I am no drunkard, but I am no saint either. A medicine man shouldn’t be a saint. He should experience and feel all the ups and downs, the despair and the joy, the magic and the reality, the courage and fear of his people. He should be able to sink as low as a bug or soar like an eagle. You have to be God and the devil, both of them. Being a good medicine man means being right in the midst of the turmoil, not shielding yourself from it. It means experiencing life in all its phases. It means not being afraid of cutting up and playing the fool now and then. That’s sacred too.

JOHN (FIRE) LAME DEER (SIOUX MEDICINE MAN OF THE LAKOTA TRIBE)

Ⓒ Liz Thompson

I will be in Sydney for a healing gathering on that city’s magnificent Northern Beaches on Saturday, December 11.

The focus of the day will be the exploration of the place of individual healing within the healing of the group and ultimately society, and how that healing has an essential connection with the healing of country. In the space of the day there will be the opportunity for individual unfolding within the shared space of the group, and an examination of what that requires in terms of “payment” to the earth.

Numbers will be limited, in order to provide a balance between the individual and group processes, and we will be warmly held in a delightful space overlooking Whale Beach.

Please call or use the contact form to register your interest in attending, and I will be in touch with further details.

For the Earth.

Simon

It is with great joy in our hearts that we write to update our community with news that the criminal charges against Taita Juan have been dropped as of today, November 16, 2010. At some point within the next couple of days, the court will begin the process of transferring Taita Juan out of prison and into the immigration authorities who will make arrangements for his return to Colombia. We will have more details by the end of today, in the meantime thank you again for keeping this prayer alive and strong. We did it!

[From Free Taita Juan]

In a wonderful example of triumph over tyranny, news that Taita Juan Agreda Chindoy had charges against him dropped on November the 16th, and will soon be returned to Colombia, possibly as early as this weekend.

I spoke with Taita Juan’s apprentice Selina by telephone in California last week, in the hope of presenting that interview here, but significant technological difficulties have made that alas impossible. She was unable to speak in detail of the legal situation, but we hoped to speak again this week with what she intimated may be hopeful news. This is obviously the best possible outcome in a ludicrous miscarriage of justice.

Selina spoke of the gratitude felt for the community about the world who’s support had bouyed spirits and defence funds, but also of the fact that this had been a humbling experience for all involved. Whilst she granted that there was indeed a greater purpose to the situation in which Taita Juan and his supporters had found themselves embroiled, we did also speak at some length about the terrible imposition of incarceration upon a man with such freedom of spirit as Taita Juan. I learned, for example, in the conversation that the rules of the US Federal prisons meant that only immediate family are permitted to visit, and that Taita Juan had therefore had been unable to receive any physical visitations during his time incarcerated.

Colombian radio station Caracol reports that Taita Juan’s wife is, understandably, overjoyed at the news

El taita Agreda regresara a su hogar en el municipio de Sibundoy Putumayo, este fin de semana según lo señalado por su esposa María del Carmen Chicunque, quien mostro su alegría por la liberación de su esposo.

[From En libertad el Taita Juan Bautista Agreda]

more information [in English], is provided here;

Federal authorities have dismissed charges against a Colombian medicine man detained at a Houston airport with vials of a potent hallucinogen.
Angela Dodge, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Houston, said Tuesday that the felony charge against Juan Agreda-Chindoy, 42, was dismissed “in the interest of justice.”

[From Charges dropped against Colombian medicine man | Houston & Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle]

I hope to speak with Selina again, to gain her’s and Taita Juan’s perspective of the ordeal post facto.

Let us continue to offer our energies to the changing of these repressive legislations that prohibit the pursuit of our chosen spiritual paths, in the hope that one day people may be afforded the opportunity to sit down in ceremony with these Sacred Medicines and the keepers of the traditions thereof, in peace, liberty and harmony.

ScienceDaily (Nov. 1, 2010) — A new system that ranks drugs on the basis of harm caused to both the user and others places alcohol as the most harmful drug, above heroin and crack. The scale, developed by drug experts led by Professor David Nutt of Imperial College London, is published online in The Lancet.

