MYCELIA
Oaxaca Mushroom Pilgrimage
A six-day mushroom pilgrimage on Zapotec ancestral lands in the Sierra Norte of Oaxaca, Mexico.
Rooted in Indigenous science and ancestral healing traditions, MYCELIA is an invitation into communal medicine and embodied transformation. This sacred journey is a rare opportunity to reimagine systems of healing and wellbeing–within ourselves and in the worlds we’re collectively creating–through the intelligence of the mushroom kingdom, Earth’s living systems, and the indigenous cosmovisions of those who have stewarded these lands for millennia.
Oaxaca, Mexico
Duration: 6 days, 5 nights
Group Size: Intimate gathering of 6 participants per session
Investment: $2850 USD
price is per person in shared rooms
10% discount for early bird registration until April 14, 2026
limited number of spots available on sliding scale (see ‘financial accessibility” under “retreat details” section
convert to your currency here
Session Dates:
August 5-10, 2026 and August 19-24, 2026
Sierra Norte Pilgrimage
The Sierra Norte of Oaxaca is a land of mist-laden cloud forests, ancient mountains, and vibrant biocultural diversity–stewarded by self-governing Zapotec communities who are guardians of one of the most biodiverse and prolific fungal regions on the planet.
Walking ancestral pathways through forests alive with spirit and more-than-human intelligence, we re-attune to the rhythms of Mother Earth and remember our place and responsibility in co-creating her outer systems. These ancestral lands are a living bio-cultural blueprint and practice, inviting us to re-imagine the future of collective healing and planetary wellbeing, starting from within.
Our pilgrimage culminates with a sacred mushroom ceremony as an offering at the Hill of the Jaguar in Lachatao–an ancient Zapotec ceremonial site still tended by its ancestral guardians.
Ancient Technologies of the Future
In Zapotec communities like Cuajimoloyas, mushroom culture is more than ecological tradition—they’re part of a cosmovision rooted in reciprocity, regeneration, and kinship with the land.
The mycelial networks beneath these forests sustain entire ecosystems through intelligent collaboration. They distribute resources equitably, transform decay into renewal, and build resilience through connection and exchange, over competition. This is Nature’s original decentralized intelligence–and it mirrors the earth-based consciousness that Indigenous communities have always known: relationality, collective care, and regeneration are essential to life.
Across Mesoamerica, mushrooms have been revered as sacred technologies—portals to deeper understanding, healing, and relationship with the natural world. In Nahuatl: teotlnanácatl, “God’s Flesh.” To Maria Sabina, the Mazatec curandera: los niños santos, “The Holy Children.” Names that carry the weight of their spiritual potency. Living, sentient beings worthy of profound reverence.
A Journey Co-Created and Held in Community
MYCELIA reflects the wisdom of the mycorrhizal web—rooted in shared resources, kinship, and mutual support.
Co-created with our family at Tierra Sagrada, this pilgrimage is held by local healers, knowledge keepers, guides, and community leaders. Together, we cultivate a space of deep healing, reverence, and biocultural regeneration–learning from and nourishing the continuity of Indigenous knowledge and cosmovisions.
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We’ll be picking you up at a central location in Oaxaca City in the morning and open our journey with a land acknowledgement and ceremony honouring the 4 directions, as well as a collective energetic cleansing and reading of the Mesoamerican Tonalpohualli calendar system.
As we leave the Valley of Oaxaca, we’ll enter the Sierra Norte and arrive to our first home base at 3300m elevation in the community of Cuajimoloyas where we will stay for 2 nights in cozy eco-cabins in the middle of the lush forest.
Esther, a local healer, herbalist and guide known for her extensive knowledge of the medicinal and healing properties of local plants and fungi, will guide us on a medicine foraging walk through the lush forest of Cuajimoloyas to begin connecting with the land and mushroom kingdom.
Meals Included: Lunch, Dinner
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Waking up with the sun, we’ll connect with a slow morning of meditation followed by a traditional breakfast.
We’ll be honoured with a talk by Doña Marta, a local mushroom maestra and celebrated cocinera. We’ll learn how to identify the mushrooms and collect mushrooms in the forest, followed by a traditional cooking class.
In the evening, we’ll receive individual energetic cleansings and share a traditional temazcal ceremony (Mesoamerican sweatlodge). These traditional healing practices are profound purification processes that open and bring the mind, body, spirit, and emotional and energetic bodies into a process of harmonization.
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
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Waking up with the sun, we’ll begin with a slow morning and light breakfast before embarking on our silent meditation pilgrimage of 6km through ancient forest pathways to the community of Latuvi for lunch, and arriving to our final homebase in Lachatao
After lunch, we’ll have some rest time to get grounded in our eco-cabin accommodations.
