HEALING
TODAY - AUGUST 2001
Preparation of the Ayahuasca,
blowing
tobacco
smoke into the mixture.
A
FTER
BEING
virtually
ignored byWestern civilisation for centuries,there has
been
a huge surge ofinterest in Ayahuasca recently. There is a
growing
belief that it is a
kind
of'medicine for our times',
giving
hope topeople
with
'incurable'
diseases
like
cancer
and HIV,
drug
addictions and
inspiring
answers to the big ecologicalproblems of modern civilisation.
Spirituality
is at the centre of theAyahuasca experience. Purification andcleansing of body,
mind,
and
spirit
in ashamanic ceremony can be the beginningof a
process
of profound personal and
spiritual
discovery. This
process
cancontinue indefinitely even if one never
drinks
Ayahuasca again. One
thing
is sure,
and
that is that every person
gets
a uniqueexperience. We believe that by seriously
looking
at the way Ayahuasca is used wecan improve our
life
experience
andbenefit more
from
this medicine.Ayahuasca is the jungle medicine ofthe upper Amazon. It is made
from
theAyahuasca vine (Banisteriopsis Caapi) andthe leaf of the Chacruna plant (Psychotria
Viridis).
The two make a potent medicine
which
opens
the doors to experiencingthe
energetic
world
which
underlies the
world
of everyday. The vine is an
inhibitor which
contains harmala andharmaline among other alkaloids, and theleaf contains vision-inducing alkaloids. As
with
all natural medicines, it is a mixtureof many alkaloids that
makes
their uniqueproperties. For example,
Peyote,
the
cactus
used by the
North
NativeAmericans, is said to contain 32 activealkaloids, so when one of
those
alkaloids,
mescaline
(LSD) is synthesised in alaboratory, contrary to popular opinion,the result is not at all the
same.
Ayahuasca is a name derived
from
two
Quechua words: 'aya'
means
spirit,
ancestor,
deceased
person, and
'huasca'means
vine or rope,
hence
it is
known
asvine of the dead or vine of the soul. It is
also
known
by many other local
names
including
yaje, caapi, natema, pinde,daime,
mihi,
and dapa. It plays a centralrole in the
spiritual,
religious and culturaltraditions of the Indigenous and Mestizo(mixed blood) peoples of the upperAmazon,Orinoco plains and the Pacific
coast
of Colombia and Equador.
Always respect theAyahuasca and it wii! allowyou to walk the path whichwill make you strong,happy, and healthy.
The plants are collected
from
therainforest in a
sacred
way and it is saidthat a shaman can
find
plentiful
sources
ofthe vine by listening for the 'drumbeat'that
emanates
from
them. The mixture isprepared by cutting the vines to cookablelengths, scraping and cleaning them,
pounding
them into a
pulp,
and then
adding
the chacruna
leaves.
The mixtureis then boiled about twelve hours
until
itis a thick
brown
liquid.
To understand Ayahuasca in the localcontext, one cannot avoid taking a look atthe ecological environment, such as theforest, cultural environment andindigenous cultures. This has structuredthe cultural content of Ayahuasca.There are many legends and mythsabout Ayahuasca, one the more romanticis
from
the Shipibo people who
live
upthe river in the heart of the jungle in thePeruvian Amazon.This tale is centred around women,more so than men, as they look after the
children
and their health,
whilst
the menare out
hunting
and
fishing.
Men are moreinterested in plants that aid their innerspirits
whilst hunting.
Women are moreinterested in plants that
will
allow their
children
to grow.There was one particular woman whowas very interested in plants, and who
liked
to pick the
leaves
of different
ones,
crushing the
leaves
into a pot and soakingthemin water overnight. She
would
thentake a bath every morning before sunrise(the way to
find
out about various plants
and
their
effects
is to bathe in them). Shebathed in them every morning
until
she
had
a dream in
which
a woman
came
andsaid, "Why are you bathing every day?"She answered "I am doing this as I want
you
to teach me." The other woman said
"You
must
seek
out my uncle, his name isKamarampi. I
will
show you where to
find
him".
She then led her to the uncle.He showed her how to mix the
leaves
ofthe chacruna bush. He then showed her
how
to brew the Ayahuasca and to go
and
tell
the people the knowledge of how
to
use
it.
The Indigenous people, past and
Page
20
HEALING
TODAY
-
AUGUST
2001
present,
have
taken
Ayahuasca to enable
them
to focus on
other
dimensions.
One
example:
To enable
them
to be
more
successful
on a
hunting
trip,
they
would
contact
the
Mother
spirit
of
certain
species,
through
the
Ayahuasca.
The
hunt
would
be
more
successful.
One
of the
many
mysteries
sunounding
Ayahuasca is how the
vine
came to be
used
with
the
Chacruna
leavesas,
although
they
both
come
from
thesame
soil,
they
grow
apart, otherwise
the
Ayahuasca
winds around
the Chacmna
and
kills
it.
We are
given
a
clue
as to
how
the
shamans
interact
with
the
plant
from
Javier
Arevalo,
a shaman
from
the
Peruvian
Amazon.
He
told
us
that
in the
old
days his
grandfather
and uncles used
to
sit
around
after
taking
only
Ayahuasca
and,
in a
vision,
they
saw
that
Chacmna
was
missing.
In the
vision
Ayahuasca
said
"I
am the
doctorthat
gives the
vision".
His
grandfather responded,
"How
can we
find
this
plant?
The
answer
was:
"You can
find
it
by
turning
two corners". So
they
searched
and
were attracted
to a
chacruna
bush.
