Heart of the Initiate - brazil workshops

Pre-Registration for our Brazil Ayahuasca Workshops

Webmaster — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 20:39:41 -0600

Thanks for your interest in our Brazil Ayahuasca workshops. Please send us your contact information below and we will reply back immediately to share more about this experiential journey with you.

Brazil 2006 Ayahuasca Workshops

Webmaster — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 11:41:49 -0600

Our own first experiences with Brazilian shamanism were a new beginning and opened up a whole new world of experience to us. Brazil indeed holds secrets that can only be approached and experienced first hand.

Even as we departed Brazil on that first trip, we knew that we would return and decided to create a way for others to share in this experience. There is such an incredible sacredness to the teachings and medicines of the Amazon.

We offer one and two week workshops in an extraordinarily beautiful setting along the coast of Bahia, located approximately 700 miles north of Rio de Janeiro. This is where modern Brazilian history began. When the Portuguese first arrived in Brazil, April 22nd 1500, they landed on the soil known today as Bahia. In many ways, Bahia could also be characterized as the cultural heart of Brazil. Samba music has its roots in here. Caipoera, both a dance and a martial art is a pure expression of Bahian culture.

Photos From Our 2006 Ayahuasca Workshops

Travel Information

Webmaster — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 15:27:50 -0500

Travel Tips & Information

Travel Information

We are happy to make any necessary travel arrangements for your trip. We continuously work directly with the airlines to offer their best discounted bulk fares to Brazil from many locations in the United States and Europe. Just let us know where you will be traveling from and we'll take from there!

United States, Canadian and Australian citizens are required to have a Tourist Visa prior to arrival. Nationals from some other countries may or may not require this for entry. We will help you to make these arrangements and walk you through this process.

The best route of travel is through São Paulo, Rio or Salvador with a connecting flight to the state of Bahia. There are many international carriers that fly to Brazil each day and two Brazilian airlines for the connecting flight, TAM and GOL.

Support Staff

Webmaster — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 20:25:20 -0500

Support Staff

Ralph Miller

Listen to Ralph (25 minutes) You can also download this file.

Even from his adolescent years, Ralph Miller has passionately pursued his quest for spiritual understanding. He was compelled to learn and understand everything first hand and by experience. By the age of 18, he had traveled to over 15 countries around the world. His personal interactions with a wide variety of diverse cultures, religions and people at such a young age made a life-altering impression on Ralph. A powerful sense of compassion for the brotherhood of man awakened in him.

A successful business owner during the 70's and 80's, Ralph continued to ardently investigate world religions as well as alternative philosophies. He discovered that humans express true spirituality from the heart, and that the heart is the doorway to the divine.

Ralph is a loving father of five amazing daughters.

Ralph's passion for spiritual understanding is equaled only by his fascination for sacred sites. This thirst compelled Ralph to visit many of these metaphysical 'hot-spots' throughout the world. His travels have included several Mayan sites in Mexico, the Egyptian pyramids, the Druidic standing stones in the Hebrides and ancient burial mounds in Scandinavia.

Inspired by his dedication to lift up those who seek to expand their Heart energy, Ralph and his associates introduced a life-changing experience now known as Heart of the Initiate. This Journey will lead you through an experience that will help you find your way to the transdimensional doorway of the heart.

Read Ralph's blog entries.

Warinei Wanare

Listen to Warinei (2.5 minutes) You can also download this file.

Warinei started his teachings with the Ayahuasca in 1996 with an invitation from a friend that would lead him to shaman Luis Florez of the Inga comunity of Colombia. Visiting him at his Maloca (House-Cosmos) in the amazonian region of the Putumayo, he received his teachings for six years while cooking together the Ayahuasca.

In 2003 he met shaman Jose Antonio Kasulú, a medicine man of the Yopo tradition, another sacred healing plant. It was during his visits to the Sikuani comunity, in the eastern Orinoquia region of Colombia, that he would learn the ways of this healing ceremony. During a Yopo ceremony, Kasulú gave him the sacred name of Warinei Wanare, meaning star from which come forth the warm and cold crystals with which it is posible to make healings.

Warinei spent 5 years working with the medicine plants of the Maloca Nabi Nunhue, meaning House of the Jaguar, where he was consacrated by Kajuyali Tsamani as a shaman Ayahuasquero.

He has started a new apprenticeship of the Native American Lakota tradition and has received teachings of the Inipi (sweat lodge) from Ta Cante Wakan, a descendant of the Crazy Horse lineage.

