147 lines
8.8 KiB
Plaintext
147 lines
8.8 KiB
Plaintext
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Excerpt from:
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"Amazonian Cosmos" by Gerlado Reichel-Dolmatoff, pp 171-175 F2270.2 D4 R413
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The Collective Ecstasy
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The fundamental basis of Desana religion is the interpretation of visions
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induced by the use of hallucinogenic drugs. The use of these drugs is
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very widespread in the Northwest Amazon and has been observed by many
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ethnologists, although detailed descriptions of the diverse aspects of this
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complex are still lacking. Considerable work has been done by botanists who
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have identified several plant species used by the Indians, but little is
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known about the pharmacological, psychological and cultural aspects;
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the last particularly promises to be a fertile field for further research.
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The principal hallucinogenic drug is prepared from Banisteriopsis caapi, a
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vine commonly called yaj (Lengua Geral) or gahp! (Desana). Short pieces of
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the stem are pounded in a wooden mortar, and cold water is then added. After
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straining, it is taken in small doses on the occasion of ceremonial
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gatherings. Several times a year, the kum# or the pay, assisted by several
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other men, prepare the infusion and invite others to participate in the
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ceremony. [The informant says that different vines are distinguished, and
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that they are classified by colors: yellow, reddish, and brownish red.]
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The liquid is kept in a special pottery vessel (gahp! sor") that has a
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sacred character. The vessel is manufactured by an old woman who, before
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firing it, polishes the surface with a very hard, smooth stone of a yellowish
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color, called uarar!-ye. The stone represents a fertilizing phallus that
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"keeps on modeling" the vessel, itself a uterine symbol. The vessel is
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globular, with a short cylindrical base and low neck. Like other ceremonial
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objects, this vessel also consists of three parts: the "yellow" base, the
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"red" body and the "blue" upper part through which communication is
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established with the supernatural world when the liquid is served. The body
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of the vessel is painted in red, white and yellow, repeating the designs that
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adorned the mythical Snake-Canoe, especially with its prow. "... the part
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that leads, that carries, that explores. As mankind arrived in this world in
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the Snake-Canoe, so will it now undertake the journey of the return. The
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point of pamur!-gahs!ru explored, and now it is the yaj that explores,"
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says the informant.
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The participants are exclusively men of some thirty years or older, and they
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sit in the center of the maloca. A man fills a small cup (gahp! koa) with
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the drink and, carrying it toward the others, says rapidly: ma-ma-ma-ma-ma!
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(Take!). While they are drinking, they must smoke tobacco because this is
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said to help to produce the desired hallucinations.
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In the rear part of the maloca are the women who, although they are not
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allowed to drink yaj, play an important part in the ceremony. The mend rink
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in silence until, after a while, the first effects are produced by the drug.
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Now the kum# filfills his principal role. In a loud voice, the kum# says: "I
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am the central person (dyag; do re mahs the "person seated"), I am the
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only who is left. Therefore I am going to teach you." The kum# means to say
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that the old traditions are in danger and that he is the only one who can
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still teach the religious bases. Then, step by step, the kum# explains and
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interprets the development of the hallucinations and the diverse visual and
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acoustical sensations that accompany them. Speaking in a hypnotic tone, with
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great precision and insistence, he explains what the men see and feel. The
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hallucination has several phases, and during the first the person feels and
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hears a violent current of air, as if a strong wind were pulling him along;
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the kum# explains that it is the ascent to the Milky Way; in order to arrive
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at their final destination, they must leave this world and first find the
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current of communication with the winds. Now, following the Milky Way, the
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men descend to Ahpikondi . They now feel enclosed by a floating sheets that
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move and flutter, as if they were in a room whose walls consist of cloth;
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yellow lights appear that become stronger and stronger, until they give the
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impression of a mass of luminous bodies in movement. [According to our
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informant, the colors vary notably with each phase of the hallucination.]
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The second phase is the arrival at Ahpikondi . Now shapes and figures of
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different colors appear that move and change in size, and the kum# explains
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that these shapes are pamur!-gahsir#, Va!-mash in the "houses of the hills,"
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Emk"ri-mahs, Diro -mahs, and the Daughter of the Sun. The sound of the
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stick-rattle that the kum# shakes becomes the voice of the Sun. Vih"-mahs
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appears, together with the "ancient eagles," and the Daughter of Arac#, and
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beyond the blue sphere the men can see the yellow light of the Sun. At the
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same time they hear the buzz of the hummingbird; they see it suck honey; they
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see the squirrel, the cock-of-the-rock, all the animals and beings of myth
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and nature.
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During the first phase the men talk and ask the kum# about their visions,
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and he interrogates each one about what he is experiencing, always
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explaining, pointing out details, and interpreting them. Some men, usually
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the younger ones, still do not have well-defined hallucinations but only see
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lights and feel nauseated: in that case they withdraw, followed by the
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deprecating laughter of the women whose function consists in animating the
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men. The women sing: "Drink, drink! This is why we were born. Drink, drink!
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Because this is our task. By drinking they will know all of the traditions of
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their fathers. By drinking, they will be brave. We will help them!"
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After about half an hour the effect passes. Music can still be heard in the
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distance, but the forms, colors and movements have disappeared. The men
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gather together and continue drinking chicha.
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Taking yaj is called gahp! ir!-iny ri (from iri/to drink, iny ri/to
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see), and is interpreted as a return to the cosmic uterus, to the "mine,"
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to the source of all things. It has the objective of reaffirming religious
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faith, through the personal experience of seeing with one's own eyes the
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origin of the Universe and of mankind, together with all the supernatural
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beings. On awakening from the trance, the individual remains convinced of
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the truth of the religious teachings. He has seen everything; he has seen
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Va!-mahs and the Daughter of the Sun, he has heard her voice; he has seen
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the Snake-Canoe float through the rivers, and he has seen the first men
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spring from it. The voice of the kum# has guided him and has explained
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everything to him in detail.
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During the ceremony of yaj, the presence of a kumu, or another person of
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wide esoteric knowledge, is certainly of the highest importance. Speaking or
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singing continually, explaining each phase of the hallucinations, which he
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has experienced on many previous occasions, the kum# imprints his
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interpretation of the sensations in such a manner that a new hallucinatory
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experience is readily founded on a preestablished basis. The power of
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conviction of these hallucinations must be truly extraordinary in these
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circumstances.
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Of course, two factors are combined here: trance, or the separation of the
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"soul" and its mystical union with the divinity, and, simultaneously, an
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accelleration of time. "To take yaj is do die," the informant says, and, as
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a matter of fact, the "return to the uterus" is considered the anticipation
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of death. The person not only passes from one cosmic plane to another but
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enters a fourth dimension, the temporal one, the one that permits the
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establishment of divine contact. This accelleration of time is consciously
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produced and does not occur exclusively with the drinking of yaj. As we
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have already seen, a similar mechanism operates in the "dialogues"
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(veretam#ri) or confessions in which the kum# offers catharsis by the same
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return to the uterus.
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------
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From the AHF BBS (213) 454-2874
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Another file downloaded from: The NIRVANAnet(tm) Seven
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& the Temple of the Screaming Electron Taipan Enigma 510/935-5845
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Burn This Flag Zardoz 408/363-9766
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realitycheck Poindexter Fortran 510/527-1662
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Lies Unlimited Mick Freen 801/278-2699
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The New Dork Sublime Biffnix 415/864-DORK
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The Shrine Rif Raf 206/794-6674
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Planet Mirth Simon Jester 510/786-6560
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"Raw Data for Raw Nerves"
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