Atmosphere

Features

Atmosphere and feature ratings above are based on Best Retreats research (October 2026). Because the group runs very different programs in Colorado and Peru, several ratings average the two. They will be updated if White Rabbit Collective submits its own information.

White Rabbit Collective: An In-Depth Review for Sessions in Colorado, United States and Iquitos, Peru

White Rabbit Collective is a small plant-medicine and breathwork group led by Justin Gould, who describes himself as a registered nurse, with ceremonies led by an English-born shaman known as Don David. It runs psilocybin retreats in Crestone, Colorado, ayahuasca weekends at a ranch in Castle Rock, Colorado, and ten-day ayahuasca retreats near Iquitos, Peru. Guest reviews are positive, averaging 4.62 from 18 on BookRetreats, and we found no incidents. The main concerns are legal and procedural: the group sells ayahuasca ceremonies in Colorado, where state law does not cover paid ayahuasca, and it publishes no medical screening or contraindication policy. Our earlier profile, written in March 2026, missed the Colorado ayahuasca offer and its shaman entirely, and said the group had no social media.

🎯 At a Glance

• Locations: Three venues, according to the group’s own pages: a 25-acre property in Crestone, Colorado, used for psilocybin retreats; “The Ranch at Castle Rock,” Colorado, used for ayahuasca weekends; and the “Maya Retreat Center,” a gated 20-acre site about an hour from Iquitos, Peru. Its website also lists a Germany/Europe page. The group’s Instagram handle is “whiterabbitcollectiveokc,” and one of its phone numbers has an Oklahoma City area code.
• Approach: Ayahuasca ceremonies led by Don David, a self-described “Mestizo lineage shaman,” alongside psilocybin ceremonies, breathwork, sopla (tobacco-smoke cleansing), optional hapé, plant dietas, floral and mud baths, sound healing and cold plunges. Colorado weekends include an “Entheogen Heart Medicine Ceremony” whose substance is never named.
• Suitable For: People who want a very small group, often four or fewer, with a breathwork-oriented, Western-facilitated approach, and who are comfortable with the legal questions described below. Less suited to anyone wanting indigenous healers, published medical screening or a clearly lawful setting in the United States.
• Costs: $1,800 “all-inclusive” for a Colorado ayahuasca weekend; $2,500 for a Colorado psilocybin retreat ($950 for a February 2025 program capped at four); $2,200 for the ten-day Peru retreat ($2,800 on one BookRetreats listing). Deposit and refund terms differ between Retreat Guru and BookRetreats. Our earlier profile’s prices of $900, $1,350, $1,000 and $3,500 could not be found anywhere.
• Overall Assessment: A small, well-reviewed operation with private-scale groups and included airport pickup in Peru, offset by paid ayahuasca ceremonies in Colorado outside the state’s legal framework, marketing that implies legality, no published screening, contraindication list or emergency plan, an unverified nursing credential and one pool of reviews reused across several listings. Directory evaluation: C-.

💬 What Guests Are Saying

Here is how White Rabbit Collective rates across review platforms in October 2026:

The positive picture. BookRetreats reviewers describe feeling safe and supported, a caring team, progress on trauma and good integration support; the platform’s sub-scores are highest for location and teachers (4.76) and lowest for accuracy and food (4.47). The single Retreat Guru review, from October 2025, praises the healing, guiding that leaves room for autonomy, the breathwork, the property and the night sky.

The negative feedback. One two-star BookRetreats review exists, but its text was not visible to us.

Who is writing the reviews. BookRetreats displays the same pool of 18 reviews on at least four listings for different programs and countries, so some reviews of the Colorado psilocybin retreat appear on the Peru ayahuasca listing. Retreat Guru shows a “5.00” score beside programs that say “No reviews available.” BookRetreats offers a free gift bag and integration support “valued at $200” for booking through the platform, a booking incentive rather than a review incentive. If you have attended, we encourage you to share your experience through our submission form.

🚩 Incident Report

We searched review platforms, news and legal sources for reports involving White Rabbit Collective and its named facilitators. We did not search court records or nursing-board databases, so this is not a clean bill of health.

• Deaths and serious injuries: None found.
• Sexual misconduct: No allegations found.
• Theft and crime: No reports found.
• Legal action: None found. See Critical Notes for the legal questions raised by the group’s own offerings.

If you have experienced or witnessed an incident with White Rabbit Collective, please report it confidentially.

🔍 Critical Notes

Paid ayahuasca in Colorado. White Rabbit’s homepage and its BookRetreats listing sell a “Colorado Ayahuasca Weekend Retreat” at Castle Rock with two ayahuasca ceremonies for $1,800, with dates on December 4 to 6 and 11 to 13, 2026. Colorado’s Natural Medicine Health Act (Proposition 122, 2022) lets adults possess, use, grow and share DMT and several other natural medicines, but “sales are not allowed” outside the licensed program, as Colorado Public Radio reported. As of February 2026, psilocybin was the only medicine available at licensed healing centers, and the state board had not begun discussing DMT, according to Axios Denver. DMT remains a Schedule I substance under federal law. We found no license, church or religious-exemption claim on any White Rabbit page. Paid ayahuasca weekends therefore appear to fall outside both of Colorado’s legal pathways. This is our reading of public sources, not legal advice.

Psilocybin licensing and marketing. Paid psilocybin services are legal in Colorado only through a licensed healing center and licensed facilitator. We could not confirm whether White Rabbit or its Crestone venue holds a state license. A February 2025 Retreat Guru listing invited guests to “join us in a state that supports legal exploration of Plant Medicine,” without mentioning a license.

