Amazon Shamans use the
power of ethnobotanicals for physical and mental healing
Medicine
for the Soul - Plant Spirit Shamans of the Amazon Rainforest
by Howard G.
Charing
'Whether the
plant is to heal the body or the spirit or whether it is part of an
apprenticeship, what makes it work is your good intention towards
the plant. They are beings, which have their own forms or they can
be like human beings with faces and bodies. When the spirit accepts
the person, and the person has the will, the spirit grants them
energy. The path to knowledge opens, and the healing takes place'
-Guillermo Arevalo - Shipibo Maestro
In the
Amazonian tradition working with planta maestras (teacher plants) is
known as the Shaman's Diet. The working can be seen as a conscious
body of actions to incorporate the plant spirit into one's own
spirit. From this incorporation or union, the plant spirit informs
and teaches the maestro or apprentice. They learn the magical chants
(icaros) which invoke the power of the plant, how to use the plant
for healing purposes, and how to strengthen the dieter both
psychologically and physically. The purpose of the diet is to
prepare the body and nervous system for the powerful knowledge and
expansion of consciousness given by teacher plants.
It offers a
significant challenge for the rational Western mind to come to terms
with the teacher plants, and a leap of imagination is required to
incorporate the 'other' consciousness, or spirit of the plant.
We also have a
'linguistic' limitation (as an analogue the Inuit have over fifty
distinct words for snow), in that the word 'shaman' is very recent
to the Amazon, coming via the Western world in the last 20 - 30
years. There are many words which denote the plant specialisation of
the maestro or Vegetalista. Benjamin Ochavano a 70 year old Shipibo
Vegetalista says that his father was known as a moraya or banco
(healer), in Spanish it was a curandero. A curandero could then
further specialise in a particular plant such as chonta (bamboo) and
be a chontero. For example a curandero who specialises in smells and
perfumes would be a perfumero.
Another
challenge to our rational mind to enter the magical world to which
we are transported by plants is that it is mainly accessible through
dream language or an expansion of the imagination. Thus dreams & our
imaginative powers act like doorways during a plant diet and connect
us with the plant spirit.
The rational
mind can only struggle, to take as an example the famed 'love
potion' of the Amazon known as the Pusanga. In rational terms it
makes no sense whatsoever, how can a concoction of leaves, roots,
and seeds attract a lover, or good luck to you? My experience
working with shamans in preparing Pusangas (which normally is
prepared away from their clients so it was a privilege to be invited
to participate in the preparation) showed me that far from
interfering with the freedom of other individuals or putting a
'number' on them, we were altering something within ourselves, which
was brought out by the ingredients, the magic of the plants.
Whatever it was, it felt wholesome and good. It is what is in
oneself... one's own magic. Asking Javier Arevalo (the shaman) what
does the Pusanga actually do, is it inside us or outside of us? His
response was "When you pour it onto your skin it begins to penetrate
your spirit, and the spirit is what gives you the force to pull the
people. The spirit is what pulls".
The
anthropological term 'sympathetic magic' does not give this justice,
to illustrate this, the water used in the preparation of an
authentic pusanga (which has been specifically made for you) has
been collected from a deep trek in the rainforest, sometimes 40 or
50 miles, where there are no people and where clay pools collect and
thousands of the most beautiful coloured parrots and macaws gather
to drink from them for the mineral content. Now the great leap of
imagination required is to bring into yourself the knowledge, the
feeling, the sense that the water in the Pusanga has drawn in or
attracted thousands of the most brightly coloured creatures on the
planet. If you do this, it can generate a shift in consciousness in
you.
You can sample
this for yourself, just find a quiet moment and space, close your
eyes, and with the power of your imagination as the launch pad, draw
in the verdant, abundant forest filled with life, colour, and sound.
Sense the rich vibrancy of the rainforest as a single breathing
rhythmic totality of life force. When you have this image, expand it
to include, the humid warmth, the smell of earth, the scent of
plants, hear the sound of insects and bird song, allow all your
senses to experience this. Then with a conscious decision draw this
sensory experience into your being. Whenever you are ready, open
your eyes, and check how you are feeling.
