot said, “We must create now.”
Then Mo-Cot created first tobacco. And Mo-Cot-tern-ma-ya-wit invented the pipe and gave it two names: man and woman. This pipe they filled with the tobacco, and not having light of fire or anything of that kind, they drew on the pipe with their mouths, and fire and smoke came into it.
Cahuilla creation myth
Tobacco and Tree Dietas
A diet (or dieta in Spanish) is a term used to describe a process of learning from a plant. Unlike reading a book to learn about a plant, a dieta is a direct, experiential practice to learn from the plant. In this way it is said that the plants teach us. We can learn and heal using the plant as a medium to open us to this space of light. Different plants have different healing properties and can teach us different things. Every plant can heal specific conditions and also has the ability to teach us about its own unique light. Ultimately all plants are pointing us towards the same truth, that which we are. These plants are teaching us about nature, natural law, ourselves, our place in this world, and opening us to worlds beyond. Beyond all, they are teaching us to be in harmony, to be at peace, and to live in accordance with Truth, and with Knowledge, and not book knowledge, but experiential knowledge.
A dieta usually consists of going into isolation for a designated period of time; this could be anywhere from a few days to a few months. The process in which we work is a series of seven day dietas, although the duration could be extended or shortened depending on the condition of the dieter. During this time the participant stays in her room, isolated from others. He restricts his food to something very light, usually juice or soup, and only at breakfast and lunch. The plant medicine is ingested every night and is drunk with the guidance of the curandero who accompanies the patient for the initial duration of the experience, which can be intense. After drinking the plant and possibly purging, the dieter and the plant medicine will continue to work in her dreams. This medicine usually awakens strongly the dream world which usually brings information about the cleaning process that is being done. The curandero is available for questions and for guidance, but much of the process is spent in isolation with ones thoughts, mind, and being. In this way repetitive thought patterns, beliefs, fears, and that which is holding us back can be brought to light and eventually released.
The specific plant that you will work with will depend on a diagnostic by the curandero. The plants are given specifically for what is seen will be beneficial to the patient. Most of the plants are trees, which traditionally are seen as the bridge between the earth and the heavens. They are strong and old and wise and have the ability to help us learn. On a physical level they tend to be very cleansing, cleaning our blood and stomach and intestines - areas which we carry much sickness. On the level of the mind, they help to clear thought patterns, belief systems, and mental systems that have been holding us back. On an energetic level they help to clear blockages, opening ourselves so that life energy can flow freely again. This the same concept of meridians in Traditional Chinese Medicine or Ayurveda.
In general, the plants are administered with tobacco. Tobacco is seen as the carrier plant, the plant which allows and regulates the other plants ability to work. Tobacco is seen as the grandfather plant, the ancient energy that allows all other plants to exist. Tobacco is a strong medicine, and a very powerful teacher on its own. Often tobacco will be the first plant one works with, as it is a most powerful cleaner of the body on all levels: physical, mental, and energetic.
All of these plants are first working on cleansing the body. As the body, mind, and energies are cleansed, then healing and teaching can begin to happen. Often this process of cleansing can be challenging, as often a lot of purging can happen. The action of tobacco in liquid form is mainly as a potent emetic and as a purge aimed at energy purification. Purging can take the form of vomiting, diarrhea, crying, shaking, fits of heat and cold, etc. It is important to mention that unlike what happens in our Western culture where the purge has an associated negative connotation, traditional medicines like in the Amazon and the Ayurvedic system for example, agree that it is extremely important to perform purges regularly in order to detoxify at the energetic, physical, emotional and spiritual levels, discharging and eliminating from the body/mind impurities and toxins, including negative emotions and thoughts. Through purging the patient begins to notice changes within such as the liberation of stagnant energies and feeling a new sense of inner peace.
