Soga del Alma
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Soga del Alma, the vine of the soul, is a church legally registered in Peru in order to formalize "the spiritual ceremonies that have been occurring in the amazon for the last 100 years."
Alma del Soga was founded by Alan Shoemaker, who was born in the mountains of Southeastern Kentucky in the United States, in June, 2001
The church "accepts membership from all, regardless of race, creed, age, etc.. [but] does not condone the use of the sacred power plants to anyone under the age of 18 unless they are accompanied by their parent or guardian."
[edit] Activities
The church is organising an annual conference in Iquitos, Peru, where the church is located. The title of the 2007 conference is "3rd International Amazonian Shamanism Conference: Healing Plants and Navigational Tools" and will take place in Iquitos from July 7-14; the conference web site notes:
"In its core, this meeting will allow to make contact with Ayahuasca through curanderos who dedicate their lives to introduce people to it, in the setting they have always been working: the largest forest of the world. This meeting is therefore mainly a meeting with the teacher and healer Ayahuasca in her homeland. There will also be Curanderos who heal with other plants or by other means. Ayahuasca is not going to be the only aspect of this conference; Shamanism will."
In other words, Soga del Alma is a church that works with Ayahuasca, not unlike Santo Daime and other Ayahusaca churches
Soga del Alma recently completed "a second chapel on the Rio Itaya just outside Iquitos".
