The Shipibo are one of the largestindigenous peoples in the PeruvianAmazon. These ethnic groups eachhave their own languages,traditions and culture. The Shipibo,who currently number about20,000, are spread out incommunities through the Pucallpa -Ucayali river region. They are highlyregarded in the Amazon as beingmasters of the hallucinogenic vine,Ayahuasca, and many aspiringshamans and Ayahuasqueros fromthe region study with the Shipibo tolearn their language, chants, andplant medicine knowledge.

In their visionary art the Shipibocreate complex geometric patternswhich convey an all pervadingmagical reality which can challengethe Western linguistic heritage andrational mind. These intricatepatterns are more than anexpression of the one-ness ofCreation, the inter-changeability oflight and sound, or the union ofperceived opposites. They are an

ongoing dialogue or communion withthe spiritual world and powers of theRainforest. Their art forms bring thisparadigm into a physical form. TheEthnologist Angelika Gebhart-Sayer,calls this ‘visual music’.

Initiated womenAll the textile painting, embroidery,and artisan craft is carried out bythe women. From a young age theShipibo females are initiated bytheir mothers and grandmothersinto this practice. Teresa, a Shipibawho works with us on our AmazonRetreats, tells that “when I was ayoung girl, my mother squeezeddrops of the piripiri (a species ofcyperus sp.) berries into my eyesso that I would have the vision forthe designs. This is only doneonce and lasts a lifetime”.

The intricate designs have theirorigin in the non-manifest andineffable world within the spirit ofthe Rainforest and all who livethere. They are a representation of

COMMUNION

with the

INFINITE

The visual music ofthe Shipibo peopleof the Amazon

HOWARD G. CHARING

SH WINTER 2005 30

Underlying the intricate geometricpatterns of great complexity displayed in

the art of the Shipibo people is a conceptof an all pervading magical reality which

can challenge the Western linguisticheritage and rational mind.

Above left: Shipibo women (shipiba) intraditional dress gathered at Iquitos toshow their craft and artisan work

Above right: Shipibo textile, a combination ofembroidery and traditional painting with huitodyes on mahogany bark dyed white cotton

the Cosmic Serpent, theAnaconda, the great Mother,Creator of the universe calledRonin. For the Shipibo the skin ofRonin has a radiating, electrifyingvibration of light, colour, sound,movement and is the embodimentof all possible patterns anddesigns past, present, and future.

The designs that the Shipibopaint are channels or conduits forthis multi-sensorial vibrationalfusion of form, light and sound.Although in our cultural paradigmwe perceive that the geometricpatterns are bound within theborder of the textile or ceramicvessel, to the Shipibo the patternsextend far beyond these bordersand permeate the entire world.

Painting musicOne of the challenges for theWestern mind, is to acknowledgethe relationship between thesedesigns and music. For the Shipibocan ‘listen’ to a song or chant bylooking at the designs - andinversely, paint a pattern by listeningto a song or music.

As an astonishingdemonstration of this I witnessedtwo Shipiba paint a largeceremonial ceramic pot known asa mahuetá. The pot was nearly fivefeet high and had a diameter ofabout three feet. Neither could seewhat the other was painting, yetboth were whistling the samesong. When they had finished both

sides of thecomplexgeometricpattern wereidentical andmatched eachside perfectly.

The Shipibodesigns aretraditionallycarried out onnatural un-dyedcotton - whichthey often growthemselves - or oncotton dyed inmahogany bark(usually three or fourtimes) which givesthe distinctivebrown colour.

They paint usingeither a pointed piece ofchonta (bamboo), or aniron nail, with the juice ofthe crushed huito berry fruits(genipa americana) which turnsinto a blue- brown-black dye onceexposed to air.

Each of the designs are unique,even the very small pieces, andthey cannot be commercially ormass produced. In Lima I met witha woman who had set up agovernment-funded communityproject which, amongst othermatters, established a collectivefor the Shipibo to sell their artisanwork and paintings. She tells thata major USA corporation (Pier 1

Imports),enamoured

by thesedesigns,

ordered via theproject twenty

thousand textiles with the samedesign. This order could never befulfilled - the Shipibo simplycouldn’t comprehend the conceptof replicating identical designs.

Singing thepatterns of healingThe Shipibo believe that our stateof health, both physical andpsychological, is dependent on the

SH WINTER 2005 31

Left:traditional

embroideredShipibo

textile bag

Below: atraditional

Shipibo chupaon mahoganydyed cotton

painted withhuito dye.

The designs atthe edge of the

textile representthe sacredAnaconda

balancedunion between mind, spirit andbody. If an imbalance in thisoccurs - such as through emotionsof envy, hate, anger - this willgenerate a negative effect on thehealth of that person.

The shaman will re-establish thebalance by chanting the icaros,which are the geometric patterns ofharmony made manifest in sound,into the body of the person. Theshaman in effect transforms thevisual code into an acoustic code.

A key element in this magicaldialogue with the energy whichpermeates Creation and isembedded in the Shipibo designs,is the work with ayahuasca by theShipibo shamans or muraya.

