Amazonian Shamanism in Russia. Ayahuasca Retreats in the Jungle of Ecuador, South America
Ayahuasca Retreats in the Ecuadorian Rainforest, South America
Teachings on the shamanic tradition of the Amazon rainforest in Russia. Ayahuasca, Tobacco, San Pedro, and “Shuar” tradition plants retreats at our center in the Amazon rainforest of Ecuador, South America, for the russian family: https://www.unioninarutam.org/en/retreats/ayahuasca-retreats-in-ecuador
The Family in Russia
I feel very happy for the time shared with, once unknown men different to me, today my brothers, my beloved russian family. Everyone have learnt a lot from the feeling given me by my elders in rainforest. But a lot I have learnt in all the corners I have visited in your country; from north to south, from east to west. Many joined me to rainforest, to listen the Arutam’s voice in the Waterfall; showing up the heart of a noble and strong people. It’s awesome how you have persisted throughout the time, how you have become an example, not just for your fellow countrymen, but for the entire world I know.
Time has made us stronger, has put us more together. Has filled our inner silence with Life’s mistery. We have grown up more humble, rich for not needing calm down wishes which were consuming us without sense. Simple, because we are able to look a world, shared by many, which doesn’t enslave our happiness. Beings of peace able of embodying, before yours, a truthful example of freedom, of hope. Deep is today our rest… and thus, we have learnt to bath it, in the dark Tabaco’s waters.
-Arutam Ruymán
A time in Sochi teaching Shamanism
“The long search for peace in the haven of love, pure Spirit’ s presence, has led me to meet Master Ruymán. The ancestral teaching, the living encounters and his fine music, helped me to find the meaning of Life through the connection with Great Spirit, who speaks to me through the Tobacco leaf. Ruymán’s art and wisdom has taught me to take care of the Spirit, and to honor all its forms in this beautiful world. Thus, I am happy, going deeply in that state within my heart. It’s being revived little by little in me, feeling the growing Life: its pulse, its rhythm… Tobacco speaks in my body through prayers, reviving my blood and connecting it with Arutam. For all this, huge is my gratitude”.
-Irina, San Petersburgo
Next retreats in the rainforest
Experience the teachings and practices of traditional Amazonian Shamanism in Ecuador through retreats featuring ceremonies with master and medicinal plants. These offerings are designed to facilitate healing and the awakening of consciousness.
NEXT RETREATS IN ECUADOR
July 2025 (to confirm)
January 10-31, 2026
It is possible to join shorter retreats during this same period.
For more information, click on Calendar
NEXT SEMINARS IN RUSSIA
Contact the Organizer
If you’re interested in attending a retreat or ceremony, please don’t hesitate to send us a message using the form below. The organizer will contact you by email, and may also offer to speak with you by phone to clarify any questions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ayahuasca rituals, transmitters of ancestral knowledge from various Amazonian cultures, arouse a deep interest among those who approach these practices for the first time. Each ceremony is imbued with symbolism, spiritual connection, and a structure that requires understanding and respect.
In this FAQ section, common concerns are addressed to offer a clear and respectful vision of the context, personal preparation and the experience of rituals, facilitating a conscious and well-oriented experience.
What conditions allow ayahuasca rituals to develop safely?
Safety must be at the center of ayahuasca rituals. This ancestral medicine requires the presence of a guide with authentic experience in the use of master plants and in the accompaniment of deep internal processes.
Before the ritual, it is essential to make a personal evaluation that allows you to understand the physical and emotional state of the person who is going to participate. The ritual must take place in a natural and protected environment, where silence, energy care and the internal space of each person are respected.
Those who accompany the process must know deeply the plant and its effect on each being, thus guaranteeing the protection of the spiritual path.
What prior preparation is suggested before participating in a spiritual ritual with ayahuasca?
In taking ayahuasca, it is essential to arrive with a calm body and spirit. Preparation includes physical cleansing through diet, the exclusion of heavy or disruptive substances, and an attitude of recollection.
Sexual energy must also be safeguarded, as a way of preserving the vital force that sustains the inner ritual. These practices do not end at the end of the experience. It is recommended to keep them for at least two more weeks, so that the fruits of labor can take root and flourish in everyday life.
How is emotional accompaniment approached during an ayahuasca ritual?
In the course of the ayahuasca process , intense emotions, spiritual openings, and sensitive moments may arise. The presence of a teacher with real knowledge of the path is essential: their guidance is not based on control, but on silent understanding and the ability to act when necessary.
An experienced team is also part of the reservation, offering support without interfering, taking care of the energetic order of the space and respecting the moment of each participant. In addition to individual care, it is also important to watch over the group as a whole, supporting the human fabric that is built that night.
