II.Amazonian shamanism and the Shipibo tradition:

The Shipibos

The shipibos are very mysterious and fascinating people. Even in the turmoil of the 21st century, many of them keep a strong attachment to their culture and their philosophy of life, cultivating their traditons with attention and care. Proud, diffident, smiling, welcoming, strong, extremely sensitive, friendly and centered. It requires years to create real intimacy with them and gain their trust. But once their hearts are open to you, they welcome you into their family, sharing all they have, from their food to their secrets about the plants or the mysteries of the forest.

They say that they learned about life by watching a species of very small monkey called "Shipi". The Shipi – Bo, or "monkey people", had gained their wisdom from observing monkeys.

The Shipibo people have always been among the most influential tribes of the Peruvian Amazon. Life in the forest has never been paradisiacal, on the contrary, there were many struggles and daily challenges to overcome. The main ones being to find food, protect their territory from other tribes and fight diseases.

Besides being renowned warriors, their influence was due to the fact that their shamans had a very high level of knowledge. People from other tribes would even travel for weeks to come and meet shipibo masters and learn with them. Their masters had reached the highest peaks of spiritual knowledge. There are still many stories about the shamans of the past, people performing miraculous healings, being able to communicate with the spirits of the forest, todisappear at will, bring abundance in an unfortunate village, heal an entire settlement from an epidemic... To this day shipibo master healers are still considered to be among the best healers one can meet and work with.

Their knowledge of the plants is still alive and practiced in the different communities. It is usual among them to cultivate healing plants in their garden, each one having its own secrets. They use the plants to heal themselves, to make their hair grow stronger, bring good luck to their projects, give strength and intelligence to their new born children or reinforce the love connection in a married couple when they have difficulties.

The shipibos also have a very rich handcraft culture. Craftsmen and women create incredibly refined and elegant art work. Waved fabrics, painted pottery, jewels, perfumes, pipes and wood work can reach amazing beauty in their hands. They pride themselves on their work. Even if they smile, laugh and joke almost all the time, they also dedicate a lot of their time to work. There again, the plants give them endurance and strength to work better.

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Kestenbetsa

At the age of 24, after two years of deep reflection, a young man named Guillermo decided to enter the field of shamanism. Moved by a profound desire to understand the shamanic tradition of his people, he chose to go deep into the forest and spend the next 12 months in complete isolation.

In doing so, he was following the path of the old masters. To learn about the spiritual dimensions one had to go through several months of discipline, isolated from the world. There, in the heart of the forest, he would purify himself so that the spirits of the plants could open their worlds and their knowledge before him. There, the mind would come to rest and start to open to the spiritual realms.

These months were full of adventures, challenges and discoveries. They were the beginning of a new life. When he came back to his community, the plants had taught him and he could now help and heal the people around him.

When he started his apprenticeship, Guillermo had two very clear objectives in mind. One was to find God, the other one was to learn so that he could share the knowledge of his ancestors with the world.

One day came, after he had finished his isolation time, that Guillermo experienced a very special event which determined the course of his life. He was doing a ceremony when he received a vision. A mighty man dressed in white was standing in front of him. In his hand was a spade. Light was shining bright all around him. Guillermo was amazed by the vision.

The man opened his mouth and said:
"Now, receive, learn and share!"

Guillermo accepted and sat for 48 hours while he was being given energy and knowledge.

For all his life Guillermo has dedicated himself to healing and the transmission of the knowledge. He taught many Peruvian and Amazonian healers, helping them to reconnect to their own shamanic tradition. Later on he started to share his knowledge with many westerners who became his apprentices. Being a very active and creative man, he built or supported many projects for the development of his community, has been involved in the creation of the first shipibo government, created two healing centers, wrote books and travelled all over the world for the diffusion of the knowledge he received from the spiritual worlds.

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The Master Plants

Amazonian people have always been living among the plants. For them the plants and trees are living entities and the forest is the habitat not only of animals and birds but also spirits of all kinds. There are spirits of the waters, of the earth, the sky... and the plants. This conception of the world comes from a direct experience of the existence of such spiritual life all around them. It is with these spirits that amazonian shamans have been working and still work today.

