so i came across this thing about ikpeng shaman initiation and it’s one of the strangest methods i’ve ever read about. most people only talk about ayahuasca or mapacho or the usual amazonian stuff, but this is completely different.
when someone is being made into a shaman among the ikpeng, they go to a quiet deep part of a river or lake at night. the person has to dive under the water and hold onto a pole stuck in the bottom, face up, eyes open, looking at the underside of the water surface only a few centimetres above their face.
meanwhile the already initiated shamans on the bank take burning jatoba resin (this thick, really strong-smelling resin from a specific tree) and drip it onto the water right above the person’s eyes. the resin hits the surface and the smell and the “liquid fire” supposedly draw a whole swarm of water and forest spirits that then enter the body of the person underwater through the eyes and skin.
the idea is that the novice’s body becomes a living container for those spirits. once they come out of the water they are considered to have absorbed the swarm and can start working as a shaman.
it’ s not in the usual books about amazonian shamanism. most people don’t even know the ikpeng exist. the only detailed descriptions are in a couple of very specific ethnographic papers.
pretty wild method if you think about it — forced underwater, eyes open, resin dripping above your face in the dark, waiting for spirits to pour into you.
anyone ever heard of anything similar from other groups?
when someone is being made into a shaman among the ikpeng, they go to a quiet deep part of a river or lake at night. the person has to dive under the water and hold onto a pole stuck in the bottom, face up, eyes open, looking at the underside of the water surface only a few centimetres above their face.
meanwhile the already initiated shamans on the bank take burning jatoba resin (this thick, really strong-smelling resin from a specific tree) and drip it onto the water right above the person’s eyes. the resin hits the surface and the smell and the “liquid fire” supposedly draw a whole swarm of water and forest spirits that then enter the body of the person underwater through the eyes and skin.
the idea is that the novice’s body becomes a living container for those spirits. once they come out of the water they are considered to have absorbed the swarm and can start working as a shaman.
it’ s not in the usual books about amazonian shamanism. most people don’t even know the ikpeng exist. the only detailed descriptions are in a couple of very specific ethnographic papers.
pretty wild method if you think about it — forced underwater, eyes open, resin dripping above your face in the dark, waiting for spirits to pour into you.
anyone ever heard of anything similar from other groups?