Welcome to the Jungle: Part One

It's about time for another update!

I've spent the last two weeks in the Napo region of Ecuador, famous as the gateway to the Amazon. After the jostling shadyness of Quito it was the perfect change of pace to get down to Tena, the chilled out town on the edge of the jungle. The bus ride there was also one of the most incredible I've been on, up over the Andes, through the clouds where you can see nothing but grey in every direction, and then winding down past arching waterfalls and through lush vegetation and spectacular mountain backdrops before finally dropping down into the Amazon jungle.



I was down in this area for two main reasons. This post will cover the first, watch out for Part Two shortly.

This region of the country has a particularly large and ancient shamanic tradition going back multiple generations, so the chance to work with the very powerful and knowledgeable healers in the area was one I was not going to miss (Hi Mum!). Courtesy of my friend Jan at the fantastic Feather Crown, I had some incredible, moving, inspiring and ultimately life-affirming experiences. They were almost beyond words, certainly beyond any preconceptions and they have affected me in a very deep and positive way. I don't think I could really put it all into words and wouldn't really want to, but I have copious journal entries documenting it all. Suffice to say its all very personal and I'm not going to go into massive detail about what I saw and the things that were communicated to me, but for anyone interested in what actually goes on in a ceremony and how they work it should prove interesting reading.

We arrived at the house of the shaman, Don Luis Andi Grefa, who lives half an hour or so outside Tena. It's far enough to feel like you're in the middle of nowhere and to all intensive purpose, you are. The first time it was just me. Me and Don Lucho, one on one. I felt very lucky. To have this experience is the most genuine, authentic way was important to me. To be with people who see this as part of their way of life and traditional practice calmed my nerves as I knew I was in the best possible hands. Don Lucho began drinking when he was 8 years old and at 57 has been a shaman for the past 45 years. He knows what he's talking about. We sat around the fire eating fresh cooked corn and plantains while his wife Ines boiled up the brew which consists of the shredded bark of the Ayauasca vine which is thought to be the soul of the brew, and leaves of the Chaliponga plant which contain the active compounds necessary for visual journeying. She has been brewing for years and knows exactly how to make it. Below you can see the vine growing in Don Lucho's 'back garden' and a cross section reveals a petal like structure inside.



I had spent the preceding few days preparing myself mentally and physically, eating a special diet and also fasting on the day of the ceremony. Around 9pm, when darkness has descended we gathered around the fire in the ceremonial hut and Don Lucho told me the history of how he gained his powers and some tales of his adventures in the spirit world. It was fascinating. Then we drank the brew, followed by Huayusa (which is like a natural caffeinated tea). Then you sit back and wait. The effects start to come on within 30 to 45 minutes and start with you feeling heavy and a bit drowsy, you start to sway a little and Don Lucho began singing songs and playing a flute-like instrument which prepares your mind to go deeper into the experience.

After an hour or so I was pretty deeply into it, beginning to see colored patterns and flashes of imagery behind my closed eyelids which steadily increased in clarity, variety and intensity over the course of the night. A central aspect to the ceremony is the traditional and very powerful cleansing which takes place sat directly in front of the shaman (who has also partaken in the brew) so as to see into my mind and determine what good and bad spirits are inside me and to cleanse me of anything that is negative. He does this using a number of techniques including singing these beautiful songs which fill you with strength, blowing natural tobacco over your head, patting you rhythmically with bunches of dried leaves, spitting a pungent herbal mixture across the arms and chest which you then have to rub into your face. He also sucks the bad energies from the top of your head, hacking them up and out of his body and then breathes his powers and good energies into you. I could literally feel the energy pulsing into me when he did this and it was incredible. He spits good luck into the palms of your hands and by the end of it I felt amazingly calm, grounded and strong, yet completely in another world. By this point I had lost track of linear time and was operating on some other level.

With the inevitable 'purging', came a great sense of physical and mental release, of old behavior patterns, habits and a sense of renewal, a freshness and cleanliness that permeated my body and my mind. You are a bit shaky on your feet at this point so I was helped to a hammock by Jan who attended in his capacity as guide and helper and this is where the most magical two hours of my life occurred, wrapped in a blanket, cosy as you like in this hammock, operating in some other dimension, or so it felt. I was seeing visions, having deep realizations about my life, even having a long and beautiful conversation with the spirit of the plant! Quite honestly, some of the these things have to be experienced to be believed and may sound a little 'out there' to many, but the fact is millions of people in this part of the world see this as ordinary life and accept it as the way things work. For our Western worldview to scoff and laugh at these things would be a typical response, but to those people I say come out here and see for yourself. The depth of connection and emotion is as real as anything you can experience back home, if not more so and after my two hours in the matrix I felt connected to some higher force, healed and cleansed and extremely positive about life and living, and if that isn't something extremely worthwhile I don't know what is!

Here's me and Don Lucho the morning after the night before.


The next week I spent living with the family of Nelson and Flora Mammallacta in the jungle outside Archidona which was a very humbling and rewarding experience. I also participated in another ceremony while I was there.