In the middle of a quiet neighbourhood, in a dimly lit room, we gathered around a middle aged man in shorts, a t-shirt and a baseball cap. A man who spoke Spanish in the husky voice of a chronic smoker and cataracts so bad he can Orly make out shapes and light. This is Don Humberto Huinapi, a Palero shaman of mixto descent and Catholic faith.
He explained to us how his work as a shaman. Like any good doctor, he begins with an open question: ¿Qué le pasa? He conducts a quick history to delineate the patient´s presenting complaint. But from there on, everything is wildly different. Instead of a stethoscope and penlight, he uses a broom of palm leaves and a fat herbal cigar with which the smoke he uses to comunícate to the spirits. His examination isn´t physical so much as it is spiritual. Drinking a brew from the bark of Ayuhausca (known for its hallucinogenic properties), he sees into the essence of the patient. This vision is where he determines what ailment the patient suffers from, and the precise mixture of plants necessary to cure.
The treatment is two fold. First, the prayer to the Father (God), Mother (Earth), Son of the Father (Jesus), and Fire, asking permission to enter their world, followed by a chant to ask the specific spirits to come and help restore balance in the patient. Secondly, he tells the patient what mixture of herbs and bark to brew and drink, typically over a course of one week to a month, where they must also abstain from certain foods and activities.
Don Humberto´s pharmacy is the Amazon Jungle, and his drugs are purely botanical, plants that sound so alien to my ear and sit so strangely on my English speaking tongue – huasai, achiote, albahaca, malva. The patient then leaves with his blessing, a recipe of herbal brew, and reassurance that they will be cured in a matter of time.
And why wouldn´t it work? Thirty percent of the world´s pharmaceutical products are derived from a plant product of the Amazon. Shamans, with an extensive and in-depth knowledge that has been based down for centuries, are the keepers of the jungle´s medicine cabinet.
Unfortunately, as globalization reaches even the most remote jungles, less and less people relieve in this form of natural medicine. Once upon a time, entire commuinties releed solely on the village shaman. Today, less than 10% will visit a shaman. This lack of demand has dealt a harsh blow to the trade, leaving behind only a small handful in Peru that remain.
For me, this shaman in particular is the resulto f a tremendous culture clash. He calls himself a naturalist, dealing with tradicional remedies but recognises the importance of Western medicine in augmenting his own methods. He says he is Catholic, calling upon both the spirit of God and the spirit of the Earth. I asked him if he sees God in his work, and he said yes – every vision, every blessing, every brew, every chant, God is there with him and his patient. And for a man between so many different worlds, he is phenomenally at peace. He has been practicing for almost half a century, and he has found harmony amongst all his polar opposites.
That day we saw him treat a 9 month old baby suffering from pellagra so severe his skin had turned black. After Don Humberto prayed and sang his blessing and offered words of advice, the young mother left with her child. Whether or not the baby dies within a days from infection or worse, we may never know. But we do know that where Western medicine has failed, shamans and their natural medicine have succeded.
I hope that time doesnt render their knowledge into legends of the jungle. Just the same, I hope the world doesnt deforest all thats left of this untapped medicinal source. So I wish good luck to this dying breed of doctors with their own brand of medicine, and their incredible pharmacy.
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