The Rehearsal Is Over: Reflections on the World Ayahuasca Forum & Nova Aliança
When over 1,700 people gathered in Girona for the World Ayahuasca Forum (co-organized by Benjamin de Loenen and the ICEERS team alongside Indigenous foundations like Instituto Yorenka Tasorentsi and Instituto Nixiwaka) the vision was unmistakable: establish a Nova Aliança (New Alliance) between Western thinking and ancestral Indigenous knowledge.
While named the World Ayahuasca Forum, the dialogue reached far beyond. It extended across the entire tapestry of sacred ancestral traditions, placing Jurema alongside peyote, sacred mushrooms, coca, tobacco, bufo, and many more. Speaking of these sacred plants at World Ayahuasca Forum was to touch on something far deeper than just the botanical chemistry; it was bridging Indigenous autonomy, spirituality, public policy, academic research, and territorial guardianship. In a world on the brink of its ecological limits (where the Western "story of separation" has reached its limit) building this respectful bridge has never been more urgent.
When you Stepped into the crowded halls, you could just feel the weight of the moment with your bare hands. On one side sat panels debating active molecules, legal defense frameworks, and laboratory data. On the other stood the guardians of the Amazon, carrying a quiet, ancient presence that required no permission to exist. They were truly the beating heart of the gathering. You didn't just listen to the presentations; you felt history moving in real time.
In a sea of highlights, Yawanawá leader Nixiwaka Biraci Brasil commanded total silence, effortlessly pushing back against the modern urge to reduce ancestral heritage to a commercial commodity. Traditional Amazonian wisdom is an autonomous, living science. One that needs no reductionist validation.
When Adana Omágua Kambeba stepped up to the microphone, an energetic shift rippled through the room. She didn't offer a defensive argument or seek approval from foreign institutions. Looking directly into the crowd, she declared with absolute clarity:
"A nossa ciência tradicional indígena, ela não espera validação da ciência ocidental... O nosso conhecimento está vivo e isso já basta. Não precisamos provar nada."
("Our traditional Indigenous science does not wait for validation from Western science... Our knowledge is alive and that is enough. We don't need to prove anything.")
Chills ran through the hall. Benki Piyãko Ashaninka amplified this exact truth, reminding us that the forest itself is the ultimate living university. It is a sanctuary of wisdom that has no need for a lab coat to demonstrate its depth.
All in all, the true highlight of the forum was witnessing Indigenous women step into spiritual governance. Definitely not as a symbolic gesture, but as a structural evolution. Esneda Hurtado reframed plant protection around maternal creation, reminding us that attempting to commercialize or patent sacred traditions is like trying to patent the sun. Fernanda Kaingáng brought immense legal courage to territorial defense, declaring they would be "legends, not statistics." Vari Puyanawa reminded the room that if the brew represents masculine strength, the leaf is the feminine light. Without that maternal balance, planetary integration remains out of reach.
For everyone present, this was no casual conference or exploratory exercise. It was a tipping point. The central message landed with unmistakable force: the era of extraction and curiosity without responsibility is over. We have the perspective. The only question is whether we dare to act on it.
With our hearts full we were on our way home. Leaving the hall, we happened to run into the author Charles Eisenstein, whose keynote had deeply moved us. Stepping up to express our gratitude, we shared a particular truth from his speech we would carry home:
"The rehearsal is over. We no longer rehearse playing with the future of humanity.
