I have just returned from the forest, gathering in community with good-hearted people and deepening with myself and the medicine of Ayahuasca, Sananga, and Rapé.
We sat around the fire, shared meals, shared our hearts, our humanness, our laughter, came together in prayer, roamed the land, were visited by our animal kin, shared in the joy of new life, sat with one another in the depths, and celebrated our unity with the living world, the spirits, and our ancestors.
As I return to my home now, frost covering the ground, the solstice approaching, my heart feels still and my soul soft. From this place, I want to share something that is soon approaching.
This Spring, a couple of dear colleagues and friends of mine are organizing a gathering in Brazil. In April, we will sit with Ayahuasca in the Huni Kuin tradition, alongside the Santo Daime — a gathering I myself attended last March (photos included below).
This team has worked closely with the Huni Kuin for some time now and holds a beautiful, established relationship. The accommodations are breathtaking, and the support is immense. My experience with Sacred Pathways not only deepened my practices as a space holder, storyteller and therapist, it also opened many doors to my ancestral roots and my relationship with the Earth.
As a therapist, I see so many people heal and grow in the therapy room— and on its own, it is not a big enough container for our soul’s path. Ceremony offers many more aspects and qualities which I believe to be vital in our initiation, healing and growth.
If you have the practice of Internal Family Systems (IFS) in your life, this work is deeply complementary for deepening with the model, your parts, and self. I have found plant medicine work to add another layer of reflection, purpose, and expression to my life. Especially the master plant of Ayahausca. If you yourself, or those in your network have expressed interest in immersive plant medicine experiences held with strong therapeutic support throughout— this may be something to share. And if you feel the call to step away from the familiar for a while and gift yourself the space and time to tend inward, this gathering may be for you.
We are at a time in our existence where we are descending— many things are uncertain and shakey— and at the very same time, we are also experiencing the ancient and familiar returning. We are remembering how our ancestors lived with the land, the songs they sang, our sacred union with the living world.
Sitting in circle and ceremony regularly allows us to gather during these times, to tend to what needs our attention within so we may be in our communities and villages with an open heart and holding close to us our roots, our gifts and purpose. For me, sitting in ceremony has become one of those places of remembering and tending.
I felt the call last year to sit with the medicine for the first time. I had felt it years prior, but when I received the email from the Life Architect, I knew the time had come. My heart started beating a little faster, my eyes lit up, and my soul said yes before I even reached out. Since then, I have sat in ceremonies every few months with the Huni Kuin, Santo Daime, and the Yawanawá tradition. This path has opened deep listening, ongoing study with the plants and spirits, more creativity, and an abundance of new possibilities. It has also helped me remember my ancestral and indigenous roots.
While there can be healing and benefit from sitting with plant medicines in Western contexts, I truly believe nothing comes close to sitting with the medicine in ceremony, with the tradition that has known the plant for generations, on the land where the plant grows. When ceremony and plant are married in this way, a whole world of healing opens — something I don’t believe can be accessed by working with the plants alone or outside of their lineage.
Many wisdom traditions remind us that healing has always happened in circles — in ritual and in community. Francis Weller speaks of the necessity of communal spaces where grief and transformation can be witnessed. Thomas Hübl names ceremony as a way of restoring coherence — within the individual nervous system and within the larger relational field.
What I appreciate about Sacred Pathways is the way ceremonies are held within a broader field of care and integration.
This gathering is an investment, and the reason I believe in it is the immense amount of support offered before, during, and after. The organizing team has thoughtfully created an experience that is truly for you — not simply something you attend. Preparation circles, integration spaces, trauma-informed care, and a setting held by the earth itself all work together to support the depth of the work. I trust that those who attend will walk away with more than they could have imagined.
Alongside the ceremonial work, Internal Family Systems (IFS) is offered as a grounding and supportive framework — helping people relate to what arises with curiosity, compassion, and steadiness, and supporting the integration of insights into everyday life.
For those who are past, current or potential clients, I’m offering individual support before, and after the retreat, in addition to the care already provided by the Sacred Pathways team. I’m also available to support people in deciding whether this retreat feels right for them.
When I leave ceremony, my heart often feels burst open with love. I feel more tender, more alive, more present in my life. It feels like shedding another layer of skin that is ready to go. I feel in deeper relationship with the living world — with my brothers, sisters, and two-spirited family, with my animal kin, and with the Earth.
This invitation is open to friends near and far, colleagues, spiritual family, current and past clients, potential clients, and anyone who feels a clear yes when reading this. If you feel curious or drawn, you’re welcome to explore more about the retreat here:
Sacred Pathways Retreat in Brazil
https://lifearchitect.com/sacred-pathways-retreat-in-brazil/
And if questions are present — about the medicine, the container, or the timing — I’m here for conversation. Jammie@jammiemartincounseling.com
Wishing you all a beautiful winter solstice — with your loved ones, with yourself, and with the land.
Só Alegria! (only joy)
Jammie
As my ancestors would say: “Blàth an teine, blàth an cridhe.”
“Warm the fire, warm the heart.”