Howard G Charing

The Spiritual Traditions of the Andes

The ofrendaAn 'ofrenda' is the most important ceremony used by Andean Indians to relate with Mother Earth. The ofrenda is a symbol of reciprocity with nature and its purpose is to teach us to reproduce this attitude. Through it we speak back to nature say... Read >

Shipibo Ayahuasca Shaman, Benjamin Ochavano Interviewed in the Amazon Rainforest in Peru.

Conversation with Benjamín Ochavano, Peru 2002 Howard G Charing & Peter Cloudsley interviewed Shipibo Ayahuasca Shaman Benjamin Ochavano in the Amazon Rainforest of Peru, who is in his mid seventies to discuss how Ayahuasca can help those Westerners w... Read >

Ayahuasca Shaman,Musician, and Peruvian Mystic, Alonso del Rio Interviewed

Alonso del Rio is a powerful maestro who interweaves Shipibo and other icaros with sacred music of his own to lead you on your journey; he is both a talented musician and an inspiring communicator of the Amazonian shamanic world. He first came into contac... Read >

Ayahuasca, and the Wisdom of Pablo Amaringo - Visionary Artist from the Amazon

Howard G Charing and Peter Cloudsley met with Pablo at the school which he founded (Usko-Ayar school of painting) in Pucullpa in the Peruvian Amazon where he lives and paints, and interviewed Pablo about his life as a shaman and artist. A copy of the inte... Read >

The Ayahuasca Visions of Pablo Amaringo - An Exclusive Interview with the Great Visionary Artist

Pablo Amaringo is one of the world's greatest visionary artists, and is renowned for his highly complex, colourful and intricate paintings of his visions from drinking the Ayahuasca brew. Pablo is interviewed at his gallery in Pucallpa, Peru, by Howard G ... Read >

Icaros, the Magical Chants of the Ayahuasca Shamans.

The Shamans of the Amazon, exhibit a close union with the Natural World. This powerful emotional and spiritual bond, enables them to commune with the powers of the Rainforest. Singing the chants or Icaros, is a way that this bond is expressed, and the Rai... Read >

The Power of Attraction Secrets from the Amazon: The Pusanga

The Western rational mind can only struggle, to take as an example the famed ‘love potion' of the Amazon known as the Pusanga. In rational terms it makes no sense whatsoever, how can a concoction of leaves, roots, and seeds attract a lover, or good luck... Read >

The Attributes of Plants, the Spirit of Life - a Shaman’s Perspective.

The shamans work with the power of the plants in many ways, the colours of the flowers, the perfume, their shape, form, and associations. This although does not play a role in modern medicine, this understanding has a long history most notably introduced... Read >

The Shaman's Path - the Adventure of Self Discovery

There is considerable discussion and opinion on what a shaman is. The word itself is rooted in the word šaman from the Tungus people in central Asia. Definitions vary greatly in modern society. Do these ancient ways of viewing the world have any relevanc... Read >

Coca and the Sacred Plants of the Incas - The Timeless World of the Andes

The Incas regarded coca as ‘the divine plant' mainly because of its property of imparting endurance, nevertheless its use was entwined with every aspect of life; the art, mythology, culture and economy of the Inca Empire. Millions of Indians have ch... Read >

Organic Food, Alchemy, Shamanism, and the Doctrine of Signatures

The 16th century alchemist and philosopher, Paracelsus, introduced in his treatise the Doctrine of Signatures , the concept that the Creator has placed his seal on plants to indicate their medicinal uses. Underlying Paracelsus' treatise was the premise... Read >

Ayahuasca and the Plant Spirit Shamans of the Amazon Rainforest Part 1

‘Whether the plant is to heal the body or the spirit or whether it is part of an apprenticeship, what makes it work is your good intention towards the plant. They are beings, which have their own forms or they can be like human beings with faces and bod... Read >

Shipibo Ayahuasca Shaman Leoncio Garcia Interviewed.

We interviewed Shipibo maestro Leoncio Garcia, a man in his mid seventies but with the appearance of a man twenty years younger. Again a testimonial to the youth giving qualities of Ayahuasca and the plant medicines of the Amazon Rainforest. Interviewe... Read >

Death as an Ally - How Shamans Perceive Death

In traditional wisdom and knowledge, life is a continuum that does not end at the moment of death. One of the most important traditional tasks of the seer, shaman, medicine man or woman is to assist people who are either dying or the spirits of those who ... Read >

Preparation for the Ayahuasca Experience

General Information about Ayahuasca After being virtually ignored by Western civilization for centuries, there has been a huge surge of interest in Ayahuasca recently. There is a growing belief that it is a kind of ‘medicine for our times', giving ho... Read >