Fatua.Soul
Earthen Ancestral Artistry
welcome, to the Amazon rainforest
...where an expansive journey of mind, body, and spirit awaits you!
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Are you ready?
To expand as the divine being that you are and open your heart more wide to love within and around you?
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To commune with ancient medicines of the Amazon rainforest that will show you truth, heal your body, enliven your spirit, and bring about profound change to your existence?
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To immerse in the beautiful and wild rainforest, the heart and lungs of our earth, to welcome her insights, wisdom, growth-providing challenges, and love she provides?
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To learn, discover, and heal with the ancient way of Shipibo curanderismo, & partake in a master plant dieta for healing of mind, body, and spirit?
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To meet new soul family and be held in a safe, nurturing, and intimate space to journey together?
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Receive individual 1 on 1 & group preparation, ceremony integration, and post-rainforest integration. Although this is a group journey, this is also a time to focus on your individual needs, healing, and personal goals and desires.
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**Due to the nature of my website being made in the USA & the specific laws around
foreign substances, I am not permitted to use proper medicinal terminology in
my descriptions below. If you need clarification you may email me.
The medicine referred to is taken only in the country of Peru, where it is legal.
I do not work with any illegal substances in the USA.
Kambo medicine, is legal in the United States.**
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Retreat Dates 2025
Novalis will be open September & October 2024, & January- May, 2025.
Fatua will be at Novalis February, March, & April 2025.
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2025 Dates, with Fatua
February:
3rd-11th::: 13th-21st::: 23rd-March 3rd
March:
5th-13th::: break::: 23rd-31st
April:
2nd-10th:::12-20th
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Retreats are 9 days, if you choose to embark on a dieta you will stay for 18 days. Choose one of the start dates of above times to begin your journey.
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Check out the full 2024 retreat schedule at
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Novalis
Who We Are
Novalis is a center for conservation and cultural preservation in the Amazon rainforest of Peru, located in the region of Madre de Dios. Novalis preserves multiple hectares of forest, and supports and works with various native communities and individuals. Our team is a unique blend of peoples native to the lands of Peru- Quechua, Shipibo, Kichwa, & Machiguenga, and Westerners. Together we co-create an immersive experience for our visitors, where people come to connect with nature and heal their body, mind, and spirit with the use of plant and earth medicines. When you visit us at Novalis, you will be embarking on a very personal transformational journey and cultural experience that will leave you feeling more deeply connected with yourself and mother earth.
Our approach
To plant medicine
At Novalis, we honor the plants and medicines of the earth as sacred. We believe in the importance of having an intention when choosing to experience these medicines and when coming to visit us in the rainforest. Every guest will have one on one consultations with members of our team so that we can get to know you better, and discover what it is that you are wanting to transform in your life, whether it is physically, mentally, spiritually, or all of the above. This also assists us in knowing what medicinal plants may be helpful for you on your journey while you are with us!
​It is about an hour boat ride and a 45 minute walk to get the grounds of Novalis; we are off the grid and deep in the jungle. Being immersed fully in the Amazon is part of the medicine of the experience, as it is the home of the medicines we work with.
Our grandmother vine ceremonies are led by our Shipibo shaman Loyver Yui, assisted by our medicine team. The Shipibo are an Amazonian people who originally live in the Ucayali region of Peru, painting visions and healing with their icaros, or medicine songs that they receive from their lineage and dieting various plants. Loyver is loved for his humble and gentle demeanor, unique songs, kind presence, and he is also a family man and fantastic visionary artist.
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Fatua offers the opportunity to receive acate' (kambo frog medicine) that replenishes the peptides in your body, & clears you energetically so you will feel strong and ready to receive grandmother, as it said it may help ayahuasca to be more permeable across the blood-brain barrier.
We like to integrate the experience of the week sitting in circle with local cacao, a time to gather and share from the heart, conclude our time together, & connect with the earth and our creativity.
At Novalis we offer plant dietas under the guidance of our Shipibo curandero. The purpose of dieting is to help your body and spirit to heal, learn, and grow by entering a deep commitment with a specific plant. This process involves opening and closing of the dieta in an ayahuasca ceremony with specific icaros. Your first ceremonies at Novalis will assist the team in knowing what will be the most efficient plant for you to diet. Once your diet is opened, you will retreat to your tambo (isolated living hut) and will receive a very simple meal delivered to you daily, along with your dieta medicine. Aside from simple check-ins, you will be alone taking time to meditate with your plant, receiving its healing, wisdom and teachings, and truly having time to be with yourself in this beautiful and sometimes challenging but rewarding, experience. ​
At Novalis everything is optional, we honor your choices, and you always have the option to participate in what feels right for you. ​In addition to our ceremonies, you will receive a plant bath with plants specific for your healing journey, a forest walk, ceremony integration circles, vegetarian meals, and more!​​
Integration & medicine
Fatua has been working with rainforest medicines and sitting with, learning from, and co-creating with peoples of the jungle since 2018. Having embarked on many medicine journeys, she has found that the most important key to healing and transformation is integration of her ceremonies and experiences. Visiting the Amazon is a potent experience within itself, and communing with the ancient medicines, wisdoms and cultures within her forest amplifies the experience.
