Ikaros – Songs of the Plants
The main approach of the Onanya to remove negative energies is energy medicine that comes in the form of song – ikaros. Sound is a form of energy frequency (vibration) through which communication and healing can take place.
As Pam Montgomery writes: “Everything in physical existence has a molecular structure that vibrates, and through this vibration a resonance can be heard. Pythagoras, the father of the musical scale, ‘recognized that music was an expression of harmonia, the divine principle that brings order to chaos and discord’.” (Plant Spirit Healing: A guide to working with plant consciousness)
Traditionally, sound has been used for healing in many cultures. Throughout the indigenous tribes of South America, plant songs are an integral part of the healing process. The Onanya explain that all plants have their own songs and these songs, the ikaros, are taught to the healer during dietas – extended periods of time in isolation adhering to strict dietary conditions designed to receive the healing energy and teachings of the plants. Each different master/teacher plant possesses songs that are given to the apprentice. The apprentice carries out numerous dietas while in training, typically for a minimum of four years and then continuing to diet plants throughout their life as an Onanya.
These healing ikaros – puro sonido (pure sound) from the plants – form the backbone of the energy work during ceremonies.
The ikaros work in combination and cooperation with ayahausca to purge negative energies as well as fill the body with plant medicine. The ikaros given over the duration of a workshop become like allies, working closely with each participant for a much longer period of time in order to bring about gradual transformation. They can be considered the “seeds of change” that are sown into the system of each participant at the Temple, which then grow into trees over time. They support us, lay down roots, and branch our lives outward to unify and connect us to the sacredness of all life.
The Temple of the Way of Light is proud to present the recording containing a selection of eleven ikaros and arkanas sung by male and female shamanic healers from the Shipibo tribe who live along the river Ucayali and its tributaries in the Peruvian Amazon. Onanyaboan Bewá means the “songs of the shaman” and this disc carries messages from Mother Earth through the songs of Amazonian plant spirits transmitted to the shaman. All the songs have been professionally recorded live in healing ceremonies between June and November 2010 at the Temple of the Way of Light (URL) near Iquitos, Peru.
1. Ikaro of Ayahuma – Inoaxatan Bewá – Olivia
2. Ikaro of Palo Voladora – Noiya Rao Bewá – Manuela
3. Arkana of Guacamayo – Xawan Noi Rao Bewá – Elias
4. Arkana of Marosa – Yoramea Niwe Tskai Bewá – Ines
5. Ikaro of Marosa – Marosa Bewá – Maria
6. Ikaro of Zapote Renaco – Jochipapa Bewá – Benancio
7. Ikaro of Huaira Caspi – Waninkaya Rao Bewá – Celestina
8. Ikaro of Nomanoma – Noma Rao Bewá – Anita
9. Ikaro from the Plant of Love – Noi Rao Bewá – Rosa
10. Arkana of Ayahuma – Inoaxatan Meran Onana Bewá – Antonio
11. Arkana of Waiyanchi – Yora Xama Bewá Nichin Boi – Diogenes
Produced by Resurrector 333 : Mixed & Mastered by Oz Fritz : Recorded by Resurrector & Bryan Gibbs : Artwork by Shane Beresford : Executive Producers: Paul Roberts : m & p 2011 Temple of the Way of Light : All Rights Reserved
All profits from the sale of this CD will be split 80% between the featured indigenous healers and 20% to Alianza Arkana – a Peruvian non-profit organization set up to help protect the Peruvian Amazon and preserve the culture and cosmo-vision of its indigenous people, particularly the Shipibo.
Alianza Arkana
Alianza Arkana’s aims are focused on strengthening the position of indigenous communities confronted by industrial scale development by extractive industries in the Peruvian Amazon, particularly multinational oil companies; implementing sustainable, community-based development projects that offer clean and long-term alternatives to destructive development; supporting intercultural educational projects in indigenous communities; preserving the indigenous cultures of the Peruvian Amazon, bringing credibility to, and deepening understanding in the West of the ancient medical and spiritual practices of the indigenous people of the Amazon.
Donations: www.alianzaarkana.org