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PRESS RELEASE 01/25/19
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Toad medicine ceremonies with Dr Octavio Rettig
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At WBAC 2018 a panel discussion talked about Bufo Alvarius Facilitators' Ethics and Code of Conduct and discussed these crucial issues, including some of the controversial practices utilized by Dr. Rettig in his ceremonies. Most commentators disagreed with Dr. Rettig on the following aspects of his practice, as outlined on his website: https://octaviorettig.com/toad-medicine/
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Toad medicine ceremony with Dr Octavio Rettig
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All participants should be aware of and agree with the following conditions. Please be informed that during the Toad Medicine ceremony, Dr Octavio Rettig:
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• Might pour water on a participants face or in a participants mouth to stimulate a breathing or swallowing response.
• Can administer very small electrical shocks with a toy to keep a participant from lying down during the peak of the ceremony.
• Will blow rapé up a participants nose right after the peak of the experience.
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The webpage says also: “All these actions have been carefully tested and have proven their unique value as a part of the neo shamanistic rituals that Dr Rettig developed while working with the toad medicine. They have significantly increased
the results and improved the wellbeing of participants during and after the ceremonies.”
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To our knowledge, there is no evidence about reported benefits of use of those practices.
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Nevertheless, experience of those techniques in the ceremony held by Dr Rettig have shown to have some risks, in some cases resulting in life-threating events, serious injuries, even in death (especially use of rapé and water as recent reports indicate). Participants have also reported it unnecessarily disturbed or cut off their experience with toad and reduced the potential beneficial effect they could get from it. Those techniques might also be forced and used non-consensually. Moreover, there have been reports and videos of other practices by Dr. Rettig:
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- Rapé administered during the toad experience itself when people are not consciously controlling their body
- Participants being left on their own during or after the experience
- Informed consent rarely provided before the experience
- Water poured in the participants nose
- Physical and psychological violence
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It is the belief of WBAC that these aforementioned practices are unethical, dangerous and should not be used in this way in ceremony. There is the danger of physical harm, death, emotional and psychological trauma and other mental health issues, and issues around lack of consent by people under the influence of the medicine when these techniques are used. Those practices
are also widely recognized as unacceptable in the ethical guidelines of any kind of therapy or healing (ranging from shamanic practice to modern health care).
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We also want to make clear, that some of those practices might be beneficial when used responsibly, which is not always the case of ceremonies done by Dr Rettig who is using them in the excessive amounts (rapé , water).
Conversations around Dr. Rettig’s controversial practices have been ongoing for some time online, and recent reports of the death of a Mexican woman from Leon, Guanajuato, in her 40s who aspirated due to the application of rapé and water, and reports another near death in Europe from the same techniques in ceremony, have led us to believe that a line needs to be drawn in the sand for the safety of the community at large.
We ask the global toad community and all future participants to choose their practitioners well, to be fully informed of the risks of the medicine and ceremony, and to support ethical practices that nurture, not harm, those partaking of the sacred toad
medicine and more widely all psychedelics. For more information on best practices and integration, see: http://awareproject.org/blog/2018/5/5-meo-dmt-health-and-safety
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WBAC
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HERE THE TRANSLATION:
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COMUNICADO DE PRENSA 25/01/19
Sobre las ceremonias de medicina del sapo con el Doctor Octavio Rettig. En la WBAC 2018, un panel de discusión habló sobre la ética y el código de conducta de los facilitadores de Bufo Alvarius y discutió estos temas cruciales, --incluidas algunas de las prácticas controversiales utilizadas por el Dr. Rettig en sus ceremonias--. La mayoría de los comentaristas no estuvieron de acuerdo con el Dr. Rettig en los siguientes aspectos de su práctica, como se describe en su sitio web: https://octaviorettig.com/toad-medicine/
Todos los participantes deben conocer y estar de acuerdo con las siguientes condiciones. Le informamos que durante la ceremonia de Medicina del Sapo, el Dr. Octavio Rettig:
En
• Podría verter agua en la cara de un participante o en la boca de un participante para estimular una respuesta de respiración o deglución.
• Puede administrar descargas eléctricas muy pequeñas con un juguete para evitar que un participante se acueste durante el pico de la ceremonia.
• Soplará rapé en la nariz de los participantes justo después del climax de la experiencia.
En la página web también dice: “Todas estas acciones han sido cuidadosamente probadas y han demostrado su valor único como parte de los rituales neo-chamánicos que el Dr. Rettig desarrolló mientras trabajaba con la medicina del sapo. El asegura que han aumentado significativamente los resultados y mejoraron el bienestar de los participantes durante y después de las ceremonias ".
--En nuestro entender, no hay evidencia sobre los beneficios reportados del uso de esas prácticas--.
