Our core beliefs are in alignment with the traditional Amazonian cultures in what are the modern-day countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana and Peru. One of the deities we align ourselves with is the abundant spirit of Earth called Pachamama.
Pachamama’s spirit takes care of us, nurtures us and provides us with the abundant supply of the elements humans need to survive. She teaches us the oneness of all living beings. She connects us with unconditional God’s love and provides important lessons about how to move forward through difficult times, through suffering.
Among the beliefs of Indigenous Amazonian people is the concept of master plants which are considered to be master teachers of the human race.
Some of these master plants, upon ingestion, allow people to transcend ordinary waking conscious states and to enter realms not normally accessible by human beings.
The Companionship works with one master teacher in particular – ayahuasca – although there are many, many master teachers. This teacher is composed of two master plants – Chacruna (Psychotria viridis) and the Ayahuasca Vine (Caapi Banisteriopsis). Most ceremonies also include the use of Mapacho (Nicotiana Rustica) or sacred tobacco by the facilitator – another master plant that is used in conjunction with ayahuasca.
Prior to recorded history Amazonian tribes used these master plants and many others for spiritual healing, knowledge and to understand the inner workings of their natural environment.
Our ayahuasca ceremonies allow our members to access spiritual healing and knowledge for themselves and to come to an understanding of their own divinity. By healing our spiritual sicknesses in this manner we come back to a state of mental health which often alleviates the physical sicknesses that may manifest themselves as a result.
By utilizing these plants in a ceremony, members can awaken their own inner healing capabilities, expand their knowledge about our environment and about the nature of reality itself.
Our understanding is that all matter has a life force and all matter is sentient. Ayahuasca allows us to experience the sentience of matter and to access knowledge that both heals and teaches.
Take the ocean for example. Imagine what the oceans of the world have gone through since the dawn of time, long before humankind appeared on earth. The oceans are a storehouse of vast knowledge far beyond our own.
Our master plants are the same. Long before humanity appeared the plants were growing and learning on a time scale unimaginable to most people. By ingesting ayahuasca, we are able to connect with the wisdom and experience of these plants and apply it in our own lives for healing, knowledge and spiritual development.
Through this process we come to realize that humanity is only a small part of the natural world and by taking ayahuasca in our ceremonies we begin to understand where we fit in a vast universe of consciousness.
We believe that humanity has a symbiotic relationship with plants and that our survival is linked. Plants were and are essential for the survival of humanity and have given us shelter, food and medicines since we appeared on earth.
By developing a relationship with master plants we are fulfilling our role as an important ally in the natural world. The Companionship serves humanity, the teachers and all sentience in its myriad forms.