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Today was an amazing
day. This evening we experienced a spiritual cleansing from a
Shaman. A shaman is a spiritual/religious leader and very often, the
only health care provider in rainforest communities. A shaman's
knowledge is learned from his father. Our shaman, Isidro Ajon and
his wife, Digna Alvarado, walked four hours to perform the cleansing
for us. Before he begins, he takes a hallucinogenic potion, Ayawaska,
to give him the ability to connect with the spirits. During the
actual ritual he hums, whistles, blows tobacco smoke on you, and
uses leaves to suck out the evil spirits that are causing you harm.
Not only did Isidro have to prepare for the cleansing, but we had to
as well. For forty five minutes we each had our own pre-cleansing
ritual. Some took to meditating and deep breathing, others took to
listening to the river flow. I personally sat by myself and just
gazed up at the stars and tried to clear my mind of everything. This
just by itself was a breathtaking experience. Our lives are so busy
that we rarely take a minute to just breathe.
I can not account for anyone's experience except for my own. I will
only tell of my amazing life altering experience. I became ill on
our morning hike and could not complete the day's events. The shaman
was asked to rid my body of the cause of my illness. After he
performed the cleansing I felt physically and emotionally
overwhelmed. A little later I felt that I had a revelation about
life. I think that everything happens for a reason and this helped
me appreciate everything that I have, and not to dwell on every
little idiosyncrasy. I feel the shaman's healing powers not only
worked on me physically, but he really helped me spiritually. I feel
that I am now changed for the better. For me the shaman cleansing
was truly an enlightening experience. |
