Our Shipibo Maestro once told us:
“This path is all about claiming your power, or giving it away.”
These words have rung true again and again since then, and they point to an important concept worth unpacking within the context of this work.
In our view, sitting in ceremony with plant medicines (as well as related practices like dieta) is meant to deepen our individual and personal relationship with the Divine — whatever that means to each of us. Through this deepening, we discover (and rediscover) our inherent divinity, our gifts on this earthly plane, and ever more refined insight into how to live in alignment with the Divine.
And yet, sometimes we can get tripped up or confused along the way — especially when other humans are involved… perfectly imperfect as we all are.
We (Sam and Dani, personally) are very devotional people by nature, and we see many others on this path who share this beautiful quality. We feel deep devotion to the medicine Herself, as a vehicle for communion with the Divine. We have studied seriously within a handful of different traditions, and we also hold tremendous reverence for our human teachers, who have guided us with great skill through various realms of shamanism, embodiment, trauma work, and spirituality more broadly — all of which inform our offerings.
But sometimes, devotional people can begin to pour their devotion excessively toward a person, a practice, a plant spirit, or a tradition. And this is often where we may start to give our power away.
When we follow any of these things blindly — people, practices, plants, lineage-related dogma — there are subtle but meaningful capacities we may begin to abandon: personal accountability, the ability to respond with attunement to what is actually present, and, ultimately, our sovereignty.
The deeper we go on this path, the more nuanced and subtle it becomes. Because of course, study within an established lineage is (in our view) essential — especially for those holding guardianship or facilitation roles. And at times, deep study may require temporarily setting aside our personal beliefs in order to fully receive the essence of the teachings we are given.
But eventually, it becomes critically important to return to our own individual path — to follow our hearts, our embodied discernment, and our sense of personal integrity. It is from this place that we can truly live from and emanate our sovereignty and our connection with the Divine — an expression that will be wholly unique to each of us.
