The Religion of the indigenous People of Shipibo - The Ayahuasca Shamanism
The people of the Shipibo in Peru live in the river jungle on the upper reaches of Rio Ucayali. With about 25,000 people they belong to the indigenous people of the Peruvian Amazon region and live in traditional village communities. The Shipibo preserved their own language and act out a religion that is unusual for the Western world.
This tribe does not let its religion preach and sale by a priest. They perceive the divinity of the forest, the water, the stars, the plants, the animals and the people by their mysterious ayahuasca drink. According to their understanding you will be guided directly into the heart of things by drinking ayahuasca and receive the spirit of the forest. One obtains knowledge, health and love from ayahuasca. Ayahuasca, the psychoactive visionary potion of the Amazon is for many established tribes at the heart of shamanism.
The ayahuasca shamanism is maintained by the Shipibo Indians to this day. It is a precious heritage of ancient Indian wisdom. The men of the tribe go hunting or gathering in the vastness of the Amazon. The women are skilled in handcraft and decorate all tangible cultural property with the so-called "Quene". Quenes are patterns that reflect geometric and graphic structures, power lines and psychedelic perceptions that get visible under the influence of ayahuasca. They are taken from the "true reality" to reality by women and represented by the painted or embroidered patterns on their things.
For the Shipibo shamans Ayahuasca is inextricably linked to the rainforest. The potion is considered the "Essence of the Forest". Through the power of ayahuasca, the shaman identifies spiritual beings and receives from them the knowledge about the inner nature of plants and animals in the forest. This way the shaman learns why each species has their necessary place in the "Circle of the Living". Each individual receives a very unique and personal voice from the wood spirits during an ayahuasca ceremony. This voice should in subsequent rituals then preserve force and centeredness, and to turn the visions structured and to let them appear clearer. Ayahuasca should help to identify problems with the personally generated visions and to take personal responsibility.
The ayahuasca shamanism of indigenous peoples of the Amazon is an interesting form to find yourself. Hopefully these tribes can turn their own traditional rituals into humanity for a long time.
