PILGRIMAGE TO CHAWPIN
MAY 2027
The Return of Memory is a pilgrimage through the Andean mountains, toward the center of the center — Chavín de Huántar.
7 - 22 May, 2027
Embark on a sacred pilgrimage into the heart of the Andes, to the ancient ceremonial center of Chavín de Huántar — the living home of Tsunaq.
For thousands of years, seekers have made their way into this valley not as tourists, but as initiates. They came to listen. To sit in ceremony. To place themselves in right relationship with land, lineage, and spirit.
The Return of Memory is not about acquiring something new. It is about remembering what has always lived within you.
Over sixteen days, we will gather in the Cordillera Blanca of Peru and immerse ourselves in the rhythm of this sacred territory. Through four Tsunaq ceremonies, daily prayer, time within the temple complex, simple communal living, and intentional integration, we create space for clarity to arise naturally.
This journey is not built on intensity. It is built on presence.
We will visit sacred sites. We will sit with the mountains. We will practice reciprocity through offerings to the land. We will allow silence to do its work.
And in that steady rhythm, something ancient begins to reorganize itself inside.
CHAVIN ~ Ceremonial and Higher Studies Center
Chavín de Huántar has been inhabited since at least 3000 BC, with its ceremonial life reaching extraordinary sophistication over millennia. Located at a meeting point between jungle and coast, the valley became a powerful hub of exchange — not only of goods, but of ideas, ritual technologies, and spiritual understanding.
The temple complex was designed with remarkable precision. Its plazas, stairways, and underground galleries form a ceremonial architecture that guides initiates through spaces of sound, shadow, resonance, and light.
Carved stone reliefs depict figures holding the sacred cactus, affirming the central place of Tsunaq within Chavín culture. Entering the underground chambers was not symbolic — it was experiential. Initiates descended physically into the body of the temple, moving through narrow passageways and echoing corridors that reshaped perception.
Chawpín means Center. The center of its center.
To walk here is to feel intelligence embedded in stone. The temple is not simply an archaeological site. It is a field of memory, still palpable, still instructive.
TSUNAQ ~The Medicine of Silence
In the Chavín region, the sacred cactus known elsewhere as Huachuma or San Pedro is called Tsunaq.
“Tsu” means silence. Tsunaq is often translated as “the one who silences the mind.”
The human relationship with this plant in the Cordillera Blanca region dates back at least 8,000 years, making it one of the longest continuous ceremonial traditions on Earth. Stone reliefs within the temple show ceremonial processions led by a maestro carrying the cactus, confirming its central role in initiation and cultural transmission.
Tsunaq was not used in isolation from cosmology. It was woven into a living system of meaning, responsibility, and learning.
Working with this master plant in its ancestral home restores context.
The distinct variety that grows in this region carries a profoundly grounded and transformational character. It is steady. Clear. Rooted.
Tsunaq is a willing and powerful companion. It does not impose. It does not overwhelm. It gently invites you toward your edges in a sustainable way, increasing sensitivity to the parts of yourself that require tending and care.
In that quieting of the mind, awareness sharpens. Perspective widens. Presence deepens.
And what emerges is not escape — but integration.
MEET YOUR GUIDES
MAESTRA CECILIA
Descended from curandero grandparents in a village north of Chavín de Huántar, Maestra Cecilia carries a living lineage of ritual relationship with Tsunaq and the ceremonial traditions of the Conchucos Valley.
She is a researcher and teacher of Quechua knowledge and values, devoted to preserving and revitalizing the ancestral wisdom of her people. Through her own process of reflection and ceremony, she returned to the vibrational language embedded in the words of her parents and community — farmers, ritualists, and memory keepers.
For Cecilia, Tsunaq is not a concept. It is a cultural inheritance rooted in land, language, and lived experience. She is the founder of Yarpakuti Chavín, an association dedicated to preserving the Quechua language and weaving generational bridges between elders and youth.
