El Colibrí V - Shamanic power...

The ceremonies were held every other day, with a rest day between each for recuperation and integration.  This was the second ceremony with Eladio and in it I realised why he deserved the title 'Don'.  Eladio's father was a healer specialising in tobacco (a tabaquero), his grandfather had been the same but, in addition, he was also an ayahuasqero.  It is from him Eladio learnt many of the secrets and traditions of his shamanic practice.  Now almost 50 years old, he has been working with plant medicines for over 30 years.  During a brief period in Peru when the government declared ayahuasca illegal, Eladio protested and was sentenced to nine months in jail.  This earned him the title 'Defender of the Vine'.  It is clear he believes in his mission to heal and teach as many people as possible.

My visions began relatively quickly; they were the strongest and most surprising I'd ever had with my eyes open.  The first menifested when Eladio had moved closer to Kristen and was performing some healing through gentle whistling.  Above his head, stretching across the maloka, appeared a dragon.  This huge, ornate being took a swipe at Kristen with its giant claw just as Eladio was using a type of sharp outbreath used for clearing which sounded something like, "sssssshhhhoo!"  The dragon disappeared.  I'd thought the dragon was attacking Kristen but, in the following day's discussion, Eladio said he often worked with dragon spirits and this one was there to assist him.

This powerful clearing breath was used throughout the ceremony.  At the end of his icaros, Eladio would often clear the space of dark energy using this method.  At the end of a couple of his songs I saw bright beams of light blasting across the roof of the maloka.  It seemed like anything in the way was blasted out of the space.  Protection in action.  During the icaros the build up of energy weas palpable.  There were moments Eladio was singing and dancing in front of his mesa (table) when I saw energy pouring from him in al directions, like a river of feathers from his body.

One of his actions was one of the most convincing displays of his power I saw during my stay.  I hadn't felt at all nauseous throughout the evening, just a feeling of liquid in my stomach when lying down.  Eladion made his rounds, singing and playing the maracas with vigour.  When he came to me I instinctively sat upright and moved along to his rhythm.  At one point he crouched before me, something he only did once.  It felt as though he was singing directly into my stomach.  Although I felt absolutley fine a moment before, as soon as he stood up and moved on I purged massively.  Frantically reaching for my bowl I was just in time to catch the torrent of burning hot vomit surging from my insides like the jet from a firefighter's hose.  This was one of the few moments my consciousness moved beyond my awareness.  After some minutes of purging  on my hands and knees I was finally able to sit upright only to find my bowl in a position I hadn't expected it to be.  'Where was I being sick then?' I wondered.  On the floor, was the unwelcome answer.  Although most of the considerable volume of liquid had gone into the bowl, some of it had either splashed out or completely missed and ended up in a puddle on the floor.  Needless to say I spent the next ten mintues scrabbling around in the dark cleaning it up.  The joys of ayahuasca!

By the time of Eladio's next round I was deep in the medicine.  Again, I instinctively sat up when he arrived at my mattress.  This time he place his hand on my head and I felt as if he was holding his face millimetres from mine.  Just when I realised this wasn't the case and he was still upright, he was snatching at my chest removing whatever negativity he saw residing within.  Before I knew what had happened he was off again to the next pasajero leaving my jaw trembling with the powerful energy he had just transmitted.

Other visions were equally impressive and transient.  Like lying down feeling very contented and hearing a purring, very loudly within and without.  When I sat up it stopped.  On lying down again it returned and soothed me deeply.  Or seeing light emanating from my body, something I've seen before but am always utterly captivated by.  Or seeing several 'Eladios' in the maloka at the same time, omnipresence in action.  Maybe most important is a felt ability to help other people remotely.  I suppose it's akin to the power of prayer and intention, although my western mind resists such concepts.  For example, I saw someone close to me suffering because their heart isn't fully open.  Although at a core level they want to love others, they find it difficult to let go of the judgement.  Ego gets in the way.  I felt my own heart reaching out to theirs, gently encouraging its own self-liberation by alowing love to flow more freely.

Overall a powerful night full of visions, sensations and feelings the authenticity of which is difficult to deny.  For a long time I have been asking whether these manifestations are glimpses of a normally concealed reality or simply a hallucinogenic resut of biochemical reactions in the brain.  This night shifted my opinion towards the former a considerable distance.