It is important to understand that the Shipibo tradition of ceremonial healing with Ayahuasca is based in an extensive and highly developed ancestral medicine system of working with a wide variety of Amazonian “Master Plant” doctors/teachers to help patients.

In the traditional way, the Shipibo healer or Onanya (One who is wise) cultivates relationships with these plants through the practice of Samá / Dieta over many years of training, and acts as channel for the Plant doctors/teachers to enter the ceremonial space. The primary way these Shipibo healers channel and work with these beings is through their ceremonial melodic chanting/songs called Ikaros, which they traditionally learn from the plants themselves during their Dietas.

These Ikaros or traditional medicine chants are used to call the plant doctors and other beings into the space, remove sickness/blockages, realign fractured psychosomatic energy, and restore harmony and wellness in their patients. Under the effects of the Ayahuasca, Shipibo healers are able to see geometric patterns known as Kené in their patients and use the Ikaros to realign and repair fractures and distortions in these patterns that represent the various psychological and physical issues their patients are seeking to heal.