Sin embargo, la experiencia de esas técnicas en ceremonias celebradas por el Dr. Rettig han demostrado tener algunos riesgos, en algunos casos que resultan en eventos de peligro de muerte, lesiones graves e incluso en la muerte de una persona (especialmente el uso de rapé y agua como indican los informes recientes). Los participantes también informaron que alteraron innecesariamente su experiencia con el sapo y redujeron el posible efecto beneficioso que podrían obtener de él. Esas técnicas también podrían ser forzadas y utilizadas sin consentimiento. Además, ha habido informes y videos de otras prácticas por parte del Dr. Rettig:
- Rapé administrado durante la experiencia del sapo cuando las personas no controlan conscientemente su cuerpo.
- Los participantes se quedan solos durante o después de la experiencia.
- Consentimiento raramente proporcionado antes de la experiencia.
- Agua vertida en la nariz de los participantes.
- Violencia fisica y psicologica.
La WBAC cree que estas prácticas mencionadas no son éticas, son peligrosas y no deben usarse de esta manera en ceremonias. Existe el peligro de daño físico, muerte, trauma emocional y psicológico y otros problemas de salud mental, y problemas relacionados con la falta de consentimiento de las personas bajo la influencia de la medicina cuando se utilizan estas técnicas. Esas practicas también son ampliamente reconocidas como inaceptables en las pautas éticas de cualquier tipo de terapia o curación (que van desde la práctica chamánica hasta la atención médica moderna).
También queremos dejar claro que algunas de esas prácticas pueden ser beneficiosas cuando se usan de manera responsable, lo que no siempre es el caso de las ceremonias realizadas por el Dr. Rettig, que las está utilizando en cantidades excesivas (rapé, agua).
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Las conversaciones sobre las controvertidas prácticas del Dr. Rettig han estado en línea durante algún tiempo, y los informes recientes sobre la muerte de una mujer mexicana de León, Guanajuato, en sus 40 años que se asfixió debido a la aplicación de rapé y agua; también se informa de otra muerte cercana en Europa, a partir de las mismas técnicas en ceremonia, nos ha llevado a creer que es necesario trazar una línea en la arena para la seguridad de la comunidad en general.
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Pedimos a la comunidad global del Bufo Alvarius y a todos los futuros participantes que escojan bien a sus practicantes, que estén completamente informados sobre los riesgos de la medicina y la ceremonia, y que busquen apoyar las prácticas éticas que nutren, no las que dañan a aquellos que participan del sapo sagrado.
Esto extendido a todas las medicinas y más ampliamente a todos los psicodélicos. Para obtener más información sobre las mejores prácticas y la integración, consulte: http://awareproject.org/blog/2018/5/5-meo-dmt-health-and-safety
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07/18/2018
Statement on the Removal of Dr. Gerry Sandoval
Over the time the voices of opposition to our offering of time to Dr. Gerry Sandoval as a speaker and panelist at the World Bufo Alvarius Congress (WBAC) has been undeniable. The primary focus of WBAC is that of a Congress, a place for notable members of the Bufo community to gather, speak and learn, without preferential treatment.
Our initial intention was to allow Gerry, and the community, an opportunity to express opinions and grievances in a way that would hopefully bring about a change in what is seen by many as extremely irresponsible facilitation practices. The loud opposition did not fall on deaf ears. While we had hoped to give rise to a dialogue on good and bad practices–with all facilitators–recent information has been presented to us by concerned parties regarding the behavior of Gerry Sandoval that if true, goes beyond bad practices with the medicine and amounts to grievous criminal acts.
Our intention to hold space for an exchange of valuable information is further undermined by the real possibility that victims of such acts may be further traumatized when exposed to such a confrontational setting. Therefore, we have revoked his invitation to attend, speak or participate in any way at WBAC. This decision was not taken lightly, as this is a medicine of unity, and we had hoped to be agents of change in a meaningful way. In general, we have instituted a “No Naming, No Shaming” policy when discussing facilitators and their practices as the best way to approach issues that are coming up in the community. However, in this instance it is now clear, more than ever, that Gerry Sandoval’s inclusion is inappropriate and being misunderstood as unilateral support, which it was not. The Congress is not a vehicle for the approval of Gerry Sandoval’s actions.
We will now be taking some time in the WBAC programming schedule to offer a space for those who feel harmed by any facilitator, to express themselves in a moderated dialogue so that we as the community can be honest and transparent about our traumas, to unify and to heal.
It is not the intention of WBAC to promote, condone, or reprehend individual Bufo facilitators, but rather to assemble the global Bufo community to bring about a safe space for dialogue on issues such as best practices, duty of care, ethics, sustainability and the like, in a way that can hopefully transcend politics and online aggression.
Sincerely,
WBAC
