Amazonian Jungle Juice

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Pucallpa is in the heart of Peru. It lies about 1500kms from the coastal capital of Lima and is known as the gateway to the Amazon. It is on the river Ucayali which connects to Brazil and the mighty Amazon River. My main reason for coming to this area has been due to my long time curiosity with medicinal plants that come from this area and shamans that use these plants to cure apparent life threatening diseases and to gain knowledge directly from the deep states of mind some of these plants supposedly induce. Other bloggers such as Joel Harris and Soul Cultivator have only made me even more fascinated to come here and make my own personal viewpoint to whether it is real or just a big superstition.
Pucallpa was quite different from what I expected from a city in the jungle. In fact, hardly any jungle is left in the area, making way for great industry. The bustling loud motorcars have left little or no trace of any nature and the only reminder I got was by the rubbish laden river side port where the street sellers try to peddle their wares. It was the beginning of the wet season here and only after a day here the torrential rains pounded down heavily and with no remorse bringing the city to a halt but of course as in any tropical climate everyone was back to business a few hours later. So after a few more days I was growing weary in this jungle metropolis and decided to head to the small town of San Francisco about 1 hour drive from Pucallpa.
The taxi is a beaten down old Corolla with no door frames, a web of cracks in the windscreen making it almost impossible to see through and it didn’t even have a speedometer, I was starting to wonder how it even moved. Due to the recent rain, the dirt road was no more leaving knee high mud in its wake and at one point we got out of the car and had to push it though leaving every part of us quite muddy indeed. Within a few months the increasing rain will make the road completely impassable.
After arriving I asked around for accommodation and was taken to a place near the back of the town where there were little bungalows made especially for foreigners but without electricity, it was far from luxurious but was livable. The town itself has been known to have an exceedingly large portion of practicing shaman and for this reason is very popular with wide-eyed travelers coming to the area. A population of a few hundred, one hotel and until only recently internet, there is not much more of interest here. The local people are of Shipibo origin, a tribal group that is spread all across the Amazon basin. Even though the majority understands and communicates in Spanish, their main dialect is Shipibo. Their traditional dress is wonderfully coloured and intricately designed with patterns that are thought to bring protection from evil spirits and bad energies.
Unfortunately, many of the locals no longer wear their traditional dress and prefer to wear cheaper, western clothing and only make their artisan items for sale to tourists. The people have forgotten their traditional ways to hunt, destroying the local area including polluting the local river (the only fish and fresh water source) with contaminants such as car batteries and fuels. This has caused much poverty and so many people are now reliant on the outside to bring money. To make matters worse, dengue fever has become very prominent in the area with many falling ill and some dying due to malnutrition and inability to afford required medicines.
My attraction to shamanism comes from an interest in the history of these people using the power of plants to alter states of mind. This gives them ability to see problems and ailments in people as spots of bad energy and are able to shift and remove these energies using plants. One of the most traditional and revered plants of the region is the Tobacco plant known here as Mapacho. Normally smoked through a pipe, the natural and non processed plant is thought to be able to clean people by smoking, bathing and even drinking the juice of the plant. The native equivalent of this plant is known to contain various chemicals found also in anti depressants. The western version has all these removed and replaced with toxic chemicals such as arsenic and paint strippers.
In this area of Peru and in particular shamans from Shipibo ancestry use a plant mix known as Ayahuasca to induce an altered state of mind where visions appear and problems with patients can be seen and removed easily. This is done with the help of chants called Icaros that are said to be taught to the Shamans by the plants themselves. The powers of these chants are said to be able to clear any malignant energies from patients or give advice on what other mixtures to use to be able to cure someone from their problems.
Sitting in my hammock outside of the bungalow I am admiring the sounds of the surrounding jungle which is quite bare and sparse separated by muddy patches and grassy areas. This is accompanied by swarms of mosquitoes and sand flies that make it difficult to relax outside a mosquito net for any long length of time. I am approached by the owner who at first seemed a little shady, speaking bluntly and smirking with a cheesy smile displaying some gold capped teeth. He happened to be a shaman also and stated that there would be an Ayahuasca session in a few days time. When the night approached I was feeling a little worried about the coming experience, the others here are all Japanese and apparently the place is quite famous back in Japan for some reason. The session is held in a small areas cornered off by mosquito netting with a small mat for each participant. The sessions here are called ceremonies due to their spiritual significance to the local people. One of the bad side effects of Ayahuasca that put many people off is its ability to make you want to vomit and give you bad runs to the bathroom. We are given a small shot of viscous liquid that honestly tasted like sour lemon mixed with nail polish remover. After about twenty minutes I started to feel effects which appeared as bright lights followed by trailing colours, I was finding it difficult to keep the liquid down with my stomach starting to cause me bad problems again. At one point I was losing all track of thought with images of temples and gods bombarding my consciousness until I couldn’t take it anymore and threw it all up into the conveniently placed bucket in front of my mat. The shaman started chanting and came over to me, started blowing Mapacho over my body; he also started adjusting parts of my skull with his palms. After I relaxed and began seeing beautiful scenes of sunsets, beaches and gardens.
