The Ritual

At the start of the Kambo Ceremony your Shaman will make a number of small burns in the top layer of your skin, usually on the shoulder. These shallow burn points serve as “gates” which transfer the Kambo directly to your lymphatic system, where the medicine does its work . The Kambo practitioner applies the Kambo to each burn, where the medicine is absorbed and begins to take effect almost immediately.

The Kambo Cleanse

Kambo detoxifies the body by prompting a purging response very quickly.

 The cleanse will start immediately upon application, with the effects including sweating and a rapid heartbeat, as well as feelings of dizziness and nausea. You will quickly progress into the voiding phase which consists of vomiting and/or diarrhea accompanied by continued sensations of warmth/heat and or chills, swelling/pressure, and mild disorientation… much like mild flu symptoms.  

The purge begins to calm and slow after around 15-30 minutes. And while the majority of our clients report immediate feelings of lightness, release, and even mild euphoria, the experience can leave behind a headache and sense of mild exhaustion that lasts a few hours. Throughout this process, the Kambo practitioner supporting your journey will encourage to drink water to continue to flush out the toxins in the body.

Kambo Ceremony: How Does it Work?

Kambo as a medicine works so effectively because it has an adaptogenic effect on the body. While mildly toxic by nature, the venom contains a potent cocktail of peptides that react with your body when applied to create a personalized medicine experience based upon your body’s current chemical structure and needs. Your Shaman or Kambo treatment practitioner will carefully calibrate the dose so it has a beneficial effect. You will also be guided and supported throughout the ritual so that you are as comfortable and safe as possible.

The after-effects of the ceremony can be far-reaching depending on what you are hoping to achieve by taking part in the ceremony. Users have reported short-term feelings of general well-being and a sense of being grounded and connecting to life around them. Longer-term effects are a release of negative energy and emotional blockage, lasting chemical shifts in the brain,  soul retrieval and a feeling of continued refreshing of health and wellness.

Which Medical Illnesses Will It Help With?

In tribal medicine, Kambo ceremonies are conducted to ward off panema (negative energy) and to increase the strength and focus of the hunters before they venture out into the forest. In our more developed society, we can also make use of it to perform a ‘system reset’.

Kambo ceremonies can provoke a long term beneficial effect on certain illnesses. Kambo has been proven to have certain anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties which help to alleviate physical ailments such as migraines, blood-circulation problems and chronic pain. The effects of fever and infection are also reduced after taking part in a Kambo cleanse.

The medicine has also been reported to help treat depression and help combat addiction to opiates.

The ritual needs to be performed in the correct way by your Kambo practitioner or Shaman to have the desired long term effects. Used properly you can gain a wide variety of long term health benefits from Kambo medicine.