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
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Waking up with the sun, we’ll get grounded with a meditation before continuing our pilgrimage to the ancient temple of the sacred Hill of the Jaguar, a significant Zapotec ceremonial site.
Ruben and Sindy, our ceremony guides, will open the mushroom ceremony honouring the 4 directions and the sacred land receiving us as we culminate our journey with the healing medicine of los niños santos, as they’re referred to in Oaxaca.
Meals Included: Lunch, Dinner
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We will wake up with the sun and return to Hill of the Jaguar for a sunrise walk, and to close our pilgrimage with a collective offering to this sacred site, the land, and its guardians.
Returning to the village, we’ll share reflections over breakfast and begin to integrate more of our individual and collective journey.
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We will share one last breakfast in the community before descending back down to Oaxaca City early in the afternoon.
Retreat Schedule
* Final schedule may be subject to minor changes
Retreat
Booking Details
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There will be two sessions offered during peak mushroom season: August 5-10, 2026 & August 19-24,2026. The dates will be filled on a first come, first serve basis.
This intimate retreat will be limited to 6 participants per session.
Both sessions will be facilitated by Ioana Todosia, of Comuna, our collaborative partner, Tierra Sagrada, and local healers, guides, and community leaders in Oaxaca.
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A non-refundable and non-transferable deposit of $500 USD + tax confirms your participation in the retreat.
The remaining amount will be due no later than June 05, 2026. This last payment can be split into 2 installments, with the last payment no later than 60 days prior to the start of the retreat.
Early-bird registration pricing of 10% off the total retreat fee is available to all applications received and accepted by April 1, 2026.
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We will be hosted for 6 days, 5 nights in cozy community managed eco-lodges in the indigenous communities of Cuajimoloyas and Lachatao in the Sierra Norte of Oaxaca.
All accommodation will be shared occupancy.
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Meals: All meals will be included.
Accommodation: Shared occupancy in beautiful, simple, and rustic eco-cabins managed by the communities hosting us.
Ground Transportation: Transportation for the duration of the retreat, including pick-up and drop-off in Oaxaca City.
Activities, Workshops, and Excursions: All activities, workshops, and excursions in the Retreat Schedule are included. The final itinerary may be subject to minor changes. We will do our best to notify participants of any major changes as promptly as possible.
Experienced and knowledgeable facilitators: There will be 6 experienced facilitators present during the retreat and final ceremony.
Pre- and post-retreat support: Ioana will be available to help you prepare, and will facilitate both a pre-retreat group connection session and a post-retreat group integration session via Zoom.
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Airfare: To and from Oaxaca International Airport.
Accomodation in Oaxaca City: You will need to arrive to Oaxaca City a day before the start of the retreat. We will pick you up the morning of the first day of the retreat. We also recommend you book at least an extra day after the end of the retreat.
Personal Travel Insurance: Personal travel insurance covering at least $200,000 USD for medical emergencies, death, theft, trip cancellation and delays, etc. is required for all participants. We will ask that you provide us with proof of insurance prior to the start of the retreat schedule.
Extra Activities and Excursions: Participants will be responsible for all extra services, activities and excursions that are not included in the retreat.
Personal Expenses: Incidentals, medicine, extra snacks outside of scheduled group meals, alcoholic beverages, etc.
Tips: All of our collaborators are compensated fairly. If you feel anyone went above and beyond and you would like to give more, you are more than welcome to, but this is not necessary.
Extra Nights in Oaxaca: If you would like to book additional nights in Oaxaca, you are welcome to but understand that this will be an extra expense. We may offer suggestions, but it will be your responsibility to make the booking.
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We are motivated to make our offerings as financially accessible as possible while sustaining and honouring the contributions and work of all involved. Therefore, we offer a limited number of retreat spaces through a sliding scale option that is based on your economic situation and access to savings and wealth.
Offering this payment system is made possible by those with more access to savings and wealth covering the costs of those with less access. We don’t believe in financially separating folks based on where in the world you live or are coming from, as we recognize the complexity and diversity of lived experiences and how this leads to varying degrees of economic divisions that currently exist across the world.
Please feel confident continuing with your application and choosing the “sliding-scale payment option” in your application. We are committed to working with individual needs and constraints on a case-by-case basis to the very best of our ability. We trust in your discernment and self-reflection of how you fit into the global economic context of privilege and access to savings and wealth.
If you would like to become a Seed Supporter of our bursary fund and sliding scale, so that we may offer more support to those experiencing financial constraints, we would be honoured if you considered choosing “Seed Supporter” when confirming your participation.
QUESTIONS? Please get in touch.
READY TO JOIN? Submit your application below.
*Applications received and accepted by April 14, 2026, will be eligible for a 10% early-bird registration discount.
