Singing to the Plants: A Guide to Mestizo Shamanism in the Upper Amazon (12 page)

THE SMELL OF THE JUNGLE

The term monte occurs frequently in mestizo shamanism. It generally refers
both to mountains and to woodlands; in the Amazon, it is, technically, the
term used to differentiate the highland jungle from the vdrzea, the annually
flooded lowland forest. But to the mestizos, the term means-as one regional
dictionary puts it-despoblado, unpopulated, deserted, and thus dangerous,
solitary, and frightening.3

Since the plant spirits are very sensitive to smells, dwelling in the jungle
allows one to acquire olor a monte, the smell of the jungle, the smell of otherthan-human persons, while abstinence eliminates the smells of human sex.4
Pablo Amaringo says that human beings just smell bad to the spirits generally,
and only a long diet will purify one from this bad smell.5 Grandfather Alonso
Andi, a Napo Runa, speaks of hunting: "From so much walking ... the body
acquires the smell of the forest; man becomes the forest and animals don't

The same is true of the spirits. Cesar Calvo notes that those following la
dieta may dress in special ancient cushmas, never washed: "The cushmas blend
into the stink and the colors of the deep jungle, so that animals and souls
aren't made restless by the smell of man." 7 To become the forest makes one acceptable to the spirits of the plants.

Don Leoncio Garcia, a Shipibo shaman, makes this point with a story.
Once there was a man, he says, who learned so much from ayahuasca that
he kept on drinking it, singing day and night. His two sons tried to feed him,
but, when they tried to pick him up, they found that he had become rooted to
the ground. When the sons returned a month later, they saw that ayahuasca
vines were growing from their father's fingers; when they returned once again
they saw that the vines had tangled all about him; and, finally, they returned to
find that their father had merged completely into the jungle.'

It is certainly possible to diet alone; but apprentices generally diet under
the tutelage of their maestro ayahuasquero, who keeps them to the diet, and
protects them and modulates their visions with magic song. But much of the time is spent in solitude, alone in a small tambo, an open thatched shelter
they have built themselves, in which they stay throughout the diet, with not
much to do. Days of drinking ayahuasca alternate with days on which they go
out into the jungle, learning to identify, gather, and prepare the plants.

Cushma

The temperature in the jungle remains pretty steady at around 85 degrees, and
the relative humidity at about 9o percent. You can certainly walk around the jungle naked without discomfort, at least from the weather. Still, the jungle is pretty
much filled with insects and sharp objects, and many indigenous people wear
clothing of one sort or another. In the Upper Amazon, the traditional dress of
a number of indigenous peoples-the Machiguenga, Ashaninka, Yine, Conibo,
Cashibo-is the cushma.

A cushma-the word is Quechua-is a woven cotton tunic, rather like a large
poncho, sewn together from armpits to feet, sometimes tied with a belt around
the waist. Cotton for cushmas may be cultivated in the garden, or wild cotton
may be gathered in the jungle; the cotton is spun into fine thread and woven
into cloth-a demanding and time-consuming process, which is one reason why
indigenous people acquire ready-made European-style clothing whenever possible., A cushma may also be made out of factory-woven cloth, although handwoven cushmas are more prestigious.

A cushma is made by weaving a strip of cloth about half a yard wide and
about four times the length of the finished product. This cloth is them cut in half,
and the two halves are sewn together lengthwise, except for a foot-long head
opening in the middle; and the sides are sewn up except for a small opening at
the top for the arms. A woman's cushma usually has the head opening crosswise
rather than lengthwise; the head opening in a woman's cushma is also wider, to
allow for breast-feeding 3

The cushma can be worn white or can be dyed in stripes or other patterns.4 Among the Ashaninlca, a man's cushma always has vertical stripes, and
a woman's has horizontal; when an Ashaninlca cushma becomes worn, it is
often dyed reddish brown, and the process may be repeated until it is almost
blaclc.5 Shipibo men may wear cushmas covered with the intricate, labyrinthine
ayahuasca-inspired designs for which the Shipibo are famous. Shipibo women
wear distinctive brightly colored blouses, and short skirts often covered with
the same designs.

The cushma is a pretty comfortable garment, made from local materials. Like
so many comfortable and sustainable things in the Amazon, it is disappearing.

NOTES

i. Johnson, 2003, p. 83.