We begin to diet trees as trees are considered some of the Master Plants. Trees symbolically connect us to heaven and earth. Their roots go into the ground, connecting us with Mother Earth as well as the symbolic nature of the underworld, or in Andean philosophy, the Ukhu Pacha, and the realm of the emotions. The trunk symbolizes our physical body and this world which we call reality, in Andean the Kay Pacha. And the branches spread skyward to the heavens, representing our spiritual body, in Andean the Hanaq Pacha. Through the dieta and fasting and isolation, these trees therefore have the ability to heal us on all three of those levels: the physical body, the mental/emotional body, and the spiritual body. Each tree has its own personality, its own characteristics. Each tree is good for treating certain physical conditions, it works on certain aspects of our mind and emotions, and it has its power and teaching in the spiritual or shamanic realm. When we complete the dieta we have a connection with this tree. It can be said that this tree is now our ally and we have a spiritual contract with it; a connection has been made. This tree will continue to teach us as time goes on, much like how at first there is a seed and then with proper care the seed begins to grow and eventually becomes a strong tree which gives us its fruits, flowers, wood, shade, protection, strength, wisdom and medicine.
As with all strong plant medicines, a true desire must be present to work with these plants. The experience is not always easy, rarely so in fact, but the rewards can be great if the person has the willingness and courage to undertake the journey.
The Role of the Curandero
The word curandero is a Spanish word that can roughly be translated as “one who cures” or “healer” or “doctor.” There are different types of curanderos. There are vegetalistas - doctors who work with plants, much like herbalists. There are curanderos - healers who have access to other states of consciousness and have the ability to guide and to heal in those spaces. And there are, in some traditions like the Shipibo, moraya - mythical curanderos who have reached a level of mastery of the world. Within the world of curanderos there are different specialities. Some may be an ayahuasquero - a curandero who specializes in working with the master plant ayahuasca. There are sanangueros - a curandero who specializes in working with the master plant chiric sanango. There are tabaqueros - a curandero who specializes in working with the master plant tobacco. And certain curanderos may further specialize in areas such as women’s health issues, bone setting, attraction, etc.
The easiest way to view a curandero is perhaps to think of them as a doctor. They are someone who the patient comes to when the patient is sick and needs help. The patient may have a physical ailment, or as is becoming more present in our times, psychological ailments such as depression, anxiety, lack to joy, loss of purpose of life, trauma, chronic pain and the like. The curandero may use specific plants to help treat the physical symptoms of the patient, but he potentially must also seek to find the root of the problem. And the root must often be pulled up and out from one’s psyche. This is where the knowledge of master plants such as tobacco, ayahuasca, and innumerable trees and plants come into play. The curandero gives the patient specific plants that will begin to try to affect the root of their ailment. This may happen in a ceremonial setting such as working with ayahuasca. Or it may be through a process of offering a dieta, where the patient goes into isolation, restricts their diet, and drinks their plant every night to experientially heal and learn from it. Some diets are administered to specifically heal certain conditions, and some diets are offered in order to learn from, to “dominate,” or to acquire the plant as an ally that aids us throughout our lives.
The disciple becomes a curandero through a very intensive process of working with plants. This process of doing plant dietas usually involves a prolonged period of isolation working with different plants. The disciple works with a curandero who becomes his maestro, or teacher. The curandero helps to guide the disciple in his process of learning. The process can be very arduous. The act of being in isolation for such prolonged periods of time can be very challenging for the mind. It forces the disciple to go into her mind and to begin to learn about the nature of the mind. Eating little to no food for prolonged periods weakens the body. It is said that when the body is weak, the spirit is high. And this allows the medicine to penetrate deeply into each disciple. But the challenges of forgoing food for such times also can cause great distress. And the process of ingesting master plants on a regular basis can be the most challenging aspect of it all. It brings up her suffering, doubts, fears, separation, and all of the blocks and traumas and belief systems that we have been holding onto. And though the process of constant working with plants, the disciple begins to slowly see into the nature of herself. She begins to learn about reality, about the human condition, about nature and natural law, and about how the plants have the ability to open us and to help us to heal.
