– What is Master Plant Dieta? –
Dieta is a Shipibo healing and teaching process whereby, for a defined period of time, an energetic connection is established between the spiritual consciousness and physical energy-body of the “patient" and the spirit and energy of a master healing plant. Yes, the plants are conscious! They are ancient and highly intelligent spirits, and as the Shipibo people know, the plants have much healing power and knowledge to share with us about ourselves and about life and spirituality in general.
Over thousands of years of concentrated study and passed-down ancestral knowledge, the Shipibo Onányas have identified a wide selection of Master Plants in the Amazon that can bring specific healing and learning properties if dieted properly.
Such as Bobinsana (which can help to open vision, clear childhood trauma from the depths of the mind, and physically reinforce the muscles and organs of the female reproductive system), or Ajo Sacha (which can infuse a pervasive light into the dieter’s energy-body, invigorate the blood and immune system, and expel aggressive spirits associated with sexual trauma). And there are many other plants that can be dieted for different healing and teaching purposes.
During the proces of being “in Diet” the dieter must follow certain restrictions, in terms of food, lifestyle habits, and mental activity. Over the centuries, the Onanyas have learned what the plants require from the dieter in terms of a clean and neutral inner space, and in what circumstances the plants will be most inclined to share their gifts of transformation. If the dieter follows these restrictions and guidelines well, the plant's 'owner' or 'Ivo' spirit will start to heal the body and guide the mind and spirt through the dieter's dreams, intuitions and visions.
Throughout the Dieta, the Maestro Onanya continues to work with icaros and other treatments to clean the negative energies being excavated from the dieter's energy-body, and to align and reinforce the connection with the master plant spirit's energy and consciousness. Done well, the Dieta slowly but surely reorganizes and transforms the essential constitution of the dieter’s body, mind and spirit, bringing the overall system to greater health and well-being.
And what is greater health and well-being really? As a society, a species and as a planet, we have come so far from optimal health and so deeply entrenched in the labyrinth of the fearful mind that it can be difficult to know what real health truly looks and feels like. For the Shipibo people, their plant medicine tradition offers a path for restoring harmony and freedom in life – freedom from pain and disease in the body, freedom from fear, distress, rage and confusion in the mind, and restoration of joy and harmony in the spirit and emotional being, both in relationship with self and with community.
The advancement of these qualities are unmistakably felt by the dieter who can follow the guidance of their teacher with patience, discipline and quiet self-reflection. Slowly but surely forming the deep cellular relationship bonds with the master plant spirits that will bring greater harmony and health.
Here is a small booklet regarding the Shipibo Master Plant Dieta Restrictions.
It must be noted that although some medicine wisdom can be described, the only way to truly attain the real knowledge and understanding of healing with the plants is through your own personal journey of experience. And the best way is by going directly to the source – the Amazon, where these ancient mysteries reside, and where the real Maestros can lead you on a powerful journey of personal transformation.
We welcome you to take this journey safely at Caya Shobo, a true Shipibo knowledge center, and begin to discover these wisdoms for yourself.
But this takes time, and the letting go of a lot of old ideas and patterns. Expert guidance and support is critical to the process. The plant energies are very delicate, requiring a great deal of respect and care, and there is much that we need to heal.
During a dieta retreat stay at Caya Shobo the Maestros can make an initial diagnosis, open a plant dieta connection, and in concert with the plants, clear some of the negative energies and sickness. It is also important to properly terminate the Dieta and protect the healing work so there is sustained benefit going forward.
In general a longer healing period is often required. And it can be necessary to diet a plant multiple times or for longer periods in order to fully integrate the gifts of each plant. But each Dieta done well can undoubtedly bring us further along the journey of transformation, and bring more freedom, health, well-being and happiness into our lives.
For many who discover it, the Shipibo medicine tradition becomes a long-term path of healing and spiritual growth. We welcome you to come and experience for yourself this ancient and powerful healing tradition in the company and care of expert teachers and facilitators and surrounded by the master plants in their home environment at Caya Shobo Healing Centre, Iquitos, Peru.
– Master Plant Dieta vs Ayahausca Ceremony –
– Sustained Transformative Healing –
In recent years, Ayahuasca's healing power has become a popular discussion topic in the West. Certainly, when administered appropriately with experienced practitioners who can ensure participants' safety (both physically and energetically), then undoubtedly Ayahuasca can be a profoundly therapeutic plant medicine treatment.
However, for a deeper and more sustained healing transformation, the Shipibo Maestro Onañya’s, the native shamans most recognized in the Amazon for their advanced knowledge of healing with Ayahuasca and other medicinal plants, will generally recommend Master Plant Dieta – with a plant or plants specifically prescribed according to each person's unique healing requirements.
