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Dear friend,

This is the fourth issue of my free newsletter. Your feedback is most welcome!

In January, I took a 10-day tour with the Pachamama Alliance to visit Ecuador. I was intrigued by the chance to visit the rainforest and the Andes, meet the Achuar people, and take part in ceremonies and healings with indigenous shamans.

The Pachamama Alliance's mission is "to preserve the Earth's tropical rainforests by empowering the indigenous people who are its natural custodians; and to contribute to the creation of a new global vision of equity and sustainability for all."

Pachamama means Mother Earth. The following is an excerpt from the Pachamama Alliance's website

"The destruction of the world's rainforests is driven by a complex web of social and economic forces, many of these a logical result of modern society's worldview -- a view that, although rich in technological insight, is often ignorant of the value of nature's apparently free and limitless services. It is a view guided by maximum short-term financial gain while disregarding the long-term costs of ecological degradation. It is a worldview in which tropical forests can show up as a cash crop to be harvested rather than as an irreplaceable ecosystem to be protected.

"This is not, however, the only worldview. After centuries of living in harmony with their environment, indigenous cultures see things very differently. They are informed and guided by the knowledge and spirit imbedded in nature..."

The Pachamama Alliance believes that our ability to meet the challenges that face humanity as we make the transition to the next millennium, depends on our ability to successfully combine the best elements of these two worldviews into a single global vision, an alloy that blends the intellectual and scientific prowess of the modern world, with the deep and ancient wisdom of traditional cultures... The initial work of Pachamama is being carried out in partnership with the Achuar, an indigenous group living in the Amazon basin in southeastern Ecuador. They are a nation of approximately 3,500 people occupying nearly 2 million acres of pristine tropical rainforest in one of the most biologically diverse regions of the world.

Their territory is accessible only by small airplane landing on dirt runways cleared from the forest. This remoteness has been a blessing in that, thus far, no mining, lumber or petroleum interests have operated in the Achuar territory. As a result, the rich diversity of the rainforest has remained intact and virtually untouched, one of the last such treasures left on Earth."

Largely because of the rainforest, Ecuador, a country the size of Colorado, contains more species diversity than all of North America. Its human population is 40% indigenous (or "Indian"), about 20% mestizo (mixed indigenous/Spanish), 20% Spanish, 20% everyone else.

Quilajalo, Don Alberto Taxo's community, was our tour group's first stop outside Quito. According to Don Alberto and others, a 2000 year old prophecy is coming to pass. The legend tells of the uniting of the materialistic, knowledge-based "North" (the Eagle) with the spiritual, holistic, heart-centered "South" (the Condor), and the beginning of the "Fifth Pachacuti," the transition out of our conflict-torn era into more Earth-honoring ways. Scientific knowledge combined with indigenous wisdom will bring in a time of balance, love, sharing, partnership, and union--as people of the North learn to open our hearts and listen to the songs of the birds, insects, plants, animals, and minerals.

Pedro, a shaman trained by Don Alberto, conducted a ritual of cleansing (limpia), while Andres played the conch shell and an 8 year old girl played a simple clay flute and turned a rainstick. The fire in the central place represents the energy center. Alcohol is blown across the fire, in the four directions; a conch shell is blown, and flute, rattle, and bells are used. Each person being cleansed stands barefoot on an animal skin, before an altar full of shells and peacock feathers.

Cleansing is done with leaves and plants; as we inhale and smell them, they help balance our energies; then the plants are shaken vigorously all around the body. The plants are said to act like a magnet, pulling off all the negative energies. The plants are then burned in the fire, which transforms the energy to increase health and spiritual abundance. Next, the body is cleansed with feathers, which represent the wind; finally, the shaman's hands recharged us with positive energy. We were gifted with 2 herbs: rosemary, for love and protection; and muda, for cleansing and wealth.

Ushai = balance of earth, air, water, sky (all in dialogue), and balance of male and female, eagle and condor. Intitaita = Father Sun (which shines from within each person following the cleansing.)

Don Alberto started a school for 35 students, and also a small high school. After the ceremony, we had a delicious organic vegetarian lunch with several kinds of corn and hominy, quinoa soup, and vegetables. Then we admired the crafts brought by local artisans, watched the llamas cavorting about, and enjoyed a dance performance by Florentina and Andres.

As we left, we saw a woman with a felt hat and green wool shawl, milking a cow. Our bus passed a "gelateria" (ice cream store) with a huge Garfield cartoon painted on its wall. We saw thatched roofs, ancient tiled roofs, tin roofs held down with old tires, corrugated plexiglas roofs.

Juan Gabriel, our wonderful bilingual Ecuadorian guide for the tour, told us some of the local shamans' philosophy. Illness can be due to spiritual problems, and bad energies must be cleansed from the body. The belief is that we are not our body, we change it after awhile (like reincarnation).

In Banos, a beautiful waterfall cascades next to the volcanic heated hot springs. Miracles are said to have happened there.

