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The Magical Earth Journeys to the Magic Places of Peru

Mission Statement - Informal Statement - Who we are

Francesco Sammarco before a giant Lupuna blanca (Ceiba sp.) tree in the Amazon Rainforest

Photo Credit: Ignazia Posadinu

 El Mundo Magico: The Magical Earth Mission Statement

• To support, promote and raise awareness of sustainable, earth-honouring shamanic traditions, through journeys, seminars and workshops, aimed at the preservation of the natural habitat of the Amazon Rainforest of Peru and its traditional cultural and religious lore, with special regard to indigenous and mestizo shamanic practices.  

• To offer international participants the opportunity of first-hand exploration of the rainforest heritage, through transformative journeys and expeditions focused on traditional cultural, shamanic and healing practices accompanied by the direct investigation of the ethnobotany of the area.

• To develop creative projects aimed at the protection and conservation of indigenous cultural, religious and ethno musical traditions and practices, in the Andes, the Coast and - especially - the Amazon Rainforest of Peru.

• To deepen the understanding of medicinal and healing practices of the indigenous and mestizo communities of the Peruvian Amazon, with emphasis on the need of preserving their traditional plant lore, so intimately linked with their pharmacopoeia and cultural-religious traditions. Indigenous and mestizo rural healers in the Amazon are the depositary of a wide-range knowledge of the rainforest environment and their cultural and physical survival is crucial in the maintenance of an equilibrium within the rainforest fragile ecosystem itself. In lieu of this rooted, ancient, mutual relationship between shamanic healers and the rainforest, we actively seek to promote the immediate protection and conservation of wilderness and natural areas.

• To facilitate the knowledge of the pre-Columbian civilizations of Peru, through archaeological and shamanic oriented journeys and explorative trips.

• To sustain indigenous communities of the Andes and the Amazon, in particular the Q'eros and the Shipibos, through the facilitation of special-interest journeys, investigating their rich shamanic and ethno-cultural lore.

• To strengthen links of association and cooperation with local organizations devoted to the conservation, protection and dissemination of Traditional Amazonian Medicine and cultural heritage.

• To purchase rainforest land to guarantee its long-term preservation and conservation and to develop alternative strategies for the safeguard of endangered plant and animal species.

 Informal Statement

Well...that's the formal part, up to here. Informally, though we do not have yet a charitable status...we have done everything in our realm of possibilities to sustain and support the native and local people we work with in Peru (and this happens often outside the mere link of the working relationship and cooperation we have with them). Our vision is, however, that  the best way to help local and indigenous people is to offer them rewarding, varied and constant ethical and sustainable working opportunities, according to everybody's skills, vision and knowledge. By booking your trip or retreat with us, you are reassured that what you pay - on top of being re-invested in the constant amelioration of our services, to offer you an experience that will often exceed your expectations - goes towards new ethical and sustainable projects aimed at the valorisation of the immense Amazonian plant medicine lore, at the preservation and investigation of the native indigenous cultures of Peru, with special emphasis to researching their ethnobotanical and shamanic heritage.

In line with this spirit and initiative, in September 2009 we have ultimately managed to source a private natural reserve of 40 hectares of beautiful pristine rainforest in the Northern Peruvian Amazon (off the - only - road linking Iquitos with Nauta). Home to wild cats (Jaguarundi have been spotted there!), birds, small mammals, reptiles, rodents and lots of amphibians, this area of the jungle has lots of native plants and trees of medicinal and shamanic interest, including - among countless others -  Remocaspi,  Chullachaki caspi,  Alcanfor Moena, and Copal trees.

In 2005 we have also co-funded - along with our native Shipibo friends Heberto Hiran Garcia Ramirez, Jose' Garcia Ventura and Ines Ramirez Cairuna - the creation of "Onanyan Shobo" (in the Shipibo-Conibo tongue, it literally means: "the shaman's house"), a unique shamanic retreat centre and ethno botanical garden in the jungle.

In Onanyan Shobo guests may experience in the context of deeply transformative and life changing retreats:

. Healing

. A very intense schedule of Ayahuasca ceremonies (four times each week!!)

. Amazonian Sweat Lodge rituals

. Cleansing ritual herbal baths (baños de limpie)

. Purifying clay baths (baños de barro)

. Luck-changing ritual flower baths (baños de florecimiento), to attract prosperity and good fortune in business, love and friendship

. Shamanic rituals, among which the ancestral Shipibo Ritual of Spiritual Purification

. The traditional shamanic plant teachers diet, for those interested in the initiation into Amazonian shamanism, in the Shipibo tradition, and wish to enter into a more rigorous shamanic apprenticeship.

     Who We Are

We are not newcomers to the scene of shamanism!

