Recently our board member, Adam Shaening Pokrasso, interviewed Joel Romario, a native Shipibo and a Kurin Metsa student. Joel is now a year and a half into the apprentice program, studying with his grandfather, Enrique Flores. Joel enrolled in this apprenticeship because of his interest in native plants that are foundational to the Shipibo shamanic practices as the local jungle area is rich in diverse plant life.

 

Joel shared that many of his friends don’t relate to his interest in plants and shamanic studies, because they are focused on more modern activities, such as the Internet, Facebook, and soccer. But his family, including his parents and siblings, support and encourage his shamanic work and studies.

 

Joel describes Enrique as a very good and patient teacher, who tells him, “Calm down son, you are going to learn. Little by little, ‘poco a poco’… to know the medicinal plants, you have to be patient.” Joel sees Enrique as a great teacher of plants and wisdom and wishes to gain some of this knowledge. Along with the other students of the Kurin Metsa School, Joel works in the garden learning to cultivate and tend to the medicinal plants. To gain a deeper understanding of the energies and medicine each plant offers, the students also experience plant diets, or “samas”. Each sama involves a period of fasting and only ingesting a certain plant brew to gain a relationship with that plant and to understand its unique energy and the particular kind of medicine and vibration that plant carries.

 

Marosa is one of the plants that Enrique has shared with Joel to diet with, to gain greater insight into its wisdom and energy. While working with Marosa, Joel experienced a dream that came with a vision of a puma, which allowed him to learn about the powerfully protective qualities of this plant. Joel’s relationship with the puma as an ally has become a strong one, from which he feels a deep connection and ongoing source of protection. The energy of the puma works as an ally in Joel’s healing work as well, particularly when addressing negative habits or patterns in the body. Joel connects with the energy of the puma through icaros, sacred songs that embody healing vibrations of particular allies. Through his studies and plant diets, Joel has further developed his ability to receive many other icaros and to channel the healing vibrations these songs bring in.

 

Another ally that Joel has gained through this work is the anaconda. Through working with this powerful ally in ceremony, Joel has learned self control in the face of fear. He values this lesson of remaining calm despite the circumstance. Joel considers this an empowering gift from the anaconda because of his dedication to these studies into this world of medicinal plants. Other inspiring and powerful experiences that Joel has had through his plant diets include ancestral connections, which have included visions of traveling to Machu Picchu and receiving spiritual gifts from the Incas.

 

Experiencing these connections with allies has reinforced Joel’s commitment to furthering his plant knowledge so that he can be a healer and a support to his community in times of illness with effective, natural medicines. Rather than being focused on soccer and parties, Joel feels called to work as a healer, and has a new found sense of pride in himself through this call to service. He has also developed patience and a broader perspective. Through this work with Enrique and experiencing the traditions of his people, Joel feels that he sees the world differently, more peacefully.