August 1-8 & 10-17, 2024 | Guant Bay - Bala,Muskoka, ON
Join us on the breathtaking lands of the Anishnabeeg (Ojibway and Chippewa) and the territory of the Wahta Mohawk peoples - commonly known as Bala in Muskoka, Ontario.
Tobacco Dieta
Dietas
We commit to experiencing a diet (dieta) when we are ready to deepen our relationship with the plant allies or Master Teachers of the plant world. Different plants have different healing properties and can teach us different things. Every plant can heal specific conditions and also has the ability to teach us about its own unique light. Ultimately all plants are pointing us towards the same truth, that which we are. These plants are teaching us about nature, natural law, ourselves, and our place in this world, and opening us to worlds beyond. Beyond all, they are teaching us to be in harmony, to be at peace, and to live in accordance with Truth, and with Knowledge, and not book knowledge, but experiential knowledge.
The dieta experience is when we go into isolation for a certain amount of time. We allow ourselves to go inwards with the plant ally without any distractions so that we can clear the chaos within and receive the clarity we are seeking.
Tobacco
Tobacco, or mapacho as it is called in the Amazon, is a sacred medicine of people all throughout the Americas, where it is indigenous to. It is often said that tobacco is the grandfather plant, from which all other plants sprung forth. In the Amazon, tobacco has an almost universe appeal as medicine, spanning most indigenous groups.
During one week you will deepen your connection with yourself, clear your body and mind and step into a relationship with Grandfather Tobacco
The Tobacco Dieta is held by Merav Artzi and Jason Sadhana Grechanik. Combined they have worked with and guided over a thousand people in ceremonies working with various plants. It is a great opportunity to work with both a very experienced male and female guide, bringing a balanced energy and presence to your experience and ceremony.
This Tobacco Dieta is hosted by Divine Roots and we are excited to have Merav and Jason come to serve in Ontario, Canada, and the Divine Roots Community!
“Tobacco allows us to see things as they actually are.” ~JASON GRECHANIK
Your Tabaqueros
Merav Artzi
A trained plant medicine healer (Tabaquera-Curandera), offering ceremonies and diets with Tobacco and other Master Plants for healing and learning, in Urubamba, the Sacred Valley of the Inca, Peru.
The work is held in small groups and individual sessions, with attention to the personal needs and goals of each participant.
This work is suitable for those who want to embody the values that Tobacco promotes, and incorporate them into their initiation process with other master plants such as San Pedro and Ayahuasca
For individuals who need grounding or help with the integration of other types of spiritual practices
For those feeling a call to create a positive change in their lives and connect with their needs through Shamanic work
For students of plant medicine who want to learn, heal and connect with Master Plants
Jason Grechanik
Jason’s journey has led him around the world in search of questions he has had about life.
Early in his twenties, he began to develop a keen interest in plants: as food, as nutrition, as life, and as medicine.
That curiosity eventually led him to the Amazon where he began to work with plants to learn traditional ways of healing. His experience combines many different modalities of working with plants. The plants of the Amazon, and the ways in which the peoples of Amazon work with them, have had a revelatory effect on his life.
Jason came to work at the ayahuasca healing center Temple of the Way of Light in 2012 where he would stay for nearly a decade. After having worked with ayahuasca quite extensively, he began the process of dieting plants. He has dieted in the Shipibo tradition and began working with maestro Ernesto Garcia Torres in 2013, delving deep into the world of dieting.
Through a prolonged apprenticeship and training, involving prolonged isolation, fasting, and dieting of plants, he was given the blessing to begin working plants. After working for some time as a tabaquero, he was eventually given the ability to administer diets; to share in the tradition from which he had learned and which has taught him so much. He has been living, learning, and working in Peru for the last ten years. He currently runs dietas in the Sacred Valley of Peru and abroad. Jason works through the medium of the master plant tobacco and with tree medicines from the Amazon rainforest and increasingly with trees from North America and Europe.
Jason sees himself, in part, as a bridgekeeper. Inspired by one of his teachers, Imika, and the Tubu nation of the Colombian Amazon, who have a tale of a new breed of people called the Diroamassä. The Diramassä, or Children of the New Dawn, are a Tubu prophecy of a next-generation of people who are able to bridge the medicines of the Four Directions to create a new maloca, the Amazonian word for a house or a ceremonial space.
UPDATE: Jason found out, after we had planned this retreat, that he is going to be a father! The expected due date is shortly before the retreat. So depending on the circumstances there is a chance Jason may not be able to be physically present at the retreat. We know this may come as a disappointment to some, however, Jason & Merav have run two retreats like this previously in the USA when Merav was not able to be present and the retreats ran seamlessly. If Jason is not able to be present, he will still be helping with the retreat and very involved. Guests will interact with him daily via Zoom. It’s essentially the same as if he was present except communication with him will be virtual. Jason will still see guests daily, do dream work with them, sing to them, and do his work with them daily. Medicine will be poured by Merav and our assistant Timmie will facilitate all interaction between the guests and Jason. The retreats where we have done this before worked well and none felt anything was lost.
If Jason can come he will be happy to be there in person. We most likely won’t have a definitive answer either way until close to the start date of the retreat. We apologize for the potential change. If he’s able to be present then nothing will be changed and the retreat will proceed exactly as planned. And if he is not able to be present and he needs to work virtually, we are confident the retreat will be a success just as it has been in the past.
Dieta Investment
Tent experience: $2,045CDN | $1,510 USD| Per week
USD is approximate based on the exchange rate at the time of payment
Dieter provides their own small tent and camping gear
1 Left for Week #2
—oR—
Private Room: $2,791 CDN |$2,060 USD| Per Week
USD is approximate based on the exchange rate at the time of payment
1 spot left for Week #1!
$500 CDN | (approx $370 USD ) non Refundable Deposit to secure your spot
Dieta Costs Include:
Initial consultation & recommendation
8 days / 7 nights plant dieta
Daily Plant Dieta Ceremony
Light Daily Breakfast & Lunch (evening are fasting for the Plant Dieta)
Room or camping by the lake (Bring your own tents & gear)
Access to the Retreat House facilities (bathroom, kitchen, shower)
Daily support and coaching from Merav Artzi and Jason Sadhana Grechanik
Post Dieta Integration Support
Dieta for 2 Weeks is available for those who want to do a deep dive with the plants and themselves – simply let us know when you fill out your application.
Accommodations
Following travel policies of Ontario, below is registration for retreat services, programming & meals. Accommodation is not allowed to be included in retreat pricing however, accommodation for the retreat is graciously donated (at no extra cost) from the venue. Rooms are booked separately by contacting venue directly after retreat registration. **There will be no further accommodation costs that will be owing. Again, due to travel laws of Ontario, this is the way retreats need to be legally set up, advertised and organized as Divine Roots cannot legally sell accommodation as a retreat leader.
Cancellation/Refund policy: No exceptions to this policy. A 50% refund is available if cancelling 61 days or more from retreat start date. Then, due to limited retreat spots and costs to cover retreat, no refunds are available if cancelling 60 days or less prior to retreat. If one spot is cancelled in a shared room, the room becomes open for another random registration. If retreat is cancelled due to Covid-19 or any other reason, a full refund is provided. **Please note: Divine Roots follow government guidelines for Covid-19. Status/numbers of covid-19 may change by your retreat date – above policy remains in place including reasons related to covid-19.
Bala- Muskoka, Ontario
The serenity of the river and the beauty of Gaunt Bay