Sara Nusta

Sara Nusta started her shamanic path in 2002, when she met a shamanic grandmother named Aymara. Aymara trained Sara in the Temaskal Mexican sweat lodge tradition.

After spending a period of time in Argentina, Sara decided to go deep in the experiential study of the traditional plant medicines. Aymara helped her to move into the Amazonian region of Ecuador, to learn ancestral medicines from an indigenous Shuar community. Sara Nusta spent seven very intense months living among the Shuars inside the Amazon rain forest and learning their traditions. She learned things about their culture, their medicine and their way of life.

There she worked with the Shuar children. Sara conducted cultural classes, teaching the Shaur children art. During that time, Sara was learning from the Shaur shaman-grandfather, Wisum the uses of the “Natem” (Ayahuasca) and “Maikua” (Borrachero) as the master teacher and healing plants of the Shuar.

After this, Sara returned to Colombia and settled in Nariño frontier region that boarders Ecuador. Nariño was close to the rain forest and the traditional villages. During the beginning of 2005, she was introduced to the ceremony of the Inipi (sweat lodge) and other traditions from the North American Lakota. At the same time she was introduced to some Ayahuasca shamans who lived in the area, among them Warinei Wanare and Kajuyali Tsamani. Sara began to work with Warinei and Kajuyali and the sacred plant of the Ayahuasca.

Currently, Sara Nusta is working with Warinei Wanare in his Ayahuasca ceremonies in Colombia as well as the Heart of the Initiate workshops conducted in Brazil and Colombia.

Sara has become an important contributor to the workshops in Brazil. She not only brings her beautiful gifts of shamanic music to the Ayahuasca ceremonies, but she also provides translation for Warinei when he gives lectures or personal counseling sessions with workshop participants.

Peter Richardson

Listen to Peter (1.5 minutes) You can also download this file.

At the age of 19, Peter caught the wave of an exploding industry and started his own computer consulting company in 1996. He very quickly found himself pursuing the American dream in corporate America. He was a computer systems engineer among the top ranking executives of several multi-national corporations. He achieved what most would consider a remarkable career and lavish lifestyle but ultimately found it all to be completely unfulfilling.

Leaving the world of the suit and tie behind, Peter set out to discover a more simple experience of himself and life. Originally intending a short trip to visit some friends, Peter found himself on a journey that led him around the world and back to his true self again.

As a child he loved nature and continues to reconnect to the divine through his appreciation of the simplicity and beauty of Mother Earth. Peter has been working with Ralph on the Heart of the Initiate journey since 1999. He expresses tremendous compassion and an unfailing desire to help others.

Read Peter's blog entries.

Fiona Pedlar

Listen to Fiona (1 minute) You can also download this file.

Born in England, Fiona grew up in Australia where she developed a love of nature and a yearning to travel.

As an adult she returned to England to reconnect with her homeland and from there traveled extensively including spending a lengthy period of time living a communal life on a Kibbutz.

Returning to Australia she became a librarian and started reading a variety of esoteric writings. At the same time Fiona developed a strong interest in alternative healing methods, particularly the healing qualities of plants, and trained as a herbalist.

In 2003 she was drawn to Brazil and shamanic plant medicines and her experiences there hastened her own journey of self discovery.

Fiona has the rare quality of being a good listener and has an amazing level of compassion for others. Her quiet, calm presence makes even the most shy sisters and brothers feel safe in her company.

Today, her supportive role brings a true feminine aspect to these sacred workshops.

Additional Information & Booking

Ayahuasca Medicine
Eco-Lodge Resort
Healing Superfoods
Ayurvedic Massage
Nature Reserve
Support Staff
Travel Tips & Information
Audio & Video
Additional Photos

2009	Upcoming Brazil Workshop Dates	Status
March	Week 1: March 21-28	Almost Full
	Week 2: March 31 - April 07	Now Booking
	Multiple Week	Almost Full

Please note that we will be engaging in some very powerful shamanic practices and this event may not be appropriate for everyone. We reserve the right to accept or decline applicants at our sole discretion.

Booking Requirements: €2000 per person per week (10% discount for couples); €500 deposit per person due at registration; Special rate available for a two week (17-day) workshop.

Payment can be made by certified check or bank wire transfer. All prices are in Euros (€).

