In indigenous regions of the Amazon, Ayahuasca offers a deeply spiritual pathway to a new vision. Pucallpa, located in Peru, is a wild city with dusty, busy streets and hot sun, but it must be navigated to arrive at the Ucayali River, a tributary of the Amazon. Arriving at the riverbank I boarded a long narrow boat called a peque- peque, the sound made by its motor and set out for San Francisco, an Indian Shipibo community in the Peruvian jungle where I would be meeting with a shaman.
My guide, rail thin and missing several teeth, entertained me along the way with river stories of people who had drowned, their bodies never found, believed to be trapped by mysterious plants with long treacherous tendrils growing in the bottom of the river. The trip lasted two hours, and as we approached San Francisco, we could see small, brightly colored wooden houses and women washing clothes in the river.Upon landing, we were warmly received and escorted through the three uneven streets that form the town. Two solar lampposts stood sentry; the village's only streetlights, they store five hours of sunshine to light the way after dark.
My guide, rail thin and missing several teeth, entertained me along the way with river stories of people who had drowned, their bodies never found, believed to be trapped by mysterious plants with long treacherous tendrils growing in the bottom of the river. The trip lasted two hours, and as we approached San Francisco, we could see small, brightly colored wooden houses and women washing clothes in the river.Upon landing, we were warmly received and escorted through the three uneven streets that form the town. Two solar lampposts stood sentry; the village's only streetlights, they store five hours of sunshine to light the way after dark.
My lodging was a small cabin owned by Jacinto, a nephew of the shaman, who was ready to take me to his uncle. En route, Jacinto told me that to be a shaman one had to go deep into the jungle for two years, where the tree spirits prepare the shaman. Not all were strong enough to endure the training, which involves putting a snake in your mouth, he said, but after it, one could kill anyone with a single expression.
When Don Pedro appeared, I was relieved to see his expression was smiling. A small, thin man of indefinite age with slanted eyes, he asked me how it was that I had arrived on a Friday, the day marked for ayahuasca. I hardly knew how to respond, since having arrived in Pucallpa I'd felt as if a strange force were guiding me. The shaman laughed and told me to be prepared that night around 10 pm. He told me not to be afraid as he would protect me from bad spirits, and showed me an imposing bottle of brown liquid ayahuasca which literally translates to "vine of death." Brewed from boiled tree roots, it induces Castaneda-like "sacred visions."
Our session that night in the shaman's cabin included three other people: Don Pedro's son, a friend, and a 12-year-old boy said to have been bewitched and in need of a healing. The shaman began to speak, telling us that beauty and indescribable happiness surround ayahuasca. He explained that ayahuasca visions can bring transformation and enlightenment, and can change one's perceptions of life. To the beat of the maracas, he passed a small glass to each of us. The flavor was similar to chicha de jora, a fermented maize beverage typical of the region.
Periodically over the 30 minutes or so of waiting to start the visions, I experienced vomiting, diarrhea, and intense anguish. My senses became highly sensitized, and all the jungle sounds—from the loudest animal cry to the sofness of a raindrop became amplified. I felt I was leaving my body and all its familiar sensations, spinning into another world. I breathed the light of the stars and with each exhale felt I died, only to be reborn with each new breath.
When the shaman began to sing in Shipibo dialect, the jungle noises magically ended. He moved his head to the rhythm of the maracas, eyes closed and a smile on his face. I felt trapped by the sound, a progressive, infinite buzzing, like a stone thrown in the water emanating concentric circles of energy. But gradually I began to feel enormous pleasure, with a deep love for all creation. A tree entered my vision and I felt I understood its existence. Trees are important in the ritual since from them come the spirits invoked by the shaman. Some are good, others not, but the shaman was there to protect me, so I didn't worry. Colors began to appear—gold, green, silver and a strong rosy hue.
I could now breathe more easily and with my eyes half closed, I could see simultaneously inside and out—I was one with the Infinite! In that moment I felt dozens of snakes that slithered around my legs, then went to an enormous tree and descended to its roots, where I joined them. In my consciousness, the roots changed into millions of filaments that wound around all existing things in the world. Anything I thought became bound to these roots and the most insignificant things had new meaning. When the shaman stopped singing, the visions vanished and the spirits returned to the trees. I was back in my former reality.
We took a 15-minute break while the shaman put forth many questions, but soon the chants and songs began again, and along with them, strong visions and powerful energy. I saw a translucent, placid lake, only to have the surface shit into concentric circles and lines. I thought I understood the cycles and secrets of creation. Suddenly a beautiful woman with a blue mantle appeared and seemed to know who I was; I could feel her strong vibration and felt honored by her presence.
When we discover that force that gives us all the possible sensations of our body and energy field, when the doorways of the unconscious open to a new expanded reality, then we are ready to journey with the ayahuasca through the timeless universe. The visions and revelations seemed to continue for hours. This is sacred and powerful medicine. As I returned to Jacinto's cabin amidst the faint colors of daybreak and the leafy, untameable jungle, I could still feel the spirits' energy around me. I felt great inner peace and realized I had a new perception of reality. It was humbling.
On my last day in San Francisco, I tried to think calmly. I analyzed the mental hypotheses of another existence, understanding that there could be other life forms and that death was another reality. I had connected with God, saints, spirits and angels. God could be the Creator, the spirits could be entities, and the angels could be celestial bodies or beings from other dimensions; I now think anything is possible. Ayahuasca forces us to see all, whether we want to or not.
Far from being a scientific experiment with a powerful hallucinogen, for me, Ayahuasca was a deeply spiritual experience that connected me to the invisible side of reality. The secrets of the universe no longer seemed secret.
Story & Photos by Rogelio Martell
Story published in Whole Life Times magazine in August 2013
