Live Ceremonies Volume One

We are pleased to release this collection of live recordings from ceremonies that took place in the last 5-10 years. For a number of wonderful years, Michael, Cynthia, Vicki and Nissan facilitated ceremonies together. We have released this collection in a “pay-what-you-want” structure.

Initially, we had planned that any sales or proceeds from sales of these recordings will go to fund scholarships, to allow those to attend a ceremony who might not otherwise be able to. However, in March of 2022, our Peruvian friend and mentor Don José Campos was arrested in Mexico City for possession of Ayahuasca and is currently in jail awaiting a hearing. We are donating any proceeds from Bandcamp to his legal defense fund until such time that he no longer needs the financial help. After that we will contribute any proceeds to the scholarship funds.

Please know that the amount you choose to pay for this release is the exact amount of money (minus Bandcamp’s cut) that will go towards helping someone with limited financial resources attend and reap the potential benefits of a ceremony.

These icaros were recorded at different ceremonies over the years, and in contrast to the first release, which was recorded in a studio setting, these songs were all recorded on an inexpensive, handheld digital recorder. As a result, if you listen to these songs on a nice sound system (as opposed to say, your phone) you may notice that they have a lower fidelity, with some hiss and noise that wasn’t present on the first release. However, we hope this won’t matter too much – what we think is most important is that these recordings are heard. We hope that in the future we’ll be able to produce better-sounding recordings of ceremonies yet to happen.

Where possible, we have tried to accurately note who the songwriter was, so following each icaro title we have put the songwriter -or at least, the person who taught us the song- in parentheses afterwards.

Song Listing

1. Soa (taught to us by José Campos, who probably learned it elsewhere)
2. Weitinainai (taught to us by Don Lucho, who probably learned it elsewhere)
3. Ayahuasca Mamancuna (William Llerna Murayari)
4. I Have Made The Journey (Hybrid of poem by Hafiz and with additions by Cynthia Flowers)
5. R’s Ikaro and Cielo Ayahuasca (Don Lucho)
6. Ikaros of Toé and Otorongo (José Campos)
7. Lukushimita (José Campos)
8. Surrender (Michael Flowers)
9. Shiva (Traditional)
10. Padre Mio/Madre Mia (Unknown)
11. Cocama Song (Don Lucho)
12. Illumina (Unknown)
13. Medicini Curay Curay (Unknown)
14. Ikarunchi Medicuni (Diego Palma)
15. Tahuario (José Campos)
16. Behukito (Arturo Mena Salas)
17. Abuelita (Arturo Mena Salas)
18. Taiti (Don Lucho)
19. Tunkashila (Traditional Lakota Song)
20. All is Welcome Here (Deva Prema and Miten)