As I delved into my exploration of plant medicine, I stumbled upon a fascinating medicine known for its remarkable healing properties: Kambo. This mystical substance, also dubbed the “Giant Monkey Frog” or “Giant Leaf Frog,” is extracted from the skin of the Phyllomedusa bicolor frog, a creature that calls the depths of the Amazon rainforest home. For centuries, indigenous tribes of the Amazon have revered kambo for its medicinal prowess and as a conduit for spiritual purification.

Kambo isn’t your run-of-the-mill remedy; it’s administered through small burns or superficial incisions on the skin, serving as a conduit for the potent kambo secretion. Packed with peptides and an array of bioactive compounds, kambo is believed to wield a myriad of effects on the human body: from expelling toxins and fortifying immunity to alleviating pain and sharpening mental acuity.

In the heart of tradition, kambo finds its place as a ritualistic medicine, often intertwining its essence with other sacred plant allies like Ayahuasca. The experience it offers is visceral, triggering intense physical responses such as purging, heightened heart rates, and profuse sweating — all seen as a visceral cleansing of both body and spirit. All of which I experienced first-hand!

As for my own journey, I found myself drawn to partake in a ceremony hosted by TAP (The Ancestor Project), long before the organization was tainted by internal conflict. Nestled within the serene confines of a yoga studio, around 15 participants gathered, united in their quest for healing. The space was meticulously cleansed with sage, setting the stage for a profound journey ahead. Throughout the ceremony, amidst the blur of purging and profound introspection, I didn’t observe any conflicts among the facilitators or participants — or perhaps, I was simply too consumed by my own cathartic experience.

For me, this ceremony was a purifying odyssey. While it lacked the emotional release of my encounters with ayahuasca, it gifted me with a tangible sense of liberation from lingering toxins and a newfound clarity of mind. In the days following the ceremony, my face bore the telltale signs of swelling, a testament to the intensity of the experience. Truth be told, between the searing burns and the relentless purging, kambo proved to be a difficult adversary, surpassing even the trials of ayahuasca.

But why did I subject myself to such an ordeal? Perhaps it was the lingering echoes of a profound spiritual awakening, propelling me to seek out new avenues of healing. While kambo did infuse me with a surge of energy and provided respite from my mild depression, it didn’t quite feel like the tool I needed to excavate the root causes of my trauma. And so, fueled by an unrelenting thirst for healing, I embarked on the next leg of my transformative journey. The Mushroom!