The Toè dream journey in the Ayahuasca retreat and the shamanic dieta

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Toé (Brugmansia sp.) ceremony at night, with Don Guido.

Toé (Brugmansia suaveolens) ceremony at night, with Don Guido (and Shipibo Maestra Celia as assistant).

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Register here to download our FREE PDF Programmes for the:

• “SHAMANIC PLANT DIETA APPRENTICESHIP” retreat (3 Months/91 Days)

• “SHAMANIC DIETA WITH MASTER TREES” (45 Days)

• “SHAMANIC PLANT DIETA WITH TOÈ” (31 Days)

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“The Ayahuasca and Toé that Maestro Guido prepared for us were extremely powerful.“

Brittany Scharlow, USA

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On top of the Ayahuasca weekly sessions (five ceremonies per week, in the Ayahuasca retreat, and three Ayahuasca ceremonies per week in the pre-dieta, shamanic plant dieta, dieta with master trees, and shamanic apprenticeship retreats), we offer one night (during every week of retreat) dedicated to a dream journey with the plant teacher Toè (Brugmansia suaveolens).

The Toè dream journey is a ceremony that has been practised by Amazonian people to enhance the power of vision and divination, since immemorial time. The settings are the same as for the Ayahuasca rituals – in the ceremonial space, at night, in darkness – with the shaman singing his icaros during the ritual.

Toè – freshly harvested with the shaman in the rainforest surrounding our retreat venue – may induce a very deep, profound intoxication, and the experience has different degrees of intensity, depending on the part of the plant employed in the preparation, on the preparation itself, and on the degree of experience and knowledge of the shaman preparing the plant and performing the rituals. The best person to administer and lead a Toè ceremony – given the high toxicity of the plant, which demands great expertise and extreme care in handling – ought always be an expert Toesero, a Vegetalista specialised in working with Toèwho has extensively dieted with the plant. Below we describe some of the most common forms of preparing Toè, on a sliding scale of intoxication, going from mild to very powerful. This information is provided exclusively for educational purposes, and is aimed specifically at guests who have already booked a retreat with El Mundo Magico, or those who are thinking of doing a retreat with us. On no account it is to be taken as a direct or indirect invitation for psychonautic self-experimentation with sacred and powerful plant medicine, without the proper guidance and support of an expert shaman, in native ceremonial contest.

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The magical Toé plant (Brugmansia suaveolens).

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The Toè dream ritual and different ways to prepare Toè

1. When the Toè ritual consists in smoking in ceremony the rolled dry leaves of the Toè plant (in form of cigar), only a mild intoxication will ensue. The plant, in this case – when the appropriate dietary restrictions are observed – will teach one mainly in dreaming and with revelations, there will not usually be radical shifts of consciousness accompanied by profound visionary states. This is typically how the Toè plant is taken in the course of the Ayahuasca retreat, and – to an extent – also during the different types of shamanic diet retreats we offer.

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2. A more intense intoxication is achieved by taking an infusion prepared with the fresh leaves, or flowers, of the Toè plant, left to boil in water for 10 minutes. The brew is left to cool down, then is filtered and is ready to be drank. Typically, this is how the Toè is prepared and served when one is doing a short pre-diet retreat, or “diet tester” (prueba de dieta). The minimum time required for a Toè pre-dieta like this is 11 days. During this period one may drink the Toè brew twice a day, at 6:00 AM, and 6:00 PM, for three days in a row, for a total a six times altogether. However, this is indication-only, as the frequency of the drinking and the minimum time of this dieta will ultimately and intrinsically depend on the style, know-how and predilection of the shaman you will do your dieta with. We currently only offer Toè in either smoked form, or drinking its freshly squeezed filtered juice, as explained in point 3 below.

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3. A yet more deep level of intoxication is achieved when drinking the freshly squeezed juice of the Toè leaves, after having been mashed, and the resulting juice cold extracted by pressure after being strained and filtered through a fine cloth. The filtered juice is then collected in a small glass jar, then served in a small cup (or a small glass), during the ceremony at night.

Other shamans prefer instead to prepare the Toè brew by squeezing a few fresh leaves of the Toè plant and leaving them in infusion in cold water, for only a few minutes. After straining and filtering, the resulting brew is ready to be served (in a small cup) and drunk.

This is how the Toè is prepared for the shamanic dieta proper, the Toè dieta (1-2 months), or the three months shamanic apprenticeship (download the PDF programme outline for those retreats at the link here). Both of these preparations may induce profound visionary states, comparable to those of Ayahuasca and more.

