The Ayahuasca Foundation was conceived in the spring of 2008 by Carlos Tanner, an American and student of curanderismo. After living and studying with a curandero for over four years, Carlos worked to provide a safe and effective way for people to not only receive treatment in the healing tradition of the Amazon but also to study the tradition, the way he had with his maestro. The idea for the Ayahuasca Foundation was born from a desire to spread the science of plant medicine back into the world. The Foundation supports the preservation of indigenous wisdom and culture, offering healing retreats and educational courses, and conducting research focused on the ayahuasca healing tradition used for millennia by indigenous healers of the Peruvian Amazon. The Ayahuasca Foundation also supports the preservation of the Amazon rainforest, and promotes educational efforts to raise awareness about sustainability, permaculture, and harmonious environmental relationships. The Foundation participates in community outreach programs and cultural reeducation projects.

It is our strong desire to educate as many people as possible to the wonders of medicinal plant traditions, the potential of the human spirit, and the inter-connectedness of all beings. We hope that you will contribute to this education effort, even if it is simply by informing your friends and family about ayahuasca and recommending that others visit this site or do their own investigations into the science of plant spirit medicine. Humanity has many challenges ahead, with global warming drastically altering our environments, war and violence destroying our communities, power and greed decaying our life philosophies and endangering the lives of our children, and many people feeling overwhelmed with despair, but by again finding our spirits and reconnecting with nature, we will remember that love truly does conquer all. With our spirits guiding us, peace will prevail over the earth, and the ancestral traditions of ayahuasca and plant medicine will show us the way back to our own spiritual traditions, back to health and happiness, and back to harmony with all beings.

People today have become confused, realizing that we are being manipulated in every aspect of our lives, seeing our perspectives of reality constantly being twisted and spun to benefit someone else, and wondering what the actual truth is. Interest in ancient cultures is steadily increasing, as many have begun to look to our ancestors for a chance to see what life was really like, and how we might get back to that. There is a natural desire within a growing subculture to return to our roots, for through our observation of current cultural trends it seems obvious that western society is headed towards its own demise. Something must be done to change the direction of society, to give people the power to determine for themselves what path they will take to realize their own destinies. Ayahuasca provides a way to turn the corner and take control of our lives again, to decide for ourselves who we are and what we are going to do with ourselves. Curanderos demonstrate that we are not enslaved by our realities when we know that spirit is at the root of it all.

Because a steadily increasing percentage of the public feel that Western Culture is lacking something important that prevents them from being fulfilled, they are looking for alternatives. Most people in the United States are frustrated with the Pharmaceutical companies’ firm grip on the Medical Industry and the concept that if illnesses are maintained at a comfortable level rather than cured completely, the companies selling the medicine will see a much larger profit. In a corporate paradigm, it only makes sense that our medical industry seeks to have more patients, for a patient is a customer, and a customer represents potential profit. Why heal a patient if it means losing a customer? It is this mentality that has a growing subculture of truth seekers heading to the Amazon Rainforest in hopes of finding a healing system not yet tainted by the corporate mentality.

What is lacking in western culture is the spirit. In a systematic genocide of over 25 million people, western culture persecuted, drowned, imprisoned, executed, and burned at the stake nearly every spiritual healer there was, leaving us ignorant of spiritual knowledge. Spirits became ghosts, and natural healers became witches to be feared. After several generations of this suppression of spiritual wisdom, the effects are obvious. We have little clue of our true identities, of who we are and of why we are here. We feel spirit yet we do not understand it. We think we are civilized yet we are spiritually primitive. The exact opposite was true of the indigenous peoples of the world, and for some of them it is still true today. The science of spirit has not been completely lost, and the Ayahuasca Foundation seeks to ensure that it never be lost, rather that it grow healthy and whole again, in the hearts and minds of humankind.

Dreams and Visions

The Ayahuasca Foundation envisions a future where a new paradigm of medical understanding predominates every culture of the world. In this new field of medicine, modern technology is used alongside natural medicine to produce a holotropic treatment plan, effecting positive change on every level of human existence. This paradigm shift back towards the indigenous worldview will not just alter the way medicine is practiced, but will change the way economies are structured, governments operate, companies are monitored, and how people relate to one another. When we once again see this planet as one living organism of which we are all a part, then we will reverse the negative impact of humankind and cocreate a healthy and happy planet, a true paradise.

The Ayahuasca Foundation is currently building a research center designed specifically to study the indigenous plant medicine traditions, treatment with ayahuasca and a variety of other medicinal plant remedies, and the role of consciousness in the healing process. We believe that the tradition must be studied as a whole and can only be properly understood when viewed from a pan-psychist, or spiritual, perspective. It is our goal to understand the mechanics of the ideology and methodology, from within the paradigm they exist and function, in order to develop new traditions for use in other cultural paradigms. It is our hope that this research will contribute to the future paradigm shift on Earth.

We are also working with the Mishana community to create a model community by integrating indigenous practices like plant medicine with modern sustainability concepts like permaculture and solar power. We hope to launch a line of community created organic products for export that will provide a stable economy for the Mishanas without disturbing the natural harmony of the surrounding ecosystem. We have already introduced solar power and recycling programs, and will continue to work with the National Reserve to further develop the model community project.

We would also like very much to create the first ayahuasca museum to help explain and demonstrate the tremendous healing potential of the indigenous tradition of curanderismo. It would be located in Iquitos, Peru, the hub of ayahuasca shamanism in the world, and would feature information and interactive displays that would help educate the public and prepare people who have come to the city for a healing retreat. The findings from the research being conducted at the new research center will help solidify a better understanding of the mysterious power of the healing traditions of the Amazon Rainforest.

Preservation

The Ayahuasca Foundation has evolved since it began in 2008. Our staff has grown, our methods have been enhanced, and our understanding of the nature of illness, treatment, and health has broadened and deepened. One aspect of that understanding is the importance of the environment in which we live. Just as a seed needs the nourishment of its environment to grow healthy and strong, humans, too, need a nourishing environment to provide the right nutrients and energy to help us achieve health and happiness. It is clear that higher rates of illness and disease correlate directly with higher rates of pollution and destruction of our natural environment. Seeds simply will not grow in toxic soil.

In order for us to work further towards our goal of providing pathways to health, we must also work towards preserving the natural environment of the planet. For this reason, the Ayahuasca Foundation is committed to raising awareness about the preservation of the Amazon Rainforest, as well as all nourishing environments all over the world. Like the over five trillion cells in each of our bodies, every very living being on the planet is a conscious and intelligent individual that forms a part of a much greater, wiser, and even more incredible living being, the Earth. While focusing on the health of each cell is important, we must also ensure that our actions do not inflict harm to other living beings. We must not poison our soil.

The Ayahuasca Foundation strives to become a positive force in the global movement towards preservation and sustainability. Through education efforts that promote recycling, permaculture, organic farming, and the reduction of pollution, waste, and the destruction of natural resources, we hope to join forces with other like minded organizations and individuals intent on regaining global harmony. Together, we can restore the health of our planet, our environment, ecosystems, societies, communities, families, and ourselves. Let’s continue to make the world a better place.