[From Alcohol 'most harmful drug', according to multicriteria analysis]

Somewhat topically, given reports of Ayahuasquero’s facing twenty years in prison for the possession Sacred Medicine, Science Daily reports that state sanctioned drug alcohol is the most damaging drug for both the individual and society. Whilst alcohol is less harmful for the individual than Heroin, Crack and Crystal Meth, the study deemed it overall as at least more than twice as harmful as Crystal meth, cocaine, tobacco, amphetamine/speed, cannabis, GHB, benzodiazepines, ketamine, methadone, mephedrone, butane, khat, ecstacy, anabolic steroids, LSD, buprenorphine and mushrooms.

Consider the amount of money spent “combatting” the latter drugs, and the amount extolling in advertising the glamour of alcohol and one can see that there is something seriously awry with the common cultural viewpoint apropos “drugs”. Is this a case of mere misunderstanding?

In a recent post on Taita Juan, I referenced an arrest of Santo Daime members in the UK. Consider the language used in the commercial media about that case;

A COUPLE have been arrested on suspicion of importing a powerful drug linked to a secretive religion, following a police raid on a Dartington home.

Officers from the Serious and Organised Crime Investigation Team headed up the raid which seized what is believed to be a quantity of ayahuasca — a liquid which contains the powerful hallucinogenic dimethyltryptamine, also known as DMT, a designated Class A drug in this country….The drug comes in the form of a brown liquid. Police have refused to say where they are keeping the drug until it can be analysed. However it is being stored in special bio hazard bags. Det Sgt Gilroy explained: “At the moment we don’t know how potent it is.”

or more general media coverage here;

Santo Daime: the drug-fuelled religion
A new religion is spreading to Britain – its central sacrament the consumption of a hallucinogenic Class A drug. Here’s a report from the faith’s heartland in the rainforests of the Amazon

[From Santo Daime: the drug-fuelled religion - Times Online]

or here;

The lost and depressed turn to Peruvian ayahuasca rituals for guidance. A Peruvian potion called ayahuasca is drawing foreigners searching for guidance, insight, relief from trauma or a spiritual high

IQUITOS, PERU — Kevin Simmons, a 28-year-old Chicago native, said he “was stuck” — depressed, locked away in his home and taking more than a year to even open his e-mail.

[From Peruvian hallucinogen ayahuasca draws tourists seeking transforming experience]

In that latest article the lack attention to journalistic standards shows clearly in the image of a Huachumero in front of his mesa taking something, possibly Cimora from a shell into his nostril, captioned;

Peruvian Andean soothsayer Erick Caceres, 38, inhales ayahuasca through a shell during a ceremony where soothsayers announce their visions, in the central Lima district of Rimac. A range of healing centers perform rituals related to the potion.

“Soothsayer”, “potion”! Does the Washington Post purport not to understand the pejorative weight of those words in that context? Such kinds of “reporting” shows at least a lack of desire to understand the issues at hand, and at worst a clear attempt to obfuscate and manipulate popular opinion.

There have been a number of studies showing the individual and societal benefits of the Sacred Medicines, and it is these stories that we need to ensure also populate the mainstream media. Not just the stories of “drug arrests” and “ayahausca tourism” disasters, but stories of the immense capacities to heal and correct imbalance that these Teacher Plants offer us. These stories need to be presented as they are, as stories of hope and of individuals making personal and cultural changes for the better, for the healthier, for the more balanced. They need to be told in a manner accessible to other members of that culture, be it the UK, the US, Australia, Spain, or Sweden..

Certainly those stories exist, and in the mainstream media as well. I’ve referenced prior this article in the National Geographic which details an adventurer and writer’s struggle with depression, and the efficacy if not difficulty of her experience with curing in a Peruvian Ayahuasca ritual. There’s another here at the ABC. I’m sure there’s many more…and the potential for many, many more. Please let me know if you have any to share and in that sharing let us change the, seemingly manipulated, public perception and thus this absurd near global prohibition on the practice of this ancient medicinal and spiritual art and science.

