Heartprism Ceremonies

Huachuma (San Pedro) Ceremonies

Cederberg Mountains, South Africa

There is a knowing many of us carry - a sense that beneath the noise of modern life lies something we have always known yet somehow forgotten. Heartprism offers lovingly held Huachuma ceremonies for those called to remember.

Preparation . Ceremony . Integration

Remembering - The Work

On Huachuma, ceremony, and what it means to remember.

In a world that pulls our attention in every direction, how do we quiet the noise enough to listen, and remember?

There is no shortcut. But there is The Work.

The work of returning to sit with ourselves, and unlocking the remembering that all is within us already.Once we commit to this journey, we start to make visible parts of ourselves that have been locked away, perhaps for our whole lives.

Huachuma, the Grandfather (also known as San Pedro), is an ancient plant medicine from the Andes, held in ceremony for over 5,000 years. He is a powerful and gentle ally on this journey inward, to the heart. Held with respect, reverence, and a commitment to the work before and after, ceremony in the Cederberg mountains can cast light on what has always been there, waiting.When we remember, when energy flows freely through the heartspace, we start to know again who we are, and all that this entails. A brilliant dimension of joy, awe and wonder returns to the dance of life.

Heartprism Ceremonies was founded upon a deep desire to share this joy and freedom with humanity. And a knowing that when our hearts are liberated, we are able to flourish in the world with a renewed sense of gratitude and reciprocity. For the land that holds us, the people we walk with, and the beauty that surrounds us, often in the smallest things.A universal truth in most Heartprism ceremonies is the child-like sense of awe that awakens in participants - at the majesty of mountains, the strength of a tiny ant, the feeling of sun upon skin. Remembering how much magic is contained within every single moment lights up the soul.

The prism doesn't create the rainbow. It simply makes visible what was always there.

When these moments of remembering and gratitude are grounded into our everyday realities through consistent practice, our reality starts to shift. The question then becomes - how do we carry the remembering home? How do we bring the magic of ceremony into the mundane?We show up for ourselves with as much consistency as we can muster - in meditation, in practicing gratitude for what we have been gifted, through acts of service and kindness to others, in singing and dancing, remembering to breathe. In showing up this way, we root ourselves in the wisdom of Huachuma. It starts to become a way of life.

"My journey was one of self-reflection - it helped me let go of pain that had been holding me back, and move forward with love and appreciation for myself and others. Five months on, I'm feeling incredibly grateful, enjoying every day as it comes."- Craig B

This doesn't prevent difficulty or struggle - these are woven into the fabric of existence - but it does reframe how we meet them. When we are present in each moment and meet it with equanimity, neither clinging nor pushing away, we find a rhythm, a dance, which allows life to flow more easefully.

Nothing missing. Nothing broken. Nothing unwhole.

"Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes."- Carl Jung

Huachuma is a medicine that wants this for you. If you feel called to walk this path, he is waiting - arms wide open.

Huachuma & the Medicines

A closer look at the Grandfather - his names, his roots, his medicine.

He has many different names - Huachuma. Wachuma. The Grandfather. Aguacolla. Achuma. San Pedro. Known to humanity for over 5000 years, his name has been spoken by different tongues, in different languages, but his truth remains the same - an ancient ally on the journey inwards, to the heart.The earliest recorded evidence of Huachuma's ceremonial use dates back to the Chavín civilisation of Peru, around 1200 BCE. Stone carvings depict shamans holding the cactus alongside jaguars and serpents - symbols of transformation and power. The Nazca buried their dead with it, and the Chimú depicted their healers carrying it. It is one of the oldest relationships between humans and plants that exists on earth.

Insightful. Profound. Awe-inspiring. Cathartic. Loving. Graceful. Soft and delicate, yet powerful. Connecting to ancient wisdom.

Some of the words others have reached for after ceremony, trying to express his essence.The Grandfather works through deep presence, rather than dissolution. A medicine of the day, and of the light - he is deeply empathetic, working through the serotonergic systems where feeling and connection lie, breaking down the walls we've built around our heartspace, and allowing energy to flow freely.

