Shamanic Tourism in Chile
In recent years, spiritual and shamanic tourism has grown steadily in Latin America, attracting mainly European and North American visitors seeking experiences of healing, ritual practice, and connection with Indigenous worldviews. However, this phenomenon develops differently in Chile compared to countries such as Peru, Brazil, and Mexico. More than a difference in tourism supply, it reflects a particular relationship between spirituality, territory, and Indigenous culture. In Chile, shamanic tourism has not developed into a consolidated industry. Unlike in other Latin American countries, Indigenous spiritual practices—especially those connected to the Mapuche world—were historically not conceived for tourist consumption. Traditional spirituality is deeply linked to territory, community, and collective processes, which creates an ethical distance from its commercialization as an individual experience. Instead of tourism-oriented shamanic traditions, what has grown in Chile is spiritual, mystical, or New Age tourism, associated with astrology, energy retreats, and holistic therapies.
In contrast, Peru has positioned itself as one of the world’s leading destinations for shamanic tourism, particularly in the Amazon region. Cities such as Iquitos and Cusco host spiritual retreats, ceremonies with medicinal plants, ancestral healing programs, and Amazonian diets guided by traditional healers. In this context, spirituality has become integrated into the international tourism market, generating a specific economic sector while also sparking ethical debates about the commercialization of ancestral knowledge. In Brazil, spiritual tourism emerges from a mixture of Amazonian Indigenous traditions, Afro-Brazilian religions, and contemporary currents of alternative spirituality. Amazonian regions and spiritual hubs such as Alto Paraíso have developed circuits where ritual practices, energy work, and tourism coexist more openly, supported by a more visible public presence of spiritual traditions. Mexico presents an intermediate model, where Indigenous traditions coexist with a strong international spiritual market. Places such as Oaxaca and San Cristóbal de las Casas offer temazcal ceremonies, guided rituals, and ceremonial experiences directed both to tourists and spiritual seekers, transforming shamanic practices into experiences that are simultaneously cultural, spiritual, and touristic.
Unlike these scenarios, in Chile the phenomenon manifests mainly through localized projects and experiences, closely connected to territory, nature, and different ways of understanding spirituality rather than through a consolidated tourism industry. The following interviews present the voices of facilitators and guides working in different regions of the country, whose practices offer insight into how spiritual and shamanic tourism is currently taking shape in Chile. Anyone who wishes to get in touch can join the WhatsApp group CHAMANISMO CHILE.
Interviews
Patricia Geuther
(Nature-based shamanic retreats / international approach)
What does shamanism mean to you personally, and what do you think is most often misunderstood about these practices in the Western world?
For me, shamanism is not a belief system but a method of connection and healing. It is the possibility of relating to visible and invisible realms, to nature, to the elements, and to the universe as an interconnected whole. Everything is alive, everything has consciousness, and everything can communicate something to us. Shamanic work consists of learning to listen and bringing back that information in order to facilitate healing—both personal and collective. In the Western world, shamanism is often misunderstood as something folkloric or purely external, associated with stereotypical images of Indigenous cultures. However, the core of shamanism is a deep inner process: the development of character, coherence, authenticity, and connection with one’s purpose. Another common misunderstanding is reducing it to the use of sacred plants. While these can be powerful tools, they are only one part of the path. Connection can also occur through singing, drumming, meditation, or contemplation. More than a single experience, shamanism is a way of living in conscious relationship with everything that surrounds us.
From your experience working with international participants, what differences do you observe between shamanic tourism in Chile and in other Latin American countries?
The first question is what we mean by “shamanic,” because there is always the risk that it becomes just another consumer product. For me, the difference lies not only in the offer but in the depth of the experience. A retreat or spiritual experience can be meaningful if it truly generates transformation and does not remain superficial or temporary. In countries such as Peru, Ecuador, or Mexico, there is a much broader and more established offer of shamanic tourism. In Chile, however, it is still developing. Nevertheless, the country has enormous potential due to the power of its landscapes: the desert, the Andes, volcanoes, the ocean, and ancient forests. These territories carry a very strong energy that favors deep processes of connection. The challenge in Chile is to strengthen these experiences with awareness, meaning, and respect for the territory so that they become truly transformative both for visitors and for those who live here.
Could you describe what your nature-based shamanic retreat consists of?
