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(This was written at the time
of the event in 2005. I am finally sharing it and have edited it some for more
clarity.)
When
I first really began to study shamanism enthusiastically I was drawn to
Ayahuasca. I learned so much from this plant teacher that I knew I wanted to
dive deeper. I had begun to work with an Ayahuasquero from Colombia and was
bringing him to the US to perform ceremonies. But after a couple of years, I
learned that his integrity was not where I had thought it was and I had to let
him go.
As
soon as I did this and decided to go explore more on my own, I learned of a
conference in Peru called the Amazonian Conference on Shamanic Healing. I
wanted to learn more about the sacred plant medicines but I also wanted to find
a shaman with a true desire to help people, who were not in it for themself. I
had already done plant medicine ceremonies with different shamans and although
I had had lots of good experiences, I also found that many shamans are just as
lost as the rest of us, with alcohol addictions, adultery issues and a craving
to make money more than to heal.
The
first day I got to the conference in Peru I heard about a ceremony to be held
at the house of a talented Banco Espiritual in Iquitos, named Don Javier
Dasilva Oliveira. Bancos are rare because they work on each of the three planes
(here, above and below) while many shamans work on only one plane.
Don
Javier was originally from Brazil and had been practicing shamanism since his
early teens, trained by his father, who in turn was trained by his father. He
was said to be an amazing healer. He held ceremonies in his home, a small
simple house with many chairs and an altar to the Baby Jesus. The dining room
and kitchen were where those of us who would drink the ayahuasca (around 15
people) would sit for the night, while the front room would hold all of his
other “patients”, locals mostly (about 50 or so people).
Throughout
the night Javier would perform limpias (cleansings) on each person there,
giving them advice, valuable information about health and things to watch out
for in the future. He spoke very little English but the medicine helped us to
understand him and there was an interpreter. Ayahuasca is a powerful plant
medicine that brings psychedelic visions often in conjunction with a powerful
purging after vomiting. It is not for everyone and should only be experienced
if you are willing to go to the darkest depths of your soul to learn about
yourself and to heal.
Javier
said that he worked through the Baby Jesus, his main spirit guide and that it
was only through him and the “doctors” that he was able to perform this
healing. He called his spirit helpers the “doctors” because when they were
alive, about 250 years ago, they were powerful healers. Now they performed
healings and psychic surgeries through Javier. He would embody these spirits,
speaking in their ancient languages and singing icaros (songs for focusing and
directing spiritual energies) throughout the night. It was amazing how his
personality would change with each spirit that spoke through him. By the end of
the night, he would become even more vibrant and would have performed limpias
on 50 to 80 people.
He
was a powerful shaman, evidenced by the fact that each person I talked to found
his assessment of them to be spot on, including myself. (He saw the fibroid
inside of me years before it was discovered- telling me something was eating me
alive from the inside.) Some patients had received miraculous physical healings
as well.
I had never seen a shaman
with such focus and devotion to his “patients”. His icaros were so beautiful
and I felt I could sit and listen to him sing for days. His medicine was very
pure too. He used only ayahuasca and chacruna in his brew.
I
wish I could better express what an incredible impact he had on us all. The
best I can say is that being in his ceremony was a blessing because it was
clear that he was being fully guided by his spirit helpers and his ego was not
getting in the way.
Here are a few pictures of him next to his alter doing one of the private healings that he performed on me, during a regular business day. In this picture, he is blowing tobacco smoke into the jar of ayahuasca, cleansing it to prepare for the ceremony.
