What follows is just an introduction, a small list of the most common terms fund in this site, and is in no way exhaustive of the complexity and variety of the vocabulary in use among the Vegetalistas of the Peruvian Amazon:
The visionary “Vine of the Soul” or “Vine of the Dead” (Banisteriopsis Caapi) that lends its name to the homonymous brew – also know as “la medicina” or “la purga” – prepared by both mestizo (mixed blood) and indigenous shamans in the Amazon and South America.
Visit this page for more in-depth and extensive coverage of Ayahuasca.
Tags: ayahuasca, banisteriopsis, caapi, purga, vino, visionary
Refers to the practice of the brujo/a, or to a magically induced illness.
Generally associated to a sorcerer or witch-doctor whose practice is focussed in causing harm to his/her enemies, either for personal gain (i.e. paid by a client to induce illness or kill a person) or revenge. The ‘title’ is full of negative association in the Peruvian Amazon, almost without exception, although in some areas of the Andes it may refer to a shaman who is equally capable of causing harm or to heal.
Witchcraft-related harm.
A curandero specialized in working with the encantos.