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Aya* in particular, brings up a lot in our human psyche for processing, and after time in the jungle you will not re-emerge the same person you entered as. There will be many things about yourself, your relationships, ways of being, and how you navigate the world that are going to change, and all the new moving pieces will take time to be integrated into your life.
Integration is an important part of your entire psychedelic process. The most potent part being after, and it can take weeks, months, or years to fully integrate your experience into your life.
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All participants of Wild Womban will receive a group phone call before the journey, and a group integration phone call after the journey, as well as group integration circles after ceremonies (except for during dieta week), and one on one support during dieta & during the retreat when needed.
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Fatua has been trained as a psychedelic integration coach, and offers the option of opening a one on one container for continued support on integrating your journey after your time in the jungle. This program is separate from the retreat. Psychedelic Integration can be an absolutely transformational experience, to have the space to feel, express, dive deeper into the insights that have been shown, and explore the interweavings of your psyche in a safe container to be seen and held in. Having received psychedelic integration mentorship herself, she can say it has been one of the most beneficial & transformative containers she has been a part of. May this bring you peace of mind that after you leave the jungle you may have continued support if you so choose, as everyone's experience of returning to life outside of the rainforest can be very different.
Amazon Earth Medicine Retreat
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9 Day Retreat
Includes:
Transport between the town of Puerto Maldonado and the rainforest (Novalis)
Three vegetarian meals per day, except for ceremony nights
Treehouse accommodation (shared)
One on on consultations & individual support
Group integration circles
3 grandmother ceremonies
Local cacao
Forest walk & plant education
Baños de flores (herbal plant cleansing)
*Kambo ceremony with Fatua (additional cost)
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9 Day Schedule- General Outline
Day 1: Journey to the land from town (45 min. boat ride, 45 min. walk in jungle), settle in, opening circle
Day 2: *Kambo ceremony*, individual consultations, baños de flores, ceremony preparation discussion
Day 3: Forest walk, continue consultations, grandmother ceremony 1 in the evening
Day 4: Integration circle
Day 5: Grandmother ceremony 2
Day 6: Integration circle
Day 7: Grandmother ceremony 3
Day 8: Integration, cacao circle, see artist handicrafts
Day 9: Hike and boat ride back to town, arriving in the afternoon
*Various other activities may be integrated into the schedule*
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​Retreat Schedule (with Dieta)
If you would like to open a master plant dieta, please plan to stay with us for at least two weeks. At Novalis, we typically offer master plant dietas for 7 days. Please plan to come on day 1 of a new 9 day retreat schedule and we will work with you accordingly.
You will receive what is offered to our 9 day participants, with some variations:
1-2 additional grandmother ceremonies (4-5 total)
Private accommodation for your dieta period in a traditional hut
Dieta food, (very simple, salt-free, fat-free diet)
Dieta medicine prepared by our maestro and medicine team
Daily check in support
Hot bath with your dieta plant
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Dieta General Schedule
​ The dieta process is unique to every individual, we typically have dieteros open their dieta in their second grandmother ceremony. However, some people need more preparation so their schedule may vary.
Day 1: Arrive to Novalis
Day 2: Consultations, *kambo*
Day 3: Evening grandmother ceremony 1- this first ceremony allows our curandero
to look into what plant may be the most beneficial for you to dieta with
Day 4: Integration
Day 5: Grandmother ceremony #2, opening of dieta, move into tambo hut from treehouse
Days 6-12:
Dieta in tambo, alone time except for daily check ins, *mid-week grandmother ceremony if needed
Day 13: Integration, come out of isolation
Day 14* - We will transport you back to the city, or if you would like some more integration time you may stay for some more days
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Some retreats offer:
Visit the Machiganga community with opportunity to purchase handicrafts
Visit to Jane's cacao farm (Soul Melody Cacao)
*Classes, such as: *dieta/plant spirit connection, tools for ceremony,
clearing your energy, cacao making workshop*
Morning movement practices, yoga, & meditation
Note:
We have an intimate space, so we only accommodate 7 visitors at a time,
with the addition of 1-3 volunteers.
Payment plans are available if you are coming to work with Fatua.
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Cost​
There is a $300.00 deposit to reserve your space.
