SACRED WAYS
A Journey Beyond Time
For thousands of years, Huachuma (San Pedro) has been used by Andean shamans as a sacred bridge between worlds, opening the heart, expanding vision, and reconnecting the soul with nature, spirit, and the cosmos.
This is more than a retreat. It is a pilgrimage of remembrance across sacred landscapes, across time, and into the deepest parts of your being.
Guided by Don Martín, a master Huachumero and direct apprentice of Don Howard, one of the most respected Huachumeros of our time, you’ll ceremonially activate the wisdom of five powerful sites, each chosen for its spiritual, historical, and energetic significance.
This is your opportunity to walk an ancient path of healing — not just for the mind, but for the heart, the spirit, and the soul. To shed what no longer serves. To remember who you are beneath the layers. And to receive the deep medicine of the land, the lineage, and the sacred cactus that has been used in these regions for millennia.
Rooted in one of the oldest Huachuma traditions of the Andes, this pilgrimage is an invitation into ancestral healing, spiritual transformation, and embodied awakening. You’ll be supported by the land, the medicine, and a small, intentional group walking beside you.
This journey is not for everyone. It’s for those who feel the calling. To heal, to awaken, to remember.
This documentary shares the Huachuma tradition held at SpiritQuest, the sanctuary founded by Don Howard. While not affiliated, it reflects the lineage that inspires this path.
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What is Huachuma?
Huachuma (also known as San Pedro) is one of the oldest and most revered sacred plant medicines in the world. For over 3,000 years (and likely longer) it has been used by Andean cultures for healing, vision, and communion with the natural and spiritual realms.
This sacred cactus is not just a medicine. It’s a master teacher. Known to open the heart, clear emotional burdens, and reconnect us with the living intelligence of nature, Huachuma has long been used by curanderos and huachumeros to help people realign with their true selves, access deep insight, and awaken to a greater sense of connection with all of life.
Huachuma is considered one of Peru’s two master teacher plants, alongside Ayahuasca. While Ayahuasca is known for its feminine mother spirit, inward visionary journeys, and intense purgative process, Huachuma is typically described as a masculine or grandfather spirit. It brings a grounded sense of clarity and a more outward-facing connection to the natural world.
Its legacy runs deep. The earliest known depictions of Huachuma ceremonies are found at Chavín de Huántar, an ancient temple dating back to at least 1500 BCE, considered the cradle of Andean civilization and the Great Temple of Universal Consciousness.
From the coastal pyramids of the Moche and Sicán cultures to the high Andean mountains, Huachuma has served as a sacred bridge between worlds, uniting sky and earth, human and divine.
This pilgrimage is an opportunity to sit with this medicine in the very places where it has been worked with for thousands of years, guided by a master Huachumero and held in the heart of sacred ceremonial traditions.
Why This Medicine Matters Now
We live in a world where many people today feel disconnected. From nature. From their deeper selves. From a sense of meaning or spiritual presence. Beneath the pace of modern life, it is common to carry unseen tension, unprocessed emotions, or a quiet sense that something essential is missing.
This isn’t just personal. It reflects something larger we are all part of. A collective drift from inner truth, from connection to the Earth, and from the sacred. What many are experiencing now is not just stress or confusion but a deeper longing to come home to themselves and to something greater.
And this longing isn't limited to times of challenge or struggle. Many come to this path from a place of strength, clarity, or success, sensing that there is still something more. An invitation to deepen, to refine, to open even further to spirit and purpose.
Huachuma has been used for thousands of years as a medicine of reconnection. It helps people clear what no longer serves, open the heart, and remember their place in the living world. It is not a quick fix or an escape. It is a path of clarity, healing, and realignment with what matters most.
Because what the world and each of us needs most right now is not more information or innovation. It is a renaissance of consciousness. A return to inner wisdom. To truth. To Spirit.
This pilgrimage is not just about personal transformation. It’s an invitation to realign with what truly matters and to carry that remembrance back into the world with humility, strength, and heart. For the good of all.
