3-Day Ancestral Ayahuasca Retreat with the Palchukán Family

A sacred, trauma-informed healing retreat designed to help you reconnect with yourself, release emotional weight, and restore balance in body, mind, and spirit.

Ayahuasca, often referred to as “La Madre Ayahuasca” the Mother, is honored in many Amazonian traditions as a teacher and guide. The medicine’s consciousness is often described as both strong and deeply compassionate, gently revealing the areas of life where we may be holding back, avoiding truth, or repeating patterns that no longer serve us.

Through this process of inner reflection, many people gain clarity, emotional release, and a renewed sense of direction.

Scientific research has also begun exploring the therapeutic potential of Ayahuasca. Studies have suggested benefits in areas such as depression, trauma processing, addiction recovery, and emotional well-being when experienced in safe and supportive settings.

At Santuario, this sacred medicine is approached with deep respect.

Ayahuasca helps emotional and psychological healing by:

• Helping us release unhealthy patterns and imprinted trauma. Many of our unconscious behaviors are rooted in unresolved pain, trauma, or conditioning. In a ceremony, participants can often gain clarity around addictive tendencies, destructive habits, or repeating relational patterns. Rather than suppressing symptoms, the medicine may show you its origin. This creates an invitation for resolution through forgiveness, accountability, and the opportunity to consciously choose differently moving forward.
• It can bring awareness to the deeper origins of fear and chronic anxiety. By safely confronting what has been avoided, one can feel greater sense of peace, emotional release, and nervous system recalibration. This is the process of self-awareness.
• In a world of constant stimulation and responsibility, many arrive feeling depleted. Ceremony can create a profound reset helping individuals reconnect with their bodies, reassess priorities, and release the weight of accumulated stress. Participants often describe leaving with renewed clarity and restored vitality.
• Help you process unresolved grief, whether from the loss of a loved one, a relationship, or a former version of self. Many experience a deepening of acceptance, compassion, and peace around what has been lost.
• This medicine teaches you to surrender, and many times not as passivity, but as trust. Many participants leave with greater clarity, intuition, and confidence in navigating change.

Why Choose Santuario

• Small, Intimate Ceremonies

We intentionally keep our ceremonies small (maximum of 10 participants) so every guest can receive the support they need. A smaller container allows facilitators to provide personalized guidance, emotional care, and attentive space-holding throughout the journey.

• Integration Support

Many people travel to the Amazon to experience Ayahuasca but return home without guidance on how to integrate what they experienced.

At Santuario, integration is one of the most important aspects of the journey. We help you reflect on your experience, understand its meaning, and translate the insights into meaning and a plan that you can carry into your daily life. Our community continues to offer support even after the retreat ends.

• Ethical Relationship With the Medicine

For some people, traveling deep into the Amazon to sit with the medicine can feel intimidating or inaccessible.

For this reason, we have built a respectful relationship with the Palchukan Tautas medicine family, who travel to Santuario to share the medicine within a protected ceremonial space only one hour from Medellín.

The medicine is lovingly prepared by Maima, a respected elder who personally brews the yagé. The Palchukan Tautas family carefully evaluates each participant, ensuring that preparation, dietary guidelines, and health screening are completed before ceremony. Their intention is always to serve the medicine responsibly and with deep respect for its lineage.

A Message From the Palchukan Tautas Family

We are the Palchukan Tautas family, living roots of the ancestral peoples Pasto and Quillacinga. We carry the memory of our ancestors walking in this time.

Our word is born from the mountains, from the páramo and the Andean-Amazon jungle, where the wind still speaks the names of the elders and the waters guard the secrets of creation.

We were born in the sacred Valley of Sibundoy, a spiritual place where the wisdom of the Taitas and the gentle guidance of the Mamas sustain the balance of life. From childhood we were not taught through books, but through the living traditions of our people — around the fire, through the drum that echoes the heartbeat of the Earth, and through the flute that speaks with the spirit of the forest.

We learned to ask permission before planting,
to give thanks before drinking,
and to listen before speaking.

We are sons and daughters of medicine men and women, raised among ceremonies, sacred plants, and the harmonizing sounds of the Andes and the Amazon.

For us, medicine is not simply a practice.
It is a way of living.

The sacred plant Yagé is a teacher and a guide. It helps bring order to the thoughts, cleanses the heart, and strengthens the path of a person’s life. It teaches us to think beautifully, feel beautifully, and live beautifully.

We do not see it as a substance, but as a wise elder spirit who awakens consciousness.

Sound is also part of our medicine. The drum calls the spirit, the flute carries prayer, the rattle clears heavy energies, and sacred songs plant light in the soul. Through these vibrations we remember ancient wisdom that lives within every human heart.

