MASTER PLANT DIETA INITIATIONS
A Plant Dieta in the tradition of Amazonian Curanderismo, is a consensual contract in which one enters into with a plant for healing, learning, cleansing and opening a pathway for deep communion with one's own spirit, spiritual guides and the spirits of the natural world.
Stage 1: Purification
The initial process begins with proper purification before the start of the plant Dieta. This involves minimizing or completely abstaining from low vibrational inputs like pork, red meat, salt, oils, sugars, fried foods, processed foods, sex, strong spices, pharmaceutical drugs, and media, as well as other plant medicines that are contraindicated, for a duration of 3 days to 2 weeks prior to the start of a Dieta. This will ensure one's physical, mental, and spiritual body is sufficiently purified so that there is a feeling of space within, for the connection to be made between the Dietero and the plant they are dieting.
The Purge
A Vomitivo, which is a Spanish word, literally meaning 'to vomit,' is a purification ritual which involves the ingesting of a plant which makes one vomit, in order to cleanse the body, mind and spirit of physical matter, toxins, stuck emotions, and energetic attachments, in order to open up a healthy flow of one's energies, enhancing one's ability to maintain presence and intimate connection. There is a ceremony around the Vomitivo, which can vary in length based upon the plant serves, and involves the time that the healer serves the medicine and holds present space for the purification process to unfold. Through this process, the healer will smoke his/her pipe & blow a purifying smoke in the direction of the patient & sing icaros which assist in the process. This is also a valuable time for the healer to make energetic assessments of the patient, as it will often offer a valuable glimpse into one's patterns of resistance, & how well one can surrender to the blessings of the medicine path.
Opening The Dieta
Ayahuasca is a master plant that is utilized in the opening of a plant dieta, as this powerful plant teacher can assist in facilitating the connection to all plants, with the aid of an Ayahuasquero(specialist in Ayahuasca) who has been trained through years of isolation with the plants, to open and close dietas. Opening a dieta is a term used to open the spiritual connection between a plant and a dietero (a person who is committing to connect with the plant for an established amount of time).
Traditionally in the Amazon, the majority of plant dietas are taken in isolation, in small huts, often deep in the jungle. Along with a strict diet starting from 8 days to several months, a dietero may diet up to several years at a time. The amount of time one diets each plant can vary from person to person and plant to plant, or determining from the ailment a person is looking to heal, or the level of alliance and teachings one seeks to receive from the plant teachers. Some teachings, healings & strong alliances require a much greater sacrifice and tests of faith in order to earn.
Deepening Intimacy & Connection
Purifying the body with Ayahuasca ceremonies throughout the time of the dieta, serves the purpose of opening a greater connection and dialogue between the plant and the dietero, which allows the teachings of the plant to be heard, felt more clearly, and eventually understood, at the exact moment when one seems to need the lesson most.
Sacred Space
The dieta is a sacred space and container, that each dietero also holds for themselves and all of nature, in intention and practice, always delving deeper into intimacy with the natural world. It is where great healing can take place from many old wounds. The tradition of the Amazonian Plant Dieta offers a path and methodology to heal all that ails the body, mind and spirit. The dieta can assist a dietero in developing the sight and senses to experience clearly the source of ones own imbalances and misalignments, essentially learning diagnostic tools, first to be used on oneself, and later, after years of study, to be applied to patients of their own. Teachings from the plant realm are often synonymous with healing of all of the bodies, and therefore flow into an ever expanding terrain of self awareness, and perspective, bringing new insights and inspirations.
Healing often takes place in ways one may not be able to understand, or relate to when in contrast to one's previous experiences. This dieta process is designed to usher the dietero into heightened states of love, compassion, understanding, joy, peace, connectedness, and more, though it may take weeks or even months to come to a place of total integration with the frequency of the plant’s teachings. Over time, the plants bring strength to new behaviors, and help us evolve our beliefs and perceptions about ourselves, our relationships, and the world around us. The process can be very challenging at times, as the dieta space can aid the dietero in purifying long held resistances, beliefs, ancestral patterns, and even karmic contracts, all of which may have left many physical manifestations in their wake throughout a persons life. Such physical manifestations may present themselves in the forms of a variety of physical ailments, psychological and emotional imbalances, depression, anxiety, etc.
Explore The Depths
When held in a good container, in nature, with the spiritual protection of healers that that have dieted the plants, know the medicines, and have the wisdom to understand how to heal with them, the dietero can learn to feel safe in their vulnerability, and to explore the depths of one' shadow and spirit alike. Feeling the depths of one’s emotions, and drawing the correlation between emotional pain and physical pain is integral in the healing process for most.
Plants can Remind us how to heal Ourselves
There are many master plants in the Amazon, which are held in high regard for not only their ability to heal, but also for their ability to teach. For one who wishes to learn the icaros (sacred plant songs which call the plant spirits) of the medicines, one needs to be in dieta with a plant for an extended period of time, as it most often requires an extended period in dieta to develop enough of a heightened awareness and sensitivity to the unique vibrational signatures of each plant. This helps one to be able to discern the difference of a pure teaching or icaro from a plant, and a thought form which may be occupying the space of ones mind or outer worlds.
Creating Powerful Alliances
A level of purification in all bodies must be sought, and maintained within the path of a curandero, so that the medicine's song may come through one's channels with the purity that later invites the plant spirit to come and offer healing again and again. This process is one of creating strong alliances with the plant spirits.
The Dieta Closing
After the closing of a dieta, one can continue to connect with the plant ally for healing and guidance through meditation, singing of the plant's icaro, and through prayer and dream work, and to honor that new alliance, following dietary guidelines for a period of time thereafter are highly recommended. This includes suggested food and sex guidelines, to allow the plant to grow in one's field in an aligned way.
Valuable Teachings For Our World
The Amazonian dieta offers a great teaching for the new era we have begun, a teaching of how to honor oneself and another being of nature, within a harmonic space that assists in the forming of a relationship where all can be in their authentic expression and true self.
