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Thread: Sebastian Woodroffe Canadian Lynched in Peru

  1. #1
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    Sebastian Woodroffe Canadian Lynched in Peru

    This is a very sad story. I live in the valley he is from and heard some of his friends talking about this on FB when it first occurred.

    The first news reports stated that many indigenous leaders who oppose deforestation etc. were being targeted and murdered.
    One year, 13 were killed in Peru.
    *News updates now indicate Olivia was simply a healing practitioner and not an activist.

    It was believed another 'white' foreigner had committed the crime over an unpaid debt that the shaman (Olivia) had 'owed'.
    Sebastian was a client of hers.

    A lot of tourists travel to South America and there is a thriving business involving sprirtual awakening and treatment and recovery. It's noted that different people have different experiences and some receive great benefit while others have fatal results and traumatic reactions.
    Also worth noting is the different practitioners range from 5 star spa like treatment facilities to huts in a jungle with 1 person. A young man died in one case after being 'left alone to die' as his mother put it, in a hut in the jungle.

    The arrest of the 2 men seen putting the cord around his neck and dragging him was ordered.
    *Update 05/28 The two suspects sought for arrest have now fled. At one point they were reported as 'having been arrested'. It is unclear if they posted bail.
    The jungle is the haystack. They are the needles.

    Sebastian was not considered a suspect in Olivia's murder.
    *Update 05/27 Sebastian is now the primary suspect in her murder! Allegations include his purchase of a gun, witnesses seeing a gun fall from his backpack, a motorcycle being used in the crime belonging to him and a $5,500 CDN $(4,200 US) debt between Olivia's son and Mr Woodroffe.

    As of this posting news reports emerged claiming Mr Woodroffe purchased a gun from a police officer 3 days prior to the murder and demanded repayment of money from the medicine woman's son.

    The amount mentioned is approximately the amount fundraised thru his indiegogo campaign to make the trip.
    *Update: the amount has changed and reflects closer to what he fundraised minus travel expenses.

    Although it says 'it is unclear' what he did for 3 years I'm aware he travelled back here to Vancouver Island in that time. There are numerous stories from friends of recent encounters they had here in that time and photos of his son and him up the mountain on their first skiing trip.

    Some friends said he appeared different and unhappy after returning from the jungle and experimenting with the plant.

    RIP

    https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.thes...-arrested/amp/

    Canadian dies in ‘lynching’ in Peruvian Amazon, accused of killing an indigenous shaman

    It was 2013 when Sebastian Woodroffe decided to quit his job and leave his home in Canada to study plant medicine in Peru. A relative’s battle with alcoholism had inspired him to “fix the family’s spirit” and pursue a career as an addictions counselor, he said in a YouTube video.

    Woodroffe, then a 36-year-old father of a 4-year-old boy, began raising money for an apprenticeship with traditional healers in the Amazon. He felt a responsibility to “support this culture and retain some of their treasure in me and my family, and share it with those that wish to learn,” he wrote on a fundraising page. He was particularly interested in experiencing ayahuasca, a sludgelike hallucinogenic potion used by indigenous shamans in spiritual exercises.

    It’s not entirely clear what happened in the years that followed, or whether the Canadian tourist found the healing he was seeking in the Peruvian Amazon. But late last week, his name and face somehow landed on a wanted poster that accused him of killing a beloved shaman and indigenous activist in a remote rain forest in northeastern Peru.

    Enraged members of the indigenous community appear to have taken matters into their own hands. Peruvian authorities say a mob of locals in the Amazonian region of Ucayali killed Woodroffe before burying him in a makeshift grave. Peru’s ombudsman described the killing as a “lynching.”

    A gruesome cellphone video that emerged in local news outlets shows a man — later identified by officials as Woodroffe — being dragged through the mud by a cord wrapped around his neck. He moans and pleads for mercy before lying motionless in the dirt.
    Last edited by Melisscious; 04-28-2018 at 06:29 PM.

  2. 04-27-2018, 01:45 AM
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    Double post

  3. #2
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    This double tragedy has been very widely discussed within the ayahuasca community. I know people who have trained with Olivia Arévalo Lomas. I did not know Sebastian Woodroffe, but you can learn more about him by visiting his Facebook page and looking at his Youtube videos.

