4-Day Vine-Only Ayahuasca Retreat near Barcelona | 3 Ceremonies with Mauricio

Three ceremonies. Four days. One intimate group.

This retreat brings together Mauricio’s distinctive vine-only medicine from Colombia and Casa Oraya’s approach to preparation, nature, human connection and integration.

Over four days, a maximum of twelve participants will be guided through three ceremonies: two during the day and one at night.

The intention is not to rush from one ceremony to the next. The body and mind are given time to slow down, become familiar with the medicine and enter the experience gradually.

Meet Mauricio

Mauricio is originally from Putumayo in southern Colombia, a region where working with plants has held an important place for many generations.

His way of working retains a traditional ceremonial form: he grows the vine himself, remains involved throughout its preparation and guides ceremonies through icaros, drum, instruments and silence.

However, Mauricio does not claim membership in or representation of any particular Indigenous tradition, community or lineage.

His approach has developed through a direct, personal and long-standing relationship with the vine, together with many years of practice and ceremonial guidance.

Mauricio grows the Banisteriopsis caapi vine in his own garden in Colombia and is personally involved in every stage of its preparation. The medicine is prepared slowly over a period of approximately one month.

This direct knowledge of the plant is reflected in the precision of his work and the attention he gives to each participant.

During the ceremonies, the music is not simply played in the background. The icaros, drum, instruments and periods of silence accompany the different stages of the experience, support attention and help participants remain connected to their bodies.

Mauricio does not impose a direction or interpret the experience on behalf of the person living it. He observes, listens and responds to what is happening while respecting each participant’s individual pace.

A medicine prepared with the vine alone

The defining feature of Mauricio’s approach is that he works exclusively with Banisteriopsis caapi, without adding any other plants.

Many preparations known as Ayahuasca combine the vine with another plant that provides DMT. Mauricio’s preparation does not contain this additional DMT-containing plant.

This approach places the body, physical sensations and inner listening at the centre of the experience. The process may be subtle, deeply embodied and inward without necessarily being centred on intense visions or spectacular effects.

The human body naturally produces very small amounts of DMT. It has been suggested that the alkaloids in the vine may interact with endogenous DMT, but this mechanism has not been scientifically established.

At Casa Oraya, we prefer to state this clearly rather than present a hypothesis as fact.

What matters is what each participant can observe directly: physical sensations, emotions, images, memories and inner movements that may emerge during the ceremony.

Some understandings arrive immediately. Others reveal themselves gradually as the experience begins to find its place in everyday life.

Why three ceremonies?

Three ceremonies are not offered to accumulate experiences or continually seek greater intensity. They create a natural progression and provide a balance between immersion, rest and integration.

The first ceremony is a time to arrive.

The body and mind are still carrying the speed and responsibilities of everyday life. This first meeting allows participants to become familiar with the place, the group, the medicine and their own sensations.

The second ceremony offers space to deepen.

The environment is now familiar, an initial relationship with the medicine has been established and the mind may begin to release some of its resistance. Participants can return more directly to their intention and deepen their self-observation.

The third ceremony offers a time for harmonisation.

It allows participants to bring together what has been experienced, recognise meaningful connections and prepare for the transition back into everyday life.

Every person may experience the ceremonies differently. These stages are not a compulsory script, but they express the intention behind the progression:

Arrive. Deepen. Harmonise.

The Casa Oraya approach

Casa Oraya works between Spain and Colombia, creating intimate and deeply human spaces around ancestral plant medicines.

We give as much importance to preparation and integration as we do to the ceremonies themselves.

Before the retreat, every participant has an individual conversation with us and completes a confidential health questionnaire. We want to understand who is entering the space rather than simply accept a reservation.

During the retreat, the schedule remains intentionally spacious. There is time to rest, walk, sit outside, share, remain silent and allow each ceremony to settle.

Sharing circles, meditation, breathing practices and individual guidance help participants revisit their experiences without being required to understand or explain everything immediately.

We do not provide ready-made interpretations of visions, symbols or sensations. Our role is to help each person develop their own capacity to listen and find practical ways of integrating what they have experienced.

Nature is part of the experience

The retreat takes place in a peaceful natural setting approximately 45 minutes from Barcelona.

For us, nature is not simply a backdrop. Stepping away from noise and everyday routines helps bring attention back to the body and away from the constant movement of thought.

Between ceremonies, there is space to breathe, walk, rest and observe the living world around us.

This connection can help us rediscover our capacity for contemplation: first observing what exists around us without trying to control it, and then bringing that same quality of attention to what exists within us.

Who is this retreat for?

This format is well suited to people meeting the medicine for the first time. Three ceremonies provide enough time to become familiar with the setting, physical sensations and the medicine without expecting everything to happen during a single experience.

It is also suitable for people already familiar with psychedelic or entheogenic experiences. Mauricio’s vine-only preparation and particular way of guiding may offer a very different relationship with the medicine.

No previous experience is required, and you do not need to arrive with a perfectly defined intention.

The retreat is accompanied in English, French and Spanish.