FELLOWSHIP LEARNING
Original Art by Rene Alvarado Martinez, Oaxaca, Mexico.
The Mazatec Fellowship
for Psychedelic Practitioners
A professional fellowship developed in partnership with Mazatec teachers from the Sierra Mazateca, Oaxaca, Mexico.
Learn directly with one of the living traditions that has stewarded these medicines for generations, and discover how its wisdom can inform and deepen your own practice.
Through a series of written content, live online learning sessions, ceremonial protocol and a multi-day immersive intensive in the Netherlands, participants learn across knowledge systems alongside Mazatec teachers and interdisciplinary faculty.
Note: This fellowship is rooted in the belief that the future of psychedelic care depends not only on understanding the molecule, but on cultivating the context, relationships, and caring capacity that have carried these medicines across generations.
A fellowship, not a training in ceremony.
We do not certify anyone in Mazatec tradition and we do not teach participants to imitate it. We teach what Mazatec teachers choose to share, and the professional capacities to bring it into Western practice with integrity.
Learn from the source, not from summaries.
The Mazatec content of this program is taught with Mazatec teachers, on their terms.
Reciprocity built in, not bolted on.
A defined share of fellowship revenue flows directly to Mazatec-led initiatives, with Mazatec say over what is taught and how. Details below.
From the source to your practice.
Six learning journeys and one in-person intensive.
01 - From Treatment to Relationship
Limits of symptom-reduction models
Relational approaches to healing
Healing as restoration of relationship
Individual, collective, and ecological dimensions of wellbeing
02 - Mazatec Cosmology & Ethics
Introduction to Mazatec worldview
Reciprocity and responsibility
Sacred relationship to place
Cultural context and knowledge stewardship
03 - Territory, Place & Biocultural Intelligence
Place-based knowledge systems
Territory as teacher
Ecological awareness and repair
Biocultural stewardship frameworks
04 - Relational Integration
Beyond individual integration
Family, community, and systems integration
Reciprocity practices
Long-term integration pathways
05 - Facilitating Across Knowledge Systems
Two-Eyed Seeing approaches
Working between Indigenous and clinical frameworks
Ethics of cultural interface
Building trust across worldviews
06 - Stewardship & Future Practice
Reciprocal partnership models
Cultural continuity and responsibility
Governance and accountability
Designing life-serving healing ecosystems
The Netherlands Intensive
The fellowship culminates in a multi-day immersive intensive in the Netherlands with Mazatec teachers and interdisciplinary faculty. Moving from dialogue into lived practice, participants deepen their understanding of preparation, ethics, relational care, integration, and the cultural context that has sustained these medicines across generations.
Through experiential learning, small-group practice, reflection, and direct engagement with Mazatec teachers, participants explore what it means to cultivate the capacity to care before the responsibility to carry psychedelic work into the lives of others. More than a practicum, the intensive is an opportunity to embody the relationships, responsibilities, and ways of seeing that underpin a more life-serving future for psychedelic care.
The intensive takes place within the legal Dutch framework. Additional details regarding experiential components will be shared with accepted participants.
Meet Your Mazatec Guides
Carmen Carrera Castillo
Carmen Carrera Castillo is from Mazatlán Villa de Flores in the Sierra Mazateca. For more than fifty years, she has preserved and practiced the traditional knowledge entrusted to her by her elders, accompanying people through Mazatec ceremonies with deep respect for her community’s worldview, spirituality, and ethics.
A registered nurse, traditional midwife, herbalist, and traditional cook, Carmen brings contemporary medical knowledge into dialogue with Mazatec ancestral wisdom. Her work is rooted in service, attentive listening, care for the land, and the responsible transmission of the living traditions of the Sierra Mazateca.
Aida Lorenzo Carrera
Aida Lorenzo Carrera is from Huautla de Jiménez in the Sierra Mazateca. She comes from a family dedicated to preserving and sharing the traditional knowledge passed down through generations of Mazatec elders and has spent many years supporting her mother, Carmen Carrera Castillo, in the preparation and accompaniment of traditional Mazatec ceremonies.
