Cactus of Mystery

by Ross Heaven

  Empacho and pulsario are similar conditions that also result from emotional causes. Both are blockages of energy at the top of the stomach that prevent its normal function and cause digestive disorders. Shamans describe such conditions as a form of crystallized pain, sorrow, or anger. They are more frequently diagnosed in women and may be related to hormonal imbalances, but men can experience them, too. Symptoms include restlessness, anxiety, and irritability.

  Illnesses in both sexes and especially in children can also arise from mal aire. This is literally “bad air” although it refers more to a “bad atmosphere” surrounding an individual or family. Children are particularly susceptible as they are more sensitive to moods and environments. It can result in colds, shaking, and earaches, all of which may have a symbolic meaning as well as a physical presence (earache for example might result from a desire not to hear what is being said to, or around, the child).

  Problems arising from social factors include envidia, “envy or jealousy,” such as when a neighbor desires what is yours or resents you for your success. Instead of seeing you as an inspiration and working to achieve the same things themselves, they direct an unhealthy energy toward you and this becomes a form of spirit intrusion, which works away at your soul. Mal puesto (hexing or cursing) and mal d’ojo (the evil eye: staring intently with the desire to harm) are related to envidia and can result in vomiting, diarrhea, fever, insomnia, and depression in the person who receives the attack.

  A more spiritual problem can also arise, known as mal suerte or saladera, “bad luck,” where the sufferer’s energy becomes so low or they become so disheartened that they cannot achieve anything positive. A related condition more common in the Amazon is daño (harm), a magical illness that is often sent by a sorcerer working on behalf of a client and is, therefore, a serious attack. Its symptoms include pain, fatigue, problems with breathing, and, over time, the appearance of tumors or other diseases that take physical forms in the body. Daño must be treated magically to remove the spiritual poison or virote—the “evil thorn” or dart—that has been sent to the sufferer and return it to its source.

  Susto is soul loss: a condition where we lose part of our spirit or our energy becomes so blocked and depleted that we no longer have access to our full power or to aspects of ourselves that we need for our wellbeing and to get on with our lives. It may arise from shock, trauma, abuse, or injustice, and its symptoms can include nervous disorders, feelings of fear and panic, loss of appetite and energy, lack of trust in or engagement with the world, or a general malaise and decline as if from a broken heart.

  Jean-Pierre Chaumeil makes an interesting observation about illnesses like these in his work, “Varieties of Amazonian Shamanism.”7 In the jungle traditions of the ayahuasca shaman, he says, diseases are more often diagnosed as having been sent to the sufferer by a neighbor or sorcerer (as in cases of daño). The cure normally involves removing the problem and returning its energy with full force to whoever has sent it. In the modern urban setting and in the Andes where San Pedro is the medicine of choice, such approaches have become softened—or in Chaumeil’s word, “moralized”—so that the healer is more inclined to locate the source of suffering not wholly in the spirit world or with an external enemy but within the patient himself.

  This is congruent with the teachings of San Pedro: we must not blame others for what they have done, but face ourselves and our responsibilities so we find our salvation within—because that is where true healing lies. By doing so we understand the connections between us and the imbalances that have led to our illnesses, and we find that these often relate to some moral or social transgression on our parts as well, which has caused our problems or at least contributed to them through a chain of events that gave rise to a negative energy, which caused our disease. Thus, even if the illness has been deliberately wished on us by a rival, we as sufferers must ask ourselves honestly what we have done to provoke this attack; we are not absolved of all accountability just because we are victims, but are part of the web of interactions that led to it.

  Mal aire is an example of this. It is commonly diagnosed as arising from a bad atmosphere in a home, so it is not an entirely spiritual problem but also relates to the social and psychological makeup of the people who live in that household. If they were happy and powerful they would not attract such an intrusive force. So the questions arise: What is the true nature of the problem? Why is there discord in the home? And what, practically, can be done to resolve this? The onus is also on the patient to identify and correct whatever he has been doing to weaken his spirit and put himself at risk. By taking responsibility for his illness he also gives himself the power to heal it.

  It could be argued in view of this that Andean curanderismo is more sophisticated than jungle medicine. It does not involve just one cause and effect or one action and counteraction, but necessitates a deeper examination of our psychology, including our morals and motivations, behavior and underlying beliefs. In this way we come to understand the wider pattern of our interactions and the subtle flows of energy that influence our lives. The San Pedro shaman, then, as well as being a plant alchemist and spiritual expert often becomes a sort of psychologist, priest, confessor, or therapist who can help us see our behavior and how it fits into the wider universe.

  THE PROCESS OF HEALING

  The spiritual cosmology of the Andean healer is one where invisible forces are born from unseen worlds that exist both within and without us. These forces, although immaterial, can affect us not only emotionally but physically and bring us good fortune or ill health depending on our alignment to and relationship with them. The work of the curandero is to restore the patient to balance so he is in harmonious standing to these powers and not acting against them or allowing them to overwhelm him.

