basic reflections

Notes From Japaratinga: The Healing Poison

 
Japaratinga is a small town on the east coast of Brazil, a couple of hours drive from the cities of Recife in the north, and Maceio towards the south. Up on a cliff facing the sea, is the centre where over seventy of us from Europe, Brazil and India (actually I was the only person from India) took part in a seminar on healing.

The coming together of local shamanistic wisdom with the intelligence of the west, was a treat for many of us working in the field of mental health. A necessary step, we felt, towards the development of a new kind of intelligence linking the ancient wisdom of tribal experience with the sharper more differentiated mental faculties which have been a part of recent human evolution.

Among some of the new features to which we were exposed, was what they call "Frog Medicine" - a process which has had scientists scratching their heads, trying to figure out the exact reason for its efficacy. There were about ten takers for it from our group which, when you hear about what it involves, will make you agree that ten out of seventy or eighty is not a small number!

The Shaman who offers the treatment, sets up shop on the premises, along with an assistant or two. When your turn arrives you go up to him and stick out your arm or the side of your thigh, to be poked six times with the burning end of a small wooden stick. Into these tiny burns which look like cigarette burn marks, is applied the sticky poisonous slime of a frog known in Brazil as the "kambo". The serum, collected from the back and sides of the frog is dried and later re-hydrated before being applied on the skin. This particular frog vaccine (vaccine da sapo) as it is called in Brazil, originally developed by a tribe in a far off corner of the west Amazon is now used in many parts of the country.

  pic by Silvia Martins

Pic by Silvia Martins


In Japaratinga on the west coast of Brazil for example, following our seven day seminar we were offered the benefits of this wonder vaccine, by Andrei, a shaman from the nearby town of Maceio. The vaccine is supposed to energize and to immunize you against various illnesses (the tribals who use it claim it is also a cure for pain and laziness). Silvia, an anthropologist from Brazil who was part of our group, and a great fan of the frog vaccine, said however, that to acquire long term immunity one had to go through the procedure at least four or five times at intervals of about six months.

The compound seems to consist of a mixture of elements including hallucinogenics and tranquillising agents. A couple of those who availed of this offer, claimed that for about half an hour it was like getting high on a psychedelic drug. A woman from Germany, a midwife, revealed that it was like a death experience. She had had the feeling of having come all the way from her homeland, only to die in an unknown country, though once she accepted the feeling, she was suddenly filled with strength and raring to go.

Two valiant experimenters who almost lost consciousness during the procedure, had the shaman mutter and wave his hands and sprinkle water over their heads, an action which revived both of them in no time. Paul, one of my dorm mates, said he felt heavy and sleepy, after the experience but that he was glad to have gone through it. From Magdalena, one of the baby sitters in our group, who had been through the experience the previous year, I learned that it had been a thoroughly unpleasant experience which had had her vomiting a lot (which is a common occurrence) but also, that the year which followed had proved to be a healthy one, free of the usual coughs, colds and fevers to which she was prone in Switzerland.

Well, coming as it did at the tail end of four shamanistic journeys which combined futuristic visions with ancient memories of existence, I said no to the frog medicine this time. But who knows, if I visit Brazil again perhaps I will try it out so that I can give you all a detailed personal account of it.

Uma

 

An online community with a difference

A few weeks back quite by accident,  I stumbled onto this pretty amazing website called Zaadz. “We'll start with the name,” it says on the home page.  “Zaad. It's Dutch for "seed." Amazing how much potential is in a tiny seed, eh? We think so, too. That power reminds us of the amazing potential within each of us. We thought the idea of creating a company that inspires and empowers you to bring your "seed" to actualization would be pretty powerful. So, we created "Zaadz."

In effect this site with a membership of some 29,000 individuals, is a fascinating place to browse through and to make contact with likeminded people. There are of course an overwhelming number of therapists but not only.  You find artists, musicians, film makers and the wonderful thing is that in some way they are all people who seem to be searching for what is important in life, and not just seedy characters out for easy sex or  to make a quick buck.

