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Welcome to Tricycle Day. We’re the psychedelics newsletter that’s medicine for what ails ya. Assuming what ails ya is doomscroll fatigue and too much mainstream media. 🫠

Jhaimy Alvarez-Acosta has had many great teachers, but the one who’s shaped him the most isn’t even human. After 30 years of study under Wachumita (aka San Pedro), he works with the “master plant” in ways most Westerners have never even heard of, like healing people in their dreams.

We asked Jhaimy why San Pedro isn’t considered medicine in the Andean tradition, what’s lost when you isolate mescaline from the plant, and what dangers await people who enter the spirit world recklessly.

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How did you get initiated into the lineage of Apu Wachumita, and what was your early relationship with San Pedro like?

My grandma worked with plants. She created remedies for people in the community and received clients in the house where I grew up. She was what people now call a healer. Sometimes she used Wachumita, or San Pedro, to prepare things, but her work had nothing to do with spiritual journeys. She used it for its anti-inflammatory properties, for healing bones and muscles.

Later, after she passed and we were living in Lima, I found a teacher who talked about history and tradition. He would show us ceramics that the ancestors created with their faces on them. This teacher introduced me to Wachumita for the first time in ceremony when I was maybe 15. It was overwhelming. I had strong visions of all these different realities. My elder said to me, “Jhaimy, it's good to have this awakening, but you're not ready to continue walking this path. It's really difficult. Go train, prepare, and learn a little more before you meet the master plant again.”

So from there I went back to Cusco and began to study at the university. Later, life brought me the opportunity to find my older teacher, who reintroduced me to Wachumita. I followed him for almost nine years of preparation, and then two or three years of apprenticeship where he was looking at how I directed my own ceremonies. It's a long journey.

What is the difference between a “master plant” and a “plant medicine”?

When I was getting started, my teacher helped me understand all the Andean philosophy, the sacred symbols, and the biology of this path. We had classes and exercises where we'd go to the mountains, contemplate, and touch stones or do simple things that helped us feel connected with nature. At one point he said to me, “Jhaimy, until this point it's been possible for me to teach you. After this, I have to introduce you to my master, my elder." Everyone was waiting. We thought it would be a living person coming that night. Then, he brought out a beautiful ceramic jar and said, “I'm going to introduce you guys to my teacher, my master: Wachumita, San Pedro.” It was a spiritual master, not a physical one.

Every time we held ceremony, the elders talked about “the master,” never about “medicine.” I’m 50 years old, so this was maybe 30 years ago. Every ceremony was like a class. The master would sit with you and have you read one chapter of your own internal book, your own life. From what he would show you, he’d say, “Okay, what did you learn? You see that you made a mistake here because you repeat patterns. Go in this direction right now.” You’d have his guidance.

Years later, at a conference in Cusco, one elder stood up and said, “Humanity is sick. They're disconnected from Mother Earth. We need to help them heal. I think the best way is to let the plant spirits that guide us go out and guide these people, too. Maybe it will be the medicine they need to come back.” That's when the language began to shift toward “medicine,” but the traditional way was always about the master plant as teacher and guide.

How do you typically work with San Pedro in your tradition? When do you bring in San Pedro versus working with other plants or modalities?

The relationship to any master plant isn’t limited to ceremony. The spirits guide us in different ways. Sometimes it's through offerings to the Pachamama or working with specific herbs for physical healing. But when we need deep spiritual guidance, to help someone see their patterns or understand their path, that's when we work with Wachumita in ceremony.

One thing people don't understand is that we also work with people in their sleep. When someone has a deep issue, sometimes the best healing happens when they're dreaming. I had one client dealing with heavy trauma. We did work with him in ceremony, but the real breakthrough came when the master plant visited him in his dreams over several nights. He woke up with clarity he couldn't get any other way. This is traditional work. Sometimes just a drop is enough to create that connection.

As a facilitator, you learn to listen to what the master plant is telling you about each person. Sometimes people come in thinking they need a big ceremony, but what they actually need is to learn how to make offerings to the earth. Other times, someone needs a deep journey right away. And when you are guiding ceremony, you always need to drink at least a little bit yourself to stay connected, hold the space, and be aware of where everyone is in the spiritual world.

Have you ever tried synthetic mescaline? How does that experience compare to working with the master plant?

I tried synthetic mescaline once, maybe 10 years ago, because I was curious. The first thing I noticed is that the experience is totally different. With the synthetic, you have visions, but there's no guidance. It's like you're floating around without a teacher to direct you. You're having an experience, but you're not learning anything or being shown where you need to grow.

With Wachumita, there's an intelligence guiding you. The plant spirit sits with you, shows you specific things you need to see, asks you questions, and helps you understand your life. It's a relationship. The plant has thousands of years of wisdom and knows exactly what you need. With the synthetic, it's just chemistry. You get some effects, but the spirit is not there. There's no master, no teacher.

The other big difference is that Wachumita has many alkaloids and compounds that work together, not just mescaline. It's a whole, balanced plant intelligence. The synthetic is just one isolated molecule. Some people think they can just take the active ingredient and get the same effect, but they're missing the point. It's like trying to learn from a book instead of sitting with a real teacher who knows you personally.

What are the risks when people enter the spirit world without proper guidance from a master plant?

When you open these doors to the spirit world without knowing how to protect yourself, you're putting yourself at risk. The spirit world is real. There are spirits that can help you and spirits that can hurt you. If you don't know how to navigate that space, you can get lost or bring something back with you that you don't want.

I've had people come to me after they've done ceremonies with facilitators who weren't properly trained, and they're dealing with attachments, intrusive spirits, or energy that's not their own. They can't sleep. They're having nightmares. They feel like something is following them. This happens when someone opens the door but doesn't know how to close it properly. In our tradition, we spend years learning the prayers, songs, and protections used to call in the right spirits and keep out the ones that don't belong.

Another risk is that people can have psychological breaks if they're not ready. The master plant knows how to dose the experience, how to show you only what you can handle. But if you're just taking a substance without that spiritual guidance, you might see things you're not prepared to integrate or open up trauma you don't know how to process. This is why the relationship with the master plant is so important. It's not just about having visions; it's about having a wise teacher who knows you and what you need, and who can guide you safely through these realms.

Want more from Jhaimy?

Learn about his upcoming programs and connect with him through The Path and Children of the Seven Rays.

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DISCLAIMER: This newsletter is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. The use, possession, and distribution of psychedelic drugs are illegal in most countries and may result in criminal prosecution.