Ayahuasca ceremonies in Iquitos

Surrounding Iquitos, most of the times outside the city (agreed by many that the further the better), different Shamans practice the ceremonies of ayahuasca in areas created for that purpose. Ceremonies consist of drinking the brew, added to a strict diet which makes the person more sensitive to the spirit world. The diet sometimes includes drinking other plants with one meal a day that commonly are a couple of veggies.

Shamans agree that in order to understand the deep mysteries of the plants a diet has to be followed, that's why most of them drink every 2 or 3 days, or twice or three times a week, each ones has it's own rhythm. Some of them do it for a period of time, and then they stop for a while and start a new cycle. Some of them have kept this diet for more than several years.

What travelers normally do is visit the shamans while they’re dieting and live with them for a cycle; could be 1 time, 1 week, 1 month, or more. Shamans can be found because they normally use their malocas as a temple.

Most of the sessions are in silence and only the shaman sings Icarus: songs made for healing or other purposes, these are made to guide the people during the ceremony and to keep them somewhere.

A common ceremony is of 1 doze in a special cup used only for that purpose. But more advanced users may do several cups. It also depends on the strength of the potion.