THIS IS A FREE ARTICLE FROM SACRED HOOP MAGAZINE.

Sacred Hoop is an independent magazine

about Shamanism and Animistic Spirituality, based in West Wales, published four times a year since 1993.
You may share this in any non-commercial way but reference to www.SacredHoop.org must be made if it is reprinted anywhere.
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ICAROS
interact with the spirit world,
including - but not limited to - the
plant spirit realms.

THE SHAMANIC DIET

The traditional way by which
MAGICAL SONGS shamanic healers in the Peruvian
Amazon learn - or better still,

OF THE AMAZON
receive directly from the spirits -
their icaros, is through a regimen of
diet (la dieta). The shaman receives
the tunes whilst they are asleep,
Francesco Sammarco dreaming, or in vision - whilst
journeying in the spirit world
intoxicated by ayahuasca, or during
the plant diet.
The shamanic diet imposes
physical isolation in remote jungle
areas (monte) away from people, and
‘I am flying through the air, a strict celibacy and abstinence from
certain foods (pork, chilli, spicy food,
I am flying for you, fats, meat from farmed animals, salt,
sugar, most vegetables and fruits)
I am flying with a happy music, too, as well as an avoidance of
with an exciting music’ alcohol, canned food, and chilled and
fizzy drinks. The rigours of the
Don Mariano traditional diet in fact only allow for
(Shipibo-Conibo shaman) certain river fishes, rice and green
plantains (boiled or roasted) to be
eaten, all unseasoned.
The contact with the spirit world
is therefore achieved thanks to a
diet that - in common with other
religious, esoteric, shamanic and
spiritual traditions - also entails
sexual abstinence and isolation.
During the diet the shaman (as
well as the apprentice shaman)
ritually ingest different brebajes
(beverages) of plantas maestros
(teacher plants) and palos
maestros (teacher trees) in the
form of teas, made from the resin,
leaves or scraped stem of plants
and trees, and, or macerates
(from the scraped bark or roots of
trees), alternating this with the
taking of ayahuasca.
The choice of the plant
teachers to diet with, as well as
the interaction between the plants
and trees of the diet with
There is something moving and be sung, whispered or whistled - ayahuasca (which is usually taken
inescapable in the similarity by shamans (and sorcerers alike) on different days to the brebajes)
between the two words ‘Icaro’ - in Peru, to communicate with the will vary from shaman to shaman.
the shamanic singing tradition of spirit world. The word possibly This is because many shamans
Peru, and ‘Icarus’ - the subject of derives from the Quechua verb receive their instruction for how to
the ancient Greek myth about the Ikaray - ‘to blow smoke’ a proceeed with the diet in vision
man who flew too close to the technique used by shamans in from the plant spirits themselves.
sun. It is as if there were a their healing. The diet is therefore the main
connection between Icarus, Shamans use these melodies to method used by the shaman for
inebriated by his flight, high in the magically charge a person, a plant, learning, advancing and progressing
skies upon his waxed wings, and or virtually anything else - whether in their knowledge of the plant spirit
the magical shamanic songs, animated or unanimated - with a world, and receiving powers.
which go high into the spirit world. specific intent or purpose, to Contrary to what is commonly
But there the parallel stops. obtain or influence a desired believed - with the exception of
Icaros (or Ikaros) are the outcome. They represent a ayahuasca and a few other plants
magical tunes or lyrics - which may special language intended to such as one called toé - the plants

SH
20 ISSUE 68 2010
 THIS IS A FREE ARTICLE FROM SACRED HOOP MAGAZINE. Sacred Hoop is an independent magazine
about Shamanism and Animistic Spirituality, based in West Wales, published four times a year since 1993.
You may share this in any non-commercial way but reference to www.SacredHoop.org must be made if it is reprinted anywhere.
To get a very special low-cost subscription to Sacred Hoop please visit : www.SacredHoop.org/offer.html