"It was like years of therapy in one day. For the first time, I experienced oneness with everything around me - the interconnectedness of every living being."- Tanya V

A deeply benevolent, and kind ally, but no less profound for this, the Grandfather teaches through stillness and example. Sitting in his wisdom allows us to feel clearly, to know within ourselves what we are, if we choose to listen.

"Rather more like whispers and hugs. The messages I received were mystical and archetypal, like little clues and crumbs I could follow, with meanings that needed to be felt rather than understood."- Sylvia B

The Cederberg mountains are not just a beautiful backdrop to this process, they're an essential element woven through all of it - a powerful medicine in their own right, which when combined with the majesty of huachuma create a potent space for ceremony. A remembering of our relationship with the living world around us, that is part of us, is one of huachuma's greatest gifts.

When you meet him you'll know which name rings true for you.

Two other powerful medicines work alongside the Grandfather in ceremony

Rapeh (Rapé or Hapé)

A sacred shamanic snuff deeply rooted in the Indigenous traditions of the Amazon. Rapeh is regarded among Amazonian tribes as the most powerful teacher medicine - able to cut through energetically where needed. It's incredibly potent.Used during the ceremony to clear energy, and ground and provide profound insights.It is offered through a tepi, a wooden pipe that carries the medicine into the nostrils on a strong breath - the giving and receiving both part of the prayer. In stillness afterward, the mind quietens.

Mother Cacao

An ancient plant medicine known as the "medicine of the heart", used in ceremonies for centuries to soften what has hardened, and open what has closed.It loosens old emotion, settles the mind, and warms the body from within. Raw and unprocessed, ceremonial-grade cacao works gently but deeply.The perfect feminine counterpart to the Grandfather in ceremony. Smelled first, then sipped slowly - warmed with spices, a touch of sea salt, and a little raw honey - medicine from the very first breath.

“The medicine connected me to my heart space even more in the days after ceremony. It showed me many insights and allows me to guide my energy better towards my heart. The rapeh has been a big help in this too.”- Govert V

The Retreat

On what to expect, and how the days unfold.

Every part of our ceremony is held with pure intention toward the highest good. The food is prepared with love, because food is medicine too. The space is chosen with the greatest care. You are held throughout with immense love, compassion, and recognition of your bravery on this journey.We make the medicine together before ceremony, to truly connect with the Grandfather - stepping away from the modern tendency of consuming without reciprocity. When you learn to work with the raw cactus, its potency takes on a deeper meaning within you.You are guided before and after ceremony, because the journey is so much more than the time away.

The real work is in the every day - bringing ceremony home.

  • Duration: Four nights (shorter stays can be discussed, but four nights is the recommended process)

  • Where: The ancient Cederberg Mountains, South Africa

  • What to expect: A deep and intimate journey into your heartspace through communion with Huachuma (San Pedro), the land, breath, and more

  • What's included: Four nights accommodation, all medicines, meals and activities. Ceremonies are private by default - you won't be sharing your ceremony with people outside your own party unless you specifically choose a group retreat

  • Pricing: Private and group ceremony pricing is shared upon enquiry, reflecting the intimacy of the container and the setting for that particular retreat

“One of the most profound and enlightening experiences of my life. The effects have been maintained following an integration process and I have found a deeper calmness and connectedness with my feelings which has been maintained for months now after the ceremony.”- Rooin S

How the journey unfolds...

Before you arrive

Initial meet to discuss intention and fit. Here you can ask any questions you might have. If the fit feels right a preparation plan will be made especially for you, to help guide and prepare you for the ceremony.

Ceremony

Week before ceremony (optional): Half a day preparing the medicine together, for those able to join in person. Where possible, we prepare the medicine together in the days before ceremony - an act of reciprocity with the Grandfather rather than simple consumption. This isn't always possible for those travelling from afar, and it's never required; when it can't happen, the same care and intention is held on your behalf.Day 1: PM - Arrive, opening ceremony with Cacao and Rapeh
Day 2: Full-day Huachuma ceremony with sound journeys
Day 3: Integration day with breathwork and nature immersion
Day 4: Second full-day ceremony with Huachuma, building upon and deepening the work of Day 2
Day 5: AM - Closing sharing circle, and departure

Once you leave

One-on-one integration sessions one week, and one month post ceremony (more can be arranged if necessary). Group WhatsApp chat for group sharing, support and guidance post ceremony.

