I participated in Pachamama Sacred Paths for 1.5 years until 2025, attending five ceremonies in various locations across California. From the very first ceremony, it was an absolutely life-changing experience. The medicine literally saved me. I’m genuinely grateful to all the facilitators and volunteers of Pachamama Sacred Paths for creating a protected environment for healing. I never doubted their intentions and always felt relaxed and safe. I am thankful for the opportunity the universe gave me to meet these amazing people: Chelsea, Donny, Kendal, Yvonne, and all the whole-hearted volunteers.
However, I could never fully trust Andres, the organization’s founder. My intuition and gut feelings consistently screamed that his intentions might not be as pure as he presented them. Although I never met him in person, we exchanged messages occasionally. Most of our communication was around logistical questions about upcoming retreats, including fees and other details. Sometimes a topic might be deeper, such as my intention to become a shaman. All questions related to money were promptly answered 🙂
Be advised that as of 2025, the organization charges participants $999 for various online meetings, which include Q&A sessions, yoga, breathwork, and some ceremonies, etc. I might not have the full list of events because I was never interested in online events, but the $999 payment is mandatory. Medicine offline ceremonies require a separate payment.
Regarding Pachamama Sacred Paths’ online training and courses, I found some of them to be of low quality, at least in 2024. For instance, I attempted to participate in a Shamanic Initiations course, and one of the lessons was merely a recording of a previous group session. We were expected to watch five hours of previously recorded video. As someone with over 10 years of experience in software quality assurance, I have a professional bias toward high-quality products, and I found this disappointing.
I want to believe that the organization was initially created with good intentions, but currently, the overall vibe feels unpleasant and raises many questions. Andres refers to his community as a “family,” which sounds a bit hypocritical to me.
Anyway, I am grateful for this experience, and I sincerely wish the Pachamama community all the best.
With love.