Hello dear reader. My name is Luis. This is my name in Castellano (Spanish). I also have a Shipibo name which is Soi Sani. I am a Maestro at Pachamama Temple where I work with my mother and brothers to help heal anybody that visits our temple. I will be writing articles for the Pachamama blog in the coming weeks about some subjects that are dear to my heart.

In this short article, I would like to take some time to talk about the ancient relationship between the shipibo- konibo community and the plants of the jungle. What does the jungle actually mean to us as native inhabitants and how is our knowledge of natural medicine based on this connection and our traditions?

As the original population of the Amazon jungle deep inside of Peru, we were born and raised inside the natural untouched rainforest. Because of this deep connection during the whole of our lives, we developed a relationship between us as human beings and all the other animal- and plant life based on respect and equality.

We have always used the rainforest as our marketplace, to find and hunt for clean and healthy food, but also as our pharmacy. As the native inhabitants, we lived long and prosperous lives resisting a lot of illness because we used the plants around us to heal ourselves without turning them into chemical products or pills. All the medicinal plants that we have got to know throughout centuries of time have a spirit that is able to help heal mankind. This is the relationship between plants and humans as it was intended by creation.

Plants are living beings, and they have a consciousness and a great power inside that we can connect to and build a relationship with. This connection between two spiritual beings, will let the Shaman, or Ononya as we call them in our tradition, make a diagnosis and find a cure for themselves and others.

On the night of an ayahuasca ceremony, we deal with spiritual conflict which lives within many of our guests and it effects their life daily. Together with the spirits of the medicinal plants, we work to calm and get rid of these conflicts and bad energies. So, when you hear a maestro singing an Icaro, which is a traditional medicine song, this is a song that we are receiving from the plant spirits. Ceremony space is a mystical hospital where man and plant work together as doctors and nurses to find healing for our spirit and soul. And we are grateful to the plants for working with us.

We want to keep our traditions and knowledge alive as it is so important for this world in need of healing. And we hope we can contribute for many generations to come. I will write more about this in following blog articles and I thank you for your attention.

Blessings,

Luis