Huachuma Retreat in Peru's Sacred Valley

Miguel Mendiburu guides the ceremonies of the Huachuma Works retreats in Pisac, in the Sacred Valley of Peru.

In 2027 there are two, each of ten nights, with nine places. Huachuma Works looks after everything around the ceremonies: the house, the meals, the travel in the valley, and the care before you leave home and after you return. Miguel Mendiburu, Hamid Jabbar and Dani Reardon are there on both retreats.

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A line of hikers on a grassy slope above a lake between steep mountains, under mist

The Retreats in 2027

Someone playing a wooden flute on a high stony slope, wide brown hills and storm clouds beyond

The Heart Path

July 1 to 11, 2027

Open to everyone, whether or not you have traveled with Huachuma Works before. Two full-day ceremonies on the mountain.

See the Heart Path

A low fire glowing in the middle of a round adobe room at night, blankets folded along the wall

The Fire Path

June 17 to 27, 2027

For people who have been on retreat with Huachuma Works before, or who have worked with Huachuma or Peyote. Two ceremonies on the mountain, and a third all night by the fire.

See the Fire Path

A line of walkers crossing a wide slope of golden grass below a pointed peak

Ceremony with Miguel

Miguel guides every ceremony on both paths. A mountain ceremony is a whole day outdoors, leaving in the morning and coming down as the light goes, and the Fire Path adds one all night by the fire.

Huachuma, the cactus also called San Pedro, has been used in ceremony in the Andes for around three thousand years.

Miguel Mendiburu in a green T-shirt, standing between two tall cacti

Someone on a rock outcrop with both arms spread wide over a high valley under white clouds

Tall Huachuma stems branching close together in bright sun

Ten Days in Pisac

You fly into Cusco, and Huachuma Works brings you down to Pisac, where the group stays together in one house, a walk from the center of town.

An adobe house with green window frames across a wide sunny lawn, trees and a steep hill behind

A sitting room with a long low sofa, red and orange cushions and a red cloth on the table

Between the ceremonies there are the ancient sites of the valley, open days, and time to get used to the altitude.

A narrow street in Pisac between painted walls, strings of colored flags overhead

A walker in a wide hat beside a still mountain lake that mirrors the clouds and the slopes

Most evenings end at the fire.

A group sitting on cushions in a circle around a painted floor in a round room

Someone kneeling on a rug before a fire in a round clay hearth, seen from behind

On the last full day the group plants young Huachuma at the Huachuma Sanctuary.

Someone kneeling to firm the red soil around a newly planted Huachuma cutting

Rows of young Huachuma cuttings standing in red earth across a cleared slope

Four weekly calls before the trip go through the plant's history, the science, how it grows and how a ceremony is held, and four group integration sessions follow once everyone is home.

All the Details on Huachuma Works

People kneeling in a bed of bare earth, planting small cacti in rows

The Huachuma Foundation

Miguel tends the Taray Preservation Garden, in the Sacred Valley, in partnership with the Huachuma Foundation, and offers the prayers over the cacti.

The Foundation's slogan, Plant More, Worry Less, began with a cap Miguel wore to ceremony, which read Pray More, Worry Less.

Visit the Huachuma Foundation

Pray More, Worry Less

Both sayings are printed on shirts and more in the Threadless shop.

Pray More Worry Less

Plant More Worry Less

COYA

COYA holds ceremonies in the United States. Its home is coyason.org.