My nature-based shamanic retreat is an experience of deep immersion in the territories of Chile, where we work on spiritual connection through natural elements and the unique energy of each place. The foundation of the retreat is the shamanic journey, a guided practice with drum rhythms that allows participants to access expanded states of consciousness and connect with spiritual guides, power animals, or subtler dimensions of their own essence. This experience always takes place in natural environments—sea, forest, mountains, or desert—because the territory itself becomes an active teacher within the process. We create spaces for reconnection with nature, with the energetic body, and with personal purpose, working with the medicine of the four elements:
Water
Especially during retreats by the sea, where we perform offerings, meditations, and connect with species such as whales and dolphins, understanding their energy as symbols of memory, balance, and ancestral wisdom.
Earth
In forests and mountains, strengthening the bond with lineage, roots, and ancestral connection.
Air
Through breathwork, silence, and connection with birds such as the condor, symbol of vision and expansion.
Fire
As an element of emotional transformation, activation of inner power, and clarity of purpose.
During the retreat we also integrate medicine songs, sound work with ancestral instruments, the opening of sacred space, the creation of altars, and practices of introspection. Participants receive tools for self-healing so they can continue their personal process after the retreat. More than offering a single experience, the intention is that each retreat becomes a transformational process, generating greater ecological awareness, deep spiritual connection, and inner clarity. Chile holds enormous potential for this kind of work: its deserts, volcanoes, oceans, ancient forests, and mountains possess a powerful energy that facilitates processes of expansion and personal transformation. Ultimately, the retreat is an invitation to remember our interconnection with nature, reconnect with the soul, and return to our center with greater balance, purpose, and awareness.
Daniele Bitencourt da Costa
(Casa Ancestral Amazónica in Atacama – ethical and integrative approach)
Where do you draw the line between authentic spiritual practice and what is often called commercial shamanic tourism?
The line is drawn through responsibility, preparation, and coherence.
An authentic spiritual practice is not oriented toward the consumption of intense experiences, but toward conscious, informed, and guided processes. It implies respect for ancestral knowledge, clarity about the limits of spiritual work, and an ethical structure that protects both participants and facilitators.
What is often called “shamanic tourism,” on the other hand, tends to prioritize the experience as a product, frequently without prior evaluation, without post-experience integration, and without clear admission criteria.
What ethical risks do you see in the growing international interest in ancestral medicines and spiritual ceremonies?
The growing interest represents an opportunity for intercultural dialogue, but it also involves risks that must be managed with maturity.
Among the main risks I identify are:
- superficial commercialization of ancestral knowledge
- lack of prior medical or psychological evaluation
- exaggerated promises of “healing”
- disconnection between the ritual experience and its later integration
- lack of cultural adaptation for international participants
For this reason, I consider it essential to work with:
- clear admission protocols
- detailed prior information
- informed consent
- spaces for integration after the experience
- accessible language for people from different cultural backgrounds
International interest is not the problem; the problem is the absence of structure. When there is an ethical framework, the experience can become deep, respectful, and transformative.
What is the Casa Ancestral Amazónica in Atacama project about?
Casa Ancestral Amazónica in Atacama is a space of encounter between territory, introspection, and ancestral wisdom, articulated from a contemporary and responsible perspective. The Atacama Desert is not used as an exotic backdrop but as an environment of contemplation, silence, and conscious inner work.
Our approach is structured around five pillars:
- Individual preparation before the experience
- Clarity regarding contraindications
- Accompaniment during the experience
- Post-experience integration
- Education about cosmology and discernment
We do not promote spiritual consumption, but accompanied processes. Within an international trekking project, I believe the spiritual dimension should be a conscious and safe complement, not a source of risk or spectacle. My work contributes containment, structure, and depth, aligned with international standards of responsibility. My intention is to contribute to a holistic experience that combines nature, introspection, and culture without losing ethical rigor or coherence. I believe my proposal can add not only a spiritual dimension but also a framework of care, ethics, and professionalism that strengthens the overall experience of international participants.
Diego Sebastián Muñoz Jara
(guided experiences, territory, Andean–Amazonian rituality, pedagogical approach)
How would you define shamanic tourism in the current Latin American context, and what challenges do you observe in its development?