At a certain point, after potentially years of training, the disciple slowly begins to work. This may initially take the form of apprenticing his teacher, and then beginning to administer plants himself, and eventually going out on his own and working as his own curandero. Each curandero’s process is different and unique to them. Good curanderos have undergone a rigorous training, a deep process of self reflection, and have acquired an experiential knowledge of working continuously with plants. And when the teacher feels her student is ready, she sends them out to begin working on their own.
The curandero, through his own process, learns a great deal. He begins his process of self mastery and acquisition of his own power. He sees and trusts the healing power of the plants, which are a gateway to an even greater power - that of the Universe, of Creation, of God. He knows that ultimately it is not him who is curing. He is a guide who is creating a space, through his own hard work and dedication, that allows his patients to experience the healing power of that higher force. He has the ability to guide the medicine, to heighten or lower its affects, to know the dosages, and to guide the patient through the most challenging and beautiful of experiences. It is not a role to be taken lightly, as that space, if not held, can open the patient to potential harm and suffering. It is much like an open-heart surgeon. If we are having our hearts operated on, we want to make sure that the surgeon has done their training! The curandero has worked on herself, gone deep into herself, so that she can work on and help others go deep into theirselves.
Apprenticeship Program
The Apprenticeship Program is a traditional training and initiatory process that one goes through in order to learn about oneself and to learn from, and work with, plants. It is therefore a process of self mastery, initiation, and training to work as a curandero.
Initiation
Initiations were common practices in many cultures around the world. In our modern culture we have gained and learned much. But one thing that has declined as an important part of an individual’s journey is the initiation rite. In many cultures the initiation was given to adolescents entering adulthood. It was a test and a rite of passage. It was a shedding away of the old self, the child, and a rebirth into one’s new role, the adult. This initiation process was also continued for a select group of individuals who either chose, or were chosen, to enter a special class, often the priestly cast, healers, or leaders. In order to do this a very strict and rigid process was undergone that challenged the initiate on all levels: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. These initiations ranged in time, but often took place over the course of months and even years. Many initiations embody the archetypical process of death and rebirth. The old beliefs, traumas, ways of being, patterns, and visions are let go of or transformed and a new way of being emerges. This can be one death-like experience or a series of dying experiences. It’s said the journey of the curandero is a journey of many deaths. Much like an onion, each layer must die away to reveal what is closer and closer and to our true essence.
What is the Process?
In this initiatory process we embark on the greatest journey. The journey of the Self. As was written at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, the foundation of all wisdom is, Know Thyself. Through a process of deep self-reflection and inquiry, we begin this process.
The apprenticeship program that we offer is based on the initiatory process that we ourselves went through in the Mamancunawa lineage. It combines this process with all that we have learned outside of this tradition as well. It is the process that allows one to earn the title of Tabaquero, a curandero specializing in tobacco and trees. The initiatory process is long, arduous, and involves a considerable time in isolation, fasting from food and other stimuli, and drinking very strong plant concoctions.
Isolation is a time honored tradition in many cultures as an initiatory rite in and of itself. By isolating oneself from the outside world, and all stimuli, one is forced to be solely with oneself and one’s mind. This can present many challenges. Boredom, depression, anxiety, fears, loss of control, and many other things can arise. Truly we begin to observe our minds, the nature of the mind, and how it works. With nothing to do, no one to speak with, and nothing to distract ourselves, we are forced to go within and to observe the self. We begin a process of self-inquiry and begin to learn how the mind works. We also begin to still the mind and in doing so, we begin to become more sensitive to all of life. We begin to hear and see and smell in a different way. We become aware and sensitive to subtle things that were always present but we had overlooked do to outside forces and stimuli.
