Trailer for ‘To The Origin’, the new documentary series by Republic of Light, 2013-2015.

From the Peruvian Amazon rainforest to the Mayan jungle, To The Origin explores the traditional ceremonial uses of plants such as AYAHUASCA with SHIPIBO-CONIBO Onayas (healers)  in Peru and MUSHROOMS with a young MAZATEC HEALER in Mexico.

Created by a nomadic Latin American filmmaker collective known as “Republic of Light”, To The Origin travels into the heart of Latin America to make a portrait of indigenous communities who have preserved ancient knowledge of these medicinal plants through a deeply spiritual relationship with nature.

“This series offers the unique opportunity to hear from indigenous people themselves. Native healers share their mythology, traditions and ways of communication through their visions, dreams, ceremonies and intimate connection with plants”, says Republic of Light collective.

“Our vision is to travel the world finding ancestral traditions that involve the use of sacred medicinal plants that help us remember the connection with nature and a better understanding of our own human nature”, Republic of Light told The Third Eye.

“We found ourselves in need of healing. To heal is to understand our human condition and what is beyond our mundane comprehension of Nature. We decided to devote ourselves as messengers of plants, those beings that master the ability to serve us. […] We believe in a revival, to wake up our ancient memories and adapt sacred knowledge to contemporary lifestyle.”

Stay tuned to watch the first episode of To The Origin, featuring Ayahuasca, to be released this Winter 2015. A feature length is scheduled for release in Fall 2016, www.ToTheOrigin.com

Text Sophie Pinchetti

Photographs from the documentary ‘To The Origin’ by Republic of Light, 2013-2015.

Silvia Lopez, a shaman apprentice from the Shipibo tribe

from the lower Ucayali River, Peru. She smokes tobacco in a ceremonial pipe as means of cleansing and protection before the ayahuasca ceremony. There are many medicine women amongst the Shipibo.

Don Mateo, a Shipibo Shaman

uses Piñon Colorado as his plant guide to perform healing during an ayahuasca ceremony in the Peruvian Amazon.

Ida and Roger Lopez, mother and son of an ancient linage of Shipibo shamans smoke tobacco to start the Ayahuasca Ceremony at Ani Nii Shobo, a healing place of the San Francisco community, Yarinacocha, in the Peruvian Amazon.

Flowers and entheogenic “Derrumbe” mushrooms in the Mazatec mountain range of Oaxaca, Mexico, during the celebration of the Day of the Dead.

Cheo, a traditional Mazatec healer in the Mayan jungle,

24 years old, lives deep in the heart of the mountain range in Oaxaca, Mexico. He uses mushrooms in a ceremonial way to perform healing and communication with the spirit world. There are over 5 different varieties of mushrooms growing in the area where he lives.

Mazatec healer, Cheo, during a mushroom ceremony in Huautla de Jimenez, Oaxaca, Mexico. He uses seven candles as the means of connection with the spirit of seven people that have passed away.