The next morning I was feeling ill again, and I believe it was due to the well water. The following ceremony was extremely painful with only images of blackness, blood, suffering and death. These were not just being seen either, it was as if I was experiencing everything I was seeing in a real life situation. This went on for hours and felt as if it would never end and it seemed as though the shaman didn’t even want to help me, I was also have troubles with motor skills, most of the time unable to move my body and stumbling my way to the toilet when I needed to. The next day the shaman diagnosed me with a stomach problem and prescribed me a plant mixture which I had to drink and following that imbibe 4 litres of water until I vomited it all back up again. The event was excruciatingly painful and afterwards I went straight to bed and slept for most of day after which I had little energy to do anything. I was starting to ponder my intentions for coming to this place and why I couldn’t just be normal and go relax on the coast with a few beers. I sensed there must be something deeper to this that was keeping me here. I was losing confidence in this "shaman" who wasn’t explaining any information about the plants, I wanted to see them growing in the jungle and watch them being cooked. All I saw of him was when he wanted his exorbitant payment.
In the meantime, I met two Aussies Luka and Cielo who were also staying in another part of town. Their own experiences were very interesting, especially about shamans in the town becoming jealous of each other, charging high prices and not curing or helping people and performing curses on one another. All this was due to them becoming sick with the well known western illness we have brought to their town known as greed. Even most of the local people only wanted to be your friend if you would buy some of their jewelery they were selling. This wound is cutting deep into the heart of the town, destroying it at its very core and it was due to us western people bringing them our fantastic civilisation.
They were telling of a shaman who was living in town who has not been working with any westerners until now. They were planning a trip deeper into the jungle for a month. It was only accessible by a three day boat ride and many medicinal plants were growing and no western contraptions such as phones, internet and even cars existed and where few westerners have even tread.
My stomach had become much better since the treatment and I was able to drink the water without any problem. Next the shaman placed soaked Datura around my head that would fix my problem that apparantly existed there but merely gave me a bad headache. The following ceremonies were mild and I was feeling more resistant towards the shaman given the recent information I was receiving from elsewhere. One night his wife was participating and was having massive seizures that were apparently being caused by some other shaman that had attacked her with black magic.
The following day I met the Shaman who was quite short with jet black hair and dark, rugged features. He was in his mid forties yet appeared thirty with an extremely strong physique. He was mild mannered and seemed very humble. I had been bitten by a creature called a Piki, which lays eggs under your skin and appears like a blister which he helped remove with the aid of a knife.
We decided to organise a ceremony with the group and it immediately started affecting me after just a few minutes. Dragons and serpents started to appear along with amazing patterns resembling DNA strands. I could barely move and I desperately need to visit the bathroom but even when I opened my eyes the images would obscure my vision such that I could not make out any depth of field. I felt it come on stronger with insects and ants running over my body, I was getting terrible pain in my head and upper body, effigies of lustuous images being burnt in front of my eyes. anger and hatred also becoming personified in some evil image burnt before finally I was put in a coffin and burnt also. The Shaman came over and blew Mapacho into my head where I felt an intense energy and vomited. Immediately I felt much better as if I purged everything into the bucket. Luka said he saw something black leave my head just as the smoke was blown there; I no longer had any problem walking and could easily vacate to use the bathroom. The others had completely different experiences seeing gardens, gnomes and galactic crystal cities; they had no problem moving about and had to use the toilet often. He later suggested most of the compression I was feeling in my head was due to worry and stress in my life and work and felt somehow if I left it untreated it could have turned into a tumor later in life. We all had complete trust in his methods and decided to plan the trip to the jungle in two weeks. The last ceremony was very intense also, I felt a grand inner fortress of strength that fought off any bad energies that were trying to invade me. I also saw a technicolor insect that spoke to me and performed an operation on my head where I felt a piercing and many erratic changes in perception which seemed like a TV set that kept losing picture. I was told that the insect is the "plant owner" and can help with curing and knowledge of plants. The next few days I felt great, laughing and playing with the children in the village. I felt like a child myself without any concern or worry. I didn’t even care if we were going to the jungle or not. Nether the less the journey was imperative, I was feeling apprehensive yet I was ready for anything.

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Photos

Making Pottery
San Fransisco, Peru

Traditional Shipibo Dress
San Francisco, Peru

Rosi
San Fransisco Peru

Joseline
San Fransisco, Peru

Comments

[Maria Nikouline]

...I have seen these galactic crystal cities.... They are amazing... Stay away from the Piki..they are nasty critters.... Like always, sending you positive energy....All is well Mark!

[Maria Nikouline]

Your blog..
..reminded me of something I read once...: Only after the Last Tree has been cut down, Only after the Last River has been poisoned, Only after the Last Fish has been caught, Only then will you find that Money Cannot Be Eaten.