  To create this necessary balance three things are important:

  Faith. Convincing the patient that a cure is possible and enlisting his help to find it in the diagnosis and treatment that follows. This may require a confessional or psychotherapeutic approach on the part of the healer to discover what the patient has done to contribute to his own ill health, a process that in curanderismo is known as placitas, “a heart-to-heart, soul-to-soul discussion” in the words of curandera Elena Avila.8 Once the patient’s role is understood, part of the cure may then be for him to make amends in a practical way to those he has offended—even if they have also done him harm. In this way balance is at least restored between the patient and the cosmic forces that act upon him, and he can also let go of the event itself and the energy of it within him. He can know that he has “done his part” and is not resisting or holding on to things from the past but allowing the energy of God to flow more freely into the present.

  Hope. Persuading the patient that his mind, spirit, and other resources are powerful and, with the help of the curandero, his greatest assets for dealing effectively with his problems, that “one frightens oneself” or “the mind makes one fly,” as Eduardo Calderon put it.9 Knowing this, the patient is empowered and has a new and vital hope that things can change for the better, and, as psychotherapists like Viktor Frankl have found, hope is the most powerful medicine of all.10

  Love. Enabling the patient to become more aware of the forces around him, his relationship and responsibility toward them, to others, and to himself so that continuing good health is assured. And through it all, to understand that he is loved by God and never beyond redemption or well-being.

  San Pedro is of help in all of these areas but it has special significance in the latter for, as David Luke says in chapter 6, there is research to suggest that the mescaline cactus gives us access to areas of our brains that we do not ordinarily use, but that when activated allow us to perceive the entire cosmic order and experience ourselves within it.

  More than this, however, as La Gringa continually makes clear, San Pedro is “the medicine of love,” so what better means could there be for us to realize how loved we are and, no matter what we have don
e or what has been done to us, how precious we remain in the eyes of God?

  In this section we hear from three San Pedro shamans about their healing work and see how some of these principles are enacted in the real world of ceremony and curanderismo.

  2

  Traditions of San Pedro Healing: Ancient and Modern

  An Interview with Rubén Orellana

  Ross Heaven and La Gringa

  Rubén Orellana, Ph.D., is an expert on the historical and contemporary aspects of San Pedro shamanism and healing in Peru. As well as his academic credentials as a historian, he was for many years curator of the Machu Picchu sacred site and is a practicing shaman himself.

  In this interview Orellana discusses the role of San Pedro in the ancient and modern world, the role of the healer, and the nature of healing itself. He also touches on contemporary trends and practices such as the “globalization” or standardization of ceremonial healing and the impact of these movements for Peruvian and Western healing and culture.

  Thank you for talking to us, Rubén. First, can you tell us a little about yourself? You are a shaman—a healer who works with San Pedro—but you are also a successful academic. How did these two worlds meet?

  Orellana: I studied in the 1970s at the University of Cusco, majoring in chemistry and then in social sciences, anthropology, psychology, philosophy, and archaeology.

  After I graduated I began work in 1976 with a team of archaeologists and anthropologists at the national park of Machu Picchu. My first job there was to find the original name of the place, a mission in which we succeeded. I was also employed to discover new archaeological sites in this area. In 1986 we found forty-four new sites at the sanctuary and in 1989 we produced the seminal report on its history. After thirty years of working here I now know exactly what Machu Picchu is and what its purpose was. It is very different from what people think.

  The sanctuary is a very special place, and I had beautiful spiritual experiences during my time there. The first gift I was given by Pachamama was when I was able to connect with the sanctuary and as a result I was told about the forty-four new sites that I discovered. I was working in ceremony there and images of these sacred places appeared in my visions and called to me. They gave me clear directions for finding them.

  I have had many other experiences there, too, but they are personal and I must keep them to myself in case others should read about them and try to emulate my findings and endanger the place.

  Alongside my work as an archaeologist and historian I am a healer. I was trained in these arts since I was a young boy but I do not call myself a shaman as this is not a Quechua word but one that comes from the Tungus people of Russia. I studied with the healers of the Andes who have their own tradition from Incan and pre-Incan times. In Quechua paqo is the name of the healer.

  This work is a spiritual path, which I chose to follow, so I could be of service to others. Nobody pushed me into it. I work with local people but also with those from other countries. I make no distinction between them because my job is to work with human beings—people who need help and who give me responsibility for their healing.

  When these people come to me I first spend time with them to find out what they want and need. There is a big difference between the two! I give people what they need because what they want may be irrelevant to their healing or may even be harmful to them. It might in fact be the cause of their problems—like envidia, jealousy of others and what they have, a desire that can cause problems of its own.*6

  When we talk about my career at Machu Picchu and my calling as a healer we are speaking of two different things. To be a healer is a vocation of the heart. To be an academic is a way that I play my part in society. What I have discovered through archaeology and anthropology though has supported what I know as a healer and both paths have led me into what you call shamanism. My university training also helps me to translate the Andean traditions so they can be understood by Western society and in this way to preserve the wisdom of my land.