The Master Plants are plants whose spirits can transmit their knowledge to human beings. They are available to help humans in their evolution and healing process. By establishing a connection with the plants through the discipline of the diet it is possible to receive healing and knowledge. The mastery of this discipline requires years of training and practice.

Each master plant has its own specific knowledge and healing properties. They can teach about psychology, medicine, spirituality, hunting, biology. They can also help to open one's mind or heart, reinforce the body, bring good fortune, heal tumors, digestive problems, depression, paranoia, schizophrenia, psoriasis, hair loss, diabetes, hepatitis, cancer and HIV. There is a plant for almost any use or need you can imagine.

It is part of the shipibo culture to use the plants. They use them to learn the medicine, develop their consciousness and to treat others. The shipibo have always been considered to be among the highest masters. Their shamanic knowledge is among the most extensive in the amazon.

There are many master plants in the amazon rain forest and many master plants all over the planet. This knowledge seems to have been lost in many areas of the world but it is still preserved in others.

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The Ayahuasca – the "vine of the spirits"

According to amazonian shamanism, the Ayahuasca is the mother of all the plants of the forest and of our planet. The spirit of this vine is considered by the shipibo tradition as one of the main spirits of the spiritual dimensions of the plants.

This vine is brewed in water for several hours with another plant called Chakruna until it becomes a dark brown, thick and sour decoction. This drink is then used by the healer to open his mind so that he can access the spiritual realms from which he will be able to "see" his patient, make a diagnosis and perform the healing work. According to the healers of the amazon, the curanderos or ayahuasqueros, the Ayahuasca opens the mind to a different state of consciousness and cleans the impurities, while the chakruna opens the visions.

Western ethnobotanists and chemists have a different explanation. They say that the Ayahuasca inhibits an enzyme in the stomach, which allows the existing DMT in the chacruna to access the brain and trigger a psychoactive effect.

The fact is that the Ayahuasca transports the healer into a different dimension of reality. It is like a vehicle which enables him to access other worlds. He enters what we call the World of the Medicine or Rao Nete, which actually is made of an infinity of universes. With a specific training, the shaman can then travel into these worlds, explore them. He can access the spiritual dimensions of the underworlds, the worlds of the plants, the past as well as the future, the cosmos, travel to other parts of our planet... and by doing so he can gather knowledge and understanding about all kinds of topics. This knowledge is what he uses to cure diseases and also to help and guide the members of his community.

In the old times, shipibo shamans used many different plants and techniques to access these states. Now the ayahuasca is the most common plant used by amazonian shamans.

The advantage of the ayahuasca over other psychoactive substances is that it does not create any kind of addiction and the effects of the plant, even when strong, never lead to a loss of consciousness about what is happening in this dimension. Nothing is forgotten. During a ceremony, we are always conscious of this dimension, while other substances can make us lose the sense of where we are and feel lost in other realms.

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The Icaros

The icaros are the chants used by the shamans during the ceremony. They are the main tool used during the work. The icaros are the vehicle of the intention of the healer. The healing happens through the power of the mind. It is the development of his spirit which gives the shaman the ability to heal a patient or move into other realms. In the shipibo tradition, the icaros are used to manifest the intention of the shaman. He therefore sings what he wants to achieve or what he is doing.

An example of a translation of an icaro could go as follow:

"Now I will open the World of the Medicine.
I will open your mind to the worlds of the plants.
I will open your mind so that you can have beautiful visions,
So that you can see what you wish to see.

I will bring light into your mind,
Organize your feelings and make you feel well.
I will heal the traumas of your heart,
Clear the pain away from the deepest of your heart.

I am creating pleasant feelings in you,
The energy of love is penetrating your body and your heart.
Your mind is now opening
To the visions of the Ayahuasca.

