From the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Gonawindúa territory, we bring a gathering that returns us to ancestral customs, to the elemental aspects of life, to the divine in each of us, leading us to reconciliation with nature and the building of peace within ourselves, with others, and with the universe.

What is the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Gonawindúa territory?

It is a mountain system located in the north of Colombia, being the highest coastal mountain range in the world, with an altitude of over 5,780 meters above sea level. It is a sacred territory for the indigenous communities of Koguis, Arhuacos, Wiwas, and Kankuamos, who believe that the mountain is the heart of the world and a place of spiritual connection with nature and their ancestors.

Spiritually, the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is a center of energy and wisdom, where ancestral traditions are preserved and passed down through generations.

From this territory comes the Cacao that we will share in this gathering, characterized by being organic, with floral, citrus aromas, and soft notes, as this fruit has the influence of the Caribbean Sea and the highlands of the Sierra.

In this encounter with Cacao, we connect with the blood flows of our bodies, unconditional love, the heart chakra that in turn unites the earth with the sky, and the emotions that traverse the heart.

The preparation of this Cacao from the Sierra Nevada is an artisanal work of women, where cacao is transformed from harvest to fermentation, roasting, grinding, and the final product.

Furthermore, the vibration of sound, exploring rhythms, beats from traditional Caribbean, Pacific, and Andean drums, especially from Colombian territory, winds, melodies, and songs, accompanies and integrally weaves with the activation of the heart chakra and the elemental-food cacao, leading people to manifest their emotions, expressions of body, mind, and spirit, desires, blockages, etc., through dance, conscious and liberating movement, allowing the observation and feeling of this sacred vehicle that has been granted to reveal the magic of existence.

The music accompanying the cacao ritual is live and organic, using folk percussion, traditional flutes, guitar, and singing.

The meeting will last approximately 2 to 3 hours, where we will gather in a circle around the fire and the altar. We will use sweet plants, tobacco, copal, sage, palo santo, and floral waters for harmonization. We will enjoy the love of cacao in di erent textures, seeds, liquid, and a cacao scrub that we will apply all over our bodies to cleanse and nourish it. We will start to vibrate through organic music, where we will begin movement and dance, connecting with the joy of the heart to celebrate and give thanks to life.

Olga Cucardo, Marán y Cata cambiassi, Colombian musicians, percussionists, and songwriters, walkers of the traditional medicines of the indigenous peoples of Colombia, have inhabited the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta for 8 years, where we develop our personal projects in work with art, conservation, and restoration of forests and sacred plants and foods.

Around a fire and in a circle, we will learn to work with the word of life, the sacred word, the sweet word that we must sow when we speak. Through Ayú (coca) and tobacco, we will learn the science of mambeo.

Ayú (coca) is the living word of indigenous peoples, a feminine plant that teaches us to keep silence to care for everything we name.

Tobacco is a masculine plant that helps us nourish the word and harmonize thought.

The ceremony or meeting with magic mushrooms, psilocybin medicine, for therapeutic purposes, leads us to a state of full observation of our physical, mental, and spiritual being, allowing us to identify blockages, negative or unhealthy patterns, fears, anxiety, etc., situations or behaviors that prevent us from being at peace with our own being in imbalance between body and mind, and thus release all kinds of tensions to restore the harmony of our physical and energetic field.

It has been scientifically demonstrated that psilocybin mushrooms can benefit mental health, help reduce symptoms of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Furthermore, studies show that they can facilitate the experience of introspection, promote feelings of connection, and enhance creativity, as well as produce lasting changes in attitudes and behaviors toward life.

The experience consists of stages that allow for a harmonious and structured navigation of the ceremony or meeting: