Shamanic healing has been here for thousands of years and will remain. During the "Age of Reason", we were led away from believing in things we could not see and hear; that we could not place in our hands and feel its weight. This contrived reality found its way to the Americas a little over 500 years ago and through force of arms, unknown viruses and the Spanish Inquisition, it ravaged cultures and humiliated the medicine men, taking away their Gods and forcing them into submission. There remained, however, a few daring souls who continued to practice their magic, hidden away from the death threats of the conquistadors.

The shaman, the "Maker of Myths", who classically keeps one foot in this world and the other with the spirits, is not to be confused with the brujo or witch, dancing with evil. Both are powerful. A shaman "holds hands with the Divine" working as a medium between this World's reality and the spiritual realm. They charm the divine into their rituals by prayer and song. Their's is a world of visions and hallucinations; a world of Grace and Madness.(Excerpt from Alan Shoemaker's manuscript: "Grace and Madness" http://www.chinchilejo-tours.com/shamanism_grace_madness.html

We are very happy to inform you that the 6th International Amazonian Shamanism Conference: "Grace and Madness" will be once again held in the beauty of the Upper Amazon, here in Iquitos, Peru, one of the most isolated cities in the World. Iquitos has a population of almost 500,000 people and from the reports given by the local authorities, they believe that 10% of the population is in Ceremony every Friday night. That's 50,000 people drinking Ayahuasca. Amazing! Ayahuasca is just one of the many healing concoctions made by the curanderos (Shamans) of the Amazon. During the Conference period, you'll have three opportunities to partake in Ceremony with Shaman of your choice. The Shamanism Conference is focused on folk-loric healing modalities, whether they be in Ceremony with "La Madre Ayahuasca" or with Hauchuma (San Pedro) or with other healers that work with tree barks and others that work putting bones, ligaments, tendons and cartiledge back into place and others who call in Spirit entities to help them diagnois illnesses and "whisper" the cure, there are an endless number of types of healers here in the Amazon and we strive to give you the best overall picture of what is known as "Curanderismo" (Shamanismo).

I believe that this 6th Conference's "Illustrious Presenters" are probably the most interesting group of Presenters that we have ever had. So far we have Peter Gorman, Howard Charing, Steven Byer, Alexander Beiner, Dr. Dennis Mckenna, Dr. Richard Grossman, Matej Jurenka, Andrew Ostapenko,Richard Fowler, Alan Shoemaker, The Teafaerie, Ross Heaven, Isabella Stoloff and Wendy Lucky. These are just some of those that are going to be speaking about their special Shamanistic interests. We are confirming more every day so hopefully you will continue to check the website for any updates. We also have an impressive panel of Shamans confirmed and there are also many more of them to be confirmed as well. We pride ourselves on having some of the finest hand-picked Shamans in the Upper Amazon and Andes.

Please come down and be with us at this 6th Conference. It is hosted by Gracia Ethnobotanicals and Soga Del Alma (Vine of the Soul). We generally get 200+ like-minded individuals coming from all over the Globe. It's two days/evenings of Presentations by the "Illustrious Presenters and Shamans" and then the next day and evening is off for you to experience Iquitos and it's surroundings and be in Ceremony with the Shaman of your choice. Then we're back to two more days of Presentations followed by another day and evening free, Ceremony again with the Shaman of your choice. Finally one more day/evening of Presentations and the last day is one more opportunity to be in Ceremony. There are Shamans coming that are specialist with Ayahuasca as well as others that are specialist with San Pedro. The Ceremonies held during the Conference week are optional and your arrangements are made directly with the Shaman of your choice. It is not necessary to understand Spanish as we have professional translators on stage with the Spanish ¨Presenters¨and they are translating instantly to English.

The Conference website is very detailed but our brilliant webmaster, Johan Fremin, is continually adding something new so hopefully you'll check it out and if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask. That's what I'm here for, apparently. We also assist you with your international and national flights. Booking the Lima to Iquitos roundtrip from outside of Peru is very expensive and we can save you a couple hundred dollars there. We have an agent in Los Angeles who is a Latina and she is a pro at finding those international roundtrips to Lima at bargain prices.

Hope to see you in Iquitos,Peru this July! and by all means, if you have any questions please just write to me.

Be well and do good,
Alan Shoemaker ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )
Director: Soga Del Alma (Spanish for Vine of the Soul)
Iquitos, Peru