    People in the ayahuasca community have also set up fundraising pages for both of the deceased:

    https://www.gofundme.com/for-sebatian-wo...39s-family

    https://gogetfunding.com/support-maestra...os-family/

    Here is what I have heard from reliable sources. Sebastian began to threaten people in the Shipibo community about eight months ago. Several times, they went to the police to report the threats. The police did nothing. So, when he finally killed Olivia, they probably expected the same kind of do-nothing response from the police. Can we blame them?

    Why was nothing done? It's hard to tell. They wouldn't have had to charge him with any crime. They could have simply revoked his visa and told him to go home. I'm not sure why the people didn't contact the immigration authorities. It's interesting that the UK won't allow Lauren Southern into the country, yet this guy was allowed to stay in Perú after threatening people.

    Olivia apparently didn't even know how old she was, and I heard her age reported from 81 to "in her 90's." My source who said "in her 90's" also told me that she had been leading ayahuasca ceremonies for 75 years. I am finding the 80's more credible myself, as she apparently has a 52-year-old daughter.

    Sebastian was clearly a man who needed help. Fortunately, he had enough good sense to recognize that he needed it. Unfortunately, his demons still managed to take over and create a terrible tragedy. Ayahuasca has helped many people recover from addiction and past trauma, so it's no surprise that some really messed up people are finding it.

    Regardless of the flaws in primitive societies, they do tend to value their elders much more. Olivia never considered retiring from her work, and she would never have been placed in a home (like we do in our modern societies). I'm happy for the people who got to train with her. I'm happy for the people who were touched by her life. I also wonder what her life says about ayahuasca and longevity.

    Contrary to some reports, Olivia was not an activist. She was simply a healer and a trainer for other healers. It doesn't sound like she didn't go much outside the world of ayahuasca. She apparently did go to Iquitos from Pucallpa to help them with work there. There is a lot more ayahuasca tourism in Iquitos than in Pucallpa.

    My sources don't think this will harm ayahuasca tourism. The white people in the ayahuasca community have done a great job cultivating trust and goodwill with the indigenous people who have shared their medicines and wisdom with us. I'm glad it is still there, and we can still both mutually benefit from the exchange.

    I've learned that a lot of people don't go to Perú unless they really need it. Ayahuasca has helped many of them. These people are addicts, soldiers recovering from the trauma of war, women recovering from abusive relationships and/or childhoods, and others, cancer patients, and people afflicted with neuro-muscular diseases. It has helped me as well, and this also includes helping me improve my eyesight.

    I do wonder if some simply are beyond its capabilities and if Sebastian was one of those people. Could ayahuasca have helped someone like Sueng-Hui Cho (Virginia Tech) or Ted Bundy? I don't know and wonder if we ever can know.

  4. #3
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    Melisscious, It's against forum policy to spam a thread, which is posting consecutive comments less than thirty minutes apart. Please combine them ASAP



    GOD IS NOT DEAD





  5. #4
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    Hearing that he was threatening people puts a different spin on it for me.
    I'm going to have to read about this drug - seems there's a whole industry around it that sounds spurious from my general POV as a skeptic.

    There again, alcohol can make a bad idea sound good and an ugly person attractive - for a short while.
    Realities are unchanged of course, perceptions are temporarily altered and behavior may follow perception.
    I saw a flask in Walmart a few weeks ago that said, "Drink Until Your Problems Go Away".

    It's not surprising to me that the locals took matters into their own hands, especially in light of what I will call the drug culture and shamanistic culture in which they lived and moved.

    People in some countries are still being driven from their homes or murdered for witchcraft.
    A faulty hypothesis forming:
    A German scientist using Iranian physics and French mathematics.



  6. #5
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    On some Spanish network, I saw a crowd beat a man to death for raping a child in Mexico. Hubs said that was the way villagers took care of rubbish.
    GOD IS NOT DEAD





  7. #6
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    It's interesting how humans behave. There are numerous posts from friends of his on social media who "swear" and intensely defend that Sebastian was not capable of this crime.

    I get that. But no one really knows anyone else. No one was there. And no one knows the exact circumstances.