Jeremy running a dance workshop with children at the Nayri Niari Festival, Bruny Island Tasmania

© Liz Thompson

Jeremy is descended from the Kuku-Yalanji tribe and travels widely to share his love of, and desire for broader transmission of, his cultural heritage. Jeremy is an acclaimed Yidaki player, visual artist, keynote speaker and healer. His bio on his website here says

In 2009 Jeremy rebirthed his performing and arts career. Jeremy has once again become very focussed on the development of his music, art and sharing his intimate knowledge of Traditional Healing and Sacred Ceremony. Jeremy is determined to share with others the Sacredness of his Culture to help break down the walls of ignorance. While working with youth is no longer Jeremy’s fulltime focus, Jeremy will still travel to remote communities working with youth development. Jeremy will also maintain a close working relationship with those youth living in the Urban areas who are battling with their Identity the same battle Jeremy once faced. 2010 has seen Jeremy work Alongside the Dalai Lama, Louise Hay, Wayne Dywer, Greg Braden and Rev Michael Beckwith. As Jeremy establishes himself as a leading voice for the people. Jeremy has an ability that when he speaks or performs it evokes emotions in all of the Audience.

The following offering is made with an example of Jeremy’s interpretation of his traditional music at the outset, and in closing is held by an icaro offered by Don Lucho, from that culture of medicine which Jeremy explains has offered him much by way of personal healing.

Thanks to Liz, Jeremy and Don Lucho for allowing this cross cultural sharing.

download

Help Free A Major Indigenous Leader Imprisoned in the U.S.

On Tuesday, October 19, 2010, indigenous Colombian healer Taita Juan Agreda Chindoy was detained in the Houston International Airport. He was formally arrested by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) for possession of his traditional medicine Ayahuasca. He is now being charged as a federal criminal and is facing up to 20 years in federal prison.

[From Free Taita Juan]

On a not so positive note, and speaking of Indigenous leaders and holders of Traditional knowledge, some sad news from the US recently is detailed at the website above. It is heartening to see the explosion of support for Taita Juan in the social media networks and, I am sure, in the material realm.

Whilst the expression of outrage is understandable, Taita Juan’s arrest serves as a reminder to all who actively participate in ceremonial relationship with the Sacred Medicines. In most countries in the world these plant sacraments, absurdly in my own opinion, remain prohibited by law with extreme penalties for their possession and ingestion. It behooves all who have an interest or relationship with these plants to acquaint themselves with the local and federal legislations which pertain to the plants usage in their country. Whilst it is true that the Teacher Plants can offer protection to individuals and groups, there are aways opposing forces and as Steve Beyer highlights in his excellent Singing to the Plants, the realm of Curanderismo [at least in the regions from which Taita Juan hails] deals explicitly with both the light and the dark. Protection in this context is hard won and requires vigilance.

A recent arrest of Santo Daime members in the UK, arrests in Chile and less recently in Australia amongst others show that, although some jurisdictions have a more mature perspective, the brutality of the state can still be swiftly and unfortunately brought to bear on those whose aims and actions may be of great integrity.

Whilst personal work with the Sacred Medicines is imperative and civil disobedience, as Martin Luther King, Gandhi and others have shown, is at times a necessity, the only way we can prevent this kind of travesty from occurring is to work towards the change of legislation that makes it possible in the first first place. Overt public civil disobedience has historically shown to have a high cost for the individuals involved, forcing as it does, the hand of the imperial power of the time. Let us work towards a world in which we who revere the possibilities for healing afforded by these Sacred Medicines can sit down openly and peacefully throughout the world to celebrate our chosen spiritual expression.

My voice joins others in the cry for a rapid, gentle resolution to this terrible situation for Taita Juan. My prayers are with him.

Mr Ashley’s physical health was in rapid decline, and this had been noted by both Gavin and Liz. Both were aware that something of the decline was unable to be addressed with Western medicine.

There was a recognition, in subsequent discussions between Gavin, Liz and myself, of a degree of urgency and so I decided to make the journey in the immediacy, despite being unfunded. Although I was aware there would be no finacial payment for my work, in the preparations for that journey I did make a call to a number of directions for financial support to cover the not insignificant costs of that journey.

There is certainly much more to say on this subject, but the immediate intent of this post is to offer thanks to all those who did generously offer that support. The desired outcome in the immediacy was achieved, with Mr Ashley’s condition significantly improved by the time of my departure. Whilst I was there, I asked him to say a few words to those who’s contributions went some way towards the recouping of my costs to get to he.

