Singing to the Plants: A Guide to Mestizo Shamanism in the Upper Amazon by Stephan V. Beyer

plant.

    The idea of a special diet for shamans and their apprentices is widespread
throughout the Amazon. For example, Shuar shaman Alejandro Tsakimp,
when an apprentice, could eat small chickens and little fish but not tapir, armadillo, or guinea pig.19 Asheninka apprentices eat no meat or chilies, drink
no alcohol, and abstain from sex. They must eat only vegetables, particularly
fried manioc, as well as toothless fish such as catfish.20 Shipibo apprentices
must not eat salt, herbs, spices, and certain fish and animals; they must not
let themselves be seen or spoken to and must be sexually abstinent. 21
    Shaman apprentices among the Tukano must abstain from sex and live on
nothing but manioc and water, giving up fish, broiled game flesh, and pineapples. Apprentices are expected to become thin.22 Yagua apprentices too must
abstain from sex and observe a strict diet before and for several days after
drinking ayahuasca, in order, they say, to prolong the vision. Greasy or rotten
food is prohibited, but the apprentice may eat plantains braised in their skin,
mashed boiled plantain, and two or three small fish. Anything with a strong
taste is prohibited. Apprentices are also separated from their family, living
for several months in an isolated place, learning the plants and their preparation.23 Alonso Andi, a Napo Runa elder, says that apprentices "must not sleep
with their wives, eat red pepper, salt, or hot manioc. They have to keep on
fasting for several days and eat what sick people eat, such as little birds, but
no other type of food. 1124
    Maricahua
    The term maricahua is usually identified as an alternative name for toe or floripondio, referring to any of several Brugmansia species, particularly B. suaveolens.,The term toenegro is usually identified as referring to a plant in an entirely
different genus, Teliostachya lanceolate.' Dona Maria and don Roberto instead
identify maricahua with toe negro, and distinguish this plant from toe, which in
this context they call toe blanco.
    NOTES
    1. Duke & Vasquez, 1994, p. 33; L6pez Vinatea, 2000, pp. 37-38; Schultes & Raffauf,
1990, p. 421.
    2. Duke & Vasquez, 1994, p. 167; Lopez Vinatea, 2000, pp. 71; McKenna, Luna, & Towers, 1995, p. 356; Rengifo, 2001, pp. 71, 142; Schultes & Raffauf, 1990, pp. 47-48.

    Sexual Abstinence
    Both sexual abstinence and food restriction relate to the fact that the plant
spirits are, as I was frequently told, muy celosa, very jealous, and demand the
full attention and commitment-including the sexual commitment-of those
who would work with them. Just as, in human relations, to break the bonds
of confianza, trust, mutuality, intimacy, is to invite magical retaliation, those
who break the diet, who spurn the spirits, who are unfaithful, may be subject
to fearful punishment. "I have to be pure," says don Javier Arevalo Shahuano,
a Shipibo shaman, "so as to be a receptacle of the spirit of the medicine. 1125
    One problem with sexual abstinence during la dieta is that a man who
is keeping the diet becomes sexually very attractive, and may be pursued by
sexually active women.21 Shipibo shaman don Enrique Lopez says that these
women are "the test that the plants give us. It has happened to me twice, a
woman comes just when you are working and wants to make love. 1127 I must
confess that this has not been my personal experience.
    Still, it is often recommended that one following the diet have contact,
where necessary, as when being brought food, only with premenstrual girls or
postmenopausal women.z8 Don Enrique Lopez says, "It is important to avoid
women who are menstruating, or who have made love the previous night; that
is bad with the plants. It clashes, like a mirror smashing; it makes you ill or
goes against you. "29
    Thus, during his training, Shuar shaman Alejandro Tsakimp had to remain separate from his wife for eight months. Sex would be very dangerous,
he was told, because the power of the tsentsak, darts, his