Ayurvedic Massage

Webmaster — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 18:01:05 -0500

Ayurvedic Massage

Included during each week is one bodywork session of ayurvedic massage, shiatsu, and reiki to help restore and rebalance your body back to its original suppleness.

"The strongest desire of a person is to live a healthy, happy and inspired life. One of the keys to good health is a body in which the nutrients circulate adequately and the toxins can be expelled easily. Massage, in conjunction with essential oils, exerts an important function in the cleanliness and maintenance of a healthy body."

Ayurvedic Massage: Ayu = knowledge veda= life; This technique uses proven tactile maneuvers, stretches and vigorous movements in the body that go beyond the stimulation of points and vital organs. It differs from other massage techniques by making use of the feet and other parts of the body to massage. Ayurvedic massage improves blood circulation, opens chakras, eliminates toxins, stimulates the immune system and exfoliates the body to remove dead cells and bring a sensation of comfort and relaxation.

Healing Superfoods

Webmaster — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 17:34:38 -0500

Healing Superfoods

The workshop space is designed to assist and support each person in the cleansing and detoxification process that naturally occurs during the week.

Our diet will mostly consist of delicious local bahian-style cuisine of natural fruits, vegetables, chicken, fish and seafood (we can accommodate vegetarian, vegan and other dietary needs).

In addition, we will be incorporating several healing superfoods into our diet. Super-Food is considered to be the one which contains all or most of the following characteristics:

Antioxidants are an umbrella name for many substances that retard the body's normal process of oxidation, meaning a reaction to oxygen that releases "free radicals" that damage cells and break the body down. Digestion releases free radicals from food. Antioxidants help prevent this and also destroy free radicals and slow oxidation, reducing allergies, heart disease, cancer and aging effects. Dozens of antioxidant nutrients have been identified so far, and there are likely many more.

Consciousness and the Spirits of Nature Brazil Ayahuasca Workshops

Webmaster — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 15:36:21 -0500

We invite you to experience a powerful week of inner exploration and healing. We will spend our time exploring and opening the subtle doorway through the heart energy. This is the path back to remembering your true divinity and awakening of the true self. As we work through our old, limiting patterns, we begin to heal and reclaim our lost power.

Ayahuasca: The Medicine

For thousands of years the shamans of the Amazonian rainforest have used a sacred plant brew, known as ayahuasca or yahé, for healing and spiritual awakening. This ancient medicine, referred to as el remedio or "the medicine", is a very powerful visionary tool to awaken the inner sight.

It is a truth teller and a doorway which opens inside to a place that is you, beyond the 3D sphere, that you may have caught glimpses of in your dreams and visions.

This is the first step in opening to the whole multi-dimensional reality that is all around us. Its profound physical and energetic healing properties work with the body's own natural systems to literally regenerate our physical and spiritual bodies.

In the Spotlight!

Webmaster — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 12:21:21 -0500

Please have a look at our most recent changes, articles and upcoming events.

New Articles

The Black Swan by Ralph Miller (December 12th, 2008)

The world is going to change in some fundamental way; you know things will change but you can’t put your finger on what the change would be. You just feel it. A great transformation will happen and the form it will take will be something we never anticipated. The concept of a black swan is a metaphor. It is reference to anything that is utterly improbable. It refers to events or things which are not predictable but at the same time feel inevitable.

2012 Revisited by Ralph Miller (June 21st, 2008)

The December 21, 2012 date is a symbol that exists as an extraordinary irony. Any particular date is a man created marker denoting the concept of a point in time. I find this ironic since the great transition or evolution we may be approaching surely has to do with complete renovation of our time consciousness or even the eradication of time itself!

Emanant Ego Collapse by Ralph Miller (September 22nd, 2007)

When we experience a big loss of control it makes us feel insecure and vulnerable. There is a letdown and perhaps we experience ourselves as being a little more genuinely human. Our collective ideas about ourselves form an assembly of self-importance or ego. This letdown is the collapse of those ideas. We are humbled.

The 2012 Problem by Ralph Miller (September 11th, 2006)

We live according to the structures of time, but we really have little understanding of what it actually is. There is a forgotten inner landscape wherein we can perceive our connection to everything. That reconnection will bring an end to time as we have known, and will forever change who we are as human beings.

Read more articles in our Article Library.

New Media & Press

News for the Soul live radio show broadcast (February 14th, 2007)

Join us to hear more about our workshops, how we came to take people from all over the world to this sacred medicine, and ideas about how this medicine helps people to understand who they really are. They key question in approaching this sacred journey is to ask yourself "why"?

