Religion and Healing: Shamanism, Ritual Poetics, and Hallucinogenic Healing in Latin America:

Shamanism is a belief practiced in Latin America and the Caribbean that is defined as a religious system marked by the belief that specific persons- shamans- have the ability to directly communicate with the supernatural through a trance or possession experience. The Shaman’s body is the means for which the spirits use to transverse their powers into the human world. The Shaman must become in possession of the powers in order to assure success during the experience. During a trance the Shaman’s soul leaves the body and travels to the Spirit world, only to return once the shamanism is over. The possession of the Shaman by the spirits is visible by the Shaman’s erratic and uncontrollable behavior. Once the Shaman has allowed his/her body to be the medium for the spirits he/she is able to control the powers and channel them into the healing process.

The trance possession is usually performed in accordance with many mind and body altering substances, mainly: tobacco, hallucinogens, and alcohol. This is present in the Shamanism trance possessions performed by the Arawak speaking people of Colombia, Venezuela, and Brazil, known as the Wakueai. During their ceremonies, the Wakueai also participate in dancing, song singing, and chanting in order to help harness the powers of the spirits. This chanting is also sometimes called poetic chanting in which the chants are used for healing purposes that express ritual power.

Ritual power is defined as the ability to harness authority or legitimacy through ritual means. This idea is especially prominent among the Wakuenai people in Amazonian Venezuela. They believe that singing is the means of treatment for diseases of the genitalia, neurological systems, nightmares, and child behavioral problems. They use shorter chants to cure less severe issues such as headaches. These chanting beliefs used by the Wakuenai were only first introduced after the presence of deadly diseases brought over by the Europeans.

One hallucinogen that is particularly present in many healing rituals is Ayahuasca, a vine that is fermented into a thick beverage that has incredible hallucinogenic capabilities. Ayahuasca is consumed in large amoutns by the peoples of the lowland Amazonian areas Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. The consumption of this hallucinogen in conjunction with Shamanism healing rituals is present among all social groups, but particularly present in the lowest social and economic groups. They use this drug to heal two categories of illness: God given illnesses and those illnesses that were a result of evil put forth by others. The Shamans treat theses illnesses with the use of the powerful Ayahuasca in a cleared section of the jungle with a small group of others inflicted with similar symptoms. At midnight the healer distributes the drug and the he/she is the final one to drink the hallucinogenic beverage. The remainder of the night is spent chanting and dancing in order to harness the powers of the spirits.

Sources:

http://www.earthheartfarm.com/uploads/images/ayuhausca_vine.jpg

http://public.globalnet.hr/~gvlahovi/covjekje/shamans-mexico.jpg

http://www.firstpeople.us/pictures/challenger/JD-Challenger-Shamans-Power.jpg