As the entire world has been plagued by a virus and vaccination still in it’s embryo (and its distribution a controversial subject), we have turned to the good old Amazon forrest pharmacy for protection. Although herbal medicines are mostly referred to as “alternative medicine”, we have to take into account that the modern medicine as we know it emerged only with the industrial revolution in the 18th century. That means that human kind was using plants as their remedies for thousands of years before and it only seems logical to call the modern medicine “alternative” to natural herbal medicines. As there was a group of guests in lockdown at Pachamama temple, our knowledgeable Maestro Luis prepared a plant called Ajo sacha as a protective treatment for all our guests, Shamans and the rest of Pachamama staff. The Shipibo people attribute a lot of healing properties to this plant medicine and advised it has been used for centuries as a protection against any flu-type diseases and viruses. As Pucallpa has many cases of COVID-19 confirmed, our guests and team members have not been affected and we can confidently attribute this fact to the healing properties of Ajo Sacha. Our Maestro Luis shared some info on the plant in the text below.

***Under no circumstances do we claim that Ajo Sacha is a corona virus remedy, we only wish to share our experience with the plant and its medicinal properties.

AJO SACHA is an Amazonian plant that has been known and used by the Shipibo-Konibo native people of the Ucayali region of Peru for centuries. It is a one meter tall shrub and there are two types – female and male and both have a very strong odour. The female plant has large leaves while the male has smaller leaves and both have beautiful violet flowers and drop a lot of seeds.

USAGE: Ajo Sacha has traditionally been used as protection from all different types of flu-illnesses as it boosts immunity. It can be prepared and applied in different ways. You can drink it as tea, use in flower bath, inhale as liquid into nose, fumigate around and inside the house and you can also evaporate the body or smell the leaf of this powerful plant medicine.

ODOUR: Ajo Sacha has an extraordinarily strong odour and when you smell it, it causes agitation and dizziness. After putting the liquid into your nose, you can experience a slight loss of breath.

PREPARATION AND USE:

TEA: Put one litre of water in a pot and bring to a boil, then add 5 female leaves and 5 male leaves, boil for about 5 minutes and then put in a container to let it cool. Take half a glass of that drink whenever you wish to throughout the day.

BATH: Crush 10 female leaves and 10 male leaves in a container together with some water. Then let it sit for an hour before you shower with it. You should bath every 2 days, 4 times in total.

STEAM BATH: To evaporate the body, cook the leaves and when they have been boiling for a while, take the pot off the fire and cover yourself with a large blanket together with the pot so that the body is well covered. It should be done every 2 days, 4 times in total.

HOUSE FLOWERING: Place 15 female leaves and 15 male leaves in a container and add coal so that it can fumigate and ventilate around the house inside and outside. Then place in a corner of the house for three days.