Meet Don Martín
Your Shamanic Guide
Don Martín is a highly respected Huachumero and maestro of the sacred medicine path. He directly apprenticed under the late Don Howard, one of the most revered Huachumeros of our time, and carries forward his lineage with deep humility, integrity, and devotion.
Born and raised in Chavín de Huántar, the home of the oldest known Huachuma temple and the spiritual epicenter of Andean shamanism, Don Martín has spent decades walking this path. For 24 years, he lived within the ancient temple itself, where his sacred Huachuma plant, now 38 years old, continues to grow. He calls this plant El Guardián del Templo, the guardian of the temple.
Before stepping fully into his role as a healer, Don Martín served as a local guide, sharing the rich history and sacred sites of his ancestral homeland with visitors from around the world. For the past two and a half decades, he has facilitated Huachuma ceremonies throughout Peru, guiding those on the path of healing with deep presence and care.
He has led this exact pilgrimage many times, walking with pilgrims through the sacred sites of northern and central Peru. In each ceremony, he holds space with a rare blend of quiet strength, reverence, and compassion, supporting deep healing, insight, and reconnection for those who come with sincere intent.
Don Martín is not just a facilitator of ceremony. He is a true guardian of the ancient Huachuma tradition, and a bridge between the ancestral wisdom of the Andes and those seeking healing and transformation today.
This pilgrimage takes you through sacred sites that span thousands of years beginning with the more recent ceremonial centers of the Sicán and Moche cultures along the northern coast, then moving back to Chavín de Huántar, the oldest known Huachuma temple in the Andes, and culminating at timeless, powerful locations like Bosque de Rocas and Heaven’s Gate.
As we journey through these sites, we also move through the shamanic worlds: from the Lower World of healing and transformation, through the Middle World of integration and initiation, to the Upper World, where we reconnect with the cosmos and our divine essence. Along the way, the elemental forces of earth, water, air, and fire guide the unfolding of the pilgrimage.
In the Andean tradition, this journey is held through a practice known as the mesada, a ceremonial arc rooted in the mesa, or sacred altar. Each mesada reflects a stage of transformation, helping us harmonize with nature and spirit through presence, prayer, and sacred plant communion.
PILGRIMAGE CEREMONY SITES
Ceremony Site 1: Batan Grande
Batan Grande is an ancient ceremonial site on the northern coast of Peru, deeply tied to the Sicán culture (750–1375 CE), known for its powerful ancestral rituals and reverence for divine forces. Nestled in the Bosque de Pomác, it is home to sacred pyramids that once held the remains of Sicán elites. This site offers a profound space for grounding into the Earth, connecting with Pachamama, and opening to the deeper wisdom of the land. It is an ideal place to begin the pilgrimage, to shed the weight of the past and root yourself for the journey ahead. Spiritual & Shamanic Perspective: Batan Grande is the Mesada of Pachamama. It is the energetic threshold of the pilgrimage and a place of release, remembrance, and initiation. Here, you’ll work with the elements of Earth and Fire. Earth offers grounding, stability, and ancestral connection. Fire brings purification, courage, and transformation. The Millennium Tree, believed to be over 1,000 years old, stands as a living symbol of resilience and ancient memory. Nearby, the Huaca de las Ventanas still echoes with the spirit of the Sicán ancestors. In ceremony, this land helps you root into the present, honor where you’ve come from, and set the foundation for what’s to come. Anthropological Perspective: Batan Grande was the spiritual and ceremonial heart of the Sicán culture. The pyramids and surrounding dry forest formed a sacred landscape used for elaborate burial rituals and ancestral worship. Archaeologists have uncovered tombs of Sicán elites beneath these structures, offering insight into their spiritual cosmology and reverence for the afterlife. The Bosque de Pomác, one of the last remaining dry forests in Peru, still holds the remnants of this civilization, revealing how the Sicán aligned their spiritual practices with the rhythms of nature and the cosmos.
