Drum roll please... After many months of arduous searching, scouring websites listings and clickbait ads I finally found a new Kambo ceremony venue to call home. Deep in the heart of the urban jungle, camouflaged amongst graffiti decorated Hackney Wick warehouses, lies a newly created hub for shamanic and healing workshops that now boasts a new string to its spiritual bow - Kambo.
As you can imagine, finding a venue that's appropriate for Kambo ceremonies is no easy task. There are certain prerequisites that must be met:
It must have enough space for large groups
It must be centrally located with good transport links
The owners of the space must be ok with Kambo being practised there
Plus, be within budget so we can stay in business!
This is a tough list of boxes to be ticked and there aren't that many venues that fit the bill. The previous space we were using ticked all the boxes. It had a very large space which could accommodate large groups, it had 3 toilets which was enough and the location was great. The owners of the space were ok with Kambo but they weren't the kind of people who would do Kambo themselves or even know exactly what takes place in a Kambo ceremony.
Not ideal but certainly good enough for us to be residents there for well over a year.
The time came for us to move on and then the difficulty in finding an appropriate space became immediately apparent. I searched for months..... hunting through various websites, making shortlists and then making phone calls to find out if the space was appropriate.
Disappointment after disappointment followed as each space kept coming up short. It would tick 2 or 3 of the boxes but not all of them. Huge spaces that only had 1 toilet, perfect venues that wouldn't allow Kambo to be practised there.
I had almost given up hope and then one day I found a space I hadn't seen before. As you can imagine, when you're searching day after day and looking at the same websites over and over again, you see the same listings over and over again and it's very rare that you find something new. This was definitely one I had not laid eyes on before.
From the pictures, it looked perfect. Plenty of space and not only that but it had a great aesthetic - very stylish and modern. I punched the number into my phone and hit dial and the rest, as they say, is history.
After speaking with the owner and getting the low-down on the space I realised that it ticked all of the boxes and for the first time I was talking with someone who actually knew what Kambo was and had done it himself. Not only that but they specialised in hosting shamanic workshops and were looking to add Kambo to the list of events that they host.
I booked to go and view the venue the following day and I can honestly say as soon as I walked in the door I just knew it was the right place. Aside from the huge space, stylish layout and decor and 4, yes you read that right, 4 toilets, the space had a great energy to it. It was clear that this space was used for shamanic and spiritual work. An unmistakable stoic, calm energy welcomed me as soon as I walked in the door.
I was greeted by the owner who took me on a tour of the space as we discussed future plans and how we could collaborate.
That viewing was in mid-December 2021. Fast forward to January 2022 and with 2 ceremonies under our belt, Planet Kambo is officially back to business as usual. The first ceremony was a huge success with 14 participants. I really didn't know how many we'd get as we'd been offline so long so I was truly blown away by the response.
"Great start," I thought to myself, "But don't get your hopes up dude, let's see what the next ceremony brings".
As the days rolled by I continually checked the registered participants and watched with excitement as the number increased day after day. With 2 days to go until the event we were at 18 participants and I was ready to cap it at that and make the event sold out. This was the largest number of participants we'd ever had so a new record for us and a great test for the venue to see if it could handle such a large group.
Saturday finally arrived and I made my way to the venue to set up. It was truly wonderful to see peoples reactions as they arrived. A combination of nervous excitement and anticipation etched on their faces. As the room started to fill there was a palpable sense of wonder and mystery in the air as 15 of the 18 participants were first-timers. I'd never had so many Kambo newbies at one event. This was unchartered territory for me and I was determined that each and every one of them would have a positive Kambo experience.
With precision timing, my trusty Kambo swat team and I worked swiftly and efficiently. By the end, everyone in the room was very much reset, restored and revived. As I closed the space and sent the participants on their way, I looked over at my team and felt my heart swell with a great sense of pride, honour and gratitude.
With our next ceremony nearly sold out already it's very clear that momentum is starting to build and we are on course to be selling out every ceremony. It was an intention of mine from the very early days of Planet Kambo to be hosting sold-out events every week and after the last 2 ceremonies, I feel we've moved 1 step closer.
Click the link below to secure your spot on the upcoming month's events.
2022 is going to be the frog's bollocks!
Aho for now
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Jon
Founder, Planet Kambo Ltd.
jon@planetkambo.com
Wow well done' cant wait to see the new building' see u all in feb as another newbie