Jakon Rate creates educational spaces and opportunities to practice, learn, and transmit the ancestral wisdom of the Shipibo-Konibo to future generations for the collective wellbeing of life in the Amazon Rainforest and beyond.

Inspired and guided by the great grandmother Manuela Mahua Ahuanari and the essence of her true name, Jakon Rate – ‘A Life-Giving Good Surprise’ – Asociación Jakon Rate is dedicated to helping current and new generations learn and practice the Shipibo-Konibo culture with educational workshops, plant medicine ceremonies, and traditional samá to deeply connect with the plants and animals from the forests and rivers of the Shipibo-Konibo homelands—through life-giving good shocks to the system—to help us reconnect to our source energy. Jakon Rate!

Jakon Rate is a plant medicine education center and a school of living knowledge. Unlike many centers in the Amazon and beyond, we are not a foreign-owned, for-profit business. We are a Shipibo-owned institute of education that exists to protect, transmit, and embody a specific spiritual, cultural, and familial lineage rooted in the Shipibo‑Konibo tradition.

Our work is rooted in the Mahua family lineage, guided by the essence and teachings of Noya Rao, and grounded in the ancient tradition of samá (diet). When you work with us, you are directly supporting a Shipibo-Konibo family and lineage that has carried traditional healing knowledge for countless generations. What we teach and offer—with the plants, our lineage, our land, and one’s own inner life—illuminates a lifelong relationship of cultivating deeper humility, reciprocity, compassion, integrity, and love.

What We Teach

Education at Jakon Rate is about more than just ceremony; it is about developing the tools to sustain an integrated life guided by the jakon nete. Our focus is not on peak experiences, but on integration, continuity, and daily practice. Our curriculum includes:

• The tradition of samá (masterplant diet) and how we work with Amazonian plants as an ancient living technology

• Shipibo‑Konibo language and how language is used within ceremonial contexts, as well as the art of singing and “opening the voice”

• Traditional ceremony and the cultural frameworks that hold sacred plant work

• Self‑reflection and connection with nature as a foundation for healing and clarity

• Energetic maintenance tools for sustaining your connection and maintaining your energetic field once you leave the samá and/or ceremonial container

How You Learn

At Jakon Rate, learning unfolds through direct relationship rather than instruction alone. Most of your learning is self-guided and done in containers of deep listening, self-reflection, and self-study. This process—guided by the plants more so than direct instruction—asks for patience, sincerity, and presence. Your education with us is:

• Experiential: You learn by doing, feeling, and observing.
• Direct from Nature: You learn to connect deeply with the forest and your own inner nature.
• Guided by the Grandmothers: You are held by the wisdom and work of the matriarchs of our lineage.
• Disciplined: We emphasize the embodiment of what you learn, fostering self-love and compassion through self-discipline.

Designed for students who feel called to go deeper through quiet, isolation, and self‑reflection. It emphasizes discipline, commitment, and long‑term relationship with the plants.

We’re so grateful for the students that come to work with us and make up our community. Jakon Rate tends to attract those who:

• Are looking for a safe, authentic, and traditional container with cultural credibility and ethical clarity, that centers women and grandmother wisdom

• Have had introductory experiences with plant medicine elsewhere and feel called to go deeper in their learning with a traditional lineage and more intimate container

• Are bridging plant medicine with other fields such as language, art, agroforestry, or land stewardship, or cultural education

If any of these resonate with you, our center may be a great fit.