Expanding the Circle
Donation protected
I'm Tanya Maté, the Integration Director with the Temple of the Way of Light, a Shipibo ayahuasca healing center based in Peru.
(This is something that matters to me personally, and while the Temple supports the intention, it is not an official Temple campaign.)
It's acknowledged in psychedelic circles that the vast majority of Westerners working with these medicines are economically privileged and mostly white. There have been panels about it (e.g. this one & this one ), and there are some great hearts and minds working toward understanding why this is.
But this campaign is not (directly) a socio-political or philosophical one. It's practical. This money will go directly to folks who identify as belonging to marginalized populations (people of color, queer & trans folks, indigenous people from around the world, people with intersecting social identities) who are committed to healing with ayahuasca, and whose only obstacle to accessing this healing is a lack of funds.
I want to raise enough money to provide one person per month with a scholarship to attend an ayahuasca healing retreat at the Temple. The Temple is not a profit-generating center. We have many employees, including local, Indigenous, and Western staff, and we treat them well. We are a conscious business, with high operating costs, and are currently unable to offer scholarship spots to folks (breaking news: the organization is now developing a scholarship program to support exchange between North & South American indigenous medicine people & traditions). Check out where our money goes here .
A 9-day healing retreat costs ~$2000 USD. Flights from North America are in the $500-1000 range, depending on where you're coming from. So, 12 months x 1 amazing person per month x $3000 avg/person = I'm trying to raise $36,000 USD to provide healing for 12 amazing, world-changing folks who identify as belonging to a marginalized group and wouldn't otherwise be able to afford to come.
This will be an ongoing campaign, with funds being made available on a monthly basis* to folks who apply to receive a scholarship (via my website, here).
(*details on scholarship criteria, application process, and review process to come very soon)
Ayahuasca has helped me heal, inspired me to grow, and brought so much good into my life. I invite those of us who value a diverse ayahuasca community and are able to give to this fund to do so, and remove the financial barrier that prohibits so many wonderful and beautiful folks from access to this healing.
Integration is my passion. That applies to whatever you do once your retreat is finished to continue working on yourself and healing. And then, that healing drive expands beyond the individual and into the level of community, society, and planet. As long as the Western ayahuasca community is primarily composed of white folks from privileged socio-economic classes, there is more work to do. I want to do my part in expanding the circle, in including voices and hearts of people with unique life experiences, who can contribute to transforming our planet. Providing these scholarships will make a huge difference in the world, providing transformation opportunities to these voices that need to be heard.
Thank you so, so much for your generosity.
(This is something that matters to me personally, and while the Temple supports the intention, it is not an official Temple campaign.)
It's acknowledged in psychedelic circles that the vast majority of Westerners working with these medicines are economically privileged and mostly white. There have been panels about it (e.g. this one & this one ), and there are some great hearts and minds working toward understanding why this is.
But this campaign is not (directly) a socio-political or philosophical one. It's practical. This money will go directly to folks who identify as belonging to marginalized populations (people of color, queer & trans folks, indigenous people from around the world, people with intersecting social identities) who are committed to healing with ayahuasca, and whose only obstacle to accessing this healing is a lack of funds.
I want to raise enough money to provide one person per month with a scholarship to attend an ayahuasca healing retreat at the Temple. The Temple is not a profit-generating center. We have many employees, including local, Indigenous, and Western staff, and we treat them well. We are a conscious business, with high operating costs, and are currently unable to offer scholarship spots to folks (breaking news: the organization is now developing a scholarship program to support exchange between North & South American indigenous medicine people & traditions). Check out where our money goes here .
A 9-day healing retreat costs ~$2000 USD. Flights from North America are in the $500-1000 range, depending on where you're coming from. So, 12 months x 1 amazing person per month x $3000 avg/person = I'm trying to raise $36,000 USD to provide healing for 12 amazing, world-changing folks who identify as belonging to a marginalized group and wouldn't otherwise be able to afford to come.
This will be an ongoing campaign, with funds being made available on a monthly basis* to folks who apply to receive a scholarship (via my website, here).
(*details on scholarship criteria, application process, and review process to come very soon)
Ayahuasca has helped me heal, inspired me to grow, and brought so much good into my life. I invite those of us who value a diverse ayahuasca community and are able to give to this fund to do so, and remove the financial barrier that prohibits so many wonderful and beautiful folks from access to this healing.
Integration is my passion. That applies to whatever you do once your retreat is finished to continue working on yourself and healing. And then, that healing drive expands beyond the individual and into the level of community, society, and planet. As long as the Western ayahuasca community is primarily composed of white folks from privileged socio-economic classes, there is more work to do. I want to do my part in expanding the circle, in including voices and hearts of people with unique life experiences, who can contribute to transforming our planet. Providing these scholarships will make a huge difference in the world, providing transformation opportunities to these voices that need to be heard.
Thank you so, so much for your generosity.
Organizer
Tanya Maté
Organizer
Vancouver, BC