Fasting is the second part of this initiatory rite. Fasting has, as well, been used by many traditions around the world. Fasting is a fantastic way to heal the body just by itself. As we begin to restrict food, the body can shift resources away from breaking down food and begin to allocate those resources to repairing the body. As we begin to abstain from food, our body begins to have cravings. This initially can be very difficult as we are not used to being without food. As we continue our bodies can become very weak due to lack of food. But in this weakened state our sensitivity is greatly increased. It's often said that when the body is very weak, the spirit is very high. Many of us may know this if we think about when we are sick, for example if we get the flu. Our bodies stop craving food, we fast, and our bodies go into a healing modality. Often in that state, even though we are weak, there is an openness and ease with our minds. Thoughts may begin to flow, we become reflective, and we feel a certain sensitivity and awareness of the present moment. By taking minimal to no food, and ingesting only the plant we are dieting, we develop a strong connection to that plant as that plant is our only food. The plant is the only thing we are with for the duration of the diet, other than ourselves. The plant is usually mixed with tobacco as well, as tobacco is a great regulator, teacher, and is considered food for spirits.
When we ingest these strong plants we are first looking to clean and clear the system. This often involves a great deal of purging. These trees and tobacco all have very strong qualities of cleansing the blood, the gastrointestinal tract, and various organs where it is said we carry much of our sickness. As we begin to clear ourselves on the physical level, we also begin to clear and open ourselves on an energetic level. Things begin to move and flow as they were designed to do, much like when we were children. If we are familiar with Traditional Chinese Medicine, the meridians are opened and the Qi can flow. As the body is cleansed and harmony and movement begin to happen, then it is important that the body/mind/spirit are fortified. Many of the trees provide strength and protection so that as we enter into this new state, we are strong, grounded, clear, and protected from what life may send our way. It isn’t that we are invincible or stagnant, but that we are anew and have new-found tools to be able to navigate life in a new way.
Through this apprenticeship process, we are taught by the plants we diet about ourselves, about the nature of the world, and the world of plants. We are given tools to use and new ways of being. We are also instructed in this process by our maestros, our human teachers, how to undertake this journey. The curandero/maestro is there with us each step of the journey. He or she cannot walk the journey for us. This each initiate must do himself, but the maestro holds the space and guides the initiate through each part of the process. This includes holding the space, preparing the remedies, helping the initiate to understand what is arising within them, helping to interpret, and teaching them the tools to do the work. Tools that are taught in this process are how to work with tobacco and trees, how to make and prepare remedies, how to soplar with tobacco (energetically cleansing), how to make perfumes, how to sing icaros, how to give diets, how to work with a chacapa (a bundle of leaves used for cleaning), how to make and work with a pipe, how to make and work with plant baths, how to cleanse spaces, how to prepare various body and organ cleanses, and how to make remedies for various common ailments.
Also through the process the maestro is teaching the disciple through presence and experience as well. The way of being, the energetic field, and the energy and power of the maestro can, as well, be passed onto the disciple. There’s a transfer of knowledge, tools, way of being, vibration, and vision. There is a synchronization of the work and energies from the maestro to the student. The maestro is present both physically and energetically for the disciple throughout the process. And in between diets the maestro is available for questions and for integrative work.
How long is the process?
In the tradition in which we work, one normally starts off by dieting tobacco. Tobacco is seen as one of a handful of master plants that has the ability to teach about the Self and to teach how to become a doctor (curandero). Tobacco is very useful as the first diet because it works on all levels. It cleans and clears. It opens us up. And then it begin to fortify and to protect. It leaves us clean, open, strong, clear, grounded, insightful, and with protection.
From there one begins to diet trees. There are a number of trees that are considered allies - trees that teach us and are able to aid us in this path of curanderismo. Trees are also seen as the bridge between heaven and earth. They root into the earth and reach towards the heavens. Each tree is selected by the maestro and given to the student based upon what the maestro sees will be most beneficial to the student at that time. Twelve trees are dieted in total. Once the initiate has dieted twelve different trees, she has had sufficient training to move into the final phase of the initiation.
In the final phase one returns to tobacco. This final dieta is called the maestria, or the master teacher diet. This is the diet that officially aligns all of the trees that one has dieted. It’s also where the initiate drinks a large quantity of tobacco that allows him or her to fully embody the new role they are stepping into. While this may seem daunting, by doing all of the previous diets, the initiate is ready for the final initiation.