Now the World of the Medicine is opening.
I am creating a beautiful world around you,
A world of bright light, colours and flowers!
And you are sitting in the center of this beautiful world.
The visions are healing you..."

There exist many kinds of icaros according to the work that needs to be done. Some are used to open the ceremony and the visions, some to bring love and good luck, some to free unwanted energies, others to enter different worlds and to heal specific diseases. When a shaman is trained, he can access the spirit of a specific plant and learn chants directly from that spirit. It can seem a bit abstract for our western minds, but the process is actually quite simple and becomes the most natural experience when it happens.

The shipibo medicine can actually be seen as a spiritual technology and the chants are one of its most refined and poetic tools. The icaros are one of the manifestations of the beauty and creativity which are such a fundamental part of this work. A master healer is also a master singer and often a master poet.

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Pucallpa

Once upon a time, hard circumstances afflicted the shipibo people. So hard that they had to leave a land which could not sustain them anymore. It was a difficult decision: thousands of people had to move from their homeland in search for a new territory to settle down. The entire nation moved along the rivers of the amazon rain forest for a long, long time.

Every evening they would set a camp for the night. Every night the Onani, their shaman, would go deep into the forest. There he would contact the spirits to check if that place could fit their way of life, if this was the end of their journey. Every morning he would come back, and they would travel further into the amazon rain forest.

One night, after many years of wandering, the Onani went to the forest as he had done night after night since they had left. The next morning, everybody was waiting for him, ready to leave the camp but he didn't come back. They waited more and as they waited some started to get concerned. "Anything could have happened!" The jungle is full of dangers and they waited on and on… Finally he appeared. Everybody gathered around him, relieved that he was fine. The Onani was their healer, the guide of the community.

He stood in front of them. Opened his arms, smiled, and addressed the crowd with enthusiasm:

"This is Pucallpa! The "red land"! Here is our home!"

The Shipibo had found their new land! A land of argil soil which would feed them and nurture their cherished plants. A land where water was abundant and animal life flourished. The spirits of the forest had welcomed them and blessed the shipibo with their hospitality. Located in the Ucayali district, Pucallpa is now the main town of the area occupied by shipibo communities.

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The Chaikuni

The people who live in the forest know their environment extremely well. Even now, many can easily follow a track or identify which animals are present in a specific area. Nevertheless one is never completely safe and sometimes people can get lost even just a few hours from their settlement. Being lost in the Amazon rain forest is a challenging experience. There are a lot of predators and dangers. But faith in the spirits can help. There are many tales of a traveler lost in the forest and suddenly a man or a woman appears in the distance, standing still and waiting for them to come his or her way.

Once the lost person starts to walk in their direction, they walk away. Then you just have to follow them and they will show you the way to a track which can lead you to a safe destination. Once you are there, they just disappear...

These people are the Chaikuni. They are shipibo shamans who decided to dedicate themselves to the protection of the rain forest and its spiritual life. The Chaikuni have the ability to appear and disappear at will. People tell many stories about them. They live deep in the forest in communities and work to preserve the amazon rain forest, help the spirits and the people of the amazon.

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The Forest

Anaconda Cosmica is located in the jungle within the Amazon Basin. It is vibrant and full of diverse plant and animal species. Although it is a second growth jungle, the trees are tall with a canopy which blocks much direct sun light. The forest supports a wide variety of birds, insects and other animals.

The surrounding forest with its diverse life is one of the delights of being at Anaconda Cosmica. During the day, you will catch glimpses of small monkeys flying through the trees, or birds flitting high above singing their heart outs, and colorful butterflies passing by for a visit. When the sun sets, everything calms down for a few minutes, the day life ends and animals go to rest. Then the night life starts in a chorus of insects, birds and animals vibrating in the darkness covering all things – so loud that it penetrates your being and reminds you that the life force is strong, glorious and present, within and without, at all times. The natural world expresses itself so fully in the jungle that it is a great gift to experience these sights and sounds, a gift that most people take home with them as a reminder of the vibrancy and preciousness of Life, their own and of all their relations.

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