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4. The deepest level of intoxication is achieved when drinking the freshly squeezed juice cold extracted from the stem (el tallo) of the Toè plant. This preparation may induce very profound visionary states, even more intense than those of Ayahuasca and is more suited to those with previous experience and enrolling for a longer shamanic dieta.

Regardless of how Toè is prepared, however, the shaman always sings/whistle his icaros over the brew, to grant participants protection and a safe journey.

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Fresh Toè scrapings.

The freshly squeezed Toè (Brugmansia suaveolens) juice, ready to be drank in ceremony, at night.

The Toè ritual takes place indoors, in the Maloka, around 9 PM. The shaman will start to sing his icaros in total darkness, after the candle light has been extinguished. Whilst the actual ceremony usually lasts 1-3 hours, the intoxication may last a lot longer, depending on whether the Toè is smoked, or drunk. In the latter case, a deep trance with a constant flow of visions will normally last for the entire night, until the following morning, and one may have conversations with the spirits, in altered states of consciousness. After the ceremony, one should return to his/her bungalow and rest in bed, waiting for the Toè to favour deep sleep, dreaming and profound visions. When the Toè juice is ritually drank in ceremony, one may need to be attended by either the shaman and/or the facilitator, until the effects are over and one has re-entered a normal state of consciousness._____

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Drinking the powerful Toé (Brugmansia suaveolens) during the ceremony at night, in our centre in the Peruvian Amazon jungle.

As with Ayahuasca, the Toè ritual is done on a purely voluntary basis of participation. Toè is a very powerful plant teacher and – especially when its fresh juice is drunk – one needs to fast on the night of the ceremony. Fasting for the Toè dream journey – in the same fashion that is done for Ayahuasca rituals – enhances visionary effects, may deepen dramatically one’s dreaming experience, and is a much due sign of respect for this truly wondrous, magical plant.

ALL participants to the Ayahuasca, San Pedro and pre-dieta (plant diet testers) retreats may take part to the rituals, when the Toè plant is only smoked (the Toè leaves are freshly harvested by the shaman in the jungle, left to dry in full sunlight, then mixed with Mapacho and ritually smoked, either in a pipe or as a cigar, during the ceremony at night). The fresh Toè juice – however – may be drank in ceremony, under the guidance of the shaman, as part of the shamanic apprenticeship, the shamanic dieta with Toè and even in the course of the dieta with Ayahuasca. In the course of the 3-6 months shamanic plant diet apprenticeship (whether dieting with master trees, or with any other plant teacher) Toè may be drunk once a month.

Don Armando harvesting Toé (Brugmansia spe.) in the Amazon jungle.

Offering Mapacho smoke before the ritual harvest of the powerful Toé (Brugmansia sp.) plant teacher.

The Toè dieta goes usually from an absolute minimum of 15 days/14 nights to a maximum of 61 days/60 nights (for those who wish to acquire more experience), with 31 days being our optimal Toè dieta programme (downloadable from our PDFs download page, after registration), during which one may drink the freshly extracted Toè juice up to FOUR times in a month.

The Toè dieta must be done always without mixing other teacher plants (or master trees) to do the dieta with. For instance, if one would like to do a 31 or 61 days Camalonga dieta, it won’t be possible to drink Toè during this period. The Toè dieta may start only after completing the Camalonga diet. It may, however, be possible (subject to the shaman’s assessment of one’s mental, physical and energetic conditions) to drink the Toè juice whilst doing the Ayahuasca dieta, as Ayahuasca and Toè are reputed to be “friends”. When dieting with Ayahuasca and drinking Toè, or dieting with Toè on its on, one must follow a strict dieta regimen without salt, sugar, fruit, fruit juice, lemons, canned food and drinks, alcohol, coffee/caffeine and red meat. Some vegetables may be permitted by the shaman, depending on individual circumstances.

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FURTHER INSIGHTS INTO THE SHAMANIC PLANT DIET

What Is The Shamanic Plant Dieta?

Shamanic Plant Diet Apprenticeship: The Way of Wisdom

The Master trees and Plant Teachers of the Shamanic Diet

Shamanic Plant Diet and Ayahuasca

The Shamanic Plant Diet: Restrictions, Food and Plant Teachers

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Register here to download our FREE PDF Programmes for the:

• “SHAMANIC PLANT DIETA APPRENTICESHIP” retreat (3 Months/91 Days)

• “SHAMANIC DIETA WITH MASTER TREES” (45 Days)

• “SHAMANIC PLANT DIETA WITH TOÈ” (31 Days)

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⇐ Back to the Ayahuasca & shamanic apprenticeship retreat programme, in the Ayahuma centre