The healing practices of a Peruvian shaman.
Journal of ethnopharmacology July 1, 1984 DOI: 10.1016/0378-8741(84)90035-7 via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractA 65-year-old shaman in northeastern Peru, Don Emilio Andrade Gómez, preserves extensive plant knowledge and provides health care to local populations. Certain plants, called 'doctors' or 'plant teachers,' are believed to teach medicine when consumed under isolation and diet, often added to the hallucinogenic beverage ayahuasca. During isolation, the plants' spirits teach the initiate melodies (icaros) used in shamanistic practice. Fieldwork in 1981 and 1982 collected specimens of these plant teachers, some now identified, and the shaman's cosmovision is described.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Ethnography Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 1 |
| Population | One shaman, Don Emilio Andrade Gómez, in northeastern Peru |
| Interventions | isolation diet |
| Duration | 1981 and 1982 fieldwork |
| Citations | 78 |
| Key finding | The shaman's knowledge of 'plant teachers' and their role in teaching healing melodies through ayahuasca and isolation is documented. |
Abstract
The use of psychotropic plants among the mestizo population of the northwestern Amazon has already been the subject of some research. However, the field is far from fully investigated. Practitioners locally known by the name of "vegetalistas" or simply "maestros" have preserved considerable knowledge of plant lore, and still today contribute substantially to the health care of both rural and urban population. The present paper is based on field work with one particular such practitioner, Don Emilio Andrade Gómez, a 65-year-old shaman who lives in the vicinity of Iquitos (3 degrees 50S 73 degrees 15W), northeastern Peru. Some of the basic ideas of his cosmovision are presented. Special attention is given to the concept of "doctor" or "plant teacher", applied to certain plants which are supposed to "teach medicine", if the appropriate conditions of isolation and diet are observed. Some of these plants are added to the hallucinogenic beverage known in the region by the Quéchua name ayahuasca, made from the stem of Banisteriopsis species, and one or several additives. During the period of isolation the spirits of these plants teach the initiate certain melodies or "icaros" that he will later use when practising his shamanistic activities. During field work in 1981 and 1982 the author collected various specimens of "plant teachers", part of which have now been identified, and are also presented.