To sit with Maestra Cecilia is to sit with continuity.
RAÚL
Researcher of the Quechua ancestral tradition of the Conchucos Valley and apprentice of the Tsunaq path, Raúl bridges scholarship and lived ceremonial practice.
With studies in anthropology and music, and as director of Yarpakuti Chawpín Cultural Association, he works to preserve and transmit the cultural knowledge of his lineage in ways that remain dynamic and relevant.
In ceremony, he brings grounded presence, music, and a quiet strength that steadies the space. His songs are born from his relationship with Tsunaq and the land of Chavín itself, carrying the cadence and memory of the valley.
He holds tradition with humility and warmth.
JOAQUÍN
Composer, musician, and community weaver, Joaquín walks with a deep commitment to reconnecting modern people with ancestral wisdom.
After years researching diverse American cosmovisions, he continues as a seeker of living knowledge, studying the threads that unite land, culture, and consciousness across the continent.
Through music, story, and attentive presence, he helps awaken what he calls the essential seed memory of humanity. His sound carries coherence and depth, opening subtle spaces within ceremony and community alike.
He moves between worlds with sensitivity and devotion.
PAULA
Researcher and apprentice of Andean traditions, Paula serves as a bridge between ancestral wisdom and contemporary life.
For years she has walked in relationship with this land, studying its cosmology, sitting in ceremony, and accompanying healing processes with master plants through presence and deep listening. Her role is not to lead from above, but to walk beside — holding a grounded and clear container where insight can be integrated into lived life.
This valley has shaped her deeply. Its silence, its stones, its teachers have informed both her devotion and her responsibility.
It is an honor for her to guide others back to this land — and back to themselves.
RECIPROCITY & LOGISTICS
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The contribution for this pilgrimage is $3,600 USD and includes all lodging and transportation within Chavin, all ceremonies ,and meals. Does not include transport to and from Lima, Peru.
Earlybird - apply by June 21st: 3,400 USD
Group Size: Limited to 10 participants -
15 nights & 16 days of accomodation in Chavin
4 Tsunaq ceremonies.
Offerings to the land.
Visit to Sacred sites.
All the nutritious, wholesome Andean-based meals.
Workshops & activities.
Ground transportation in Chavin.
Supported preparation and integration sessions.
English - Spanish - Quechua translation.
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Flight costs.
Visa costs.
Travel insurance or any other travel expenses.
Additional hotel bookings (if arriving early or staying later).
Transport Lima - Chavin - Lima.
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To begin your journey, please email us at connect@colibritemple.com. We would love to hear about you and your intention for joining this pilgrimage. Feel free to reach out with any questions, we’re happy to support you.
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The first step is to fill out a registration form. After that, we will schedule a check-in call to explore your intention for participating in this retreat. Once confirmed, a non-refundable deposit of $500 USD will be required to reserve your space.
We recommend using Wise for all payments.
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Cancellations made more than 90 days prior will receive a full refund, minus the non-refundable deposit.
Cancellations within 90 days of the event are non-refundable. However, if you (or we) find a suitable participant to take your place, a refund may be considered.
Please understand that due to the nature of this work, we maintain a strict cancellation policy. You can read more about it here.
TRUST THE CALLING
To walk into Chavín is to step into a current that has been moving for thousands of years. The work here is subtle, steady, and deeply relational. Nothing is forced. Nothing is rushed.
Throughout this pilgrimage, you will be supported by Maestra Cecilia, Raúl, Joaquín, Pau, the mountains, the temple, and the sacred land itself. Each of us holds the space differently — through lineage, music, translation, presence, and care — yet we move as one container.
We share practices of prayer and offering, along with grounded tools for integration and nervous system regulation, so that what opens here does not remain a moment, but becomes embodied understanding.
And when the call is true, it rarely feels like overthinking. It feels like recognition.
The body softens. The breath deepens. Something inside says, yes.
When that happens, there is nothing to convince.
Only a step to take.