2. Hvalkof, 2004, p. 49.

3. Hvalkof, 2004, p. 49.

4. Farabee, 1922, pp. 9-10.

5. Hvalkof, 2004, p. 49.

It is probably worth noting that many mestizo shamans are skilled mitayeros, hunters and fishers, in large part, I think, because of months of sitting quietly and observing the jungle during la dieta. The very blandness of the diet
sharpens the senses. The network of almost invisible paths that interlace the
jungle is thought to have been created by the great and powerful shamans of
the past.

Tambo

All ribereno houses are built on pretty much the same principles-a thatched
house on stilts, built entirely of jungle materials, which may range in size from a
small temporary hunting shelter, just large enough to sleep one or a few people,
to an elaborate structure able to house an extended family. Some of these houses are relatively isolated; some-connected together by dirt paths through the
jungle or clustered about a central square-form caserios, villages, with a soccer
field, perhaps a cement schoolhouse and community center, and even a clinic or
a small bodega for goods brought upriver by motorized canoe.

Both the thatched roof and the raised flooring are supported by upright posts
made of durable hardwoods such as huacap6i, icoja, and tahuari. These hardwoods have acquired symbolic meaning in mestizo shamanism and plant medicine: their bark is used in medicines to enhance male potency, and is added to
the ayahuasca drink to support those who drink it, just as these trees support
the ayahuasca vine.

The roof is thatched with irapay palm leaves, whose stems are looped and
knotted on poles of pona wood to form long sheaves, called crisneja, that are
then tied in an overlapping pattern onto the rafters with strips of atadijo barkthe same bark that is used to bind the long cylindrical bundles of cured tobacco
sold in the market. The peak of the roof is covered with yarina palm leaves, and
the springy floor-it bounces when you walk on it, which can be disconcerting at
first-is made from slats cut from the trunk of the huacrapona palm. Ethnobotanist James Duke estimates that as many as twenty different species of plants
may be used in the construction of a single dwelling.

There is usually a single primary room, where people sleep under mosquito
nets, either on the floor or in hammocks; bedding and nets are rolled up during the day. There may be a separate storeroom or a separate sleeping room
for the older members of the household. Supplies and equipment are also kept
up in the rafters that support the thatched roof. The kitchen is often separated
from the main house, at ground level, or connected with the main house by an
elevated walkway, with a thatched roof for cooking when it rains. A notched tree
trunk provides steps to the main room; there may be a railing around the front
of the elevated room, forming a porch, from which residents talk to passersby.

There are few latrines. Many people go out into the jungle to defecate, or
squat in the water at the edge of the river; many houses on stilts on the river's
edge have tiny rooms with a hole in the floor directly overthe water. I have seen
people bathe and wash dishes downstream from where they defecate. Even
when ventilated concrete latrines have been constructed, they are often not
well maintained and, when full, abandoned. Many larger riverboats have a small
screened room sticking out over the water with a hole in the floor. Clean potable
water remains a significant need in many ribereno communities.,

NOTE

i. See generally Chibnik, 1994, pp. 46, 72. On construction materials, see Duke &
Vasquez, 1994, pp. 3-5; on potable water issues, see Aguiar, Rosenfeld, Stevens,
Thanasombat, & Masud, 2007.

That is how the plants teach you-sitting quietly in the jungle, with no
place to go, listening for their song.

THE RESTRICTED DIET

Food Restrictions

The term dieta, diet, and the corresponding verb dietar, is more comprehensive than suggested by its English equivalent. The term encompasses not only
food restrictions but also sexual abstinence, social isolation, and dwelling,
by oneself, in the monte. The diet may be more or less elaborated by different shamans.9 Beyond salt, sugar, and sex, most often prohibited is oil or fat.
Cesar Calvo says that ayahuasca has four requirements-no salt, no sugar,
no fats, no sex.'° Pork is often prohibited as well, although the flesh of some
wild animals-such as the huangana (white-lipped peccary), sajino (collared
peccary), or sachavaca (common tapir)-may be permitted or prohibited, depending on the teacher. Don Agustin Rivas Vasquez, a mestizo shaman from
Tamshiyacu, ate only rice, plantains, mushrooms, and a toothless fish called
boquichico, which itself eats only water plants; he ate no fruits, vegetables, salt,
or spices." Another apprentice had to abstain from salt, sugar, spices, pork,
lemon, and sex; sugar, said his teacher, makes one timid and fearful.12 Don
Emilio Andrade Gomez, a mestizo healer, had to abstain from pork, sweets,
salt, pepper, and sex, because his stomach was very dirty-"full of the essence of all sorts of species, like garlic, and pepper, and also of pork and other
things." Only by following la dieta would he learn to see.13