Kapawi Lodge was our next destination. Deep in the "Oriente," it is accessible only by small plane and boat. We flew in on a tiny 8-seater plane (which was also carrying some food and supplies for the lodge), and landed on a dirt airstrip. Begun by Daniel Cooperman 6 years ago, the Canodros Corporation put up $2 million to build this eco-tourist facility on land belonging to the Achuar people. The Achuar lease the land to Canodros, based on a lease plus revenue sharing agreement. After 15 years are up, the Achuar will take over the entire enterprise. Meanwhile the Achuar are learning all aspects of running the lodge. It was an attempt to stop oil production in a pristine area of rainforest, and has now become a world- famous model for ecotourism. All of the architecture is Achuar, using local plants and wood, with palm thatch roofs. 150 Achuar people did the building. No nails were used, only wooden pegs (although some of the boardwalk is now being replaced using nails). All electricity is solar, and solar hot water is used for showers. The Kapawari river flows into the Pastaza river, which flows into the Amazon. In the lagoon in front of the lodge, cocoi heron and muscovy duck can be seen.

John Perkins, Bill and Lynn Twist formed the Pachamama Alliance in conjunction with Cooperman. The FINAE (Federation of Indigenous Nation Achuar of Ecuador) is now a politically powerful group, although there are only an estimated 5,000 Achuar left. FINAE will be the owner of Kapawi Lodge in 9 years. The Achuar know the impact of oil development, from what has happened to other tribes such as the more numerous Shuar and Huaorani. (Some Shuar leaders have been bought off by oil companies.)

On our first night walk on the self-guided nature trail with our Achuar guide, Gilberto, he pointed out an amazing number of creatures with just a flashlight to help him spot them: walking sticks, tree frogs, spiders, bees, beetles, a bird, grasshoppers, moths. We also saw the "strangler fig vine", which literally takes over a larger tree. Gilberto spends 20 days in Kapawi, 20 days in his own village with his wife and children. At night, "la sinfonia de la selva" an incredibly loud and diverse chorus including tree frogs ("quack!") and howler monkeys, which sound like the whooshing of the wind.

Birdwatching canoe ride at 6:30 AM! The cool of the morning, with the breeze off the river, was delightful. We saw masked crimson tanagers, egrets, toucan, flocks of blue-black, long-tailed ani, a jay, a crimson-crested woodpecker, a plumbeous kite, incredible blue-headed parrots, a kingfisher, a chachalaca, a cacique, and the huge, turkey-like hoatzin which is displayed in the Kapawi logo. This remarkable bird has coppery feathers, a blue head, and a punk hairdo. A guide to Ecuador birds comically describes the hoatzin as follows: "easily disturbed, it takes cover and peers out in befuddlement, uttering hisses and grunts." A few bats hung on a log, invisible to the untrained eye. Tamarin monkeys swung from tree to tree with acrobatic ease. Turtles sunned themselves and plopped into the river at our approach, and a dolphin broke water a few times. The startling iridescent sky-blue morpho butterfly teased photographers. I was quite sure I had died and gone to heaven.

On a 3 ½ hour walk through the steamy-hot rainforest with Gilberto, he showed us Conga ants, which have a nasty bite, and false Conga ants (larger and more solitary); he also showed us how to make a thatched roof from palm leaves, using vines for tying knots; and how to get thread from certain plants: "La selva es nuestra ferreteria (hardware store)." We saw an iguana, a cicada, a grasshopper, a cricket, and several great butterflies. We saw a termite's nest. A seed in a pod with a white sweet furry coat was like the candy of the forest, to suck on. Cacao grew wild. With a pocket knife, Gilberto whittled a toy top out of a seed. Gilberto told us the myth about a forlorn-sounding bird cry: it was a little boy who was the only one left when his people were all killed, and he was searching for his people, "Where are you?"

At the Achuar village on the Pastaza River, we met with Mariano, the president of the village, while his wife and four children stayed mostly in the background. The wife served us the traditional beverage, chicha (made from masticated and fermented manioc), in handmade glazed orange and black pottery bowls, which we sipped politely. He spoke Achuar, so Gilberto translated into Spanish and Juan Gabriel translated into English. Often we heard Mariano say, "Uh-uh," which means "yes." The house was a tall thatched roof held up with poles, no walls, a dirt floor, 3 sleeping platforms which also served as tables. The seating consisted of logs. In the house chickens came and went, one with a bevy of chicks; a dog nursed her puppies.

The women wore bras, T-shirts and skirts; the men, pants and T-shirts or open shirts. Our host's face was painted. Most went barefoot, although some children wore rubber boots like the ones we were wearing. Mariano's mother, who looked quite elderly, was making a soup bowl, using the termite nest wood for the black inside coating. The tradition is that guests stay only in the "man's" part of the house, in front of where the man is sitting; the "woman's" part of the house is private, and guests are not allowed there. The sex roles are strictly defined: the men hunt, fish, build houses; the women are in charge of cooking, making chicha, caring for the family, and creating handcrafts.

