A Modern Quest for an Ancient Remedy....
If you enjoy a fast-paced read, Five Weeks in the Amazon is the book for you. It's an honest story filled with peaks of humor and valleys of despair. Author Sean Michael Hayes has written a book that many wou...
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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28
5:23pm, the big tambo up on the hill
I was awakened by the now-familiar and gentle voice of Otillia, greeting me in Spanish. Folding a corner in my book, I put it down and climbed out of my bed to say good morning. The sun had just risen from behind the trees, and Otillia was standing outside my tambo on the trail next to the long grass, steam rising from it.
I looked around and saw the whole property had a layer of the ankle-high mist covering it. I welcomed Otillia inside to sit down. I am starting to get by in Spanish without needing Joshua's help. Half of my communication consists of creative charades, but each day my vocabulary is growing.
Last night we agreed I'd work with a new plant medicine today. She said it would to start to take effect within 15 minutes and would last three to five hours. Joshua was with us at the time but declined to join in when she offered it to him.
He told me he used this medicine the last time he was here, and that it was, like she had said, a very strong medicine. Although he is usually up for these kinds of things, he said he wasn't personally ready for it right now. He needed more time cleansing.
Since I'd been here a little longer than him, apparently I was ready, and since it is the jungle doctor's recommendation, it became solely my decision if it was something I wanted to do. There was no reason to start backing out of things now. Fuck it. Yes, I said.
As for the gift from the shaman at the Fifth Element camp, I tried putting it under my pillow, I tried smoking it before bed, but it doesn't seem to do anything. Still no dreams.
I can't remember the exact name of the medicine Otillia brought me, but it sounds like Waca pirahna and it's a powerful purgative. She told me it will complete the physical cleansing process that I started when I arrived. Before a person takes it, their body must be prepared for this plant medicine or it won't benefit from its effects. And mine, after everything I've put it through, was ready.
Otillia handed me a small plastic cup that had about an ounce of semi-clear liquid in it. I lifted it to my nose and saw tiny bits of grainy sediment along the bottom, but it had no smell.
In one quick gulp, I slurped down the sticky-sweet liquid. It coated my throat, thicker and more flavorful than I expected. It tasted like honey. Sliding my tongue along the back of my teeth and swallowing again, I tried to get all the syrup down my neck.
She gave me a calm, reassuring smile as if to reassure me that what I was about to go through was ok.
"Es muy fuerte amigo, muy muy fuerte, bueno suerte," she said. Her advice was that this plant medicine was strong and the way she said it sounded haunting.
I handed her the cup and she told me to come find her this afternoon when I was done working with the medicine. The afternoon is a long way away, I thought. I had just woken up; it was only eight in the morning.