9 day retreat: $1300.00 (with kambo $1450.00)
2 week retreat with dieta: $2200.00 (with kambo $2350)
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*We honor your self sovereignty and how you are feeling at any given time. You are not required to
participate in every ceremony or activity, and that is respected. We are here to support you on your journey, not to push you into anything that does not feel in alignment. In order to honor everyone's time and energy, there will not be a change in price based on what you choose to participate in, or not participate in. Thank you for your inner standing, and know that we are so grateful for you for choosing us; you are supporting rainforest preservation, indigenous people's and communities, and our unique team of facilitators- you are keeping Novalis thriving!
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Photo by Farhana Sarguro
What is Aya*?
Aya* is an Amazonian plant medicine made by cooking the Aya* vine, which contains D.M.T., with an M.A.O. inhibitor plant, such as chakruna, a small shrubby tree which we use in Peru. The leaves of the chakruna shrub are what induce the beautiful visions on the medicine. The medicine is known to have a feminine nature, and is often referred to as "she/her", "grandmother" vine, "vine of the soul", or "vine of the dead."
The vine is crushed and put into water in layers with leaves and boiled for hours to days until a thick, syrupy concoction has been decocted.
Aya* is taken for a variety of reasons including physical, emotional, and spiritual healing, to receive insights and wisdom, to heal family and ancestral lineages, to connect with your soul's purpose & find clarity, to connect with God consciousness & mother earth, for soul retrieval, learning and connecting with other plants, and so much more.
She is a powerful teacher & healer, bringing what you need to see, feel, and process to the surface, so you may choose to make necessary shifts in your life moving forward.
Once ingested, “she,” the spirit of the plant, comes alive within you, taking you on a stimulating visual and/or physical journey that can be equally challenging as it is beautiful. Purging is a normal part of the ceremony and you may release in ways such as vomiting, using the bathroom, shaking, or emotional release (crying, laughing, etc.) Every ceremony experience is completely unique.
At Novalis, most of the time we brew our own medicine on site, with plants we grow on the land or have gathered from surrounding areas. As aya* is becoming more sought after, that means her plants are being harvested at a very rapid rate. At Novalis we are committed to ethnical harvesting, replenishing and planting vines, and teaching surrounding communities how to keep her thriving as well.
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Different tribes and peoples work the medicine differently. At Novalis we have a unique approach, and at the same time honor the traditions of our curanderos, who are Shipibo. The Shipibo peoples are native to the Ucayali River region of the Amazon of Peru, and have been working with the medicine for over 2,000 years. Their medicine involves healing with songs, or icaros that they receive from aya* and dieting other medicinal plants. Icaros may invoke various plant spirits, trees, protections, healing and cleansing energies, animal spirits, rivers, mountains, ancestors, and more. In ceremony, specific icaros may be sung to an individual to facilitate their personal healing.
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The concept of "dieta," or dieting plants also comes from the Shipibo. This is an intimate and dedicated process of essentially merging your consciousness with that of a plant spirit, through isolation, and energetic and dietary restrictions. By making these sacrifices for the plant, the plant will then begin to offer its healing, wisdom, teachings, songs, insights, and more to the dietero.
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What is a master plant dieta?
There are many plants in the forest used medicinally, and every native tribe has their own unique ways of working with the plants. Not every tribe uses aya* as a medicine, nor do they practice dietas.
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The Shipibo are an indigenous tribe, traditionally residing around the Ucayali region of Peru, and have been working with the medicine for the past 2,000 years. They have a very specific way of working with aya* and other medicinal plants for healing, learning, apprenticeship, learning icaros (medicine songs) and merging their consciousness with that of the spirit of a plant. This practice is known as curanderismo, and they are infamous for the practice of "la dieta," a practice of following a strict diet of no salt, sugar, high fats, oils or processed foods, no sex or intimacy with self or others, & being isolated in the jungle, not ingesting (physically or energetically) any other plants (of strong power) except for the one(s) they are dieting, and that of aya* and mapacho (Peruvian tobacco), and perfumes.
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The Shipibo, and most native jungle people recognize that everything; plants, trees, animals, rivers, all have a spirit, or a consciousness. In the Shipibo world, every plant has a spirit- a personality, different things it teaches, has its own songs, has different healing powers, and has its own medicinal healing properties for the physical body. Plants are like people, every person is a unique individual with different medicine and wisdom to offer. And not every person is for everyone, just like not every plant is for everyone.
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One of the reasons entering a dieta for healing is so powerful, is because this process is not just addressing the physical aspects of healing, it addresses also the healing needed of the mind and spirit. In our Western world if you go to a doctor with a problem, they will most likely give you a diagnosis and a quick fix, a pill perhaps, or a protocol. In the jungle, instead you are given a plant, or plants to work with that will address your physical problem, and also, the emotional and spiritual aspects that are needed to heal this issue. From a shamanic point of view, many of our physical ailments are manifestations of issues that have not been dealt with, felt, expressed. We bury our emotions, we don't process things that need to be processed, we bottle up our anger or sadness, have unprocessed trauma, and/or we are carrying the baggage of our ancestors and it needs healing- this all attributes to problems manifesting as physical. We are more than just our physical body, we need to heal on all levels, and this is why master plant dietas are SO powerful.