"It was a very pivotal few days for me. I really connected with meditation for the first time, and made some conscious choices I'd been struggling to make. The connection I had with the group was really special - now I'm back in the real world, it's a connection I feel I can rely on when I need it."- Jonny R

Integration

On breathwork, integration, and the work of coming home to yourself.

The ceremony ends, but the work continues. This is where the deeper shifts get grounded into everyday life - through breath, through steady support, through the small, sustainable practices that let the remembering take root and stay.And sometimes Huachuma isn't the path at all - not yet, or not ever. These offerings stand on their own too, for anyone seeking support, whatever brought you here.

Conscious Connected Breathwork

Just breathe. It sounds too simple to be truly transformative. Yet there is so much power in harnessing our own breath, playing with the rhythms of the air that moves through us. It's called breathWORK because there is an element of work involved - you choose how far to push, how deep you want to go, and that can mean moving through physical and emotional barriers. And therein lies part of the magic too: breathwork is entirely consensual.

You decide how far you want to journey. The power is entirely in your lungs.

Conscious Connected Breathwork (CCB) is a transformative somatic practice, where you're guided to use your breath to reach altered states of being. This can bring many different results, depending on your need and the intention you bring into the session. Some find peace. Some reach deep places of emotional understanding. Each journey is unique. I love guiding breathwork journeys, for private sessions or groups, working alongside ceremonial cacao to gently open the heartspace, and using Qi Gong movement techniques to land us into our bodies. Each journey is held with sacred intent, in a space where you feel safe and empowered to dive in as deeply as you wish.Sessions can take place privately, one-on-one, in the comfort of your own home - where I travel to you. Private sessions are especially beneficial for those who are new to breathwork and are nervous. If you'd like to enquire about a private session, message me on WhatsApp - I'd love to hear from you. For information on group sessions, follow our WhatsApp Channel.

"I went into the session feeling heartache, weak and depleted. What was profound was feeling that heaviness leave me, like a quick emotional release. I will always remember this session. You are gifted."- Claudia G

Integration Guide

Deep journeys into altered states can create profound shifts. But for these shifts to be grounded, and made manifest in our everyday lives, we must integrate them with care and reverence. Sometimes this can feel overwhelming, as we juggle so many other demands on our time and attention. I'm passionate about helping people identify and implement sustainable, meaningful practices that fully resonate with them as an individual - whether preparing for or integrating a big life change, or simply because life is calling for a deepening.

Whether you're preparing for a medicine journey, or looking for holistic support to better navigate life, private sessions are available to guide you to your own remembering. In person or online. We'll begin with an initial meet, to shape a package around your unique needs - covering nutrition, lifestyle, and wellbeing, using an approach that combines ancient wisdom with modern science. Sessions may draw on breathwork and other somatic practices alongside deep listening, guidance, and a carefully considered plan of action - meeting you in whatever way serves you best, while ensuring you leave with clarity on what comes next.

I hold a particular passion for women's wellness - cycle syncing, hormone health, and supplement support.

Born from my own journey of learning to work with my body rather than against it.

For your free initial chat, message me on WhatsApp, or click on the contact button below - I look forward to hearing from you.

“Kim has such pure and positive intentions and you can feel it through her work.”- Ricky H

Meet Kim

On who I am, and how this path found me.