A nature guide and bioconstruction practitioner, Aida is devoted to cultivating respectful relationships with the land through sustainable tourism, ecological stewardship, and cultural education. Her work builds bridges between the living wisdom of the Mazatec tradition and people from around the world, grounded in humility, reciprocity, and care for all forms of life.
WHO IS IT FOR?For practitioners who carry real responsibility in psychedelic and transformational work.
Participation is by application. Cohorts stay small because the depth of this work depends on who is in the room. What matters is not seniority but active practice: you are currently working with people in therapeutic or transformational processes.
Psychedelic therapists
Clinic founders & directors
Facilitators
Researchers
Integration practicioners
Mental Health Innovators
OUTCOMES
What you will be able to do afterwards
01 - Ground your psychedelic work in a living tradition instead of secondhand summaries of it.
02 - Design integration processes that include family, community, and life context, not only the individual.
03 - Recognize and navigate cultural interface tensions in your own practice.
04 - Structure ethical, reciprocal working agreements with Indigenous knowledge holders.
05 - Explain the shift beyond the treatment model to colleagues, boards, and clients.
06 - Apply stewardship principles to how your clinic, practice, or program is governed.
STEWARDSHIP & RECIPROCITY
Building relationships that endure.
This fellowship exists because of the generosity, trust, and leadership of our Mazatec partners. Reciprocity is therefore not an addition to the programme, it is part of its foundation.
A defined portion of every fellowship directly supports Mazatec-led initiatives chosen by our Mazatec partners, including priorities such as cultural continuity, language preservation, elder support, youth education, and community wellbeing.
The Mazatec knowledge shared through this fellowship is co-developed with our Mazatec teachers. Decisions about cultural content, representation, and participation are made together, ensuring that what is shared remains grounded in the values, ethics, and intentions of the living tradition.
We are committed to transparency, long-term partnership, and shared stewardship. As the fellowship grows, so too should the relationships, opportunities, and benefits it creates for the communities that make this work possible.
Programme Details
Duration
Four-month fellowship combining live online learning with an immersive in-person experience.
Format
Six live online learning journeys, interdisciplinary faculty dialogues, peer reflection, and one multi-day intensive in the Netherlands.
The Netherlands Intensive
A four-day immersive intensive with Mazatec teachers and interdisciplinary faculty, bringing the fellowship into lived practice through dialogue, experiential learning, and relational inquiry.
Cohort
Limited to 25 participants to foster meaningful dialogue, close faculty engagement, and a trusted international learning community.
Who Should Apply
Open to therapists, facilitators, healthcare professionals, researchers, coaches, and anyone committed to advancing the future of psychedelic care.
Language
English, with Spanish and Mazatec interpretation where appropriate.
Investment
Founding Cohort: €4,800
Tuition includes the complete four-month fellowship, all live online learning journeys, learning materials, and the four-day Netherlands intensive. Travel and accommodation are not included.
A dedicated portion of every participant's tuition is allocated to a Reciprocity Fund, supporting Mazatec-led cultural, educational, and community initiatives identified by our Mazatec partners. In this way, participation contributes not only to your own learning, but also to the continuity of the living tradition that makes the fellowship possible.
Flexible payment plans are available.
Applications
Applications are now open for the Founding Cohort. Places are limited and offered through an application process to ensure a diverse, committed learning community.
FAQ
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VERSION A
The online journeys do not involve substances. The Netherlands intensive includes [TBD: optional] work within the legal Dutch framework (psilocybin truffles), fully voluntary and held by [TBD: teacher/team].VERSION B
No. The fellowship works with knowledge, practice, and worldview, not with substances. -
It's the right question to ask. This fellowship does not transmit ceremonial practice and does not certify anyone in Mazatec tradition. It is built with Mazatec teachers, on their terms, with structural reciprocity. See "How this fellowship gives back."
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[TBD, recommended:] No fixed threshold. We look for active practice and real responsibility for other people's processes, whether therapeutic, facilitative, or organizational.
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In the Netherlands. [TBD: region, venue type, accessibility, accommodation handling]
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[TBD: session rhythm, live vs. recorded, time zones, expected hours per month]