Ayahuasca in the traditional way
Ayahuasca grows in the lowlands of the rainforest, one thing we all need to understand is the rainforest, this part of the world is pretty much alive, it created its own environment for all the species living underneath its huge trees. Since the rainforest is a whole universe itself, just like a mother the rainforest itself will provide us with food, shelter, and all sorts of medicinal plants that can help the locals move forward, for example for each poisonous snake or frog, you have the healing medicinal plant in the rainforest, and one of the most amazing plants provided by the rainforest is the Ayahuasca, for most native people in the rainforest the Ayahuasca is the main deity if not the most important one, but just like the Ayahuasca there many other plants that have got a spirit in it.
Shamans in the rainforest
Shaman isn’t the right term in the rainforest, instead they are called Curanderos, Hueseros, or just Ayahuasca doctors, nowadays you can find many shamans in big cities. However the most reliable shamans are their communities, in most cases they are working the land, hunting, and fishing. They perform Ayahuasca only when is needed, for example if somebody falls sick in their community, the curandero will drink the Ayahuasca for him/her just to find out what is affecting them, and eventually find the cause of the problem. In the whole rainforest there are no doctors or pills, then is when you have the Ayahuasca as the main remedy for a variety of affections.
Nowadays Ayahuasca shamans can be found in cities, but some of them are still making their living in remote areas, back in time to reach these shamans you would need to travel to their communities, carrying supplies, like rice, macarons, sugar, salt, these things are appreciated in native communities more than money, if you would give them money they would reject it as this has no meaning for them.
Ayahuasca in the traditional way
Ayahuasca in the traditional way, the Ayahuasca session was carried only by shamans since ancestral times, and the only restriction in terms of diet, was to avoid having red meat and pork meat, and you could participate in an Ayahuasca retreat, in most cases only one Ayahuasca session was enough, it was very unusual to have more than 1 Ayahuasca session, it is important to highlight that real native Ayahuasca shamans do not worship things or have altars, the only thing they respect the most is the Ayahuasca’s spirit and handle the ayahuasca the most ethical way possible. There are no doctors or nurses in the traditional use of Ayahuasca. Ayahuasca in the traditional way has ayahuasca as the main doctor.
Shamans and medicinal plants
It is important to mention that shamans in South America can perform their mystical work with the aid of plants, no real shaman can detach from working with medicinal plants like Ayahuasca, coca leaf, and others. Shamans in South America are vegetalistas.