Ayahuasca: Nature's Teacher article by Ralph Miller published in Four Corners Magazine (August 1st, 2006)

Many people hope that humanity is at the very doorstep of an extraordinary shift. This 'shift' is really about the return of the feminine and healing is coming to humanity from nature; from mother-earth; from Gaia. Nature is working towards healing herself. Ayahuasca is nature's teacher.

Find more media and press info in our Media & Press Library.

New Audio

Logos: The Living WordNew Live Lecture by Ralph Miller!

Recorded live on March 16th, 2008 during our workshops in Brazil, listen to Ralph Miller lecture about the intelligence of nature and the origins of language.

"Ayahuasca activates the language centers in human consciousness. There is an ancient mystical Greek philosophy called the Logos. The Logos was 'the word'. Through the Logos, all things that came into being were made. The Greek mystics felt that there was a language that existed beyond three dimensional, temporal human language. That it would be a four or five dimensional language that can call into existence all that is."

31:12 minutes (28.6 MB) | Play or right click to download.

DestinyNew Live Lecture by Ralph Miller!

Recorded live on September 2nd, 2007 during our workshops in Brazil, listen to a lecture by Ralph Miller about approaching our own individual Destiny.

Each of us look at the circumstances that brought us here and the desire to approach our own individual destiny. We agree to put one foot in front of the other towards something that we are completely ill prepared for. Our destiny is unavoidable. Our egos take great comfort in the belief that we have choice in the decisions that we make. But free will is ultimately not reconcilable with Destiny. Destiny is a place and a point where you will be without option. It is because of your own design and your own desire that you create your Destiny.

Heart of the Initiate Podcast - Episode 2 Episode 2 of our Online Radio Show

Click to play. (Right click to download.) 37:14 minutes (17.11 MB)

In this podcast, we invite you to listen to a variety show with snippets from various lectures from our March 2007 Brazil Ayahuasca Workshops.

Find more streaming media in our Audio & Video Library.

New Video

6 New Videos from the Web! We have added a selection of videos from the web which we think are interesting and appropriate for the site.

Here is a list of what has been added:

A Closer Look

We invite you to have 'A Closer Look' at the Heart of the Initiate ayahuasca workshops in Brazil. We'll take you on an experiential journey with the sacred plants to have a deeper understanding of who you really are. In the stunning natural beauty of our location, we'll explore the vast inner worlds of this visionary medicine.

Find more streaming media in our Audio & Video Library.

Consciousness and the Spirits of Nature

Week-long Ayahuasca Workshops in Brazil
March 2009

For thousands of years the shamans of the Amazonian rainforest have used a sacred plant brew, known as ayahuasca or yahé, for healing and spiritual awakening. This ancient medicine, also known as "el remedio" or "the medicine", is a very powerful visionary tool to awaken the inner sight.

We offer one and two week workshops in an extraordinarily beautiful setting along the coast of Bahia, located approximately 700 miles north of Rio de Janeiro. We will spend the week exploring and opening the subtle doorway through the heart energy and into the inner trans-dimentional worlds long forgotten by mankind. This is the path back to remembering your true divinity and awakening of the true self. As we work through our old, limiting patterns, we begin to heal and reclaim our lost power.

Update! Learn about the integrative healing of superfoods, bodywork and natural environment that we have incorporated into our workshops. Read more...

Mayan Mystique: Exploring the Heart of the Ancient Maya

Sacred Sites Workshop in Chiapas, Mexico
Coming Soon 2008

Throughout the world exists the remnants of ancient civilizations long forgotten in our modern lives. These Sacred Sites are doorways to a spiritual wisdom that these people possessed and held open for us to discover. The walls between our world and their world are thin in these locations, allowing us to walk between them and thus remember these sacred ways.

We invite you to turn back time 1500 years into Mexico's ancient past. Long before the first European set foot on this land were the indigenous cultures of the Mayan civilizations throughout the Yucatan peninsula. There existed civilizations of hundreds of thousands with entire cities lost in the rainforest until unearthed this last century. These people were masters of astronomy and cycles of the natural world, sacred geometry and had a metaphysical awareness far beyond even today's greatest understanding. Read more...

Upcoming Workshops

Egypt Winter 2008

Take a metaphysical tour of the ancient lands of Egypt. Enter the King's Chamber of the Great Pyramid and see what mysteries this hidden doorway holds.

Find out more about our workshops in the Workshops Section.