What Holding Ceremony Really Means: A Conversation With Samuel (video)

And here’s the truth most people don’t hear at the beginning.

Ayahuasca is not about chasing experiences. It’s not about visions, labels, or shortcuts. It’s about responsibility. About how you live. About how you relate to life when the ceremony ends.

At Camino al Sol, this understanding didn’t come from books or trends. It came from years of walking alongside elders, families, and traditions rooted in the Amazon. In this short conversation, Samuel, one of the founders of Camino al Sol, shares what it really means to hold ceremony, to safeguard ancestral knowledge, and to remember a way of life that modern culture has largely forgotten.

Recreating a Way of Life, Not an Experience

Camino al Sol was never created to offer “ayahuasca experiences.”

It was created to recreate a way of life.

For more than a decade, the families behind Camino al Sol have worked with sacred medicines in close relationship with elders from the Amazon. What they bring to this territory in Colombia is not a performance or a product, but a living transmission of teachings, traditions, and values that have been passed down through generations.

This work is not about copying rituals. It is about embodying a worldview. One that understands ceremony as part of daily life, not an escape from it.

Why Territory Matters

There is a reason this work happens where it does.

Territory holds memory. Land remembers. Certain places make it easier to reconnect with ways of living that are aligned with nature, community, and responsibility. Near Medellín, the land where Camino al Sol gathers supports remembrance, not through spectacle, but through silence, rhythm, and relationship.

This is not accidental. It is intentional. The territory supports the process of remembering traditions that were never meant to be separated from the land that shaped them.

Safeguarding Ancestral Knowledge

One of the strongest messages Samuel shares is the responsibility to safeguard knowledge.

Not to own it.
Not to commercialize it.
Not to dilute it.

But to protect it and pass it forward with respect.

In a time when plant medicines are often removed from context, lineage, and care, this responsibility becomes even more important. Camino al Sol exists to slow things down. To keep the work grounded. To ensure that what is shared remains connected to its roots.

If you want to understand how this responsibility translates into practice, we recommend reading our Ayahuasca Safety Guide, where preparation, limits, and personal responsibility are explained clearly and honestly.

Studying Life, Not Escaping It

This path is not for everyone. And that’s intentional.

The invitation Samuel shares is not an invitation to consume a ceremony, but to study life. To keep discovering. To remember the essence of what it means to be human.

Growth here is not measured by peak moments, but by how teachings are integrated into daily living. Relationships. Choices. Accountability. This is why integration is emphasized as much as ceremony itself.

If this resonates, you may also find clarity in the reflection shared in A Healing Journey Is Not a Straight Line, which explores why real change unfolds over time, not overnight.

Camino al Sol and the Work in Colombia

Camino al Sol is based in Colombia and works in close relationship with indigenous wisdom, local families, and international participants who are willing to approach this work with humility and respect.

For those researching an authentic ayahuasca retreat in Colombia, it’s important to understand that authenticity is not a label. It’s a lived commitment to safety, lineage, and responsibility.

You can also learn more about the context of this work in Best Place to Drink Ayahuasca in Medellín, where location, facilitation, and ethics are explored in depth.

An Invitation, Not a Promise

This video is not a promise of healing.
It is not a guarantee of transformation.

It is an invitation.

An invitation to slow down. To listen. To question your intentions. And to approach this work with the seriousness it deserves.

If you feel resonance, take your time. Read. Ask questions. Learn about who we are and how we work through our About Camino al Sol page.

The real ceremony, as the elders remind us, is life itself.