Ceremony Site 2: El Brujo
El Brujo is an ancient ceremonial site on the northern coast of Peru, connected to the Moche civilization that flourished from roughly 100 to 800 AD. Known for its grand pyramids and ritual practices, it was a powerful place of ceremony, sacrifice, and communication with divine forces. The site is home to the Huaca Cao and Huaca Cortada pyramids, central to Moche efforts to influence natural cycles, particularly the El Niño climate phenomenon. In this landscape shaped by ocean winds and shifting tides, we encounter the elemental power of nature, death, and rebirth. Spiritual and Shamanic Perspective: El Brujo is the Mesada of Power. It carries the raw energy of creation and destruction. Here, the sea speaks of force and unpredictability, and the wind carries the whispers of ancestral spirits. The Moche performed elaborate rituals, including human sacrifice, to maintain cosmic balance and survive the fierce rhythms of nature. In ceremony, we meet these forces not to dominate them, but to honor them. This site invites deep reflection on our relationship with power—how we hold it, how we fear it, and how we surrender to something greater than ourselves. Anthropological Perspective: El Brujo is one of the most important archaeological sites of the Moche world. The discovery of the Lady of Cao, a high-ranking female spiritual and political leader, revealed new insights into the role of women in Moche society and the depth of ceremonial life at the site. The Moche practiced human sacrifice as a response to El Niño’s devastating effects, believing these offerings would restore harmony between humanity and the divine. The pyramids, murals, and tombs at El Brujo offer a striking window into a culture that lived in direct relationship with the spiritual and elemental forces of the world.
Ceremony Site 3: Chavín de Huántar
Chavín de Huántar is an ancient ceremonial site in the Andean highlands of Peru, considered the cradle of Andean civilization and the Great Temple of Universal Consciousness. Dating back over 3,500 years, it was the heart of the Chavín culture, a civilization built on the practice of high shamanism focused on healing and higher consciousness. The Chavín temple, with its iconic Lanzón deity, symbolizes the union of Heaven and Earth, representing the convergence of divine wisdom and earthly experience. The word Chavín comes from “Chaupin,” which means center of centers, pointing to its place as the spiritual and ceremonial heart of ancient Andean civilization. Widely regarded as the Axis Mundi of the Andes, Chavín is the most sacred huaca of Peruvian antiquity. It stands as the climactic site of the pilgrimage as a place of harmony, balance, cleansing, and new beginnings. Spiritual and Shamanic Perspective: Chavín is the Mesada of Transformation. The ceremony at Chavín connects participants with the powerful energies of the site, where spiritual transformation is anchored in the union of earth, air, fire, and water… and the fifth element, consciousness. Here, participants are invited into deep spiritual work, supported by the wisdom embedded in the temple walls. This ceremony is particularly potent as it coincides with the Fall Equinox, a moment of perfect balance that mirrors the inner alignment sought on the path. For those called to personal rebirth and transformation, Chavín offers a potent space for cleansing and reconnection with the universal. Anthropological Perspective: Chavín de Huántar shaped the spiritual and cultural foundation of the Andes for over a thousand years. Pilgrims traveled from across the coast, jungle, and mountains to engage in visionary rituals and seek healing through the power of the sacred cactus. The Chavín culture sparked a flourishing of high culture, visionary art, and sophisticated ceremonial practice that shaped the spiritual foundation of the Andes. It was a pioneer of shamanic technologies that influenced generations to come, and the temple itself is considered the original model for the mesa tradition used by San Pedro maestros of the northern coast and central Andes. As the oldest known Huachuma temple, it stands as one of the greatest living tributes to sacred shamanic tradition in the ancient world, a profound symbol of ancestral wisdom, spiritual initiation, and the enduring legacy of Andean consciousness.
