The Shamanic Diet
“The vision quest is nothing more than a circle drawn in the dust, a blank form to be filled with the perceptions and values of the Seeker…It is the mirror in which one can discover one’s own self.”
Steven Foster
The shamanic diet is a spiritual exercise that works through the guidance and intelligence of one or various master plants. It is one of the most important rituals and elements within Amazonian shamanism.
The context of the diet is done in complete isolation and silence; allowing one to fully open up to stillness, contemplation and communion with the natural world, the cosmos and one’s innate wisdom. In essence, a shamanic diet offers a process of death and rebirth. It is a process of restoration; restoring the natural balance between the body, mind and spirit. The role of the shaman is to invoke the spirit of the plant, to protect and energetically clean the environment of the diet and to guide the participants towards their inner master.
The diet is a process founded on one’s own direct experience and capacity to surrender and heal without actively needing to manage and control the experience. It is experienced, lived, suffered and understood directly, through awakening without doubt to one’s inner truth or the voice of the heart. The beauty of the diet is found within the ability to authentically observe and witness the experience with humility, transparency, and purity of intention. The process blossoms through one’s own sincerity, willingness to listen and openness to learn. A shamanic diet often becomes a vital turning point in one’s existence; an opening of profound understanding and great spiritual growth.
“It is a real and humbling honour to journey with Sanango. His icaros are so powerful and he is ever present for each participant in the sessions, and throughout the dieta, really it is something very incredible to experience this. I feel deeply blessed to have received so many gifts during my dieta and through the sessions. Sinchi Runa and these incredible plants have helped me to move through fears, suffering, and thoughts that have kept me stuck for years. Making the dieta with them has been so much more than I could have ever hoped or imagined. I have experienced healing at such a profound level, they have reached places in me that I thought were unreachable. They have guided me on a journey of self love and acceptance. And what followed were the most beautiful truths, the cracking open of my heart, and finding myself open as the Universe, and discovering a deep trust in the Universe. I feel this is what I have been looking for my whole life and I am so full of gratitude to have found it here.”
Emma Dibben