Silvia Polivoy

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Biographical Information

"I'm Silvia Polivoy, a licensed clinical psychologist. In 2004, I co-founded Thevine Spiritual Center, a space created to hold retreats for those interested in spiritual pursuits. I have been involved in investigating modified states of consciousness for over twenty years. I have carried out field research in Mexico with Mazatec shamans, as well as worked extensively with ayahuasca, San Pedro, and other sacred plants, in their native habitats. Since 1996, I have been hosting retreats in both the Peruvian and the Brazilian Amazon. At these retreats participants have the opportunity to "meet" ancient teacher plants in their natural environment – the jungle. Also, many of the world's leading authors and researchers in the field of consciousness studies join our seminars to share their latest research and wisdom. We also perform ayahuasca ceremonies during some of our programs which may be attended by retreat participants as an option.

"At the core of our retreat programs is reconnecting with the divine within for self-empowerment. We learn the value of self-reliance and how to reclaim our inner resources, instead of giving our power away. Our retreat participants focus on how to access and use personal and sometimes hidden abilities that stem from the true shaman that is within us all: the higher self.

"If you would like to find out more about our work please read an interview I did with Mathew Callaway for Shaman's Drum magazine, Ayahuasca: Healer of the Soul."

In 2004 she co-founded the TheVine Center, a Transdenominational and Interfaith Spiritual Center located in the State of Bahia. TheVine Center is open to people of the world regardless of their faith who are seeking to reconnect with Source/Universal Intelligence. [1] he programs include a variety of themed ayahuasca workshops. Most are 7 days and include 3-4 ayahuasca ceremonies for $1550 (more for private lodging). 10-day workshops start at $1800. [2]

"Silvia Polivoy obtained her master's degree in clinical psychology from Belgrano University of Buenos Aires in 1983. After working for years in psychoanalysis, she became disappointed with that path and abandoned it. She then moved into transactional therapy, but eventually embraced assorted spiritual and transpersonal approaches, exploring teachings of the Santo Daime, meditation, group therapy, hypnosis, past-life regression, Jungian archetypes, Holotropic Breathwork, and Gurdieff's Fourth Way.

"Polivoy has conducted field research on psilocybin-containing mushrooms with Mazatec shamans in Mexico. In 1995, in Peru, she discovered San Pedro and spent a year working with this cactus. In 1996, she was introduced to ayahuasca by the shaman Don Guillermo Arévalo. This experience directed her life's path toward promoting the healing effects of this plant brew, by sharing it with others. She founded and is the director of TheVine Center, a transdenominational and interfaith spiritual eco-center in Bahia, Brazil, where participants have the opportunity to take ayahuasca and Salvia divinorum, learn lucid dreaming techniques, and create art based on their visions and dreams. Past gatherings have featured the guest presenters Pablo Amaringo, Richard Glen Boire, Rick Doblin, Frank Echenhofer, Jon Hanna, Isabela Hartz, Martina Hoffmann, Andres Hu, David Icke, Jonathan Ott, Christine Page, Zoe Seven, and Robert Venosa. Polivoy is featured as a character in Zoe Seven's second book, Back From The Void." She has done transactional analysis . interview

Affiliations

• Facilitator, Spirit Vine Ayahuasca Retreats