Ceremony Site 4: Bosque de Rocas
Bosque de Rocas, also known as the “Rock Forest,” is an ancient sacred site located in the Andean highlands. It is home to towering stone formations, believed to be the natural guardians of wisdom. These formations, along with the petroglyphs carved into the rocks, are thought to contain the stories and knowledge of the first Andean peoples. The petroglyphs are believed to date back over 10,000 years. The site serves as a bridge between the physical and spiritual realms, offering an opportunity to connect with deep layers of Andean wisdom and open the doors to visionary states. Spiritual and Shamanic Significance: Bosque de Rocas is a place of ancient memory and expanded vision. In ceremony, the stone formations are worked with as natural altars, carrying the energetic imprints of those who came before. The petroglyphs etched into the rocks are believed to represent symbols of initiation, dream-travel, and communication with other realms. This site invites a deepened connection with the unseen world, where participants may access guidance, insight, and ancestral presence. The forest itself seems to hold a quiet intelligence, a stillness that opens the heart and sharpens inner perception. Here, the land does not just speak. It listens. Anthropological Perspective: Bosque de Rocas is one of the oldest known ceremonial sites in the Andes, with petroglyphs believed to date back at least 10,000 years. These markings suggest a long-standing tradition of shamanic ritual, vision-seeking, and earth-based spirituality. Some researchers believe the site may have also been used for astronomical observation or seasonal ceremonies, guided by the cycles of the stars. The presence of ceremonial caves throughout the area points to its use as a retreat site for initiates and spiritual practitioners. Bosque de Rocas remains a powerful expression of the ancient Andean relationship to land, spirit, and cosmic intelligence. It is a living testament to the continuity of sacred practice through time.
Ceremony Site 5: Heavens Gate
Heaven’s Gate, located in the heart of the Cordillera Blanca, is a sacred site where the energies of the earth and cosmos converge. For generations, it has been regarded as a mystical doorway between Heaven and Earth. Surrounded by high-altitude lakes and towering mountain spirits, this place has long been honored as a threshold between realms. It lies along a fault line between Mount Huandoy (feminine) and Mount Huascarán (masculine), two of the highest and most prominent peaks in Peru and the tropical world. The site symbolizes the union of dual forces — masculine and feminine, earth and sky, stillness and creation. In ceremony, we honor the dynamic and infinite creativity of nature and cosmos and seal the pilgrimage with a despacho offering to Pachamama, bringing the journey to completion. Spiritual & Shamanic Significance: Heaven’s Gate serves as the Mesada of Creativity and Eternal Life, marking the culmination of the pilgrimage where the arc of transformation reaches its spiritual fulfillment. Here, participants reflect on their journey and embrace the vastness of the cosmos. The harmonious energies of Mount Huandoy and Mount Huascarán represent the sacred union of dual forces and the living intelligence of the natural world. The despacho ceremony offers a moment of gratitude, integration, and closure, honoring all that has been shed, remembered, and reclaimed. Aligned with the Upper World, Heaven’s Gate is a place of spiritual ascension, divine connection, and realization of our oneness with all creation. Anthropological Perspective: Heaven’s Gate has long held spiritual significance for the Quechua people. Sites like this, high in the mountains and near glacial lakes, were often used for celestial alignments, offerings, and seasonal rites that connected the human world with the movements of the heavens. Traditional Andean priests continue to honor its sacred energy today. For millennia, people have journeyed to these heights to commune with the divine, celebrate life, and engage in ceremonies of renewal. Heaven’s Gate remains a living symbol of Andean cosmology and the enduring relationship between humanity, nature, and the sacred.
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Meet Your Facilitators
This pilgrimage is co-hosted by a small team of dedicated facilitators who have each walked this path with Don Martín and sat in ceremony with his teacher, Don Howard. Together, we bring decades of experience in transformational coaching, ceremonial support, and plant medicine integration. While Don Martín holds the ceremonial space, we are here to support you logistically, emotionally, and energetically so you can fully receive the depth of this journey and carry it home with clarity and grace.
Jared Lim
Facilitator
After building a successful business in his early 20s, Jared hit a quarter-life crisis and left everything behind to travel the world in search of deeper meaning. That journey brought him to the Amazon jungle in 2015, where he first worked with plant medicine at SpiritQuest, and shortly after joined Don Howard’s final Huachuma pilgrimage, where he met Don Martín. Today, as a transformational coach, Jared draws on a powerful modality called Accelerated Evolution, which is highly synergistic with plant medicine for emotional clearing, spiritual integration, and reconnecting to one’s true nature.
