Jam of a Lifetime 2023
Psilocybin Ceremony Retreat
3-5 November, Netherlands
Psilocybin ceremony retreat
Music, spirit, and art for living life from the heart
The Jam of a Lifetime 2023 is an extraordinary three-day sacred plant medicine retreat with psilocybin truffles, integrating inspiration, creativity, and embodiment with the journey of self-discovery. Our retreat features amazing live music in ceremony, along with personal self-reflection, creative song making, and expressive dance workshops. Let us compose anew the songs our lives serve to make true:
Our sacred plant medicine retreat brings together world-class facilitators and musicians for a transformational journey of personal healing, spiritual growth, creative expression, and joyous celebration. We create a sacred space of love, trust, and care for encountering the grand mystery of being alive, in all its beauty and heartache, shadow and light, wisdom and weirdness, wonder and delight. In this way, we invite you to rediscover the natural playful joy of the heart by reconnecting to the inner source of meaning, purpose, and love in your life. Our retreat is neither therapy nor party, it is a springboard for you to experience transformative change, align with your highest purpose, and live your deepest truth every day.
With a decade of experience in organizing retreats, our team is one of the longest running providers of sacred plant medicine ceremonies in the Netherlands that specializes in working with psilocybin truffles. Through the caring support of highly experienced assistants and the subtle guidance of music played live by magnificent artists, we create a safe and welcoming environment for people from all walks of life to have a genuine spiritual experience in a sacred context. A clear moment of truth, love, and beauty can be the turning point that makes all the difference in a lifetime. Over the years, we have seen how psychedelic experiences inspired profound lasting transformations in the lives of our retreat participants, endowing them with the power to heal from trauma and adversity, the determination to overcome addiction and depression, the courage to choose love over fear, the vision to embrace life with renewed joy, and the support of the incredible friendships that form our circle. Take a look at the experiences of our past participants.
The Jam of a Lifetime 2023 is a non-profit fundraising event in support of the International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research, and Service(ICEERS). We dedicate the Jam of a Lifetime 2023 to the loving memory of our teacher Norberto Jurasek and his teacher Baixinha.
“There is a loving beauty that longs to be the song to which we all belong. This life is an open invitation to sing the song one more time, give it yet another way to rhyme, easier to recall the next time, to discover for the very first time, to love through endless time, as this beauty sublime, the living sign of life’s infinite design, the seed of the vine that turns water into wine. It is planted in your heart, so you do know where to start. That thou art.”
– Mark Waking Light, Founder of the Jam of a Lifetime
Our Musicians
Medicine Music of the Heart and Spirit
In addition to our invited musicians, Mary Isis, Michael Stillwater, and Zeger,
the Jam of a Lifetime team of assistants plays harp, violin, harmonium, guitar, and ngoni.
Our Preparation:
Transforming Shadows
As preparation for the first psilocybin truffle ceremony, we start the retreat with the Transforming Shadows workshop led by Jamie Catto. Learn how to transform unruly inner demons into your employees and harvest the many gifts found within challenges instead of exhausting yourself battling them.
The individual and group activities in the workshop are designed to release you from the rigid grip of pretentious appropriateness, unconscious shame, and internalized negativity. Let yourself reclaim the vast amounts of energy you have been wasting wearing masks to satisfy other people whose values you do not necessarily share, so that you can channel it into your creativity and passions.
What natural parts of yourself did you shut down as a kid? Get ready to let go of old patterns and beliefs, and emerge as a new, more creative, and empowered version of yourself. Give yourself the radical permission to shine your light into the world and you will be surprised by what happens next.
Jamie Catto believes that genuine healing changes happen when we remove the over-importance or agenda to transcend this glorious, messy human experience and instead, be thoroughly entertained by our fallible, slapstick genius, tripping over our heartstrings and spilling the wine, falling on our asses again and again, and each time treating it as one of our most illuminating and liberating spiritual practices.
As a professional musician, Jamie Catto has been a founding member of Faithless as well as the Grammy nominated 1 Giant Leap project, collaborating with some of the world's leading artists, from Bono to Yoko Ono. As a film director, he produced the documentary Becoming Nobody about the life of the spiritual teacher Ram Das. To learn more about Jamie Catto’s playful approach to inner work, check out his book Insanely Gifted.
Our Journey:
Two Psilocybin Ceremonies
Prem and Angelique have ten years of experience in facilitating transformative group retreats with sacred plant medicine, incorporating elements of meditation, qigong, dance, breathwork, song, and live music.