Among the people I have been in touch with recently are:

Sandra who spent her early years in South Africa, moved on to various other places and is still living a gypsy life, for the moment based in France with her partner David. Sandra leads writing workshops, sound meditation groups, and offers personal guidance. Her partner David conducts workshops based on body resonance which among other things includes physical work, energetic healing and emotional counselling. Check out Sandra’s blog here: http://sandrajensen.zaadz.com/blog

Mushin Schilling facilitates workshops in Holland, Germany, Japan and Czech Republic based on energy work and family and systems counselling. He is critical of the feudal authoritarian systems of spirituality and encourages individuals to trust their own authority along the path. Mushin’s website: http://blog.mushin.eu/

Bo Heimann who lives in Denmark describes himself as: a Fringe-dweller. Curious. Straightforward. Tolerant. Calm. Happy. Generous. Free-thinking. Internationalist. Wild. Vegetarian. Integral-thinker.
Dreamer. Revolutionary. Recently he mailed me about the workshops on yoga and meditation which he and his wife Louise plan to conduct on the island of Lesbos: info@yogaliving.dk

Darell Schaffer is a psychotherapist from Minnesota, who is interested in many of the Indian philosophers including Krishnamurti, and has just launched something called “Demolition Ashram”  to counteract what he calls “lollipop spirituality”.

Last but not least, this is how Tomas, who spends a lot of time in Peru and Brazil, describes himself: a late bloomer I was introduced to plant medicine in 1988 which opened up so much in the way of integrating previous teachings from Krishnamurti, etc. and doing amazing healing work on my emotional body.  Found my real calling in life thru this shamanic approach which led to many openings such as documentary film making of curanderos in Peru, creating  a healing center in Brasil, running healing circles here in the States and other countries for ten years until 2001 and then went into retirement.  Now, hanging out with my grandchildren, spending copious amounts of  my time in Nature, writing and getting ready for the next phase of my world work which is in the imagination stage of development.

Well these are some of the individuals I have recently come across and if they sound interesting to you,  it might be worthwhile for you to check out the Zaadz site (try and overlook the somewhat effervescent use of language).  http://www.zaadz.com/ 

Theun Mares - Toltec Warrior

Theun Mares was born in Zimbabwe. The  years he spent as a child and young man in the wilds of Africa brought him a deep knowledge of nature in its purest form and with the assistance of his teacher he came to understand both the beauty and roughness of  nature and the fact that beauty exists alongside the roughness. With time Theun began to develop a keen insight into human nature. He left the world of the performing arts which he had joined to earn a living, and later on also left his post in the government service, to write books about his insights into life and his experience of being a Toltec warrior.

Here is what he writes about the path he is travelling on, in life:

I have, for as long as I can remember, always found my greatest inspiration in nature, and because of that love, have found myself to become ever more absorbed in the behaviour patterns of all forms of life. In this respect I today know that I should look upon myself as having been "lucky" in that I have always found myself surrounded by more knowledge than I have known what to do with.

When I was a child I simply assumed that all people saw what I saw, and thought about things the same way as I do, but as I became older I started to realise that most people are neither close to nature, nor are they familiar with the causes of behaviour patterns. At first I became distressed that people choose to play what I term "the blame game", rather than trying to assess and evaluate the cause of behaviour, but then as my own knowledge of behaviour patterns increased, so I slowly began to understand that most people think and behave the way they do because of their social conditioning.

Knowing full well that if my fellow men are socially conditioned, then so too must I be, I embarked upon a study of how and when such conditioning takes place. The more I learnt, the more horrified I became at realising that men, women and children are not taught to think and to fend for themselves, but are instead moulded into instruments with which to uphold belief systems and social structures that not only disempower the individual, but that also undermine his or her sense of self-worth and self-respect. As a result, I began dedicating my life to finding ways and means by which I could play my part in making man aware of his bondage, and how to escape that slavery by claiming back his power, his self-respect, and above all, his freedom.

Throughout all of this time, I have been more than fortunate in having received profound guidance from the wisest man I have ever known. Although for various political reasons the real identity of this man may not be known publicly, I am completely indebted to his enormous knowledge of human behaviour, and to his unwavering belief in the process of evolution. There is no doubt in my mind, that had I not had this man's guidance, my own quest for knowledge would have been painstakingly slow and laborious.

It is also thanks to my own teacher's knowledge and vision, that I finally came to the conclusion that it is not enough merely to study and to learn. Any knowledge, once gained, has no real value unless utilised, and it was in recognition of this fact that I made the decision to start imparting my own knowledge through the medium of teaching and writing.

In my own quest for knowledge, I have learned that an openness of heart, and an inclusive attitude towards all of life, are the only two requirements needed for the traveller upon the Path of Freedom. Consequently what started off for me as a private journey of self-discovery within that adventure known as life, has become a lifetime's commitment to the freedom and well-being of all of my fellow creatures, human and otherwise, but which nonetheless still remains the greatest adventure I have ever experienced. Throughout this adventure, I have learned that, at the end of the day, there is only one life, of which all of us, including our fellow creatures, are but units playing our part in the formation of that glorious tapestry known as destiny. In this respect, I too am playing my part as I continue to teach and write.
   
For more on Theun Mares  and Toltec teachings:
http://www.warriorskeep.com/