– Creative self-fulfillment with plant medicine healing –
– by Becky –
art included with permission of Luis Tamani
Maslow said there is “a single ultimate value for mankind, a far goal toward which all men strive … becoming fully human, everything that a person can become… a pressure toward spontaneous expressiveness, full individuality and identity, seeing the truth, being creative, being good.”
Central to the Shipibo shamanic medicine tradition lies a healing goal of Personal Freedom. A notion of striving for happiness and freedom within life, of full expression of beauty inside and around ourselves, of creating healthy, thriving relationships (and boundaries) with work, family, friends, our selves, with the Earth and with all that we come into contact with.
While Amazonian shamanic medicine can open incredible, divine states of consciousness, it is fundamentally distinct from many other spiritual traditions that hold a goal of Enlightenment or of “transcending reality”. For the Shipibo people, true healing and learning is pragmatically rooted in the day-to-day business of achieving happiness, creative fulfilment and freedom in one’s every day life.
Maslow also recommends a process for self-actualization of: “experiencing life fully and vividly, learning to know yourself, being honest and courageous in making choices, working hard on self-development, and breaking down the ego’s defences.” This too is closely related to the process of healing and learning with Ayahuasca and the master teaching plants. To know the self more deeply and honestly through the deeply reflective experience of Ayahuasca ceremony and master plant dieta; developing courage to confront and release inner fears; deconstructing the ego and mental control mechanisms; thereby opening to the wonder and beauty of the natural world and the cosmic reality within it.
Many who come to Shipibo medicine initially seek relief from physical, emotional and mental suffering – stress or sickness from life’s traumas, difficulties and contaminants. But as the Maestros work with the plants and their sacred songs to cleanse and purify the body, stabilize and elevate the mind, and reinforce emotional well-being, there is a natural blossoming of creative self-fulfilment within the individual – a process which continues over the years as healing becomes learning.
Ayahuasca awakens a profound appreciation of beauty in nature, connection with dream-states, the spirits of plants and animals and the mysteries of the cosmos. She rouses deeply buried memories of beauty within our souls, of what is going on in our bodies and hearts underneath the busy, controlling mind. She reminds us of the ancient truths of who we really are, and of what we already know of the patterns of the universe within our DNA.
With the other master teacher plants like Marosa, Ayahuasca fosters strong self-belief and self-love, with greater freedom from fear, in particular from not being accepted by others. The plants carry immense wisdom and can teach compassion of the highest order, for ourselves and for others, who may project their own insecurities and criticisms onto us. An important gift of the master plants is an increased resilience to negativity, and a restoration of connection with God or a higher consciousness, and in the process of life -all leading to greater courage for self-expression.
On the more practical side, the Shipibo medicine path ultimately results in better decision-making – greater prioritizing of self-care and time and space to develop the self, rather than suffering endlessly under old patterns of addiction, self-abuse, or sacrificing one’s own happiness for others or enduring abuse from others. There is a profound re-alignment of the psyche with better cycles of energetic activity and rest, self-nourishment, and care, and of shaping one’s life differently to allow the birth of all the works of beauty and expression lying within.
These, and many other wonderful benefits are the results of a deep healing journey with Ayahuasca and the sacred master teaching plants – when used with care, caution, skill and discipline as at Caya Shobo Healing Center, where we work only with highly experienced Shipibo master healers.
Little by little, step by step, we all may strive towards Maslow’s ultimate goal – of becoming everything that we can become.
We welcome you to explore this powerful healing journey and expansion of your creative self at our upcoming Visionary Art Retreat with Luis Tamani at Caya Shobo this May 12-22 in Iquitos, Peru.
Rafael was born into a family of Ayahuasca Curanderos in the Shipibo village of Santa Rosa de Dinamarca, 5 hours journey by riverboat to the south of Pucallpa. Growing up immersed in the world of Ayahuasca, he observed his parents and the men and women of his extended family always working in healing ceremonies and guiding plant dietas. At the age of 18, his curiosity to learn more about this path inspired him to open his first plant dieta, and he has since been learning and dieting with different master plants over the past 15 years.
Meeting Walter you immediately recognize his natural warmth and humility as a person, as well as his impressive capability as an experienced Onánya Maestro healer. His beautiful, lower toned voice and variety of melodic Icaros can transport you to a place of peace and reconciliation with your life’s experiences and your healing path. Walter is always solid in the middle of the storm.
Maestra Maricela is a highly experienced Shipiba Onánya curandera and Raomi herbalist. Born in the Alto Ucayali river village of Roya, south of Pucallpa, her father Nicolas Vardales is a well known Shipibo medicine man with a strong famileal lineage of medicine knowledge. At age 13, in receiving treatment for some serious health issues of her own, Maricela began to learn about the healing properties of Amazonian medicine plants. She continued dieting with different master plants until she started working with Ayahuasca in her early 30’s.
Immersed in the medicine world her entire life, Maestra Lucinda is the eldest daughter of renowned Shipibo Onánya Maestro Pascual Mahua Ochavano, born in the Shipibo village of Paoyhan or ‘Water of the Pearls’ located on the banks of the beautiful Ucayali river, north of Pucallpa. When she was a tiny infant of 4 months old her father opened her first learning dieta to bring her the advanced knowledge of the Noya Rao “Tree of light” of her ancestors.
Orlando also belongs to the famous family Mahua. His great-grandfather Manuel Mahua was renowned as one of the most powerful Onánya shaman in the entire history of the Shipibo tribe. Manuel’s daughter Manuela, grandmother to Orlando, is also a well – known living Onánya Maestra. Manuela brought up Orlando from early childhood and opened his first medicine plant dieta at age 7. 
Fernando Levi, also born in the village of Paoyhan, is the grandson of Pascual Mahua, and, like his father, his grandfather and many generations before him, Fernando has inherited the Shipibo name “Sani Piko” which means “The Great Medicine Men.” This legacy of ancestral knowledge and the discipline Fernando has brought to developing its power within himself is clearly evident in his Icaros, in his medicine and also in his extensive knowledge of master plant dieta for healing and learning.
Francisco (or Pancho) has been working with the Shipibo medicine path since his early 40’s, and is now in his late 60s.
As a teenager, Pablo felt the call of the medicine, but without access to knowledgeable teachers in his own family or community, he pursued his own learning path with Ayahuasca in the way of the ancient Shipibo Maestro Onánya – by entering the jungle alone and following the call of the plants in isolation dieta.