Shamans in the
Peruvian Amazon,
when performing
healing on a patient,
call upon the spirit
of their plant ally
first; they do this to
summon power, and
then ask for the
healing to take place

of the diet do not usually have an students, and they can be sung in from aquatic trees, plants and Above: Shaman
intrinsic psychotropic, mind-altering different native dialects and vines. A muraya is also a master of Don Alfredo
effect. Visions occur by a tongues, as well as in Spanish. the earth (jungle) realms too. with sacha
synergetic interaction between the They may also be passed on Among the murayas, there are chuchuhuasi,
diet’s setting and the plants of the between maestros (male also the allpa muraya (muraya of a woody vine.
diet, which are naturally shamans), as a gift, during the earth) who specialise in Don Alfredo
complementary to each other. ayahuasca ceremonies. mastering the spirits of the earth, stresses the
This is the framework within However, icaros received directly the huayra muraya (muraya of the importance of
which the shaman operates, and it during the shamanic diet and sung air), who have mastery over a strict diet on
is of paramount importance to be in native Indian tongue are believed meteorological phenomena such as this vine, which
aware of this in order to to be much more effective and thunder, wind and rain. These are only the most
understand the process of the diet powerful than those sung in different to the alto muraya (muraya knowledgeable
and - consequently - that of the Spanish and learnt from a teacher. of the sky), who are masters of the shamans may
origin of the icaros. This is perhaps because some of spirits of the sky - heavenly spirits, handle safely
the ancient magic formulae are lost dwelling in space, and on other
Every plant teacher spirit may in translation, or perhaps because planets and constellations.
bestow, as a gift, an icaro to the of an intrinsic power embedded in To confuse things further, one
person undergoing the shamanic diet, native, indigenous tongues. could also be a banco muraya.
and this icaro becomes the There are some shamans who These are shamans who have
communication link between that sing their magical songs in a mixture knowledge of, and dominance
plant itself and the shaman. The icaro of different Indian dialects, to make over, water plants and spirits, as
so received is therefore the magical themselves deliberately unintelligible well as the spirits of the earth.
method with which the shaman may to others (as protection and defense
directly communicate with the spirit from sorcerers or bad spirits). Don THE VARIED ROLE OF ICAROS
realm, and it may be used to invoke, Jose’ Coral was one such shaman, a Icaros serve several different Below: Shaman
summon and ask for help from the muraya, also renowned to enter into purposes. There are some used Don Mariano cuts
plant spirits themselves. trance without the aid of ayahuasca. specifically for healing or love magic, an ayahuasca
This is why shamans in the while others are used in shamanic vine growing on
Peruvian Amazon, when performing apprenticeship and initiations (dieta a chullachaki
THE MASTER SHAMANS
healing on a patient, call upon the chamanica). Some are used caspi tree
There are three levels of high
spirit of their plant ally first; they do
shaman in the Peruvian Amazon, the
this to summon power, and then
banco, the sumiruna and the muraya.
ask for the healing to take place.
A banco, is a master shaman
The longer the diet with a large
who has dominance over the jungle
variety of plant teachers, the more
and sky realms, they specialise in
icaros a shaman may receive.
diagnosing, healing or divining after
Sorcerers (called brujos,
they have entered into trance,
maleros, shitaneros or hechizeros
face-down in their mosquito net.
in Peru) obtain their icaros in
A sumiruna can access and
similar ways, but unlike shamans
master all of the jungle, sky and
use their icaros in a negative
water realms.
fashion: to contact dark forces or
A muraya is a shaman who can
evil spirits, to damage people,
access the sub-aquatic realm,
cause harm (daño), bring
having control over the water
misfortune, illness or even death.
spirits (yacurunas) mermaids and
Icaros may also be passed on
river dolphins). They learn this
from master shaman to their

