"You cannot enter the world of spirits while remaining silent."
- mestizo shaman
4
Plant Spirits and Songs
of the Amazon
Music in Ayahuasca Ritual
The following is an analysis of ayahuasca whistling incantations observed from a healing session in the Peruvian Amazonian city of Iquitos on August 10th of 1968
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Schacapa
The choice in icaro may alleviate anxiety and bring tranquility to audience members as they transition through visions and realms. Throughout the ritual some audience members are left to sit quietly by themselves, while others require more attention such as the blowing of smoke. The ending marker of the performance is very blurred because audience members may simply fall asleep. During this healing session, counseling took place in the morning, signifying the end marker of the performance. Indicating the normalcy of sleeping in the jungle after receiving drug and song induced visions in the framework of the ayahuasca ritual.
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Performance Context
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The physical context of the performance is important in regards to the environment and who is present. This ritual is held in the jungle, away from cities and begins in the evening and goes on until early morning hours. The location is important because the sound of the city would interrupt the icaros, therefore affecting the visions of the audience. The social context is very personal, in this performance there were only seven audience members and the ayahuasquero who was accompanied by an apprentice. In the audience, members attend this ritual because they are suffering from some sort of illness, most generally classified as emotional or psychological in origin. The healer knows each audience member and learns of their suffering, although the audience members do not know one another. A large part of this social context is that the audience members rely on the singer to diagnose and reveal the source of the illness. Within this folklore, "Status within the group affects how performers and audiences interact and who gets to perform what kinds of material." If one's icaros are not that strong, it reduces the healers chance to perform the ritual because reputations and plant knowledge are paramount in this folk group.
Reflexivity
It is important to note that the researcher had difficulty recording and analyzing the icaros due to the nature of the ayahuasca. While most healers were fine to speak with the author, only one allowed recording of the ritual. Reflexivity, in regards to the authors presence, was potentially problematic. The healers' movements around the circle while singing icaros, the general quietude and sensitivity to sound, and the disinclination of members to answer questions was not conducive to the nature of this study and vise versa. Lastly the author of this analysis noted that a lack of vision throughout the ritual could be correlated with a healers' inadequate musical ability. While icaros skills are evident in the execution of successful visions, the authors presence might have influenced the ritual. "Merely having someone from the outside watching and recording or taking notes could affect how comfortable the performers and audience members feel with presenting material, for instance."
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