PERU
The Trip
One of my recent travels took me deep into the Peruvian Amazon jungle for several weeks. You have never experienced heat and humidity until you’ve been in the Amazon! For a week I stayed in a rustic camp without electricity or plumbing… no a/c, not even a fan! No toilets, just a hole in the ground! But what a magnificent time I had. Twice I caught my own dinner – piranha, and boy are they delicious, though lots of bones! I slept on a mattress surrounded by a mosquito net with a bat living underneath the bed. I found a poison dart frog the size of my pinky fingernail. I spent time with the Indigenous Yagua tribe and learned how to use a blow gun. I even walked among the rainforest canopy! But the highlight of this trip was a visit to the local shaman, the modern-day version of a medicine man.
The Shaman
Upon entering the hut of the shaman, Guillermo, I took a seat on a bench while Guillermo’s “tools of the trade” were laid out on a table. Raul, a trumpeter bird that lived at the camp, had followed me through the jungle and into the shaman’s hut, and Leon, the shaman’s dog, plopped himself down on (yes, on) my feet. Then for the next hour, Guillermo explained to me all about the different plants found in the Amazon rainforest and what diseases or ailments they helped cure or treat. A couple of the “medicines” he spoke about were Dragon’s blood and cat’s claw.
Native to the Amazon rainforest, cat’s claw has been a staple in the shaman’s medicine chest for hundreds of years to treat a variety of health ailments, including inflammation, arthritis, stomach ulcers and infections.
Dragon’s blood, on the other hand, is used by the shaman as a topical rub for just about anything bad that can happen to skin. Cuts, bites, burns, stings, and rashes benefit from application of the healing red sap of the Dragon’s blood tree.
Guillermo also told me in detail about ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic brew said to be more potent than LSD, made from various plants found in the Amazon rainforest that has a “consciousness-expanding” effect on the user. The ayahuasca “experience” has become increasingly trendy with travelers to the Amazon, and there are now ayahuasca “retreats” that cater specifically to people who want to have a “consciousness-expanding” experience. Ayahuasca hallucinations last about six hours, and it can take up to eight hours to get over the lingering effects.
The whole ayahuasca experience didn’t sound like too much fun to me, and I passed it up. But it was fascinating to learn about.
However, Guillermo did perform a “healing” ceremony on me. Sitting on a bench with my eyes closed and palms facing upward, Guillermo poured some kind of liquid into my hair—not much, just a little. Then, using a bunch of dried leaves tied into a “leaf rattle” or chakapa, he walked in circles around me shaking the chakapa over my head and up and down my body, all the while singing an incantation. He then lit some special mapacho, or tobacco, in the form of a type of cigarette, took a long drag, and then blew the smoke directly into my hair. The smoke is supposed to protect against enemies and keep evil from crossing my path. Then more chakapa shaking and singing. The ceremony ended with Guillermo pouring some extremely sweet, flowery smelling oil in my hands and having me rub it on my face.
Afterwards, Guillermo painted a temporary tattoo on my arm using “ink” made from plants that grow in his medicinal garden. The tattoo went on clear, but over the next couple hours it turned deep purple. My tattoo was of a toucan, and Guillermo did a great job!
(Click on each photo below to enlarge.)
Native to the Amazon rainforest, cat’s claw has been a staple in the shaman’s medicine chest for hundreds of years to treat a variety of health ailments, including inflammation, arthritis, stomach ulcers and infections.
Dragon’s blood, on the other hand, is used by the shaman as a topical rub for just about anything bad that can happen to skin. Cuts, bites, burns, stings, and rashes benefit from application of the healing red sap of the Dragon’s blood tree.
Guillermo also told me in detail about ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic brew said to be more potent than LSD, made from various plants found in the Amazon rainforest that has a “consciousness-expanding” effect on the user. The ayahuasca “experience” has become increasingly trendy with travelers to the Amazon, and there are now ayahuasca “retreats” that cater specifically to people who want to have a “consciousness-expanding” experience. Ayahuasca hallucinations last about six hours, and it can take up to eight hours to get over the lingering effects.
The whole ayahuasca experience didn’t sound like too much fun to me, and I passed it up. But it was fascinating to learn about.
However, Guillermo did perform a “healing” ceremony on me. Sitting on a bench with my eyes closed and palms facing upward, Guillermo poured some kind of liquid into my hair—not much, just a little. Then, using a bunch of dried leaves tied into a “leaf rattle” or chakapa, he walked in circles around me shaking the chakapa over my head and up and down my body, all the while singing an incantation. He then lit some special mapacho, or tobacco, in the form of a type of cigarette, took a long drag, and then blew the smoke directly into my hair. The smoke is supposed to protect against enemies and keep evil from crossing my path. Then more chakapa shaking and singing. The ceremony ended with Guillermo pouring some extremely sweet, flowery smelling oil in my hands and having me rub it on my face.
Afterwards, Guillermo painted a temporary tattoo on my arm using “ink” made from plants that grow in his medicinal garden. The tattoo went on clear, but over the next couple hours it turned deep purple. My tattoo was of a toucan, and Guillermo did a great job!
(Click on each photo below to enlarge.)