I’ll let him speak, then, for himself.

Roy Ashley – Legendary Waagilak songman offers thanks for assistance from Quantum Life Studios on Vimeo.

My own thanks go to Liz and Gavin for clearly seeing a need, and acting upon that, despite the lack of a cultural framework to guide the process they were suggesting, and not inconsiderable obstacles to it’s achievement. Thanks to they also for their material and emotional support in the process, and their personal commitment to relationship with Roy that informed that.

Thanks to Corrie for her most generous financial support that made the initial booking of flights an easier leap to make, as well as her ongoing energetic support throughout the process. Thanks to Homelands Community, particularly to Lucas and Maya who took my request for support to the community, and their financial and emotional support for the process. Thanks to Karen and the Canadian Jungian community, to Teresa and all the other supporters who live outside of this land, but recognise the importance of Mr Ashley and those like him who hold song and power therein contained, which is intricately and importantly concerned with the health of the Earth as a whole. Thanks to Eric, Carmer, Georgie and Heather and Barry who also contributed in financial support, and to Alison who also offered most generously financially and energetically in support of the endeavour. Thanks to Simon who made the process smoother in his support thereof on a number of levels . Thanks to Phil at Budget Darwin who enabled a reduced rate for our movement around this wide, brown land. Thanks to Tony and Lynda for their material support by way of nutritional medicines for Roy. A thousand thankyou’s also to Jo and Ruby, who’s commitment to support of me in right action, regardless of reward, allows me the possibility to fulfil my responsibilities for healing in the world.

Despite considerably generosity, some of the costs remain unmet and any further support which can be offered will be gratefully received. A donation button is available to the right side of the page here.

UPDATE: [please note that this link has been removed on account of Paypal's seizure of my all of my funds in my Paypal account months after receiving a few hundred dollars in donations in support of Roy's healing. The reason they purport to have done this is because of "Australian and Global" Counter Terrorism and Money Laundering legislation. I will be writing more of this issue, but will leave the reader to their own conclusions as to the real reasons behind this action]

Obviously the assistance of one man, regardless of how much information he holds, goes a very small way towards addressing the massive health issues facing indigenous Australia. What this small success, does highlight is that there are broad gaps between traditional medical sciences and those offered by the modern Western medical system in Australia, and that those gaps can in some way be bridged by the sharing of other traditional healing sciences. Not only that, it highlights the fact that an effective dialogue regarding these issues is possible between European and indigenous Australia.

I have some time been in dialogue with a French medical doctor who operates a clinic which bridges modern and traditional sciences effectively and specifically for the treatment of addictions in Peru. He has relationship with both the Plant Medicines of South America, and the Western Medical system. He has expressed interest in the possibility of a cultural exchange process between Curanderos in South America and Traditional Healers in Australia. As his system has proved successful for both Europeans and Indegenous people in the South American context, so to does it offer the possibility of a dynamic and ongoing relationship of curing and learning for Indigenous Australians. I have already been in dialogue with a young Indigenous leader and Maparntjarra, who has experienced profound healing on a personal and ancestral level with the aid of the Plant Medicines revered in South America and in a similar context to that to which I am referring.

There is some political sensitivity in an Australian of European descent endeavouring to facilitate processes related to indigenous healing and yet clearly I am in a unique position to assist in this manner as I am recognised as Curandero by colleagues in South America and as Marngitj and Maparntjarra by Elders in this land. Clearly there is much dialogue to be had with other Marngitj, Maparntjarra and Nankari of this land to determine interest in and perceived efficacy of such a program. I personally have been working towards this process from many years, establishing relationship, developing trust, demonstratig capacity and envisaging structure. Slowy what began as a germ of a seed, is taking root, gaining vigour and showing itself as a viable evolutionary proces. That process now needs the support of othes to help it grow.

Clearly the journey I have described above has been a rewarding one on many levels, and a fine indication of the efficacy of cultural exchange. I will be grateful for any offers of assistance received, in whatever form. Contributions received once costs for recent journey have been covered will be turned towards the nurturing of the ongoing process of the the realisation of gathering between traditional Indigenous Healers of Australia and South America with a view to facilitating cultural exchange in the realm of healing.