The shaman. Don David, listed as David Maya on BookRetreats, is described as “born and raised in South Shields in the North East of England,” with a corporate background, trained under Ron Wheelock, an American known as “the Gringo Shaman,” and as having completed his training “in under three years.” He is marketed as a “Mestizo lineage shaman.” A separate Retreat Guru center called Maya Medicina, near Iquitos, also names a “renowned shaman, Don David,” and charges $2,900 for ten days; we could not confirm whether it is the same operation.

Unverified credentials. Justin Gould’s pages say he has been a registered nurse for more than 14 years, is a ceremonial breathwork leader trained through Breathwork Worldwide, a “certified Medicine Journey Guide” from the Center for Medicinal Mindfulness in Boulder, and an apprentice ayahuasquero. We did not check a nursing-license database or the training bodies.

Corrections to our earlier profile. The group sells ayahuasca ceremonies in Colorado, not only in Peru, and the Colorado ayahuasca venue is Castle Rock, not Crestone. It has Instagram, Facebook and Meetup accounts. Reviews are not “extremely limited”; BookRetreats shows 18. The apprentice our earlier profile called “Brittany” does not appear on current pages, which name Azria Barrett as apprentice ayahuasquera. We could not confirm our earlier claims of home-based sessions in Colorado, the listed prices, or a “private 1:1” format at $2,500; Crestone’s marketing claims about sacred Native land and “the largest water aquifer in North America” are the group’s own.

🆘 Screening & Mental Health Risks

We found no medical screening process, contraindication list or medical staff on any White Rabbit page. The only step described is an introductory call “to make sure this is the right fit,” held after the deposit is paid, followed by a preparation email. No emergency protocol or hospital distance is published; Crestone is about four and a half hours from Denver’s airport, per BookRetreats, and the Peru site about an hour from Iquitos. ICEERS notes that combining ayahuasca’s MAOI component with SSRIs or other serotonergic medications is contraindicated, and that ayahuasca is contraindicated for people with severe psychiatric disorders, particularly those prone to psychosis. Erowid warns of extreme, possibly fatal reactions with some prescription drugs, and DanceSafe notes a higher risk of psychological distress for people with a personal or family history of mood or psychotic disorders. Ask for the written screening criteria before you pay a deposit, and ask what the “heart medicine” is. Never stop a psychiatric medication to qualify for a retreat without your prescriber’s guidance.

🧪 Brew Substance

Ayahuasca is served in both Colorado and Peru, and psilocybin in Colorado. Ayahuasca is made from the Banisteriopsis caapi vine and DMT-containing leaves; as Erowid explains, the vine’s MAO inhibitors make the DMT orally active. The group has not published how or where its ayahuasca is prepared, or how it reaches Colorado. Peru retreats include four ceremonies with one- to two-day breaks and optional plant dietas (Oje, Ayahuma, Bobinsana, Jergón Sacha, Katau Negra and Piri Piri). Colorado weekends add the unnamed “Entheogen Heart Medicine.” We found no kambo.

📍 Location, Setting & Style

• Colorado, United States: Crestone, in the San Luis Valley below the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, where the group describes a “luxury home” on 25 acres with a hot tub and yoga shala; and Castle Rock, south of Denver, with private or shared rooms, air conditioning and en suite bathrooms. Mountain Retreat.
• Peru: The Maya Retreat Center, a gated 20-acre property about an hour from Iquitos with thatched tambos, floral and mud baths and a swimming spring. Jungle Rustic.
• Style: Very small and Western-facilitated, mixing ceremony with breathwork, cold plunges and sound healing, and “dieta-friendly” communal meals.

Practical guidance: For Peru, fly to Lima and on to Iquitos; airport pickup and drop-off are included. For Colorado, transport is not included; Castle Rock is near Denver, while Crestone is a long drive.

Should You Book?

White Rabbit Collective may appeal if you want a very small, breathwork-oriented ceremony with attentive facilitators, and its guest feedback is warm. But it sells ayahuasca weekends in Colorado without any visible license or exemption, markets its Colorado work as legal exploration, and publishes no medical screening or contraindication policy despite its lead facilitator’s stated nursing background. If you are considering it, ask in writing for the legal basis of the Colorado ceremonies, the screening criteria, the emergency plan and what the “heart medicine” contains, and read our guide to verifying retreat facilitators.

The Team & Story

Justin Gould is the lead facilitator, according to his Retreat Guru profile. Don David leads ayahuasca ceremonies in Peru and Colorado, and Azria Barrett is listed as an apprentice ayahuasquera. The group’s earliest dated program we found was in February 2025, though the same page also shows a 2024 date; a homepage testimonial says Don David has hosted retreats for four years. We found no registered business entity. We did not independently verify anyone’s credentials.

Prep & Integration Tips

Before you go: Ask for the screening criteria before paying, disclose every medication and supplement, and talk with your own doctor well before the retreat. Understand the legal status of what you will take where you take it. For Peru, pack for heat and insects. After you return: The group describes pre- and post-retreat support; arrange support from a qualified therapist at home as well. Our guide on how to research ayahuasca incidents can help you check any center.

Pros & Cons

Book Your Ceremony

Bookings are made through whiterabbitcollective.net, Retreat Guru or BookRetreats, or by email at info@whiterabbitcollective.net. Before paying, confirm in writing the legal basis for any ceremony in the United States, the screening criteria, the substances served, the emergency plan and the refund terms, which differ between platforms. Best Retreats does not take bookings; learn more about our mission.

Last reviewed October 2026.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. Consult a qualified medical professional.