Brad Samuels
Facilitator
Brad discovered a passion for business, finance and investing in his early 20's, and started his first business after completing his degree in finance. Business led him to the pursuit of freedom and in its various forms and ultimately him to the yogic path and the ceremonial way and working with various plant medicines. His first connection with Huachuma took place in 2017 in the amazon jungle of Peru.
These life changing experiences altered his understanding of life, reality and the purpose behind why we are here.
Zachary Adama
Facilitator
Zachary's passion for justice and truth led him to a career as a lawyer in his early 20s. Then after passing the bar and beginning his legal career he had a powerful spiritual awakening that ignited his passion for learning and living in harmony with the laws of the universe. His spiritual seeking led him down the yogic path and to working with ancestral medicines. He has been facilitating Huachuma pilgrimages in Peru with Don Martin since 2022.
"Work with sacred plant teacher-healers is the freest form of human spiritual consciousness, and also one of the most advanced. It’s unconfining. You accept what you experience. And there's no end to it. It's an open-ended process for as long as you want to pursue it. That's the beauty of it; there's really no end to it."
- Don Howard
What's Included
Participants in this pilgrimage will receive:
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Pre-retreat preparation, including one individual call & group calls
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5 Huachuma ceremonies at sacred sites
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Hotel accommodations during the pilgrimage
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Bus/van transportation throughout the pilgrimage
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Entrance fees for sacred sites and museums
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On-the-ground support in Peru, including language translation
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Group activities and sharing circles
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1:1 time with facilitators throughout the journey
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Post-retreat integration support, including one individual call & group calls
Not Included
What is not included in the base price below:
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International flights to Lima, Peru
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Domestic flight from Lima to Chiclayo
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Hotel accommodations in Lima before and after pilgrimage
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Meals, snacks & drinks
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Optional personal purchases: Souvenirs, additional services, tips
Investment & Dates
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Pilgrimage Dates: September 16–27, 2025
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Early Bird Price: $4,600 USD
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After May 15th, 2025: $4,888 USD
Limited space available for this intimate group experience
Honouring Don Howard Lawler
This pilgrimage is deeply inspired by the life and work of Don Howard Lawler, a master Huachumero and teacher of the Chavín Huachuma mesa tradition. With over 50 years of shamanic practice, Don Howard initiated thousands into the sacred ways of plant medicine and catalyzed a global Chavín Renaissance, reviving respect for one of the oldest and most sophisticated ceremonial lineages in the world.
His work was rooted in the ancient art of the Chavín Huachuma mesada, a practice dating back over 3,000 years to the great ceremonial temple of Chavín de Huántar, the spiritual cradle of Andean civilization. Don Howard dedicated his life to the remembrance of this lineage, and to guiding others into deeper connection with the Earth, the Cosmos, and their own true nature.
He was also the direct teacher of Don Martín, who will guide this pilgrimage and now carries the lineage forward. Don Howard was widely considered one of the most respected Huachumeros of our time, and was often affectionately called “the White Wizard.”
Though this pilgrimage is not affiliated with SpiritQuest, it walks in the footsteps he helped illuminate. We carry this work forward with deep respect, humility, and gratitude for all he shared. As Don Howard would say, para el bien de todos. For the good of all.
Frequently Asked Question
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REIT's Vs Private PurchaseAn FAQ section can be used to quickly answer common questions about your business like "Where do you ship to?", "What are your opening hours?", or "How can I book a service?".
-
Why do FAQs matter?FAQs are a great way to help site visitors find quick answers to common questions about your business and create a better navigation experience.
-
Where can I add my FAQs?FAQs can be added to any page on your site or to your Wix mobile app, giving access to members on the go.
Once you really see the beauty of this world, you'll never let it leave you.
- Don Howard
Do You Feel Called to
Walk This Sacred Path?
This is an exclusive, invitation-only pilgrimage, designed for those ready to embrace a transformative journey. If you feel called to join us, reach out and we’ll schedule a call to discuss whether this experience aligns with your intentions and goals.
We look forward to connecting with you and sharing more about the journey ahead.
An intensive spirit walk designed to help you awaken to your true nature