  Who did you train with as a healer, and what did it involve?

  Orellana: I started with my mentor when I had seven years of age, forty-nine years ago. But even now I am still at the beginning because there is so much to know.

  Every day I learn something new about San Pedro and about spirit and healing and I connect with my intuition a little more. In this way a healer can never really finish his training because every client is unique. There is no standard approach and no textbook to consult because we are dealing with individual emotions and thoughts, so every person is different.

  I have worked in ceremonies for many years and it is difficult to know how many I have done—many hundreds I know—but healing with San Pedro is not about numbers in any case. It is not about linear time; it is about cycles.

  Do you now have apprentices of your own?

  Orellana: Apprentice is not a word I use but I have many brothers and sisters who I share this tradition with. Most are women because females are more connected to energy, to intuition, and have greater balance between the right and left hemispheres of their brains. There are also some exceptional men. But yes, I have brothers and sisters from Peru and many other countries.

  A lot of people these days would like to become healers themselves—especially Westerners it seems. What would an apprenticeship with you involve? How long would it take?

  Orellana: I cannot say that it will take so many weeks or months or years to become a healer. Linear time does not apply with San Pedro or with healing. After five decades as a healer I am still learning myself.

  Today we want definitions and definite answers: How long will it take? What will it cost? What is our schedule? We love the instant—instant coffee, instant healing, instant visions . . . instant shaman! But that is not the way in our tradition.

  If I take you as an apprentice I must first look deeply into your mind, your heart, and your soul because all I have is you. Then I start to work with you, and as your knowledge deepens there may also come a time when you feel that I have abandoned you because the answers do not come fast enough for you or because information is not passed to you exactly when you think you must have it. I have not abandoned you; it is simply that you need to go inside yourself for a while to understand your part in this world then come back to me when you are ready and we begin again.

  And so receiving this knowledge is a cycle. It is not linear but requires that you do your own processing, however long that takes. For some it is a short while, for others it may take years, so there is no way for me to say, “Okay, I will train you for six months or two months or one year and after this you will be a shaman!” It depends on you. What is always true though is that the person who has chosen this path must believe in the cycles of times not in calendars and the illusions of linear time.

  The student must also be clear about what apprenticeship means. A lot of people want “initiation” into Andean medicine but this is an ill-defined word. For Westerners it usually means an ending or an accomplishment: to be “an initiate.” In my tradition the term initiation simply does not exist but even its true meaning in the West is “a beginning,” and this beginning never really ends because every day you are alive you learn a little more.

  Apprenticeship is not just about the accumulation of knowledge, however, but the achievement of wisdom. Knowledge may come easily to you so you may learn how to perform a particular ceremony in just a few days for example but wisdom—understanding what the rituals mean, the forces they invoke, and when to use these processes—might take you a lifetime.

  It is important for people to know, as well, that becoming a shaman does not make you a god or a guru, only a healer, so the apprenticeship must be entered into with the right spirit and not from a place of ego.

  In the Quechua tradition, as with many others, we have two types of shaman: those who practice black magic and those who practice white magic. These are just people who have chosen a particular path and who use the same forces
but in different ways. Dark and light exist within all of us because we are human beings. Sometimes we are sober, sometimes we drink, sometimes we are lazy, sometimes we work, sometimes we are sad, sometimes we are happy, sometimes we are horny, sometimes we cry. Whatever. We are human. The intention of the healer is to do his best for people while acknowledging the light and the darkness—the humanity—within all of us, including himself, and denying nothing, for to repress it is to give it power.

  In the study of healing there are also many practical things to learn—about the conditions of human beings, the reason for those conditions, and the healing provided by plants and other medicines.

  Some plants must be treated with caution for example. Tóe is one such.*7 It is a plant that is not for everybody. Just like penicillin, which is one of the most powerful medicines of the Western world, some people may have a reaction to it according to their DNA.

  For Western people my recommendation is not to ingest tóe because it contains atropine and many people are allergic to this. That is why some Westerners who drink ayahuasca, which contains tóe, do not have a nice journey but find themselves attacked by demons. It is because of the atropine in the tóe, which means they do not receive enough oxygen to their brains.

  With Westerners I never work with tóe. Even with the people of Lima I will not use it because they have lost some of their native sense and natural reactions due to the effects of “civilization” and city living. With jungle people, however, I have no problems in using tóe.

  We are all people, yes, and in some ways we are all the same but we have different information in our DNA.

  In the same way we have seventy-nine varieties of San Pedro and I also know two hundred and fourteen ways to cook ayahuasca. Which is chosen and the methods I use vary according to the needs of the patient and what I sense about the interactions between the plant and the condition of the client, so even this is not simple knowledge. It is very important for healers to know and appreciate these things and to understand the differences in people and the different uses of plants.