After 5 weeks in Iquitos, a polluted city of half a million people in the Peruvian Amazon, I finally went on a 3 day excursion deep into the Amazon jungle, accompanied my my 2 friends whom I met at Juan's house, Vismay and Michal. The three of us were brought together by fate, or better said, by the power of the spirit of the medicine, each with his/her own story and connection to the Amazonas and her amazing healing powers. My personal healing journey, Michal with her story of trauma and healing, almost losing her life in a suicide bombing on a bus in Jerusalem in 2002, and Vismay, carrying his life mission through creating sacred space for growth and healing by working with Ayahusca for the past 12 years, holding ceremonies in Israel and in his home in Costa Rica with the “Sound of Light” community (http://www.solcircle.org/ ).
The three of us, carrying small backpacks and a lot of enthusiasm to be in the wild, throbbing bosom of Madre Amazonas (the word actually means Land of the Mother), we were picked up on Tuesday morning by Cesar, our local guide, who speaks fluent English and has a lot of knowledge about local plants and animals, growing up in a village in the jungle and studying for several years about the medicinal qualities of many plants and animals, a knowledge which has been carried on by generations of healers in this area for hundreds, maybe thousands of years. For me it was an opportunity to breathe fresh air and connect to the spirit of the medicine in her own home, where she can be fully experienced in all her might and glory.
On the one and a half hour boat journey to our lodge on the Tapira river, one of the many tributaries to the vast Amazonas, it hit me for the first time how huge this river is. It is by far the widest river i've ever seen, with beaches and villages along both banks and vast areas of jungle between them, covering an area which starts more or less here as its western boundary and stretches all the way to Ecuador in the north and through Brazil to the Atlantic ocean in the east. Large ships carry travelers and goods to different parts of this vast network of rivers, as well smaller speed boats, fishing boats and canoes.
About midway we stopped to let some locals off the boat and stretch our legs, only to find this was a spot for dolphins. The Amazon river has a few types of river dolphins, mainly the gray ones and the all famous rare pink dolphin. They hang out in junctions between two rivers because that's where most of the fish are and come up to breathe air once in a while, so they are easily visible for short glimpses. The Amazonian pink dolphin is a mythical creature here and is said to have a powerful spirit, sometimes evil, and many local fear them even though they are friendly and eat only small fish.
Taking a right turn on the Tapira river, we arrived minutes later in our little jungle lodge. It was like landing in paradise. Quiet. Lush green jungle all around, a constant symphony of birds in a wide array of sounds and colors, some with melodies so unique, they sound like creatures from another world. Actually when you look at the animals and plants in this huge breathing entity called the Amazon, you can easily feel the presence of an original race, or wisdom that preceded humans here. It is even mentioned in many of the local myths that beings from other planets arrived in this area and gave us information and wisdom through plants. When man-kind had a stronger link to nature, these messages were received easily, and knowledge about our universe was obtained in this way. Hallucinogenic plants, for example are known to be a link between our human realm and other dimension where spirits and entities exists and hold the secrets of existence. The combination of the Ayahuasca plant with one of the DMT containing plants such as Yage, Chacruna or Wambisa is a one in a million shot, considering all the possible plant combinations in the amazon. But still, the people living in the forest were able to receive this precise information as this was an important vehicle given to them to connect with other dimensions and receive messages for the benefit mankind.
Settling into my room I was happy and content to be nestled in this beautiful nest that mother nature has prepared for us and receiving the powerful healing energy and wisdom the jungle has to offer.
Several excursions included walks in the forest, deep in the rich and tangled mix of trees and plants all living together in perfect harmony and working with each other and with the water, sun and earth to create shelter for the thousands of different species of snakes, lizards, insects, birds, monkeys and many others. I was breathing in life in it's fullest. A silent canoe trip before sunrise revealed the amazing world of birds who wake up early to enjoy the cool air and get their fish from the river. Large cranes, eagles, hawks, kingfishers in many colors, parrots and many more, each with his own method for catching pray , be it insects, rodents or fish from under the water and his own unique song reverberating through the crisp morning air. All that is left for me is to stand in awe of their precision and agility given to them by nature. Perfection.