Today we continue our work from our territory near Mocoa, where we protect the waters, plant trees, restore the forest, and care for Mother Earth.

In our family also lives the wisdom of the feminine. Sandra Tautas, woman of the Quillacinga people, carries the ancestral knowledge of the grandmothers and the women healers who came before her. She holds circles for women and preserves the teachings of feminine healing and sacred remembrance.

Together we walk with the medicine of sound, ceremony, and the sacred circle.

We do not impose paths.
We simply accompany those who are walking their own.

Where the medicine opens the way, we walk with humility and respect, sharing the message of our ancestors:

To remember that we are nature.
That we are community.
That we are spirit living within the Earth.

We are water that cleanses.
We are earth that sustains.
We are fire that transforms.
We are wind that carries the word.

We are not owners of wisdom.
We are only its temporary guardians.

We walk in service to life, to the awakening of consciousness, and to the harmony of all beings.

— Palchukan Tautas Family

What Happens During the Ceremony

Each retreat at Santuario is designed to support preparation, ceremony, and integration, allowing the medicine to work not only during the night but also through reflection and embodiment the following day.

Our ceremonies are held in a sacred Maloka ceremonial space and guided by the Palchukan Tautas family, who carry the traditions of the Pasto and Quillacinga peoples of the Andes-Amazon region.

Opening of the Ceremony

The evening begins around 9:00 PM with a circle of word (círculo de palabra).
In this moment the Taitas introduce themselves and open the space for participants to share their intentions and express what they are carrying into the ceremony.

Ceremonial Opening

The ceremony is then opened through traditional practices that help prepare the body, mind, and spirit:

• Sacred smoke cleansing using copal and palo santo from Putumayo
• A ritual bath with bitter medicinal plants to cleanse the energetic field
• Prayers and blessings offered by the Taitas

Participants return to the Maloka to begin the sacred work with the medicine.

Receiving the Medicine

The Taitas open the ceremonial prayer and begin chanting ícaros and sacred songs, focusing on each participant’s intention and the collective healing of the circle.

The first cup of Yagé (Ayahuasca) is then offered.

Participants remain seated in silence, allowing the medicine to begin its work and guiding their attention inward.

Musical Healing and Energetic Work

After the medicine begins to work, the Taitas guide a period of musical therapy and energetic harmonization using:

• ancestral chants and ícaros
• drums and sacred instruments
• rattles and seeds
• healing prayers

These sounds help guide the experience, clear energetic blockages, and support emotional release.

After some time, participants may lie down and continue the journey as the Taitas perform energetic healing through music, prayer, and sound.

Second Offering of Medicine

Later in the night, those who feel called to deepen their process may receive a second cup of medicine.

The ceremony then returns to a quiet space of introspection as the Taitas continue working with songs and prayers, gradually guiding the energy from subtle to powerful and back into stillness.

Closing of the Ceremony

As the sun begins to rise, the ceremony is gently closed.

Participants may receive traditional energetic therapies such as:

• Ortiga therapy (nettle cleansing)
• Wayra therapy, a traditional energetic clearing

In some cases, if the Taita feels it is appropriate, a small closing offering of rapé from the Yawanawá tradition of Brazil may be offered to help complete the energetic process. This is not guaranteed and is only offered if the Taita feels it is needed.

The ceremony concludes with a morning integration circle, where participants can begin sharing and grounding their experience.

Integration and Embodiment

The healing journey continues the following day.

In the afternoon we hold another guided integration circle with light restorative movement where participants reflect on their experience and begin translating the insights into their lives.

These sessions may include:

• integration circles
• guided reflection and emotional processing
• body movement and somatic practices
• breathwork or meditation
• time in nature

This process helps the experience move from insight into lasting transformation.

Who This Retreat Is For

This retreat is for individuals who feel a sincere call toward deep personal growth, emotional healing, and spiritual transformation. 

It is especially supportive for those who are:

working through emotional patterns or past experiences

wanting to reconnect with themselves and their purpose

feeling called to explore ancestral medicines in a safe and respectful environment

ready to approach healing with humility, openness, and responsibility

seeking clarity in their life direction

looking to heal from emotional and mental distress

Who This Retreat May Not Be For

Because Ayahuasca is a powerful medicine, it is not appropriate for everyone.

This retreat may not be suitable for individuals who:

• have certain cardiovascular conditions
• are currently taking medications that interact with MAOIs
• are experiencing certain psychiatric conditions that require medical supervision
• are not willing to follow preparation guidelines or respect ceremonial protocols

All participants complete a health and psychological screening before attending to ensure the experience is safe and appropriate.

We ask that you pay half upfront and bring the other half in cash.