In
the
visions
it is
always
the
spirit
doctor
of
Ayahuasca
who
tells
them what
is
wrong
with
their
patient,
what
medicine
is
needed, or who has caused the
illness
or
malaise.
Ayahuasca
and
the
spirit
of
plants
In
the West
there
are
many
stories
like
'Jack
and the Beanstalk'
reminding
us
thatplants
have
spirit
power; Alice
in
Wonderland
explored
this
world
too.
There
is a
large
body
of
knowledge
of
powerplants
even
if the
form
has been
adapted
to
fairy
tales and
'domesticated',
not
to
undenate
the richness of
Grimms'
tales.
When
a
person
drinks
Ayahuasca,especially
with
a
trusted
shaman,
there
is
an
opportunity
for
thatperson
to
learnabout and develop
a
trust
in the
plant.
He
will
discover
that
it
works
in its
own
way,
also
demanding
tmst
from
the user
in
that
it
can be abused and used in the
wrong
way.
Without intention, vision,
preparation,
and an
accompanying
Shaman,
it is a
drug
not a
healingmedicine.
We
worked
extensively
with
Javier
Arevalo
and had
many
discussions
on the
role
of the
Amazonian
Shaman and theuse of
Ayahuasca.
Javier comes
from
Nuevo
Progreso, a
community
of 50
families
on the Rio
Napo,
Department
of
Javier
Arevalo Amazonian
shaman
Loreto, Peru.
Several generations of his
family
have been Shamans and at the age
of
17, he
knew this
would
be his
future.
However
it was not
until
he was 20
when
his father
died
from
a
'virote'
(a
poisoned
dart
in the
spiritual world)
sent by a
jealous
brujo,
(sorcerer)
that
he
felt
compelled
to
follow
the
arduous five-yearapprenticeship
to be a Shaman.
Javier
was
more
than
co-operative
with
us and
willingly
gave us answers to
the
following
questions:
What
is
the role of a
Shaman?
"He
learns everything
about
therainforest and uses that knowledge to
heal
his
people
since they do not
have money
for Western style doctors. He usesAyahuasca to discover in his visions
which
plants
will
be effective for which
illnesses."
How
do you perceive
this?
"The
spirits
or plant doctors tell us. Asthey are
pure,
they are
made
happy whenwe are too, so we must diet in order toattract them. That
means
we should noteat salt, sugar or
alcohol,
and abstainfrom sex. The
spirits
come
and say, forexample they
will
cure in two months ifthe patient
takes
a
particular
plant. Thenthe shaman
goes
out to
look
for the plant."
It
is
said
that every
environment
has the
necessaryplants
to
heal
the
people.
Is
that so?
"Yes,
every plant has a
spirit,
theshaman
goes
into the forest as part of hisapprenticeship and spends two years
taking
plants and roots. He
takes
Ayahuasca too and the
spirit
tells himwhat it cures. Then the shaman triesanother plant,
each
time remembering
which
ailment is cured by what."
Does
each
Shaman
have to
find
it
all
out
for
himself
or
is
there a body of
knowledge handed
down?
"The
maestro
goes
with
the apprentice
into
the wilderness and gives him thedifferent plants and it is like a test or trialto overcome. The maestro is usually a
member
of family. In my
case
both mygrandfather and my uncle were maestros.
You
go off
deep
into the forest
with
yourmaestro and
make
a very simple shelter or
'tambo'.
A shaman must not live in a bighouse,
it's just
for sleeping and dieting."
How
long
do
you
have to diet the plant?
"fust
one day to know
its
process, the
next
day you move onto another.
This
is ifyou do not return to the city, you can get
through
a lot of
plants.
This
is differentfrom dieting a plant for a month say."
So
does every
condition
or
illness
have a
particular
plant
to remedy it or
is
it a
spirit
energy
which
comes through the
plant
which
can cure many
things?
"One
plant may cure lots of ailments.
A
particular
plant has a
spirit
which caneither
heal
or
kill.
As for example
with
another shaman (who we worked
with
earlier),
who had not dieted Ayahuasca
correctly
and poomf it caused fever and
people
caught colds."
So
why would
a
plant
kill
or cure?
"Because an hechicero (sorcerer) alsolearns from the plants. He may forexample learn from dieting a plant whichhas spines or phlegm which could be
good
for certain things. But
if
he is bad no onecan stop him and in the night
ffoooo'
heuses
it
for harm or to
kill.
These are the
brujos
who
come back
from theforest
with
eyes
red like the huayruro (red
beans
with
black
spots). He is a bad shaman and we
have
to cure the
people
they harm. "
Who
would
want to do
such
things?
"There are
some people
who
have
a
squabble
with
someone,
and then they gooff to see a brujo and say
'This
Senora talkstoo much and has insulted me, kill herand
I'll
pay
you'. They
pay them and theydo harm."
Why
and how
did
you
become a
Shaman?
"I
never thought of being a shaman. I
took
Ayahuasca from 14-years old
just
toclean my stomach. later my father said I
heard
you chanting, you are going to be ashaman.
I
don't want to
I
said. later when
I
was 20 my father died from sorcery sothen I wanted to learn in order to
take
vengeance.
During
my apprenticeship Ihad a
change
of heart and understoodthat God knew
best
in such situations."
Why
did
the
brujo
want to
kill
your
father?
"Because he was a curandero whohad cured
someone
who had
been
harmed
by the brujo. It happens
because
we curanderos undo the work of the
brujos
and they get angry
with
us.
This
is
\
i
Page 21
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Encounter With an Amazonian Ayahuasca Shaman
The Ayahuasca article with an interview of the shaman Javier Arevalo by Howard G Charing & Peter Cloudsley appeared in 'Healing Today' Magazine August 2001
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