Maestros do
not invent diets, they are given by the plant spirits themselves,
but there is more to it than simply abstaining from certain foods
and activities. It involves a state of purification, retreat,
commitment, and respect for our connection with everything around us
- above all the rain forest. When we listen to our dreams, they
become more real, and equally important as everyday life.
The shamans
work with the power of the plants in many ways, the colours of the
flowers, the perfume, their shape, form, and associations. To
illustrate this, another maestro Artiduro Aro Cardenas remarks;
'A smell has
the power to attract. I can also make smells to attract business,
people who buy. You just rub it on your face and it brings in the
people to your business, if you are selling, people come to buy. I
also make perfumes for love, and others for flourishing. These are
the forces of nature, what I do is give it direction with my breath
so it has effect. I use my experience of the plants which I have
dieted. I have a relation with the plants and with the patient; I
can't make these things on a commercial scale.
When I diet I
take in the strength of the plant and it stays with me. Later I find
the illness or suffering of the person or what it is they want, and
the plant guides me and tells me if it is the right one for that
person, and I cure them'
He also (as do
many maestros) works with the plants not only to heal illnesses but
to resolve domestic and family problems;
'I get people
coming for help to give up drug addiction, people with family
problems, supposing the man has gone off and left his family, the
Mama is here with me and the Papa is far away. I pull him back so he
returns to his home so that the family can consolidate again. In a
short time he will be thinking of his children and his wife, and he
comes back. I don't need to have the actual plants in front of me, I
call the plant spirits which work for that, Renaco, Huayanche,
Lamarosa, Sangapilla, perfumes and I call his spirit back to the
family home. I blow smoke to reunite them.'
Another (in a
very enjoyable way) the qualities, consciousness or spirit of the
plant is used to attract benign forces is "los baños florales" or
flower baths. In this the individual is bathed in flowers which have
been soaking in water for many hours. The maestro prepares the water
by blowing mapacho (jungle tobacco) smoke and at the same time
placing his intention into the flower soaked water. Again these
flowers and plants have been gathered from sometimes deep and not
easily accessible locations in the rainforest and have been selected
for their specific qualities which the maestro feels are needed to
help that person.
A friend of
mine Alonso del Rio, who has lived with the Shipibo people, and is
uniquely well equipped to be a bridge between the indigenous wisdom
and modern Westerners, tells the following;
'The mind of
the traditional maestro is very different from yours or mine. He has
lived in the rainforest without contact with the Western world, so
to have access to the same visions, the same codes is difficult. But
what I have found is that the expansion of the consciousness and the
power that the plant gives you to understand many things is
perfectly valid.
The magical
space to which we are taken - call it the 'unconscious' or any term
you want to use depending on your psychological model - is one where
all the kingdoms of nature can communicate. That is people can talk
to plants, and plants with minerals, minerals to animals and animals
with humans... all in the same language. It is a very real
communication and one of the greatest mysteries which exists. This
is something which an English person or a Peruvian born in Lima can
experience just as an Amazonian person. Because you can do it
without speaking in a native dialect, it doesn't go through the mind
but between one spirit and another."
On the edge of
the Amazonian town Iquitos is the market river port of Belen, which
has the famous street 'Pasaje Paquito' where many of the rainforest,
herbs, plants, mixtures, tinctures are sold. Chatting to Juanita the
owner of the stall where I buy plants from, I remember her
describing some of the potions, lotions, plants, tonics, barks,
perfumes, roots, oils, aphrodisiacs and leaves, and remarking "when
you talk to the plants you will get to know them like friends, they
have their own spirits, their own personalities".