SH ISSUE 68 2010 21
 THIS IS A FREE ARTICLE FROM SACRED HOOP MAGAZINE. Sacred Hoop is an independent magazine
about Shamanism and Animistic Spirituality, based in West Wales, published four times a year since 1993.
You may share this in any non-commercial way but reference to www.SacredHoop.org must be made if it is reprinted anywhere.
To get a very special low-cost subscription to Sacred Hoop please visit : www.SacredHoop.org/offer.html
translated into English: usually softly whispered to the plant
A muraya shaman can access the ‘Now that I have extracted this medicine, and are used to charge it
black spirit from you, with positive energy and protection.
sub-aquatic realm, having control I can call for the All power plants - as well as
over the water spirits good spirits to come. animals, and unanimated things
I want them to arrive like mountains or lagoons - are
(yacurunas) like a whirlpool, believed to have a spirit (genio) or
I want the good spirits a mother (madre) that demands
mermaids to arrive here as a whirlpool utmost care and respect. This is
and river and enter with power especially true of the ayahuasca
inside your body. medicine, which has a very proud,
dolphins I want this whirlpool indomitable spirit.
to rise above you, to be strong. Other icaros are used to
I am going to finish with this, announce an exciting journey in
but first I want to charge this the spirit world, when new plant
arkana with more power, teachers are discovered during the
so that other people or evil spirits intoxication with ayahuasca, like
may not take it away from you. this one, by Shipibo shaman Don
I ask the plant spirits to help me, Leoncio, translated into English, in
Above: fresh specifically at the point of ending the I call the spirits, which he sings:
water Amazon shamanic diet (icaros por la quebra I call my spirit protector.
river dolphin de dieta), others for spiritual May nothing enter, ‘In my anaconda ship…
purification (icaros de purificacion May no evil spirit enter this body I am journeying with a large ship…
espiritual), to cleanse, bless and and may all be cleansed and pure.’ This ship is as big as an anaconda.
protect people (el canto de la arkana I am going with this ship to the
Right: flowers of por la protecion), to close a There are also icaros against place where I will know many,
the toé plant shamanic treatment (para finalizar un depression, and icaros sung when many plants.’
(Brugmansia tratamiento), and there are even one is receiving powers (recibiendo
suaveolens) icaros to overcome the intoxication poder) from the spirit world. Moreover, there are icaros to
caused by ayahuasca (icaros para Shamans sometimes sing acknowledge and celebrate a
superar el senso de mareacion). ‘autobiographical icaros,’ icaros successful treatment, in which the

The shamans of the Peruvian

Amazon also have a concept which
they call the arkana. This is an
invisible energetic protection -
which may be given by stones,
crystals, angels, rainbows, plant
teachers, spirit allies of animals
like the jaguar, the eagle, the
condor, or other entities - engaged
by the shaman for a variety of
purposes, especially during
ayahuasca ceremonies.
The arkana is used by the
shamans themselves, first of all for
their own protection, then for the
protection of the participants
(apprentices and patients) taking
part in the ayahuasca ritual, in
order for all to be shielded from
potentially malevolent attacks from
brujos (witches), competing sung by some maestros and shaman declares ‘he logrado’ (I’ve
shamans, or evil spirits. maestras (female shamans) to achieved that), and even icaros
The arkana - like the icaros - demonstrate how powerful they are specific to invoke the spirit of the
is received during the shamanic as healers (medicos). icaros themselves (el dios de los
diet. Each arkana is different and Specific icaros are also sung icaros). This icaros spirit is the spirit
each ayahuasca ceremony has its over plant brews (el brebaje) while of the teacher plants who reward
own arkana. An arkana may be they are being prepared by the the shamans with their songs.
employed therapeutically through shaman. The brew could be either
the chanting of an icaro, and we ayahuasca or other concoctions Shipibo-Conibo shamans
have been able to record one of prepared with other plant teachers (onanyas) normally sing two or
these arkana icaro during a healing such as remo caspi (aspidosperma three similar icaros in sequence
session performed by the Shipibo excelsum), toè (brugmansia when they see that their patient is
shaman Don Adriano. suaveolens), or chullachaki caspi very ill or feeling bad.
During the healing, Don Adriano (brysonima christianeae) as part of They do that because when
sang the icaros to protect the the shamanic diet. facing a deep-rooted condition -
patient, and here is the song In this case the icaros are whether of a physical, emotional,

SH
22 ISSUE 68 2010
 THIS IS A FREE ARTICLE FROM SACRED HOOP MAGAZINE. Sacred Hoop is an independent magazine
about Shamanism and Animistic Spirituality, based in West Wales, published four times a year since 1993.
You may share this in any non-commercial way but reference to www.SacredHoop.org must be made if it is reprinted anywhere.
To get a very special low-cost subscription to Sacred Hoop please visit : www.SacredHoop.org/offer.html