Their approach to working with sacred plant medicine is inspired by their teacher Norberto Jurasek, as they have assisted in his ceremonies for many years before facilitating retreats of their own. With a heart-centered, deeply compassionate, down-to-earth approach, they have been guiding participants using a variety of sacred plant medicines. Specializing in working with psilocybin truffles, they regularly facilitate one-on-one individual sessions, private group ceremonies, as well as spiritual retreats for larger groups. The path of sacred plant medicine has brought them together and it was the biggest inspiration for starting a family. For Prem and Angelique, the greatest spiritual teaching has been unconditional love and patience, as taught by their children.
Prem was initially trained in the medical sciences, working as a lab technician in cardiovascular medicine, but his spiritual calling won out. Spending his time at an ashram in Rishikesh in India, he studied yoga, meditation, breathwork, and qigong. Over the last twenty years, his focus has been guiding people through sacred plant medicine journeys in Peru and the Netherlands. His passion is creating a lived connection with nature, both the natural world that surrounds us and the inner nature that defines us.
Angelique earned a master’s degree in Cultural Anthropology and Public Administration, spending her early career in the UN and working on international development aid. As her research focused on poverty and social exclusion, she has been involved with civil society organizations in the Netherlands, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Palestine, Israel, India, and Nepal. Like Prem, meditation and yoga also guided her in a new direction. She received training in breathwork, vipassana meditation, emotional bodywork, massage, and shin do. As an end of life doula, she assists people on the final part of their life journey. When facilitating sacred plant medicine retreats, she loves to sing and play guitar, djembe, and ngoni.
Our Creativity:
Discover Your
Heart Song
At the beginning of the second psilocybin truffle ceremony, we have the Discover Your Heart Song session guided by Michael Stillwater. Embrace the natural joy of spontaneous song making through a simple yet highly effective method for creative self-expression.
In this session, individually and collectively, we explore Michael Stillwater’s Song Sourcing technique, a simple, fun, and creative approach that enables anyone to compose a song that comes straight from their heart. Connect to what is most alive at the core of your being and give voice to the living truth of your heart. Unlock the unique power of your voice as a healing medicine, a natural wellspring of joy, vitality, and wonder. This session gently guides you through the process of giving yourself permission to put aside self-judgment and let go, allowing your heart to open and its loving intention to show, and welcoming the song of your heart to spontaneously emerge in the moment and naturally flow.
Michael Stillwater has a unique, deeply intuitive approach to the art of song making, weaving together wisdom and compassion. As an award-winning songwriter, recording artist, and filmmaker, based in Switzerland, he provides artistic and transformative reflection upon key issues in our lives and our world, inspiring creative expression in people of all ages.
Through a lifetime of creating healing music, Michael Stillwater has composed songs and chants, including Heart of the Mother, One By One, and Reconciliation, that have touched the hearts of people across the world. As an interfaith minister through the Chaplaincy Institute, he ministered for 12 years through the Heavensong nondenominational church. As a filmmaker, he created, together with his wife Doris Laesser Stillwater, In Search of the Great Song, a documentary film about the universal original song, where every living person has an essential voice in a perpetual choir that has been singing the world into existence throughout the ages. He also produced Beyond the Fear of Singing, a documentary film about the healing journey of reclaiming the beauty and power of the singing voice. To find out more about his singing resources, visit Inner Harmony, or you can listen to his music on SoundCloud.
Our Integration:
VitalDanza
As an integration session on the last day of the retreat, the VitalDanza workshop is led by Patricia Martello and Marcelo Di Matteo, helping you to holistically process your experience, both emotionally in harmony with your heart and somatically in tune with your body.
This session is designed to help you release the energy of the ceremony and feel more grounded in the body, to express the daring to embrace life from a new perspective, and to inspire you to take the vision home so you can weave its insights into the fabric of your everyday life. This session will allow you to return home full of joy with a deeper understanding of how to translate what you have experienced during the retreat into the choices you make in your daily life.
VitalDanza uses dance-based movement to help us embody positive intentions. The aim is to increase our joy in life, giving natural expression to our vital and creative energy. Through VitalDanza, we can mindfully center ourselves in the present moment and experience a deeper sense of embodied connection with ourselves, each other, our loved ones, the natural world, and the whole universe. VitalDanza participants have reported improvement in expressive communication, increased motivation, reduced stress, greater self-acceptance, heightened self-confidence, enhanced creativity, and spontaneous playfulness.
Patricia Martello and Marcelo Di Matteo are the originators of VitalDanza and they provide training for dance teachers around the world. They were members of the Complementary Medical Association. They have been teaching VitalDanza in Argentina, Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Thailand, United Kingdom, and United States of America for over twenty years.
The Location:
Near Utrecht in the Netherlands
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Accessible by public transportation, around 2 hours from Schiphol Airport, or by car, around 30 minutes from the center of Utrecht and 50 minutes from the center of Amsterdam.
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Rustic countryside venue in nature, overlooking the meadow and farmland.
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Beautiful ceremony room with floor heating, natural light, and great acoustics.