In terms of the healing benefit of Ayahausca, the high-level Onánya’s will tell you that Ayahuasca heals in 3 primary ways:
- Physically, Ayahuasca cleans the digestive system and purifies the blood.
- Spiritually, Ayahuasca can open an awareness of the spiritual and energetic realms in a very immersive and experiential way. For Westerners who have become so disconnected from nature and indoctrinated into denial of these realms, Ayahuasca ceremony can be a hugely revelatory and healing experience in and of itself.
- And finally, Ayahuasca can reveal important information about what is going on for the participant at this moment in their lives on all levels (physically, psychologically, emotionally and spiritually). Profound insights can be revealed to both the participant and the healer, regarding buried traumas that are ready to be confronted and cleared, or awareness of unhealthy patterns of thinking, or physical contamination from toxic substances, and so on. Whatever aspects of a person’s life are out of alignment, Ayahuasca can act like a kind of “x-ray" scan, showing the experienced Maestro and the participant the main priorities for healing and transformation in this moment.
Ayahuasca also often presents special gifts to help with the healing process, such as restoring lost memories of connection with loved ones or bringing a renewed understanding of our own courage, beauty and strength within.
But, for the most part, Ayahuasca does not actually make the transformation for us. She can provide insights about where we’re at, and give us support to initiate the process, but she doesn’t actually bring about the deep shift of physical, mental and emotional patterns that is required for sustained healing.
This is where the other master healing plants come in. As the Shipibo Maestro Onanya’s know, in order to truly shift the deeply ingrained patterns of the mind, adapt the cellular structure of the body, and evolve the wisdom of the heart and spirit – a deeper healing is generally only achievable through Master Plant Dieta.
Meeting Walter you immediately recognize his natural warmth and humility as a person, as well as his impressive capability as an experienced Onánya Maestro healer. His beautiful, lower toned voice and variety of melodic Icaros can transport you to a place of peace and reconciliation with your life’s experiences and your healing path. Walter is always solid in the middle of the storm.
Maestra Maricela is a highly experienced Shipiba Onánya curandera and Raomi herbalist. Born in the Alto Ucayali river village of Roya, south of Pucallpa, her father Nicolas Vardales is a well known Shipibo medicine man with a strong famileal lineage of medicine knowledge. At age 13, in receiving treatment for some serious health issues of her own, Maricela began to learn about the healing properties of Amazonian medicine plants. She continued dieting with different master plants until she started working with Ayahuasca in her early 30’s.
Immersed in the medicine world her entire life, Maestra Lucinda is the eldest daughter of renowned Shipibo Onánya Maestro Pascual Mahua Ochavano, born in the Shipibo village of Paoyhan or ‘Water of the Pearls’ located on the banks of the beautiful Ucayali river, north of Pucallpa. When she was a tiny infant of 4 months old her father opened her first learning dieta to bring her the advanced knowledge of the Noya Rao “Tree of light” of her ancestors.
Orlando also belongs to the famous family Mahua. His great-grandfather Manuel Mahua was renowned as one of the most powerful Onánya shaman in the entire history of the Shipibo tribe. Manuel’s daughter Manuela, grandmother to Orlando, is also a well – known living Onánya Maestra. Manuela brought up Orlando from early childhood and opened his first medicine plant dieta at age 7. 
Fernando Levi, also born in the village of Paoyhan, is the grandson of Pascual Mahua, and, like his father, his grandfather and many generations before him, Fernando has inherited the Shipibo name “Sani Piko” which means “The Great Medicine Men.” This legacy of ancestral knowledge and the discipline Fernando has brought to developing its power within himself is clearly evident in his Icaros, in his medicine and also in his extensive knowledge of master plant dieta for healing and learning.
Francisco (or Pancho) has been working with the Shipibo medicine path since his early 40’s, and is now in his late 60s.
Rafael was born into a family of Ayahuasca Curandero Medicos in the Shipibo village of Santa Rosa de Dinamarca, 5 hours journey by riverboat to the south of Pucallpa. Growing up immersed in the world of Ayahuasca, he observed his parents and the men and women of his extended family always working in healing ceremonies and guiding plant dietas. At the age of 18, his curiosity to learn more about this path inspired him to open his first plant dieta, and he has since been learning and dieting with different master plants over the past 15 years.
As a teenager, Pablo felt the call of the medicine, but without access to knowledgeable teachers in his own family or community, he pursued his own learning path with Ayahuasca in the way of the ancient Shipibo Maestro Onánya – by entering the jungle alone and following the call of the plants in isolation dieta.