In addition to healing, the path of dieting can be very expansive for personal growth, and is incredibly transformative, providing wisdom, teachings, and clarity for one's path.
For those on the medicine path, one continues to dieta in order to continue connecting with the plant spirit world, and learning new ways of healing and navigating the medicine space.
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Aya* is more often than not, an important part of this process. She is a highly intelligent plant medicine that will show you truth, bringing things you have hidden under the rug right in front of your face for you to deal with. She is called the vine of the soul because she truly helps you to see life in a different way, she shows you what you need to see at this time, in order to expand and grow as a human being. She connects you with the universe, your most expansive self, pachamama, all that is. Her medicine is incredibly beautiful, and also can be incredibly challenging. She is not for the faint of heart, but will offer you new perspectives, healing, and the opportunity to take her teachings and walk forward with them in order to make changes to your own life.
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Dietas are traditionally "opened" and "closed" in an aya* ceremony with a highly skilled curandero (vegetalista/medicine person, one who works with the plants). You will be individually sung to, and the plant spirit will be implanted into your body for the time in which you will be dieting together (which can be anywhere from a week, to months, or years!). I like to think of dieting as entering a monogamous relationship, you are making a disciplined commitment to your plant, and in return your plant will grant you what you are ready to receive. You will be spending time alone with your plant in order to fully be able to commune with it, this is why not exerting your energy outwardly is important, so you can connect as deeply as possible. Messages come in the silence, or through the song of your own voice! In aya* ceremony however, your dieta plant is able to meet you in an entirely different way. Aya* slightly steps aside, allowing your dieta to come through and speak to you more directly, show you its personality and visionary world, and activate different levels of healing. It is truly a profound and rewarding experience, that may also have its challenges as it may bring a lot to the surface. This is part of the beauty though, healing happens once we show up and believe in ourselves and desire to make changes.
When it is time to close the dieta container, you will have a final ceremony, in which the curandero will sing to you a specific song called an "arcana," which is incredibly important, and essentially safely packs your plant dieta into your body for safekeeping. Once you dieta a plant, it is with you for life, unless you wish to have the energy removed. You can always call upon it, or ingest it another time to reconnect or ask for insights. It also serves as a protector of your energy and an enhancement of your spirit.
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Although not always easy, it is incredibly rewarding and beautiful experience.
I am honored to introduce you to sitting with and dieting with our Shipibo curandero Loyver, a humble, gentle yet strong, beautiful individual who I have had the gift of sitting with and dieting with since 2018. To this day, I feel he is one of the most integral and unique, safe medicine men I have ever sat with. He knows how to hold the divine feminine with his soft presence. A visionary artist and father, he also paints the room with his beautiful songs that read into what the space needs at any given time. People return to Novalis time and time again because they love working with him. I am confident that you will not be disappointed in opening a dieta with Loyver when you choose to join us.
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With love, Fatua
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To visit the Novalis website & learn more about our team and the beautiful land you will be visiting, click here.
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Is this retreat right for me?
This retreat is for you if:
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Your heart and soul feel excited about the opportunity to visit the Amazon & have a powerful and beautiful transformational experience!
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You feel aligned with sitting with plant & earth medicines at this time on your life journey, and are aware that the grandmother vine can bring about strong visuals, physical purging, personal challenges, and also insights, wisdom, beauty, connection to nature & God consciousness, healing, and deepened access to your true inner nature.
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You love the outdoors, and are comfortable with living amongst nature.
You understand you will be living off the grid with no phone service, and use of candles and flashlights for light at night.
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You are interested in learning about plant spirit communication, plant consciousness, how plants are used as medicine, & how the native peoples do so.
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You are in a time of life where you are embarking on a new chapter, seeking change or clarity, wanting to discover your soul's purpose, healing, letting go, or simply desiring to connect more deeply with nature and expanded states of consciousness in a natural way.
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You are calling in healing on physical, mental, emotional, & spiritual levels of your being.
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You are interested in learning about other cultures and ways of life.
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You intuitively feel that this is the transformational journey for you at this time.
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Ready to Journey?
If you are interested in joining us, please fill out an application.
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For inquiries & questions, please email:
goldensongspirit@protonmail.com
Then we can reserve your space and discuss payment options.
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For retreat brochure with travel info, packing list, etc. please visit the "Peru Retreat Brochure" in the blog page.
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