“Shamanic tourism” reflects a search for meaning within a culture deeply shaped by consumption. However, when spirituality enters market logic, there is a risk of emptying the depth of what originally emerged as sacred experience. In some Latin American countries, certain traditions have gained international visibility. This has allowed local economies to sustain themselves, but it has also generated tensions and, in some cases, fragmentation of their original essence. The challenge is therefore primarily ethical and spiritual. Are we traveling to accumulate experiences, or to approach our own essence? Access to a tradition should not be understood as a tourist activity but as a relationship that requires understanding, respect, and commitment.
Why do you think shamanic tourism is less developed in Chile than in other countries in the region?
In Chile, Mapuche wisdom has remained protected by spiritual authorities such as machis, lonkos, ngenpin, werken, and meikas, who continue their work within their communities without turning it into an open market offering. Rather than a lack of development, this reflects cultural coherence. Not everything sacred needs to become a tourist experience in order to exist with strength, particularly in a historical context where territories and knowledge have often been appropriated or suppressed. In fact, many of the shamanic practices currently offered in Chile originate from traditions of other territories. This reinforces the idea that the essence of Mapuche spirituality has not been turned into a product but remains within its own communal and territorial framework.
Could you describe the guided experiences you propose?
I do not seek to participate in the mass spiritual market. People who approach this work do so through resonance, not through trends. When a space of this nature is opened, the intention is to offer an experience with transpersonal meaning, a process where territory, rituality, and structure come together with responsibility and depth. Each experience includes preparation beforehand, clarity of purpose during the encounter, and integration afterward, allowing what has been lived to translate into concrete understanding and practical application. This involves prior evaluation of participants, conscious itinerary design that respects the context, and structured spaces for integration that ensure care and collective understanding. Because the experience does not end in the ritual moment—it continues in how it is embodied in the days and months that follow. It is not about simply “living something different,” but about passing through a process that dialogues with the identity, history, and purpose of those who participate. Authentic spiritual practice does not seek to impress; it transforms through coherence and respect.
María José Hidalgo Méndez
(Tambo Yaku Trekking Ancestral – ancestral routes, transhumance, Andean spirituality – Elqui Valley)
What role do the mountains, nature, and Pachamama play in the spiritual practices developed during your routes?
The Andes are a living and conscious territory. In our routes, we understand the mountain as a space of relationship, where Pachamama is the teacher who sustains life and balance. The spiritual practices we carry out aim to restore the bond between people and the earth. We walk acknowledging the Apus, the protective spirits of the mountains, giving thanks for the water, seeds, wind, and natural cycles that sustain our existence. The spiritual experience emerges through conscious walking, silence, observation, and gestures of reciprocity. It is about remembering that we ourselves are nature.
How does the Andean worldview influence spirituality in Chile compared with countries where shamanic tourism is more massive?
The Andean worldview proposes a spirituality that is daily, communal, and deeply territorial. In Chile—especially in northern territories and in the Elqui Valley—spirituality remains closely linked to living campesino, transhumant, and Indigenous traditions rather than to mass commercial experiences. Our approach is based on cultural respect and genuine processes of knowledge transmission. Spirituality is experienced as a personal reconnection with territory and with one’s own history. This implies slower rhythms and an ethical relationship with communities and ancestral knowledge.
What is your project of ancestral transhumance routes in the Andes about?
The project rescues ancient paths used by arrieros, pastoralists, and Indigenous communities, who for generations moved between valleys and mountain ranges following cycles of water, grazing, and seasons. Through Tambo Yaku Trekking Ancestral, we aim to walk these routes again—not only as trekking trails but as corridors of cultural and spiritual memory. Each journey invites participants to understand how human beings historically coexisted with the mountains through respect, observation, and adaptation. The spiritual connection arises through the effort of walking, through the silence of the highlands, and through the experience of feeling small in front of the vastness of the Andes. In that moment, something essential happens: people stop seeing the mountains merely as a sporting challenge and begin to recognize them as spaces of learning, balance, and belonging.
Conclusion
Shamanic tourism in Latin America takes different forms depending on how each country relates spirituality, territory, and the market. While in places such as Peru, Brazil, and Mexico it has developed into an internationally recognized industry, in Chile the phenomenon appears in a more localized and careful way, linked to specific projects that prioritize respect for territory and cultural coherence rather than massification. The voices gathered in this article show that the challenge is not only touristic but also ethical: how to offer spiritual experiences without emptying the meaning of practices that originated as sacred traditions. In this context, Chile has the opportunity to build its own model—one in which nature is not a stage but a teacher, and where personal transformation is accompanied by responsibility, integration, and collective awareness.
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