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
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