In what sense can the ayahuasca ritual modify one's perception of oneself?
The ayahuasca process can lead to a profound transformation in the body, emotions and soul. It is not just about images or intense sensations, but about real work that helps to release old blockages and regain contact with the essential.
Many times, that requires going through fears, past wounds, or parts of yourself that were hidden. It is by stepping through that threshold with determination and courage that the truest thing emerges: a living connection to the spiritual, greater vital energy, and a renewed sense of inner direction.
What practices help to integrate what has been experienced during ayahuasca rituals?
After the ayahuasca rituals, another stage begins, just as important as the ceremony itself. Integration is not only understanding, but living in a different way: with more awareness, more coherence and more connection with what is essential.
The images, sensations or decisions that appear in the ritual are then expressed in the way we relate to each other, how we work, how we take care of ourselves. The ritual leaves a seed, but integrating it is a personal task that requires attention, care and presence in the real.
What does an ancestral lineage contribute to the deep learning of shamanism?
True shamanism is not improvised: it is transmitted. And its transmission is not theoretical, but ritual. To learn within an ancestral lineage is to enter into a way of life where every step makes sense, because it has been tested in the jungle, in the silence, in the fire of rituals.
A ritual is not just a sequence of acts: it is a way of opening up to mystery, of touching what is not seen. Shamanic lineages keep these rituals alive, not as repetition, but as a direct expression of the spirit. There the seeker is formed. To follow a lineage is to trust the invisible. It is to allow oneself to be molded by what one does not fully understand, but which resonates deeply.
It is also a way of honoring: the ancestors, life, the mystery that runs through us. In times of fragmentation, the true ritual is the one that remains anchored to a living tradition. And those who truly want to walk the path of shamanism, inevitably seek that lineage, because there is the truth breathed.
What role does the shaman (Uwishin) have in the ayahuasca ritual within the Shuar tradition?
The Uwishin does not stand as an external guide: he becomes a living part of the ceremony. From an expanded state of consciousness, it sustains space without the need for words. Their songs spring from the bond with the spirit and adapt to what is happening, like an invisible medicine that moves among those present.
It is not music: it is power that acts. Therefore, it is essential that whoever holds that place has been formed in tradition, has purified his body and mind, and has the inner strength necessary to guide clearly even in the midst of confusion or pain.
What value does ayahuasca have as a master plant in an ancestral ritual?
Within the traditional Amazonian ritual, ayahuasca — known as Natem among the Shuar peoples — is seen as a master plant, bearer of wisdom, strength, and the capacity for transformation. It is not simply an entheogenic substance: it is a purposeful spiritual presence.
During the ritual, Natem clearly reflects ego mechanisms, repressed emotions, and patterns of suffering. Through an intense, yet deeply healing experience, this master plant helps to release and remember the essential that remains hidden in everyday life.
Its strength is in what it awakens: a vital energy that cleanses, orders and reestablishes the connection with the transcendent. That is why, in authentic rituals, guided by prepared masters, ayahuasca becomes a sacred tool for healing and inner reconnection.
What spiritual role does tobacco play in shamanic rituals linked to ayahuasca?
Within the Amazonian ayahuasca ritual, tobacco is a fundamental master plant. The Shuar consider it the blood of Arutam, the Great Spirit, and its use is not decorative: it is part of the spiritual structure of the ritual.
Tobacco is prepared in dark water and inhaled respectfully at the beginning of the ritual, and again at the end of it. Thus he opens the way and then crowns it, like a spiral that leads back to the center. Cleanses, focuses, awakens and protects. During ayahuasca rituals, the Uwishin uses tobacco to hold the space, intensify the vision, or soothe it when necessary. His spirit is order and truth.
Tobacco awakens a deep memory in those who take it with respect: the living memory that we were always part of the Whole.
Are ayahuasca rituals experienced as a recreational adventure or as a profound path of spiritual transformation?
Ayahuasca rituals, as practiced in the purest shamanic traditions, have nothing to do with a recreational act. It is a sacred, profoundly transformative event that can only be lived with respect, preparation, and under the guidance of a teacher who knows the spiritual territory.
In this ritual, you are not looking for pleasure or extraordinary experiences: you are looking for truth. The master plant opens the heart, cleanses what it blocks, and reveals the essentials. All this happens within a ritual space that protects and directs the process towards a higher sense, beyond the personal. And it is in the awkward moments where the authenticity of the participant is revealed.
Those who seek strong emotions or fun will be overcome, trapped in their own denial. But those who have come to heal and remember will hold on even in the storm, and there they will find the greatest gift of the ritual: the reunion with their spirit.