Our host showed us how he is making a traditional blow-gun, used for killing howler monkeys: two long straight pieces of wood are shaped with a groove for the dart. Then the whole is bound with vines and covered with the black wax of the bees. To demonstrate its use, he set up a mock target, inserted a dart with a bit of cottony fluff from a Kapok tree, blew through it and hit his target with a perfect aim. It is a completely silent weapon. Other members of our group did not have such good success, which caused peals of laughter from our host and the children! Women and children brought in big green banana leaves and spread out handcrafts to sell baskets large and small, pottery bowls, necklaces and bracelets from seeds, wooden combs, and woven headbands such as Gilberto wore. The village itself looked like a big dirt field with buildings around it, including a missionary school made of wood. We learned to say "Maketai" (thank you), "Wina jai" (hello) and "Wea jai" (goodbye).

The following day began for me with a butterfly fluttering in my door. Black and green, with white "swallow-tails" and skeletal white markings, it seemed to beckon me outward. We took a walk through the forest again as preparation for our evening ceremony. Gilberto led us to a huge Kapok tree, with "flying-buttress"-like roots, which he referred to as a "house of spirit" with lots of power. He told us of a ritual where datura (trumpetvine) is given by the father to a son or daughter who is coming of age (around 14 years old). The tree is asked to "hold" the drink and the youth asks the tree, as "father", to give it to them. In the datura vision, the spirit of the tree is seen as a father, a man who gives his strength and shows the future to the youth. Thus are leaders formed. The tree offers them luck and protection for their lives. The tree was so large, with its buttressing roots, that it was indeed like entering a house. Ten of us could fit in there. We each took a turn of knocking three times on the tree and saying, "Father, give me your power." Kapok is a very strong tree, from whose wood blowguns are often made. Gilberto also showed us where from the leg of a dead ant, a palm tree had grown. He told us of a plant which is brewed like natem and when drunk it causes numbness throughout the body, allowing great feats of strength and endurance, which may only be used two or three times in a lifetime. Gilberto taught us that Tsunqui is goddess of the water; Nunqui is goddess of the earth.

We came to a lake covered with tiny green plants, with caimans like tiny alligators swimming in it. We were each invited to find a certain spot to sit quietly and meditate. My spot was a fallen log with mushrooms growing from it. A red and black butterfly joined me there briefly.

That evening, we took a longer boat ride to Wayusensa, the village of Don Rafael Taish, an Achuar shaman. The village was on the edge of a dirt airstrip for the tiny planes that carry visitors into their territory. Tame green parrots perched on roofs or walked awkwardly, flat-footed on the ground. They cultivated a few crops: corn, sugar cane, and manioc.

The Achuar have lived harmoniously with Mother Earth, not taking more than they need, for thousands of years. Now they are sharing their very most precious gift, the visionary plant brew natem, with us wealthy Americans. Don Rafael was introduced to each of us. We prepared to camp out on the large floor of his house, with air mattresses, sheets, blankets, mosquito nets, pillows, and all the things we Americanos think we have to have. After sunset, we each drank a cup of natem, and then he drank, and began doing a cleansing of each participant, using leaves while chanting and whistling to the spirits. As he purified my energy field, I was experiencing an incredibly bright yellow, orange, and red Aztec sun. Later I received the insight that it is incredibly wrong to kill insects, especially in this pristine rainforest (the fumigators had just been to Kapawi Lodge the previous day). The night was filled with visions, stars and fireflies.

The roosters began crowing promptly at 5 AM, when some of the villagers partook of wayusa, a slightly emetic plant tea; they drink it in large quantities then vomit to cleanse their stomachs, and share the previous night's dreams. These dreams give them guidance for their daily life (remember The Kin of Ata?) In the morning we all shared our visions with Don Rafael and he interpreted them for us.

A black and yellow bird in a tree outside my cabana at Kapawi has a very liquid call: "Galupachok!" Sounds like a stone tossed into water. And it expands its body, lifts its head and flicks its tail with each call.

Another early morning birdwatching trip. This time we saw a capybara, the world's largest rodent, about the size of a pig, with webbed feet; yellow-headed parrots, orange-cheeked parrots, and some parakeets, as well as the beautiful blue-black ani, always in large flocks.

For our last dinner at Kapawi lodge, we had a traditional Achuar feast: "pretend" chicha (made from sweetened blenderized oats, not chewed fermented manioc); a potato and chicken stew, some manioc, plantain, and watermelon, and bass cooked in banana leaf with hearts of palm. Everything was festively served on giant banana leaves; our soup and chicha bowls were authentic. Gilberto dressed up in his colorful feather headdress, reserved for special occasions.

Face painting by Gilberto with red plant dye: mine was "warrior woman" with "drops of blood." We must have looked an odd sight flying into the military base, gringos with painted faces.

Click here for Ecuador, part 2: the Andes