Francesco Sammarco studied in the early 80's palaeethnology and archaeology at the University of Lecce (Italy) as part of his BA (Hons) in 'Classics'. He also holds a BA (Hons) in 'Classical Archaeology', from King's College London/University of London (U.K.), from the early 90's, and a Masters degree (MA) in 'Public Archaeology' from the University College London/University of London (U.K.). He has a long term professional and personal interest in the issues surrounding shamanism, archaeology, ancient rock-art, traditional medicines, religious anthropology, ethnobotany, and ancient and contemporary native cultures.

Hopelessly in love with the pre-Columbian cultures of the Americas, Taoism and ancient forms of divination, Francesco has met and worked with many highly respected indigenous and mestizo shamans  in Peru, over almost a decade. Among them: Don Ruperto Pena Shuña, Don Agustin Rivas, Don Julio Gerena Pinedo, Don Alberto Torres Davila, Don Leoncio Garcia Sampaya, Don Adriano Rodriguez, Don Mariano Silvano Sinuri, Don Alfredo Cairuna, Don Pedro Leon and Don Sebastian Quispe Querillo. Francesco is also the main editor of the two icaros CDs collections that El Mundo Magico prepared and published in 2001 and 2003. He also created, researched and maintains the El Mundo Magico website.

In 1999, Francesco hypothesised the use of psycho-active substances during the celebration of the Mystery cults among the Iapygian-Messapians, the ancient indigenous people of Southern Apulia, in the sanctuary of Monte Papalucio at Oria (Brindisi, Italy). He is the founder of ''El Mundo Magico'' ('The Magical Earth' or 'The Magical World', in Spanish) the idea of which stemmed out of a memorable Ayahuasca ceremony in the Amazon, in June 2000. More than for visions, Francesco's predilection in the use of the magical Ayahuasca brew is for divination and revelations. The medicine let us open to explore different realms of reality, way beyond our wildest dreams: the world we witness when we take Ayahuasca is one of unphantomable magic and mystery, something that can shake to the very foundations our consolidated, social-fabricated idea of reality. 

ARTICLES:

. ''Ayahuasca: The Magical Brew of Amazonian Shamans''

. ''The Apprenticeship of Don Julio''

. ''Achuma, Huachuma, San Pedro: A Sacred Journey Across the Mists of Time''

. ''Huachuma, Wachuma, Achuma, San Pedro: Cactus of the Four Winds''

. ''The Ulluchu fruit: blood rituals and sacrificial practices among the Moche people''

. ''The Oracle of Pachacamac''

. ''The Ancient Greeks, the Incas and the Altomesayoq''

. ''Celebration of the Mystery cults among the Iapygian-Messapian People''

Ignazia Posadinu has a BA (Hons) in English and German Literature from the University of Sassari (Italy) and a Masters degree in 'Linguistics', from Reading University (U.K.). Ignazia is one of the directors of El Mundo Magico, with interest that range from literature, sacred music to art. She is particularly keen on the the roots of Peruvian waving arts and contemporary Shipibo textiles. Waiving from the Andes to the Amazon is a way of expression in artistic terms, but not only that, for women waiving is also strictly connected to social organisation. In general it represents a form of economy for the family and the community. It all started with a magical thread from an ancient Peruvian textile that conducted Ignazia on the path of El Mundo Magico. The magical waiving of the luminous tread evolved in a Shipibo mapped textile and a beautiful ever unseen ancient Inca tapestries. The Shipibo art (textiles and paintings) connection with Ayahuasca visions reinforced the concept that - like the icaros - most of the patterns of those tapestries must have been dreamt about or visualized/given during ceremonies. Ignazia was also involved in the production and art work of our icaros CDs.

David Maggs works at Onanyan Shobo for El Mundo Magico as a translator and facilitator. His passion is to integrate his knowledge of psychotherapy and transpersonal psychology with the shamanic practice. He has the faith that Ayahuasca and natural plant medicine can be used successfully as a therapeutic means for emotional, physical and spiritual healing. David is continuing his shamanic apprenticeship having completed a five month period of plant diet in Onanyan Shobo, under the guidance of Shipibo maestros Don Walter Martines and Don Mariano Silvano. He is combining his ongoing apprenticeship with his work as translator and facilitator at Onanyan Shobo. He lives in Iquitos with his wife Esther, a Peruvian of Shipibo descent. Read more...

Dino Palazzolo is an holistic health practioner with parallel interests in Ayurvedic medicine, Yoga and Reiki. He has been living in Peru for nearly a year, working in the Loreto Department of the Peruvian Amazon with different master shamans, including don Ruperto Peña Shuña, don Julio Gerena Pinedo, don Felipe Ayala and with the Brazilian seer doña Maria Montenegro. After having undergone a lengthy period of  ''dieting'' the plants with don Ruperto, he investigated the use of the sapo (Phyllomedusa bicolor frog poison) among the Matses Indians (an ethnic group affiliated to the Mayorunas) in the Aucayacu area of the Northern Peruvian Amazon. Together with Francesco, he is the co-founder of El Mundo Magico. 

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