In the evening of the second day the three of us started preparing for the highlight of our trip to the jungle, the Ayahusaca ceremony, to be led by Vismay and done with a brew we ourselves have prepared in Juan's house in Iquitos. It was going to be very different than what i've become accustomed to with Juan. While Juan practices the traditional Peruvian style, sitting in the dark and singing Icaros, aimed at specific healing and invoking spirits, Vismay derives his style from a different tradition, as practiced in Brazil by groups associated with the Santo Daime church. The Santo Daime incorporated the use of Ayahuasca into the practices of the catholic church and use songs, hymns, candle light and dancing in their ceremonies. The variation practiced by many group, including most of the people practicing in Israel incorporate this style together with sacred songs from the Jewish tradition, Bhajans (devotional songs) from India and songs which were inspired, or rather received by the spirit of the medicine and invoke healing, insight and love. The new-age culture has created a non-sectarian way of practicing these age old traditions such as drinking Ayahuasca in a way which serves the purposes and agendas of our modern society. While in Peru, people to this day use Ayahuasca to heal illness, bring good luck, rain etc., in the revival of this tradition in the west, it has taken into consideration the westerners' need to go through psychological and emotional processes and actively connect to the wisdom being received by the medicine. This is why the setting is different and provides the opportunity to share the experience together with a group, create a group energy and allow the energy that has built up in the group throughout the ceremony to heal and bring insight to the individual as well as bring forth healing energy to the rest of the earth, aiding the transformtion of consciousness which is so necessary in our age of violence and uncertainty, where many people get lost amidst the troubles of life and the fast pace of our society. Intention is very important and group intentions manifest many times in the context of a ceremony and after.
So with the assistance of our hosts at the lodge and with the consideration of the rest of the group, we set up an altar in the Maloca (ceremony hut), cleansing the space with burning sage, Palo Santo and saying our prayers and intentions. At about 9:30pm we drank our first cup and began singing. We sang all night in English, Hebrew, Portuguese, Spanish and Sanskrit, invoking the healing power of the medicine and forest and creating a strong bond between the three of us.
The visions were beautiful, the jungle was entering my body and showing me its secrets, teaching me its art of creation and subtlety, with peculiar alien-like insects, huge colorful birds and green entities all around us, protecting us. Juan was there too, protecting us and making sure no evil spirits enter our space, as we are all foreign to this land and unfamilar with the different forces that live in the forest. It was a night of pure beauty and ecstasy, cleansing and purging, and fully experiencing the living throb of the forest. The many animals outside our screened Maloca were ever present, alive, listening and responding with presence and sound to what was happening inside. They were with us, protecting us and guiding us.
When light started coming onto the earth we let forest sing instead of us and simply sat outside witnessing the mighty glory of the forest, becoming more visible and green as the sun was coming out of its slumber, accompanied by a perfect and harmonious symphony of birds in a vast array of sounds. The jungle was alive, in a way I can only humbly attempt to describe in words, as the intensity was so strong. She was alive, a single live entity, breathing and pulsating in the earth and providing life not only to the people here but to all of mankind. I finally understood why the Amazon is deemed so important by the local tribes and by ecologists and scientists worldwide, and by its existence crucial for the survival of our planet and for the health and well- being of the human race. It is the largest stretch of rainforest in the world and the most rich and diverse in plant and animal life. It has a spirit which is omniscient and powerful. We have the duty to protect it and take good care of it as our future depends on it. This was a clear message I received from her, via Ayahuasca which is a conduit, a messenger of her wisdom. Existence was a perfect and luminous truth, connecting all beings with God into an ongoing creation and dissolution of life and death. It is eternal, it is truth. The message of the forest is that of love and oneness. An important lesson for the human race to learn how to live with each other in harmony and eliminate the borders in our minds and between people and nations, between us and nature which create a fragmented and limited perception of reality. A way of thinking and being which does not allow true liberty and healing of ourselves and this planet. Truth does not have limitations, conceptions, ideas, borders. It is a one consciousness which we all share, man, animal, plant and earth and we have no choice but to blend into to it the most harmonious way rather than separating ourselves from it, and from each other.
In Spanish the word Green and the word Truth are almost the same (Verdad=Verde).
Gracias Madre Tierra, Gracias Madre Amazonas, Gracias Madre Ayahuasca!
Love.