A look at a few of the 'planta
maestras'
The shamans
say that plants connect us with nature because they take their
nourishment directly from the earth, as well as the sun's rays, the
air, and water. They allow us to know and recognize ourselves. A
shaman must know this and must love his people to heal them. Chiric
Sanango Brumfelsia grandiflora; this plant is good for colds and
arthritis and has the effect of heating up the body, so much so that
the maestros advise a cold shower after each dose! This plant can be
used in baths for good luck, and bring success to fishing, hunting
etc. This planta maestra also makes possible for people to open up
their heart to feel love for people and animals (warms up a cold
heart) and bestows the ability to identify with other people as
though they were your brothers and sisters. The plant grows mainly
in the Upper Amazon and only a few 'restingas' (high ground which
never floods) in the Lower Amazon. The gift of Chiric Sanango is
self esteem, and develops a deep connection with your inner self. On
a personal note, I have dieted this plant, and although I thought
the terminology of "warming one's heart" to be a bit "cheesy", this
plant really did have an extraordinary effect on me, I really did
feel this inner glow of warmth, and friendship, and to my surprise
it is still there! I feel that I returned from my exploration with
this plant a changed person.
Guayusa (Piper
callosum); is good for excessive acidity and other digestive
problems in the stomach and bile. Also it is both energizing and
relaxing at the same time and develops mental strength. Guayusa also
has the most interesting effect of giving lucid dreams i.e. when you
are dreaming you are aware that you are dreaming. The plant is also
known as the "night watchman's plant", as even when sleeping you
seem to have an awareness the outer physical surroundings. On
another personal note, I found the experience with this plant also
to be quite incredible. I found that the usual boundary between
sleeping and being awake to be more fluid than I had anticipated.
Even now, sometime after taking the plant my dreams are more
colourful, richer, and lucid than before. When taking this plant, I
sometimes wake up not knowing if I have actually 'woken up' or I am
dreaming that I've woken up. For those interested in 'dreaming' this
is certainly the plant to explore.
Ajo Sacha (Pseudocalymma);
A very important planta maestra in the initiation of Amazonian
shamans. On a physical level it purifies the blood, and is used for
people suffering from arthritis and rheumatism. The other benefits
are that it brings mental strength, acuity of mind, and it can take
you out of saladera (regarded as a run of bad luck, inertia, or a
sense of not living to the full). It is also used for ridding
spells. The plant is used to enhance hunting skills by covering up
human smell with the garlic-like smell of Ajo Sacha. The Shipibo
maestro Guillermo Arevalo also added that this plant opens the
shamanic path - if we are prepared to live under the obligations of
shamanism, to do this we need the qualities of courage, and no fear
of extremes or 'ugly' things. We need to understand what role we
will play in our community, and have the heart of a warrior. As a
personal observation, Guillermo is one of the most highly respected
maestros in the Amazonian region and is regarded as the authority on
dieting this planta maestra.
On another
personal note, I found my senses being altered and enhanced with
this plant. I could zoom in and focus on sounds emanating from the
rainforest, my sense of smell became sharper, and in some ineffable
way I could tune into the breathing or rhythm of the rainforest. The
sound of insects and birds was no longer a random phenomenon, these
sounds became a rhythmic breath, rising and falling. No wonder that
it is used for hunting as one's sense are heightened in an
incredible way.
Reflections
On reflection dieting plant medicine is totally different than
pharmaceutical medication which only affects one whilst it is being
taken; these kinds of plant medicines seem to have a permanent
effect in some way metaphorical or otherwise altering one's
consciousness or "DNA".
One of the
great revelations that we can experience in working with the plant
spirit or consciousness is that we are not separate from the natural
world. In our culture we perceive ourselves to be separate beings
with our minds firmly embedded within our physical being (typically
our head). The plants can show you that this way of being is an
illusion and that we are all connected, all of us and everything
else is a discrete element in the great universal field of
consciousness or spirit.
About the
author: An introduction to the magical world of the Shamans of the
Amazon Rainforest, masters of plant spirit medicine. By the author
of Plant Spirit Shamanism published by Destiny Books (USA). For
details of our Amazon Retreats, write to Eagle's Wing BM BOX 7475
London WC1N 3XX, telephone 01273 882027, eagleswing@shamanism.co.uk
Our website:
www.shamanism.co.uk
For rare and sacred plants, cacti and seeds, including Ayahuasca
Vine, Amanita Muscaria mushrooms and San Pedro Cactus, visit
Bouncing Bear Botanicals.
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