© 2024 Svetlana Yurievna SAVELYEVA, Rider AREVALO OCHAVANO
2024 – № 1 (27)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.33876/2224-9680/2024-1-27/09
For citation:
Savelyeva S.Yu., Arevalo Ochavano R. (2024) Shipibo Natural Medicine in the XXI century, Medical Anthropology and Bioethics, 1(27).
Svetlana Yurievna Savelyeva –
philologist;
practical psychologist
of the transpersonal approach;
certified presenter
of holotropic breathwork
according to the international GTT program
(Grof Transpersonal Training);
(Moscow)
E-mail: snowsstorms@yandex.ru
AREVALO OCHAVANO Rider
(Sp. Rider Arevalo Ochavano) –
A healer from a clan of
hereditary Shipibo curanderos;
Director
of the Moyano Natural Medicine Center;
(Tingo Maria / Tingo María: Peru)
E-mail: arevalorider98@gmail.com
Keywords: curandero, shamanism, shipibo, traditional folk medicine of Peru, ayahuasca, plant teachers, psychological help and support, inner transformation, awareness
Abstract. Since ancient times, shamans of the Shipibo-Conibo Indian tribe in Peru have been using the Ayahuasca drink in medicine to heal both physical and mental ailments. The Ayahuasca creeper is revered as a national treasure, the drink of the same name made from it recognized as a source of natural knowledge. Ayahuasca has become a cultural heritage of Peru and has the official status of ‘traditional medicine’ (folk medicine). More and more people in the Western world have begun to show interest in the psychophysiological and healing experience it provides. However, shamans insist that as a sacred spirit and a drink of power, Ayahuasca should be used in mystical and magical mysteries, and like any other healing remedy, in rituals and ceremonies aimed at healing ailments, as well as serious internal psychological work. The curanderos are interested in preserving and protecting the “sacred ceremony of Ayahuasca” and its status. One of them, maestro Rider Arevalo Ochavano, is a practitioner who conducts Ayahuasca ceremonies and also studies the properties of various plants that can help in medicine. Maestro Rider followed strict diets with teacher-plants, studied communication with nature spirits in the Amazon jungle, and mastered various methods of treatment. This paper discusses the issues of modern attitudes towards traditional medicine in Peru; research conducted on plants the curanderos call teacher-plants; the psychological side of the issue when working with patients, internal transformation during sessions. The topic of comparing shamanic cultures in Peru and other countries is touched upon.
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