Here’s a little of the factual info, before we flow into the soul journey further down the page.Originally from the UK, I fell in love with the beauty and energy of Cape Town ten years ago, and have been here ever since. I hold Huachuma ceremonies in my beloved Cederberg mountains, and breathwork and coaching sessions closer to home.I've walked with Huachuma for six years, and have facilitated ceremony for four. Holding space happened organically - I was initiated through a friend with years of experience with huachuma, and from there, the medicine called me onward. I've learned through direct relationship, sustained practice, and truly listening to what the medicine wants from my space holding. My gift is in creating a safe, nurturing space, filled with compassion, joy and beautiful presence.Before this path, I spent years in marketing and communications - in property, a fast-paced startup, then with Scalabrini, a refugee and migrant NGO, and later within leadership development. I think of this as life "before" - I learnt so much, and it helped shape who I am today, but this work feels like remembering, not choosing.That calling now has training behind it, alongside years of experience - I'm a qualified Conscious Connected Breathwork facilitator, trained with Jean Rossouw in Cape Town, and am currently completing an accredited Psychedelic Integration Coach certification.

“Kim is the best facilitator you can imagine. She ensures you feel very safe and explains the course of the ceremony, its origins, and possible effects very well. She holds space with so much love and care during the ceremony. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to be guided by her.”- Hannah B

My journey to the medicine

I first met the Grandfather on a freezing, rainy winter's day in Tulbagh. It was August 2020. The clutches of covid were holding firm, there was snow on the mountain tops, and I felt a yearning, a call to medicine.Attending my first ever Ayahuasca and Huachuma ceremony, expertly held by SunMoonSeed, I did not know exactly why I was there, just that something deep and primal was calling me, and I needed to heed the call. A part of me was terrified the medicines would reveal something broken in me, some deep trauma that could never be fixed. But I knew I had to face this fear, and surrender regardless. I wanted to remember.

The morning after a profoundly beautiful, but intense Ayahuasca ceremony, I was handed a cup of green liquid: huachuma tea. I drank it down, unsure what to expect but knowing this felt right. Afterwards I braced myself, knowing the huachuma needed to be outside, in and amongst nature, and wandered out into torrential rain. I eventually found shelter under a wooded thicket.Crouching there, I began to feel energy ripple through me, a warmth permeating from deep inside my core, despite the freezing conditions. Waves of joy coursed through me, not the fleeting, dopamine-fuelled pretence of joy that leaves a hollow ache in its wake, but a real, grounded, embodied joy that comes from an ancient sense of being, of belonging. Something that can't be described by words, for it has to be felt to be known. In this moment I knew the answer to my fearful question - I was not broken. I was exactly as I was meant to be - whole, all along. As I sat basking in the joy of this knowing, I began to sense other presences around me, surrounded by buck and zebra who had the same idea, wanting shelter from the rain.

What magic in that moment. What magic in every moment. I've never forgotten that magic. It lives in me every day.

Sometimes it's a little more buried and I have to reach deeper to find it, but I can always remember, if I choose to.

The Grandfather started to show up in my life more, and more. Living out in rural McGregor there was a neighbour with a whole garden jungle of huachuma. Returning from an eco retreat in the Eastern Cape, my beautiful friend Clare asked if I would like to learn how to work with the medicine, it was a whole hearted "yes". We sat all night preparing the huachuma, learning how to work with the cactus ignited a deeper layer of connection within me. And the journey the next day was deep, an initiation.Holding space happened organically. People started to ask to participate. I learned to be still, to listen to what the Grandfather was telling me. To hold space in a way which honoured the sacred depth of the work, whilst infusing the ceremony space with joy - huachuma's greatest gift to me. Friends told their friends, and by word of mouth people came to drink the medicine.

Now six years on, and many, many ceremonies later I feel guided to tell my story. To share more about the magic available here on earth, knowing that the more people who open up their hearts, the richer our world becomes.If you feel called to this work, I'd love to share the magic with you.

"Kim has such a calming influence on people - I can't recommend her enough for anyone looking for a safe space to have a profound experience. She helped navigate each step of the process, and the sound journeys in particular were a unique and memorable addition to the journey."- Rooin S

Connect

On reaching out, and what happens next.

If you feel called to this work, I'd love to hear from you. Whether you're drawn to a Huachuma ceremony, curious about breathwork, or looking for support through integration or coaching, share a little about what's calling you below, and I'll be in touch soon.There's no pressure, and no obligation. Sometimes a first message is simply the start of a conversation, to see if the fit feels right.

Alternatively, let's chat on WhatsApp - just pop me a message by clicking here

Thank You

I look forward to connecting