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Ayahuasca and the Plant Spirit Shamans of the Amazon Rainforest Part 2

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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 baсos 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.

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<h1>Ayahuasca and the Plant Spirit Shamans of the Amazon Rainforest Part 2</h1><br />by HGC<br />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;<br /><br /> ‘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.<br /><br />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’<br /><br />He also (as do many maestros) works with the plants not only to heal illnesses but to resolve domestic and family problems;<br /><br />‘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.’<br /><br />Another (in a very enjoyable way) the qualities, consciousness or spirit of the plant is used to attract benign forces is “los baсos 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.<br /><br />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; <br /><br />‘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. <br /><br />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.”<br /><br />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”.<br /><br /><br /><br />A look at a few of the ‘planta maestras’<br /><br /><br />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.<br />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. <br /><br />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. <br />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. <br /><br />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.<br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br />Reflections <br />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". <br /><br />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.<br /> <br /><h2>About the Author</h2><p><b>Howard G. Charing, is an accomplished international workshop leader on shamanism. He has worked some of the most respected and extraordinary shamans &amp; healers in the Andes, the Amazon Rainforest, and the Philippines. He is the author of the best selling book, Plant Spirit Shamanism (Destiny Books USA). His website: http://www.shamanism.co.uk</b></p> <br /><h3><a href="http://www.content4reprint.com/recreation-and-leisure/travel/destinations/ayahuasca-and-the-plant-spirit-shamans-of-the-amazon-rainforest-part-2.htm" title="Ayahuasca and the Plant Spirit Shamans of the Amazon Rainforest Part 2">Article Source:</a> <a href="http://www.content4reprint.com" title="Free high quality articles">Content for Reprint</a></h3>