The idea of a retreat that combines both the Shamanic traditions of the Americas and the deep spiritual practices of the East was in my mind for a while before I met the right people to do it with. I went to a Kambo Ceremony for the first time in January 2021 and had an interesting, new experience. Kambo is basically poison derived from a frog that lives in the Amazon Jungle and was used by hunters before they set off in the jungle. This was where I met Petar - he was part of the participants in the ceremony but later turned out to be a shaman himself and an Architect (I'm also an Architect. The other facilitator is Simona, who is a long tme friend of mine.
We chose the place for the first edition very carefully and using our intuition. The retreat center is located near the seaside, betweehn Burgas and Varna - two major cities on the bulgarian seaside.
The place is built like an Ashram - in the vast yard there are different types of buildings, a kitchen and two yoga halls, one of them being a big dome, which stands out in the main yard.
The retreat was 7 days long, and was composed with various practices - yoga, kirtan and extatic dance, which ware structured around the five elements, starting from Earth(Prittivi) and ending with Space (Akash). There were also the shamanic ceremonies, with opening and closing Temazkal (Indian Sweat Lounge) ceremonies and medicine circles according to the Shipibo tradition.
The culmination of the retreat was in the last three days, where a San Pedro ceremony that lasted for a whole day was followed by the final Temazkal, where hot rocks were pun in a specially built tent and pured over with herbs and water, creating a humid and heated atmosphere in the small and dark enclosed space.
I had taken care of the yoga classes which were mostly in the morning. They were moderately complex, so people with different skills were able to participate.
The Extatic dance and devotional song singing were also done in the main yoga hall, which we would call "The Mothership" and for a reason!
There were lectures and sharing circles, and also meditations. And amazingly - the weather in early May in Bulgaria turned out to be very nice and warm, so we were able to visit the beach a few times and even get sunburn!
We spent a magical week in the Shambania retreat center and we will be back again in the Autumn :)
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Wow, such a wonderful post! This certainly feels like a fantastic place. I'm familiar with all of the practices you mention here, they're regular in my country though I've not tried them myself yet. It's quite fascinating to know about how they're experienced in other latitudes. Thank you for sharing this! Lovely images too!
such cool post! Love doing meditation
This sounds like a truly amazing journey! Thank you for sharing some snippets of it. 💗