Our deep gratitude and thanks to don Felipe Ayala, Moises Suarez Mera - Brazilian botanical researcher at the University of Iquitos (Peru), don Francisco Montes Shuña and don Ruperto Peña Shuña for their kind assistance and help in the identification of the Quechua plant names and their co-respective scientific names. 

Whenever our joint ethno botanical identification efforts did not prove enough, we have followed the classification system adopted by Luna (Luna, L. E. - Amaringo, P. Ayahuasca Visions. The Religious Iconography of a Peruvian Shaman, Berkeley 1999; Luna, L.E. Vegetalismo - Shamanism among the mestizo population of the Peruvian Amazon, Stockholm 1986).

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Encantos

On encantos and encanteros

The discovery of the encantos

The curanderos of the past, expert on the different uses of plants, took in great account the trees, and especially the ones characterized by hard wood. Having discovered that the harder the wood of a tree, the more strength it can deliver, the curanderos thought that with stones they would have gained access to an even greater force. Thus they decided to drink the ajo sacha to enquire about the stones. The ajo sacha confirmed that by making contact with the energy of a stone one could gain a strong and powerful energy. The ajo sacha, however, also revealed that not all stones have power. Only some of them, and that from the shape that they have one could find out their use in healing. Their therapeutic value is also dependent from their colour. For instance, an encanto made of white marble (yura encanto) is very hard and pure because its colour is white, and with it one can be often re-charged and protected, thus becoming an arkana [spiritual protection]. The curanderos decided also to “drink” the stones, to know them better.

'Drinking' the stones

In the Amazon it is by “drinking” that one learns directly from the mother-spirit of a plant. In a similar fashion, by “drinking” this special stone (the encanto) the curandero has access to the spirit-world, which will reveal then its secrets. In order to “drink” the encantos one must leave them in water for a whole day, then must blow tobacco smoke at them, day and night, and finally needs to “diet” with them, drinking the water they were left into. The dieting process involves abstinence from salt, sugar, fats, stimulants and sex, whilst living in segregation. One should also ask the stone what he or she wants to know. At night, in dreaming, the spirit of the encanto comes and teaches you its secrets. 

By bathing with a black encanto, you shed off negativity. A white encanto is instead useful for cleansing and purifying the body. Red encantos are linked to blood and life (i.e. can work to nourish a patient with blood), and are used with everything that has an association with the red colour. A turquoise encanto teaches about medicine in general, whilst green encantos teach medicine through the plants. Crystals give vision and clarity, and teach about heavenly things. Emerald encantos attract all the spirits that dwell in space, in the universe. Brown encantos teach about the earth. An encanto de color agua o humo is useful to attract the energy of the air. And so on, every teaching is related to the colour of the stone you are using. Like with plants, however, these things are learnt by “dieting” directly the stones, and cannot be taught or transmitted by a maestro.

For everyone it’s a very personal experience. This means that what the encanto can teach you may not be taught to another person, it teaches you according to your own individual nature and character. I learnt and work with two special colours: white and black. Encantos are learnt through their colour. The curanderos that have learnt their art through these special stones, the encantos, are called encanteros.

On bancos and master plants...

how the banco works

The level of banco [4]  is the highest degree a shaman can obtain in the Amazon. A banco learns from and rules over the earthly, heavenly and aquatic realms. Bancos have different ways of working during a ceremony. In special occasions (known only to them) that demand a certain degree of care, the banco prepares three disciples: their sole function is to protect and assist him and to help him to maintain the intense level of concentration required. Whilst the banco concentrates, lying face down on the floor, his disciples take care of him in different manners. One disciple deals with the foot area [5] standing over the banco’s feet, blowing [mapacho] on him to maintain and further concentrate his energy level, imbuing the banco with energy and strength. Another disciple looks after his crown and blows on him in order to help him keep his energy level intact, while the banco is totally immersed in his trance, as if he was dead. The third disciple is in charge of protecting the banco’s body, on the side of his back. The disciples blow on the banco to nourish him with life force and take care in one-way or another that his energy won’t be dissipated. 

Then - for instance - if the banco is calling the spirits of the water, the disciples begin to sing all the icaros of the water (todo a quel que son los icaros de l’agua), to drive all the spirits of the water towards the body of the banco. The disciple who attend the banco’s crown and work on this side, begin to sing in order to attract energy from above and increase the banco’s vital energy. In this fashion, the banco can remain concentrated, not just for one, but for six or seven hours, permanently lying on the floor with his face down.

Likewise, when the banco is about to end his concentrated work in the ceremony, the disciples begin to imbue him with strength to facilitate his return to normality.  If it was that the spirits of the water were called, they will arrive from underneath the house of the banco. When the banco works he puts a mosquitero [mosquito-net] at the centre of the house, and enters inside it, lying face down, whilst all the disciples remain outside. Then the spirits come to the banco from below to talk to him and what they say is then answered by him. For instance, let’s suppose that a banco calls for the spirit of a family member who has died before: this process is channelled through the banco. The banco concentrates and calls for the spirit of the dead; this spirit comes for the banco and tells him how this person has died and he reports what he is told by the spirit to the family of the deceased, who wishes to know. The work is done in this way. If the spirit arrived from the air, from above, the disciples begin to blow in this direction, into the air. The spirit will come above the house, making noises like a wind. At this point the banco and only him, enters the mosquitero lying face down inside it, to talk with the spirit. The disciples remain outside. Therefore the banco is the foundation to make contact and to talk to the spirits in a ceremony. He may also consult the spirit of an ill person to diagnose and cure his illness and to establish whether this illness is a serious one. This is what the banco does, depending on the kind of work he is doing. He will always drink ayahuasca, to help maintain his concentration high.

