Although I had some fatigue after this session, the following day I had more vitality and focus than I had experienced in years. The process was quick (lasting 30 min – 1hr on average) but also intensely detoxifying, especially for the liver. The experience that time was more mild than I had built up in my psyche, and was the perfect compliment and closing to working with the Grandmother Master Teacher plant, Ayahuasca. “I didn’t have enough money then to journey all the way to their remote village, but Juan was able to arrange a meeting with a couple of the elders (Pepe and Luisa) in his camp, where Peter Gorman takes his groups. We fished, cooked, learned how to prepare nunu (medicinal sniffing tobacco), and they taught me how to find the frog and the ritual to extract his venom. Our Costa Rica retreat center always ensures these ceremonies are conducted in a safe and sustainable manner.
Kambo ceremonies help our clients to release themselves from what no longer serves them, whether it be past pain, blocks or physical pain. If it is your first time working with Kambo, we use the traditional standard treatment below.
How to collect kambo
The toxin contains several different compounds which can cause adverse side effects like nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or abdominal cramping. You may also experience an opioid-like mellow feeling or euphoria. Because the poison comes into direct contact with the flesh of the person attempting the kambo ritual, it goes straight into the lymphatic system and the bloodstream, its effects are almost instantaneous. The Kambo secretion is applied to the skin after small burns are made with the tip of a stick. Kambo is a natural substance containing peptides that the human body recognizes. Italian scientist Vittorio Erspamer of the University of Rome wrote that this secretion contains a ‘fantastic chemical cocktail with potential medical applications, unequaled by any other amphibian’ (1).
THE KAMBO CLINIC
Read more about Peruvian Matses Kambo Practitioner Training here. Next, Todd gave Lauren and Katie a few minutes of silence to set some internal intentions and goals for the ceremony. After that, Todd gave Lauren and Katie some Rapé (pronounced “ha-peh”) or shamanic snuff, which is inhaled through the nose. Today, Kambo is growing in popularity as shamans guide biohackers and health enthusiasts alike through the intense cleansing experience, which involves 20 minutes of flu-like purging. People considering taking part in a cleanse should talk to their doctor first. The body is able to cleanse itself and needs no assistance with herbs or poisons from a frog. Doctors never recommend burning the skin, and if there is a burn, they will recommend traditional treatment approaches instead.
What are the physical effects of Kambo?
“Once the gates are made, I scrape the kambo off the stick, using a little water. It becomes a putty, I put the little balls on the opening of the gates—where it enters the body.” Just before administering the kambo, she asks people to drink some water.