Shipibo designs express the compelling need to

bring the cosmic, heavenly order down to earth,
to bring order into chaos, to re-establish harmony

mental or spiritual nature - they The spirits are not only invoked
need more time to enact the by singing this way, as, by through
healing, and so singing a number this vocal technique they are also
of icaros allows them to cleanse able to directly enter the ceremony
their patients a little at a time. and communicate with - and via -
These will be icaros that invoke the Shipibo shaman, by using the
the healing spirits specifically, and shaman’s own voice.
exclusively for a cleansing treatment, This dual choir style is one of the
and not for any other purpose. most important elements of distinction
When working on patients, between Shipibo icaros on one side lineages in the Peruvian Amazon, Above: Shipibo
Amazonian shamans in Peru and all other icaros on the other. and having compiled a large textile design
always invoke their spirit allies first: By listening to Shipibo icaros it archive of indigenous as well as
and as soon as they have asked is clearly evident how the shaman mestizo icaros, I am baffled at the
for the spirits’ help, they may then is engaged in an open reason why feminine spirits
begin their treatment. conversation with their spirit manifest themselves in this fashion
helpers - including the ever only to Shipibo-Conibo shamans
THE SHIPIBO ICAROS present spirit of the ayahuasca (regardless of the gender of the
The icaros sung by the Shipibo- vine Nishi Ibo. shaman). Why don’t they manifest
Conibo shamanic healers are very The shaman lends their voice to themselves in the same dual choir
different from the icaros of the spirits, and as reported by manner to shamans of other tribal
shamans belonging to other ethnic Shipibo shaman Don Leoncio, a groups, or mestizo shamans?
feminine spirit teacher may appear
or may be summoned during an MELODIES MAGIC AND DESIGNS
ayahuasca ceremony, and when The setting where icaros may be
this happens he is compelled to appreciated in their full power and
sing in the same fashion as this beauty is during the ayahuasca
spirit. The shaman has to shape- ceremony, when the melodies and
shift into the spirit whilst it is tunes engaged by the shaman can
transmitting its powers. literally drive the otherworldly
Don Leoncio maintains that he journey of a participant along the
does not deliberately sing his precise pathways of a mapped
icaros in this dual choir fashion, visual - and visionary - landscape.
and when he does it, he is not This is especially true of
following a rational decision; for Shipibo icaros, which may be seen
when the feminine spirits arrive or in a visual way through the
are summoned, they themselves intricate luminescent designs Below: two
sing with a very delicate, high- (quené) of the Shipibo people Shipibo shamans
pitched voice, and the shaman themselves. These designs are hold a ceremony
needs to become one with them, reminiscent of phosphenic visions, at night
singing with them in the same
fashion to, as he puts it, summon
more power.’
groups, and are especially different Aside from being an ‘acoustic
from the mestizo (mixed race) bridge’ between the spirit world
healers, generally of Spanish- and the village world, it may also
European decent. be said that the Shipibo shaman is
Shipibo icaros always bear the an ‘acoustic bridge’ between the
distinction of a changing of the spirit world and the patient, as well
voice or vocal pitch, often as acting as an ‘acoustic bridge’
alternating between a strong, between themselves and feminine
masculine tone and that of a more and masculine spirit entities
delicate, high-pitched, feminine- operating through them.
like tone. This is known as the
‘dual choir’ singing style, and for Notwithstanding the above
the Shipibo shamans it is a however, after a decade of
specific way to communicate with recording icaros performed by
the feminine spirits. many shamans belonging to
different traditions and ethnic

SH ISSUE 68 2010 23
 THIS IS A FREE ARTICLE FROM SACRED HOOP MAGAZINE. Sacred Hoop is an independent magazine
about Shamanism and Animistic Spirituality, based in West Wales, published four times a year since 1993.
You may share this in any non-commercial way but reference to www.SacredHoop.org must be made if it is reprinted anywhere.
To get a very special low-cost subscription to Sacred Hoop please visit : www.SacredHoop.org/offer.html