To become a banco one has to diet for more than forty years. It is therefore necessary to begin dieting from the age of twenty, at the latest. Because of the extreme length of the dieting process, shamans who have reached the level of bancos are usually very old, often ninety years old and over. To become a banco one needs to be acquainted with a number of plants that grow both on earth and in water, as well as with the energy that dwells in the sky such as thunder, air, rain, wind and the rainbow. It is very difficult for bancos to leave their place in the jungle, as they don’t like cities.

Don Manuel Shuña, my uncle, is today a ninety-eight years old banco suni (or sunibanco) and lives by the Ucayali river. A banco suni works and can dwell for certain periods of time in the water realm, where he exists physically in a world similar to ours. In the water there are beings of power that can be consulted for healing, divination, or other matters, like the mermaids. Don Manuel has worked with the mermaids, and once told me that a mermaid was his woman and teacher who taught him many things.

Trinidad Vilces Peso, my grandmother, was a banco muraya [4] and a suni runa [4] [or sumiruna], a shaman who has control over and is acquainted with the spirits of the water. Shamans like her can enter physically into the aquatic and sub-aquatic realms to receive the information they need and are able to transform themselves into any fish.

MASTER-TREES AND VINES EMPLOYED IN THE DIET OF THE BANCO

There are several trees, resins and vines that make up the banco’s diet. From the catahua [Hura crepitans] tree, a resin is extracted that is then boiled – as its consumption would otherwise be extremely toxic. The bark of the lupuna blanca [Ceiba Pentadra] tree or white lupuna is also boiled. Another tree utilized is the lupuna rocha [Cavanillesia hylogeyton], or red lupuna, also called lupuna bruja or puca lupuna [puca is the Quechua for red]. The spirit of the lupuna blanca is ‘male’, and has healing properties. The spirit of the lupuna rocha is “female”, and is used for evil purposes. They all grow in water. 

The ayahúman [Couropita guianensis] tree is also employed in the banco’s diet. The parts used are the bark and the fruit cooked together. The spirit of this tree is seen as a headless man with eyes on his hand. In Spanish the tree is called caveza de muerto, which means “dead man’s head” [similarly, in Quechua, aya stands for “dead person”, whilst uma means head]. The fruit is shaped like a large coconut and is green, with a soft outside and an incredibly hard inner side. It has to be broken up and placed into water to be cooked. It purifies the body by the influences of black magic. It is also a very jealous tree. It is believed that if a pregnant woman looks at it the baby will be born with a very large head, although this pathology may be cured. The remedy consists of cutting the bark of the ayahúman, boiling it in water and allowing the baby to bathe in that water whilst the related icaro is sung (every tree has, in fact, its own icaro). Another tree used in the diet is the catahua [Hura crepitans] which is completely covered with spikes. Its spirit is a one-eyed man. Then there is the lupuna blanco [Ceiba pentadra?] or puco lupuna. Its spirit looks like a half-woman below and half-fire above. The chullachaki caspi [Brysonima christianeae] is another master tree that the banco uses to learn. Its bark is scraped and mixed with water and then boiled. The banco can mix all these plants, and will cook them together for about eleven-twelve hours. This concoction is not for beginners as it is too strong. Among the vines we have the ajo sacha - its root is scraped and then put into water - and the murcohuasca [Marcgravia williamsii] [6]  the resin of which is extracted and then boiled. It is drunk when one is about to become a banco and its master spirit teaches you an icaro that cures you from snakebites.

ROOTS AND VINES WITH WHICH A BANCO LEARNS AND HEALS

Giausahuasca [unidentified] is a master plant, a vine that produces a thick resin that is drunk directly from the cut area. The resin falls in portions from the vine and is gathered directly in the mouth. The right dosage of resin for ten people is about two handfuls. When drunk, this resin settle inside the body of the banco and gives him power and energy. When he performs healing he will smoke tobacco and will summon this energy which will come through his mouth to cure the illness. The banco will literally suck it away. It is a bit like the mariri, but it works differently. If a patient feels pain somewhere, the shaman (el medico) regurgitates the giausahuasca with a little water, touches the area of the pain, and suck it out. In 3-4 months the patient won't feel the pain anymore. The power resides in the plant the banco has dieted with. This practice is, however only applied when dealing with brujeria [sorcery-related illness]. The giausahuasca, in fact, teaches you how to cure an illness or a pain caused by a bad curandero or by a brujo. It is not specifically used for any other purpose than that.

The michiquipanga [Renealmia alpina] is used a great deal in the jungle by the indios Campa - it cleanses and purifies from negativity, can also cure many illnesses and even “black death”. It also brings luck to friendship and business. The fruit is a repellent for mosquitoes and its seeds are used against dental decay. From the ripe fruit a natural dye used in painting can be extracted. Its name means literally 'very tasty leaf' [michiqui means 'very rich' or 'very tasty' , whilst panga means 'leaf']. Of the michiquipanga are employed the vine and the flowers, but it is not to be used without having dieted with it first, to learn the plant. Once you diet with it, you learn the icaros : the icaro comes first. It is the idiom of each plant. You can be a curandero or a curandera, but if you have dieted with the plant and have not learnt its icaro than you know nothing, because the icaro is the idiom for you to communicate with the plant. That's way when one is performing a healing he has to call forth the name of the plant, because through the icaro the plant will reply to you. The icaro of the michiquipanga is used for purification, for spiritual cleansing but it does not remove pain.