THE RIPPLES CONTINUE TO TRAVEL INWARDS AND OUTWARDS...
My Journey to Peru with Peter Gorman
by Michelle Pilley

My journey with the Prophets Conference in June offered me the potential to manifest two longstanding dreams. I had been reading about ayahuasca for many years and had courted her shyly for a long time by owning a piece of vine and taking her in a homeopathic form. I had come close to joining various ceremonial groups and expeditions, but nothing felt quite right. My other dream, like so many other people, was to visit Machu Picchu. I very much wanted to be there for summer solstice. It was only in April that it became clear that I could be away from work this June. I called Trailfinders and spoke to a very helpful guy who warned me that I was probably too late to be able to join a group heading there for solstice, but he would post me out some brochures. Within a couple of hours of making this call a message from The Prophets Conference arrived in my inbox saying that two additional spaces had been created on Peter Gorman’s June trip to Peru. Not only did the trip allow us to be at Machu Picchu for solstice, but it created the possibility of taking ayahuasca in her home in the jungle and even experiencing San Pedro, which sounded extraordinary. Peter’s fantastic gift for words entranced me. I could hardly believe this possibility had just opened up in front of me. I sent the email to my friend whom I had been lobbying to make the trip to Peru with me. She had said maybe, but was very engaged in her own activities and plans until she read Peter’s description of the trip. She said yes immediately.

I was quietly hoping for a great deal from this journey. I am very grateful for the spiritual riches that the universe has offered me throughout my life, but in the last few years I’ve been seeking a leap that would allow me to build on the spiritual work that I have done in the past and see the strands of my own web and its interconnection to the world in a new way. This journey surpassed my wildest hopes. It has profoundly informed and inspired me. Two months later the ripples continue to travel inwards and outwards as I work to integrate these experiences into my life.

Untitled by Pablo Amaringo

I am grateful to the Prophets Conference for hosting this medicine trip, and feel very privileged to have been able to make this journey with Peter Gorman. I learnt so much from this man who impressed with his extraordinary knowledge, generosity of heart and commitment to ensuring that each of us individually found what we were seeking on this experience.

Peter had designed a journey that worked perfectly for me. He took a work-weary stressed westerner into the heart of the Amazon and with a magic that is born out of his love for the place, opened me up to the extraordinary primal beauty of the jungle and gave me the opportunity to sit on a wooden platform surrounded by the sounds and energies of the jungle and meet the teacher that I had been longing to encounter. To ingest that sacred plant teacher in the jungle in a ceremony guided by Don Julio’s son Hiro’s exquisite Icaros, was a privilege that I will cherish.

I felt so supported and cared for by Peter and his amazing support team from Don Julio’s family. Ruber del Castillo, Don Julio’s son and his family are amazing. I can see why Graham Hancock credited them so heartily in his book about the sacred plant teachers. The intensity of that first ceremony scared me, but their presence really helped and I find myself frequently longing to return to that hut in the jungle.

Peter strove to organize opportunities for us to experience as much of the power and beauty of jungle life as we could possibly cram into a week and a half. Despite personally becoming a walking blood bank for mosquitoes and an unwilling host to a plant pest that manifests as very itchy skin rash; I look forward to my return.

Not far outside of Iquitos, Sachamama, the beautiful sanctuary run by Don Francesco Montes Shuna offered us the chance to experience another ayahuasca ceremony run by a very different ayahuasquero. Don Francesco’s skill as a perfumerio allowed us to experience a flower bath and perfume blessing ceremony that cleansed in preparation for the evening ayahuasca ceremony. It was a wonderful ceremony for me. Don Francesco trains people in his tradition and it was fascinating to share this experience with them and then retreat to our hammocks as the ancient plant continued to weave her way through our dreams.

Whether we were in the jungle or the town Peter made sure that his team offered us protection and the chance to follow up whatever individual interest we might have. I thought he did everything within his power to accommodate a very diverse group.

The second half of the journey took us into the Andes and this was a powerful contrast to the jungle. It was wonderful to be able to visit both of these magical landscapes. I found the towns beautiful, whilst the energy of the mountains and ancient places was exquisite. Unfortunately Peter became critically ill in Ollytaytambo and had to be rushed to hospital with what turned out to be a perforated ulcer. Before doing this he had urged us to complete the San Pedro ceremony with Don Victor. In the end only four of us chose to take part. From accounts that I have read Don Victor is acknowledged as one of the greatest Peruvian masters of San Pedro and he is revered as a healer. Peter had stressed what a great opportunity this would be for us and it certainly was. Arriving at El Templo del Sol outside of Ollytaytambo, Don Victor talked to us about the star constellations and explained their significance to the Inca. He advised us which stars to link to in the ceremony and then led us into the ceremonial temple that was run by an elder who was currently at an important gathering of elders in Brazil.

Machu Picchu

I found San Pedro far gentler than ayuahuasca in its impact, but the quantity that you need to drink was difficult. At each stage of the ceremony Don Victor explained what was going to happen next and asked us what we were experiencing. I think it was the third round that he worked on each of us individually. Peter had said that he was a psychic surgeon, but I was still surprised to experience his power as he cleared my body and made an incision in my stomach and removed the matter that he needed to extract. I have encountered some phenomenal healers in my life, but Don Victor amazed me. I feel that the work that he did on me has had a profound and lasting benefit. I’m very grateful.

Machu Picchu was no anti-climax and being there as the sun rose on the solstice was a high point in my life. It was sad not to have Peter with us, but he had managed to pass all the tickets and practical information to Lynn, a friend of his who had had joined us with his family. Lynn and his wife made sure that we could complete our journey and did a fantastic job of holding things together.

As I sit at home reflecting on this journey I am deeply touched by the profound richness of the experiences and offer this account in gratitude to all those who made it possible.

Blessed Be.

Michelle Pilley

MICHELLE PILLEY is the UK publisher of Hay House Inc. She has been fortunate enough to have found a professional path that allowed her to explore her passion for spirituality and has worked in spiritual publishing for nearly twenty years. Her early childhood experiences of the spirit world inspired her later in life to study shamanism and other indigenous earth traditions. She has worked with many well known shamanic teachers from around the world and underwent a thirteen year shamanic apprenticeship. Michelle has undertaken medicine journeys to many of the world’s extraordinary sacred places. She enjoys acting as a bridge between the sacred and the material worlds. She lives in the heart of Dartmoor National Park, in England and works in London during the week.