This is an expanded account of Gabriel's experiences with don Marcial -- see don Marcial's main page for more information. Gabriel writes:
My experiences with Marcial were quite extraordinary. First off, Marcial is a very humble unassuming man who doesn't like confrontation and bs (which is more than I can say for many curanderos) he can be rather quiet: but once he gets started talking about something he is interested in, it is hard to get him to stop. Marcial and his family are also very cute and they have many very amusing idiosyncrasies. For example, they wanted me to pose for photos with this terrible wooden sculpture of a river dolphin that Marcial's brother in law carved. The thing is so ugly but you can't say no because you don't want to offend them. And it seems almost as if they know it is ugly and are laughing about how they are getting you to pose with it. Marcial is also funny in the minutes after he drinks ayahuasca. Soon after he drinks, he likes to take a nap and sometimes he snores. I remember the first time I drank with him, I was thinking: what the hell, is this guy for real? He is taking a frickin siesta! Then, when he wakes up, he literally crawls on all fours out of the hut to light a mapacho; it's his little ritual. When he comes back into the hut, its like he's in a trance and starts singing some really powerful icaros.
About the ayahuasca: The ayahuasca is strong and brewed in a shipibo fashion. I.e., it is not brewed twice and reduced, it is only cooked once. It is brewed only with colored vine and big leaf chacruna; no other admixtures like mapacho, chiric sanango, or toe are added. The result is a very clean and strong brew that goes straight to your head with minimal stomache problems (as compared to the thick black oily, multiple trips to the bathroom, ayahuasca many of us are used to.)
About the diets: The first diet I started was with Bijacko caaspi as the primary teacher plant. This first diet, Marcial said was for cleaning me out. Besides no salt, sugar, sex, alcohol etc., the traditional dieta is also a rest from normal life. No major work, not a lot of talking, and lots of isolation. In this way, it is very similar to a vipassana retreat. For me, after the fourth day, all of this junk from my past started surfacing to fill the empty void that the dieta created. I found myself thinking about things I had not thought about for 15-20 years. In some instances, people, places, and events came to mind from my early childhood. As the days proceeded, it seemed that my whole life flashed before me in some sort of life review.
As for the Ayahuasca sessions, the first one was interesting. Marcial poured me a of a small glass or vasito and told me to drink it. I remember thinking; wow such a small amount, and its red and semi-translucent, there is no way that is gonna do the job! Well, it sure enough did! And the next day, Marcial and I had quite a laugh about my doubts.
Through the course of this diet, I had a bunch of ceremonies with Marcial, each one I would drink a little more. The last ceremony, I decided to drink two vasitos of the ayahuasca. This was the only time on this first diet that the ayahuasca made me vomit. This was quite a strong experience and I had three or four distinct mareaciones.
My second diet was with Toe and chewyajacki caaspi, both considered very strong teacher plants. I spent a whole week drinking toe one day and chewyajacki the next day alternating between the two with no ayahuasca. The last day for drinking the teacher plants was on a Saturday and I drank the last of the chewyajacki and rested on Sunday (shipibos don't like to drink ayahuasca on Sunday.) That Monday we made the first ayahuasca ceremony on my second diet. I asked Marcial if I should drink two vasitos and his response was something like no way. So, I drank only one almost full (I am glad I only drank one glass, as I am not sure what would of happened if I had drank two).
I had two distinct Mareaciones, the first came fast and was as strong as the previous ceremony where I has drank two glasses. After about 20 minutes, Everything was calm and I felt really tired and decided to lay down and rest. The next half hour, I just layed there while Marcial sang and was doing a healing on his nephew. Then all of a sudden, I started getting a really strong mareacion, and Marcial asked me if I was feeling it again? I had to sit up it was so strong. I asked him, how did you know? And he said he saw it. He started singing these really strong Icaros and his arms where flailing about and I was watching these intense energy patterns on his body. It seemed very clear that I was watching the energy field of his body. I looked at his nephew and I saw his energy field also but the color was different. Also, the empty spaces in the hut between their bodies were darker and there were no strong patterns there. So, at the time, it was quite easy to see these energy fields. I asked Marcial about this the next day, if what I saw was real or if I was hallucinating, and he confirmed that what I had experienced was real. This strong second mareacion lasted 30-40 minutes didn't seem to be abating. Marcial used the mapacho smoke to suck the force of the plants down to a manageable level and it really helped a lot. (It is quite amazing how he can use mapacho smoke and Icaros to move the ceremony up or down, very skilled indeed)
The second ceremony on this diet, I drank a little less ayahuasca and pretty much spent the whole night balled up crying. I am naturally empathetic, and I have a very sick person I have been working with, and this person's pain and suffering really came through. It was quite a somber night and Marcial was feeling it too. The Icaros seemed so sad that night, almost like durge music, pushing all of these emotions out. This was one of the most intense emotional experiences I have ever had. The mareacion was somewhat long, lasting around 9-10 hours. The third and final ceremony on the second diet was a lot less intense than the first two. However, the mareacion was the longest I have ever experienced with ayahuasca, 12 hours!
Telepathy and unexplained phenomena: Before harmine, the primary beta-carboline that creates the MAOI effect in Ayahuasca was discovered, researchers named the first active alkaloid telepathine. (R E Schultes, Plants of The Gods) I experienced various degrees of telepathy with Marcial during my stay. Sometimes, he would know what I was thinking and vice versa, quite interesting.
One of my strangest experiences in Pucallpa was with some UFO. It was around 3 am and I was completely sober about to go to sleep. I heard something loud flying off in the distance coming towards the hut. It was too small to be an aircraft, too loud and powerful to be an insect or bird. So what was it? It was moving pretty fast and sounded like it had some sort of engine because it was making a strange humming noise I have never heard before. This thing, whatever it was, flew about 8 to 10 meters right over the hut. I didn't see it, just heard it. I'm still not sure what it was, all I know is I never heard anything like it before. I asked Marcial and he gave a few answers like otra gente other people or possibly chupacabra goatsucker.
One last note, I have been studying special healing diets and vegetalismo for over 10 years so I instinctively understand the importance of the diet. My experiences with Marical confirmed and reinforced these convictions, and for that I am grateful.
This is somewhat similar to another student of Marcial's, Alejandro from Spain. When Alejandro went to Marcial, he had been studying plants and herbs for 20 years, never connecting with the spirits of the plants. Then, one ceremony, he connected with the spirits of all of the plants he had been working with for 20 years. The best way I could describe this type of learning is like an epiphany on steroids.
-- Gabriel Lynch
(Gabriel can be contacted here: <city_promo@yahoo.com>, and on his web site when it is ready.)