Susun has been a popular figure in US Herbalism for many decades, and it was delightful to hear some of her accumulated wisdom garnered in over 40 years of the study of herbs, and teaching what she terms the Wise Woman Way.

Susun’s Website has a wealth of freely available information and I heartily encourage a visit to www.susunweed.com for anyone interested in learning how to empower, nurture and heal themselves through relationships with plants.

My own interest in Susun’s work was in part how closely her experience of the necessity to form relationships with plants in a real and embodied fashion matches my own, and indeed the central tenets of Curanderismo and Vegitalismo in South America.

Please bear with me in the production of this podcast series. Audio production is something of an art and all of said production, as well as all of the associated web design and maintenance is performed by me with basic resources. This on top of the more immediate work of curing which is my daily responsibility.

These podcasts are offered in the spirit of healing, in the hope that they will open, illuminate and inspire. If you have any feedback please feel free to use the commenting system provided here.

The podcast with Susun is offered in mp3 form, as well as Apple’s extended podcast format which provides images and links to relevant websites.

A conversation with Susun Weed [m4a]

A Conversation with Susun Weed [mp3]

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Australia License
Thanks to Dona Otilia, Liz Thompson and Jeremy Yongurra Donovan for additional materials

Last week I spoke with Dr Stephan Beyer, author of Singing to the Plants: A guide to Mestizo Shamanism in the Upper Amazon.

We spoke for an hour and a half about the themes in his book, and his knowledge of Curanderismo in the Upper Amazon. The conversation for me was an engaging one, although we barely scratched the subject matter in the book.

I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of reading the book, and my discussion with Steve, and would recommend the book to anyone who seeks to understand something of the modern work with the Sacred Teacher Plants in the Upper Amazon.

The interview is available to listen to directly at the beginning of this post, or as a download here.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Australia License.

I have been recently working with a young woman named Teresa Schroeder. Teresa suffered partial quadriplegia after a snowboarding accident over 4 years ago. In her search for healing she made her way to Peru to meet and work with Dr Laura Pacheco, who had cured her own spinal injury using healing modalities of Peru’s Moche culture.

Not only has Teresa moved to Lima, Peru to continue her treatment with Laura, she also makes regular trips to the village of Jenaro Herrera, on the Ucayali river in the Peruvian Amazon to work with the medicinal and teacher plants there. In the course of this work Teresa has begun to learn not only of relationship with the plant medicines, but also with her body’s subtle mechanisms, to realise how emotional, mental and energetic blocks impede physical healing.

Teresa recently wrote kindly of her work with me here.

I am continuously amazed at the resources of courage, and capacity to will change in the people with whom I work. Both Lima and the Amazon jungle have their challenges for fit, able bodied visitors. To traverse these realms wheelchair bound, and physically dependent upon the assistance of others requires another degree again of strength and courage.

I applaud Teresa in her courage to find other alternatives when the medicinal methods of her native United States had reached the limit of their utility. It is of no surprise to me that she was introduced to me by Lakshmi, who this week returns to Iquitos to continue her own courageous journey. As these things go, she will cross paths with Teresa as she passes through Lima.

I wish them both love and support in their journeys.

Despite script compromises to allow broadcast in that particular manner, and a name I would not have chosen myself, I am pleased with the end result. I feel most comfortable in oral culture’s but I think this piece makes a worthwhile contribution to aural culture, and hope people will continue to find a richness in it which contrasts the banality of much of that which washes through the ever broadening media ocean.

When I launched my website some years ago I expressed on the home page

“Quantum Life Bodyworks draws on a vast array of technologies, from those of archaic shamanism to hyper-modern media manipulation, manual body therapies and entheogenic ecstasies.”

This program is another step in that project’s realisation, and I am heartened that in the nations where the direct experience of the spirits of the Plant Medicines is prohibited, the spirit of the Plant Medicines can still touch the hearts of the people.

Big thanks to Liz Thompson, Robyn Ravlich, Robyn Johnston, and Judy Rapley [amongst many others unnamed] for making this possible.

The program is available to stream or to download here. Additionally a number of visual vignettes edited by myself and conceived, directed produced and shot by Liz Thompson and I are here and here available for your viewing pleasure.