June and July 2027, in Peru
Huachuma in the Sacred Valley
Ten days in Peru’s Sacred Valley, with ceremony on the mountain and planting at the Huachuma Sanctuary.
The retreat
Come Sit with Huachuma on the Mountain
We spend ten days in Pisac, in the mountains of Peru’s Sacred Valley, with Huachuma at the heart of them.
On ceremony days we go up the mountain together in the morning, spend the whole day there in prayer with Huachuma, guided by Miguel Mendiburu, and come down as the light goes. Between ceremonies there is time for the old terraces above the town, the sacred sites of the valley and the market, and days left open to take in what happened while we are still there.
Wild Huachuma, the cactus also called San Pedro, is being cut faster than it grows back, so the Foundation is planting a hillside of it at the Huachuma Sanctuary. Before we leave, we plant there together, for the years to come.
We share a house, eat together and end most evenings by the fire.
“The medicine. The prayers. The people. The mountains. The land. The earth. The tribe.”
Saba S.
The Heart Path
Peru, July 2027
The Heart Path runs July 1 to 11, 2027, and is open to everyone.
It has two ceremonies, each a full day outdoors on the mountain above the valley, guided by Miguel Mendiburu, who has been holding them for more than twenty years.
From $3,800
$500 holds your place
The Fire Path runs June 17 to 27, 2027. It is for experienced seekers and has three ceremonies, one of them all night by the fire.
See the Fire Path
Learning
What You Will Learn
The history goes back three thousand years, to the temple at Chavin de Huantar, and on through the Inquisition, which called the medicine heresy, and the ways the practice outlived it. The science covers what mescaline does in the body, and why this plant heightens sensation when most substances dull it. Some of that science is settled, and some of it is still argued over.
We learn how Huachuma grows, how it is propagated, and why it is now under pressure in the wild. And we learn the many ways the plant has been used in ceremony and how our ceremonies are held, down to the tools, the direction everyone moves in, and the silence.
Most of this we cover on the four preparation calls before the trip. The rest we learn in Peru, from the place, the people and the ceremonies.
What people wrote about the ten days afterward is on the testimonials page.
Who we are
Owned by the Huachuma Foundation
Huachuma Works LLC is wholly owned and operated by the Huachuma Foundation, an Arizona 501(c)(3) public charity.
Before you travel
The Foundation runs a six month online course called Huachuma Wisdom. The suggested donation is $108 and nobody is turned away for lack of funds. If you want the history and the science before you fly, start there.
Applying
How Applying Works
The application takes about fifteen minutes.
We reply within a few days to set up a call, and once you are accepted, a $500 deposit holds your place.
What the Ten Days Ask of You.
You need the stamina to walk uphill for a few hours at nine thousand feet, a willingness to sit with whatever comes up, and someone at home to come back to. We also go through your medications with you, because a few, antidepressants among them, do not combine safely with this medicine.