Additional prohibitions may include avoiding the sun by staying indoors,
avoiding being seen by strangers, and not eating spicy food.14 Pablo Amaringo
says that the dieter must avoid the sun, salt, sweets, garlic, liquor, and pig fat
while also abstaining from sex or socializing with anyone who is sexually active.' Cocama shaman don Juan Curico says that one must first eliminate salt,
then sugar, then fried food, then sex, and then exposure to sun.,'

A six-month diet is usually considered the minimum; diets may last a year
or longer.'7 It is said that to become a banco, a supreme shaman, one must diet
for more than forty years.,' This does not mean that the diet is continuous,
but, rather, refers to a lifetime of periodic diets, to refresh one's energy and to
learn new plants. During this time, too, new or additional plants may appear, in dreams or intuitions or intentions or visions, with instructions on how to
diet with them, as when my beautiful Dark Lady, the spirit of maricahua, the
black datura, held out to me, in an ayahuasca vision, a split piece of the stem
of the maricahua plant.

The idea of a special diet for shamans and their apprentices is widespread
throughout the Amazon. For example, Shuar shaman Alejandro Tsakimp,
when an apprentice, could eat small chickens and little fish but not tapir, armadillo, or guinea pig.19 Asheninka apprentices eat no meat or chilies, drink
no alcohol, and abstain from sex. They must eat only vegetables, particularly
fried manioc, as well as toothless fish such as catfish.20 Shipibo apprentices
must not eat salt, herbs, spices, and certain fish and animals; they must not
let themselves be seen or spoken to and must be sexually abstinent. 21

Shaman apprentices among the Tukano must abstain from sex and live on
nothing but manioc and water, giving up fish, broiled game flesh, and pineapples. Apprentices are expected to become thin.22 Yagua apprentices too must
abstain from sex and observe a strict diet before and for several days after
drinking ayahuasca, in order, they say, to prolong the vision. Greasy or rotten
food is prohibited, but the apprentice may eat plantains braised in their skin,
mashed boiled plantain, and two or three small fish. Anything with a strong
taste is prohibited. Apprentices are also separated from their family, living
for several months in an isolated place, learning the plants and their preparation.23 Alonso Andi, a Napo Runa elder, says that apprentices "must not sleep
with their wives, eat red pepper, salt, or hot manioc. They have to keep on
fasting for several days and eat what sick people eat, such as little birds, but
no other type of food. 1124

Maricahua

The term maricahua is usually identified as an alternative name for toe or floripondio, referring to any of several Brugmansia species, particularly B. suaveolens.,The term toenegro is usually identified as referring to a plant in an entirely
different genus, Teliostachya lanceolate.' Dona Maria and don Roberto instead
identify maricahua with toe negro, and distinguish this plant from toe, which in
this context they call toe blanco.

NOTES

1. Duke & Vasquez, 1994, p. 33; L6pez Vinatea, 2000, pp. 37-38; Schultes & Raffauf,
1990, p. 421.

2. Duke & Vasquez, 1994, p. 167; Lopez Vinatea, 2000, pp. 71; McKenna, Luna, & Towers, 1995, p. 356; Rengifo, 2001, pp. 71, 142; Schultes & Raffauf, 1990, pp. 47-48.

Sexual Abstinence

Both sexual abstinence and food restriction relate to the fact that the plant
spirits are, as I was frequently told, muy celosa, very jealous, and demand the
full attention and commitment-including the sexual commitment-of those
who would work with them. Just as, in human relations, to break the bonds
of confianza, trust, mutuality, intimacy, is to invite magical retaliation, those
who break the diet, who spurn the spirits, who are unfaithful, may be subject
to fearful punishment. "I have to be pure," says don Javier Arevalo Shahuano,
a Shipibo shaman, "so as to be a receptacle of the spirit of the medicine. 1125

One problem with sexual abstinence during la dieta is that a man who
is keeping the diet becomes sexually very attractive, and may be pursued by
sexually active women.21 Shipibo shaman don Enrique Lopez says that these
women are "the test that the plants give us. It has happened to me twice, a
woman comes just when you are working and wants to make love. 1127 I must
confess that this has not been my personal experience.