least hints at - a relationship

existing between the icaros - the
magical melodies and the quené -
the magical designs of the
Shipibos. The Meraya learnt the
melodies and designs
(synesthetically perceived as ‘seen
and heard’) he received from the
spirit world, and transferred them
to the visible, worldly plane.
So, in a way, the icaros served
the purpose of codifying the
magical quené designs, which are
said to have - in turn - powerful
spirits like the hummingbird (Pino
The Shipibo have cosmos, quené designs and music. Heua), the anaconda (Ani Ronin)
a long tradition of Intoxicated and illuminated by and the ayahuasca spirit (Nishi Ibo)
both embroidered ayahuasca, they are capable of as their masters.
and painted accessing the different realms of This relationship, of ayahuasca,
textile design creation, communicating with spirit shamanism, music and visual
beings and navigating through the designs, together with the dual
upper, middle and lower worlds. choir vocal technique, remains
and are deeply embedded with During an ayahuasca ritual, unique to the Shipibo-Conibo.
Shipibo cosmogonic and tobacco smoke, scented water and
cosmological motifs, and they can perfumes, and visionary quené A further distinctive mark of
Francesco Sammarco be perceived in an acoustic, designs (turned into magical lyrics Shipibo shamans, is the way they
holds an MA in public auditory way by people under the as icaros), are the key tools of the conduct their ayahuasca ceremonies.
archaeology from healing method employed
University College influence of the spirit world or held These are held almost always
London. He is the within the effects of ayahuasca. synesthetically - in an audio, visual without the generally present
founder of El Mundo and olfactory sensorial way by the shacapa fan. The shacapa is a
Magico, and from Shipibo shaman, to bring about
last decade he has Shipibo designs express the musical rattle, made from the
organised tailor-made compelling need to bring the healing in the patient. leaves of certain plants (or, in
ayahuasca and cosmic, heavenly order down to some cases, bird feathers), which
shamanic plant diet Even without (and is used almost everywhere else in
retreats at the Ashi
earth, to bring order into chaos, to
Meraya Centre of re-establish harmony. independently from) ayahuasca the Amazon as accompaniment to
Traditional Amazonian To the Shipibo, the entire and tobacco smoke, this uniquely the singing of icaros, and to clean
Medicine, in the universe has three cosmic regions intimate relationship between away negative energies.
Peruvian Amazon.
- the upper world, which is icaros, quené designs and Our informant shaman Don
El Mundo Magico has shamanism can be seen when we
recently produced a represented by the great Sky Adriano, when asked why the
CD of icaros: ‘Shipibo Serpent (the Milky Way) - the look at the most powerful of the shacapa is seldom - if ever - used
Spirit Songs’ (see the world around them where we live Shipibo-Conibo shaman-mythic by the Shipibos during the
review in this issue of beings of olden times, the Meraya.
Sacred Hoop) which in the everyday - and the ayahuasca rituals, maintained that
is available from the underworld. For the Shipibo- This being was reputedly this is because through using a
website: and may be Conibo these three cosmic regions capable of becoming invisible, of shacapa, one would pass on to
available also from being in two places at once, of others the negative energy or
www.amazon.co.uk
are made of, and covered by
info@elmundo quené designs, closely interwoven, shape-shifting into animals and of illness affecting a patient, and
magico.org constantly emerging, merging and traveling to other dimensions. therefore rather than healing, one
incessantly shifting from the The Meraya - as the legend would effectively be facilitating the
invisible to the visible realms. goes - entered into trance inside opposite effect.
his mosquito tent for women of the The icaros - whether used for
Their shamans act as interpreters, Shipibo tribe, to help them to healing, cleansing, protection, love
Below: harvesting and are the focus of the relationship create designs. In trance, the magic or doing harm - have power.
medicinal plants existing between medicine, the Meraya received a visit from the They are not just songs, they are
various spirits, and these are said magical tunes.
to have painted their designs onto More research is needed if we
strips of tree bark, or else to have are going to unravel the mysterious
‘sung’ the designs themselves. relationship between icaros and
The Meraya then tried to memorise the other important aspects of
these songs, imitating the spirit Amazonian shamanism, as all are
melodies in the form of whistles. inextricably linked with the
As soon as the spirits left the Amazonian shaman, versed in
mosquito tent, the Meraya communicating with the spirit world
attempted to draw these magical along precise, coded musical
songs, bringing them down from pathways - conveyed - in the
the encrypted invisible realm of the Shipibo world, in musical designs.
spirit melodies, to the visible realm
of the designs.
This legend speaks of - or at

SH
24 ISSUE 68 2010