    Had he taken a bad batch and had a bad trip?
    Did he think Olivia was putting a curse on him when she started 'singing to try to calm' him?
    Did he give all the money he raised to Olivia or a relative of hers in exchange for lessons, recognition as a healer, recipes, plants to bring back? Did he feel he was ripped off?
    Is this all backtracking and evidence planting to make him look guilty and justify the lynching?


    The news is now reporting the murder weapon has been found and did belong to Mr Woodroffe.

    https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.4638377



    I can't upload photos from my phone but I have a few candids. And one in particular looks like a recent pic that might shed some light on Sebastian's state of health leading up to this incident.
    Last edited by Melisscious; 04-28-2018 at 06:31 PM.

  8. #7
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    A memorial for Sebastian is scheduled to take place this weekend in the Comox Valley where he is from.

    An anonymous friend of Mr Woodroffe confirmed he was performing ayahuasca rituals here in Comox Valley over the last few years. Approximately half a dozen people had taken the brew administered by Mr Woodroffe. The source went on to report that one person had used it to help with her substance addiction and had success. But this may have had more to do with her support system and recovery process individually and beyond this specific one time use of the plant.
    Other reports suggest most of the individuals did not receive spiritual awakening or therapeutic benefit. With one confirmed "really bad trip". Majority experienced nausea and sickness.

    A few people who knew him have questioned if his use and administering of ayahuasca here in Canada may have had something to do with reports that Olivia refused to do ceremonies with him?
    Many were wary of the legitimacy of using it here and his experience level administering such an unknown and powerful plant.

  9. #8
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    New information emerging paints a very troubling picture

    Villagers claim that before the murders they had taken Woodroffe to the police station on three occasions after he showed up at the village acting strangely, apparently under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
    ??He never spoke, he never explained what he was doing here,? said Miluska González, a village leader, told the Guardian. ??All he would do was open a can of beer and start drinking.?



    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/29/peru-double-murders-ayahuasca-tourism-sebastian-woodroffe

  10. #9
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    I live in Ecuador where Ayahuasca rituals are common. I believe there may be benefits for some people, but in the many years I have lived here, many tourists have died after participating in rituals that went wrong. There is no licensing or regulation of these shamans, some who simply see that adding the title to their name can translate into gringo money. Sometimes they are arrested and convicted in these deaths. Sometimes not. I would be extremely cautious about participating in them.

  11. #10
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    Save your high for home. No matter what it is.
    Stay in Drugs. Eat your School. Don't do Vegetables.

  12. #11
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    Post Excellent article

    Alternate title: Ayahuasca not the safest game in town.


    http://www.expat-chronicles.com/2018...yahuasca-peru/

  13. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Melisscious View Post
    Alternate title: Ayahuasca not the safest game in town.


    http://www.expat-chronicles.com/2018...yahuasca-peru/
    Really enjoyed Colin??s opinion piece and his writing/perspective. He makes no bones about speculation, yet brings up points which could prevent future cultural misunderstandings that can lead to loss of money, health, lives.
    "We've had threads about guys fucking picnic tables, animals and dead bodies. Third boob ain't going to stop a damn thing." - cleanskull

  14. #13
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    Really glad you enjoyed the article.
    I did as well. And left a comment.

    I got this email shortly after:
    (And I highly recommend giving it a read)

    Hey,

    Great comment. Very much needed in the wake of all these conspiracy theorists. They need to go back to faking the moon landing and the government orchestrating 9/11!

    I just published a follow-up poking a bit of fun at "Vanessa," check it out here: http://www.expat-chronicles.com/2018...uasca-tourism/

    Woodroffe would still be alive today if there was that option!

    Best,

    Colin Post
    The link is an article: How I Would Market Ayahuasca or Alternate Title: Free Biz Idea – TFB Vacations
    Last edited by Melisscious; 06-04-2018 at 01:56 AM.

  15. #14
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    Haa! TFB and Adult Swim on loop!
    But seriously, I get it - excellent idea
    "We've had threads about guys fucking picnic tables, animals and dead bodies. Third boob ain't going to stop a damn thing." - cleanskull

  16. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Melisscious View Post
    Alternate title: Ayahuasca not the safest game in town.


    www.expat-chronicles.com/2018/04/sebastian-woodroffe-ayahuasca-peru/
    Great article, I suspect that guy knows what he's talking about.
    A faulty hypothesis forming:
    A German scientist using Iranian physics and French mathematics.



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