In May 2007 I returned to the Amazon for the first time in nine years.  It was an emotional reunion.  Things had changed dramatically in Machu Picchu and the Amazon except for my friends, who hadn’t changed at all – true friendships never die. 

The shaman died in 2005 and I never got to say goodbye. A deep heavy pain had been lying on my heart ever since the shaman and I had our argument on the last day.   On our way to the village I began to cry as the memories came flooding back and the huge wound in my heart pulsated.  It had been such a long time and yet it was as if no time had passed.  Reliving all the memories felt as if I was letting go of a huge burden.

Returning to the Amazon completed the training and a nine-year cycle. We went deep into the Amazon and Pashco showed me the Ayahuasca I had planted nine years ago.  They had become huge, thick vines full of strong, powerful medicine and I realized how much I had grown too. On the half moon I drank the brew again for the first time in nine years. I was no longer the apprentice – I had become the Shaman.

I was also able to make peace with both myself and the shaman.  By some perfect synchronicity I had arrived at the same time as the tombstone for Don Juanito’s grave.  In the Amazon it can take a while to financially afford a tombstone (often a cross made with special wood that does not rot). Walter, Don Juanito's son-in-law, and myself went to say goodbye (we were the only members of the family that were not present when Don Juanito died). During our little ceremony the trees just above the grave whispered and shook.  We all knew it was the Shaman saying goodbye and I felt released.

I am very honoured to have experienced such a magical apprenticeship but it comes with many sacrifices and responsibilities.  I have seen, through my vision journeys, what is happening on the planet and where our possible choices can lead us.  I know that I have to be the change in order to see change. I am very honoured to have experienced such a magical apprenticeship but it comes with many sacrifices and responsibilities.  I have seen, through my vision journeys, what is happening on the planet and where our possible choices can lead us.  I know that I have to be the change in order to see change.