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Overnight stay in shared rooms of 2, 4 of 6 persons with shared bathrooms.
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Delicious, vegan, organic food and drinks expertly prepared by our kitchen crew.
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Wellness and relaxation with outdoor sauna, hot tub, ice bath, and campfire.
Join Us
The Jam of a Lifetime 2023 has SOLD OUT. We wish to thank all our sponsors and participants for the beautiful journey we shared.
Would you wish to become a sponsor of the Jam of a Lifetime? Your generous support makes it possible for us to share this incredible time of love, truth, joy, and beauty.
As we are a non-profit retreat, the generous contributions of our sponsors are vital in enabling us to invite incredible musicians and magnificent facilitators from around the world. We deeply believe in creating a sustainable future for sacred plant medicine to be protected and used with care and respect, so we are donating all profits from the retreat to the International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research, and Service (ICEERS), the leading non-profit foundation for protecting the responsible use of sacred plant medicines. By becoming a sponsor, you are enabling us to support ICEERS and to grow the Jam of a Lifetime, so our work may reach new hearts in the years to come.
There are two ways you can apply to join the Jam of a Lifetime 2023:
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Apply as a sponsor: € 1,145 or greater (WAITING LIST ONLY)
Your generous contribution enables us to support our musicians and facilitators as well as achieve our charity fundraising goals.
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Apply as a participant: € 845 (WAITING LIST ONLY)
Your basic contribution covers the operating costs of the retreat.
Our retreat fees cover the costs of the workshops and musicians, the two ceremonies with psilocybin truffles, as well as accommodation, organic food, and drinks. If you need, you can ask to make arrangements to pay our retreat fees in installments over time.
We will confirm your place within 5 days of receiving your application. To secure your place, we request your payment within 5 days of receiving our confirmation. To ensure you can safely attend the retreat, you will also need to complete our health screening questionnaire.
There is currently a waiting list for the retreat. Sponsor applications may be given precedence over participant applications. If participant places become available in the coming weeks, we will select participants at random from the waiting list, so that every participant on the waiting list has an equal chance to join the retreat.
Things to Know
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Medicine: At the Jam of Lifetime 2023, the only medicinal plants we work with are psilocybin truffles, which contain the same active ingredients as magic mushrooms. No other psychoactive plants or drugs may be consumed at our retreat. Our retreat offers two ceremonies with psilocybin truffles, where the first ceremony will be with a light dose while the second ceremony will be with a full dose.
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Science: As a sacred medicine, psilocybin truffles and mushrooms have been revered for thousands of years by native people in Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, and South America. Now, they are studied by modern medical science as psilocybin enables the brain to make new connections and break down old patterns, with ongoing medical trials for treating depression, anxiety, trauma, addiction, obsessive compulsion, and chronic pain.
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Law: Psilocybin truffles are legal in the Netherlands. In fact, the Netherlands is the only country in Europe where sacred plant medicine ceremonies with psilocybin truffles can be openly held while respecting the law.
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Safety: Before the retreat, we will ask you to complete a health screening questionnaire. This is essential to ensure your safety, so we can verify that the use of psilocybin truffles is not medically or psychologically contraindicated. According to medical research, psilocybin is widely recognized as the safest way to have a spiritual experience with a psychedelic.
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Care: To help you make the most of the retreat, we will offer an online preparation group session before the retreat as well as an online integration group session after the retreat. We will support your integration with aftercare, suggesting helpful practices and resources to make the most of your experience at the retreat. We will be available to talk through any issues or challenges that may come up.
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Diversity: Our retreat welcomes adult participants of all races, genders, orientations, cultures, and religions (and none) into our circle of respect, compassion, friendship, and love. We are here to make you feel right at home while exploring the great mysteries of life.
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Questions: If you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions, please feel free to get in touch with us: info@jamofalifetime.com .
Our Team
Ceremony Facilitators
Jam of a Lifetime
Song Making Facilitator
Inner Harmony
Chef
Michael's Ark
Coach, Author,
& Film Director
Musician
Pathways of Transformation
Dance Facilitators
Vital Development
Musician
Inner Sound Music Retreats
Charity Fundraising
The Jam of a Lifetime 2023 is fundraising for the International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research, and Service (ICEERS), a leading non-profit organization with the goal of transforming society’s relationship with psychoactive plants. After our costs are covered, all profits from Jam of a Lifetime 2023 will benefit ICEERS, which supports our community by providing scientific research, risk reduction, and public education about sacred plant medicine practices, including ayahuasca, iboga, psilocybin mushrooms, and other traditional indigenous plant medicines. In addition to advocating for rational drug policy that is respectful of the indigenous and non-indigenous use of sacred plant medicines, they provide legal defense for sacred medicine practitioners around the world.