Each diet usually last seven days. This may seem long to some and short to others. Some diets can be extended to two weeks if the initiate wishes to go deeper into one diet. It’s important to remember that these diets tend to be shorter than some other traditional diets because the process is more intense. The length of time dieted with a plant depends on the maestro and how intense the process is. Usually longer diets are less physically intense but can be challenging given the length of time in isolation. There is usually much more food given as well as the body needs food for longer periods of time. And the plant is usually ingested at more spaced-out intervals. With these diets, in the seven days, usually food is abstained from and only juice is give twice a day. In addition the plant is taken every day during the diet, often invoking a strong physical and mental purge and a very deep process.
Who is the apprenticeship program for?
Really anyone who is looking to better understand themselves can greatly benefit from the Apprenticeship Program. Many have done the program who are not interested in working with plants at all. People from all walks of life have come to diet in order to heal themselves, learn about themselves, and strengthen their connection to themselves and to the world around them.
Some may come for one diet, and have such a transformational experience that they end up staying through the whole process. Many have been opened to other ways of looking and viewing the world. And many people begin to incorporate aspects of these teachings into their own work. These could be as psychologists, massage therapists, counselors, teachers, energy workers, healers, coaches, really anyone. The program has the ability to deepen whatever it is that interests you.
And if you are interested in working with plants and potentially one day holding space with plants, then the Apprenticeship Program is ideally suited to you. Through the process we learn to work with tobacco and trees and to continue in this lineage. It is a very powerful process and the sky is really the limit in how deep one wishes to take themselves and to to learn. And this program can work as an amazing base for people who already work with other plants or would like to work with other plants such as ayahuasca, San Pedro (huachuma), coca, etc.
Time and Cost
Each diet lasts eight days (7 days of ceremony and 1 day or rest). There are fourteen diets in total (one tobacco + 12 trees + one master tobacco). Some diets can be extended to two weeks. Therefore, the minimum time would be about 20 weeks total, typically spread over one to three years. The costs of the Apprenticeship Program are the same as doing individual diets. There is no extra cost for additional teaching. When you say you would like to begin the program, we begin the additional process of teaching all the additional tools. We offer a 10% discount on subsequent diets after a person has completed six tree diets (which is halfway through the apprenticeship). It is certainly an investment of our time, energy, commitment, and finances, but this is also the path of the Western practitioner. To be considered for the program and apprentice with us, all diets must be completed with us (there may be some exceptions). Upon completion of the maestria, we offer our students the opportunity to apprentice and shadow with us. You will have the opportunity to sit with us in several ceremonies and observe us in two different retreats (dietas). This is an opportunity to observe us directly and experientially and learn firsthand the work we do. At the end of the training, we will evaluate each participant on an individual basis based upon their skill and connection and, if they have met our criteria, we offer a certification diploma, as well as a document of tools, techniques, remedies, and guidelines.
The Apprenticeship Program is a difficult journey. It's often said in many shamanic cultures that the path of the shaman is a path of suffering. Through the initiation the student must go through a long process of isolation, deprivation, cleaning, purging, self inquiry, and then rebuilding. This is a very challenging process. It is the the archetypical Hero’s Journey. The greatest journey we can take, the journey within. But through this dying away of what is old we can be reborn into what is possible. We can begin to see our own potential and the magic and beauty of what life has for us. We can begin to see that life is happening for us, not to us. We are no longer prisoners of our stories, but creators of our destinies and lovers of what is. Our dream space and our sensitivity to this world is opened. Through going inward we shed the old self and begin a journey into our path of wisdom and power. For those who are willing and feel drawn to embark upon this path, it can be the single most rewarding decision of our lives.
For more information, send an email to: bookings@NicotianaRustica.org or click CONTACT at the bottom of this page.
Calendar
Tobacco and Tree Dieta Retreat Schedule
Plant Tree Dieta dates: August 23-30, 2025 * November 2-30, 2025
Click on the calendar or below to go to the Dieta Calendar Page
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Tobacco maestro Ernesto