In the deep ayahuasca trance,the ayahuasca reveals to the

shaman the luminous geometricpatterns of energy. These

filaments drift towards themouth of the shaman

where theymetamorphose into achant or icaro. Theicaro is a conduit forthe patterns ofCreation, which thenpermeate the body ofthe shaman’s patient,bringing harmony in theform of the geometric

patterns which re-balancethe patient’s body.

The vocal range of theShipibo shamans when they chantthe icaros is astonishing; they canrange from the highest falsettoone moment to a sound whichresembles a thumping pile driver,and then to a gentle soothingmelodic lullaby. Speakingpersonally of my experience ofthis, it produced a feeling as ifevery cell in my body was floatingand embraced in a nurturing all-encompassing vibration, even theair around me was vibrating inacoustic resonance with the icaroof the maestro.

The shaman knows when thehealing is complete, as the designis clearly distinct in the patient’sbody. It make take a few sessionsto complete this, and whencompleted the geometric healingdesigns are embedded in thepatient’s body, this is called an

arkana This internal patterning isdeemed to be permanent and toprotect a person’s spirit.

Angelika Gebhart-Sayer,Professor of Ethnology, Universityof Marburg writes that ‘Essentially,Shipibo-Conibo therapy is a matterof visionary design application inconnection with aura restoration;the shaman heals his patientthrough the application of avisionary design, every personfeels spiritually permeated andsaturated with designs. Theshaman heals his patient throughthe application of the song-design,which saturates the patients’ bodyand is believed to untangledistorted physical and psycho-spiritual energies, restoringharmony to the somatic, psychicand spiritual systems of thepatient. The designs arepermanent and remain with aperson’s spirit even after death.’

Whilst it is not easy forWesterners to enter and engage withthe world view of the Shipibo, whichhas been developed far away from

SH WINTER 2005 32

Above: typicalShipibo painted

ceramic bowl

Right: Teresa,the Shipibo

craftswoman whohelps the author

when he takesgroups to visit

the Shipibo. Sheis painting onto

white cottonwith huito dye

using a steelnail as a brush

Inset: Thewife and

daughter of theshaman, maestro

Benjamin. Sheis wearing atraditionally

pattered,painted

fabric dress.

our linguistic structures andpsychological models, there is anunderlying sophisticated and complexsymbolic language embedded inthese geometric patterns.

The main figures in the Shipibodesigns are the square, therhombus, the octagon, and thecross. The symmetry of thepatterns emanating from the centre(which is our world) is arepresentation of the outer andinner worlds, a map of theCosmos. The cross representsthe Southern Crossconstellation which dominatesthe night sky and divides thecosmos into four quadrants,the intersection of the arms ofthe cross is the centre of the

universe, and becomes the CosmicCross. The Cosmic Crossrepresents the eternal spirit of aperson and the union of themasculine and feminine principles -the very cycle of life and death -which reminds us of the great actof procreation of not only theuniverse, but also of humanity, andour individual selves.

The smaller, flowing patternswithin the geometric forms are the

radiating power of the CosmicSerpent which turns thisway and that, betwixtand between,constantly creating theuniverse as it moves.The circles areoften a directrepresentation ofthe CosmicAnaconda, andwithin the circleitself is the centralpoint of creation.

The primal rhythmIn the Western tradition, fromthe Pythagoreans and Platothrough to the Renaissance, musicwas used to heal the body and toelevate the soul. It was alsobelieved that earthly music was nomore than a faint echo of theuniversal ‘harmony of thespheres’. This view of theharmony of the universe was heldboth by artists and scientists untilthe mechanistic universe ofNewton.

Joseph Campbell, perhaps theforemost scholar of mythology,suggested that there is a universeof harmonic vibrations which thehuman collective unconscious hasalways been in communion with.

Our beings beat to the ancientrhythms of the Cosmos. Thetraditional ways of the Shipibo andother indigenous peoples stillreflect this primal rhythm, and theirperception of the universal forcesmade physical is truly acommunion with the infinite.

Above: Shipiboceremonial potor Mahuetá

HOWARD G. CHARINGhas organised journeys

to the AmazonRainforest for the past

seven years to workwith the ayahuasca

shamans and thesacred ‘jungle doctors’(healing and visionary

plants) of this area. Hehas written numerous

articles about theAmazonian plant

medicines, and hasworked with some of

the most respectedshamans in the region.

He was baptised intotheir tribe by the

Shipibo Indiansin the Amazon

If you would like todiscover more about

this work, he conductsPlant Spirit Medicine

journeys to the AmazonRainforest working with

the Shipibo people.

Enquiries to Eagle’sWing BM BOX 7475London WC1N 3XX,

tel: (01273) 882 027,or website www.

shamanism.co.uk

Photos: ©Howard G. Charing

Above: Shipibo textiles.The one at the top of the

page showes the cosmiccross within the circle of

the Anaconda

Right: Painted Shipibotextile. As with all Shipibopaintings, they start in the

centre and the patternmoves out from this point.

The cosmic cross isagain at the centre

SH WINTER 2005 33