Among the Shipibo-Konibo, knowledge about medicinal plants and their therapeutic use is extensive and sophisticated. Their traditional knowledge system is based on a deep understanding of the healing properties of various plants, and these are classified according to their application to cure specific diseases or to achieve other desired effects, such as changing personality or improving specific skills.
The raos, also known as "power plants" or "master plants," are fundamental in Shipibo-Konibo traditional medicine. Each plant has its own unique properties and is used to treat various medical conditions or to achieve altered states of consciousness in ritual or shamanic contexts (Tournon, 1988).
Among these power plants, there are specific stimulants that help to improve performance in the work on the farm, facilitate fishing and hunting, or improve sexual activity. Tranquilizers are also used to calm emotional states and stabilize behavior. The raos are used by healers, known as "onaya", "meraya" or "yobe", in specific contexts according to their properties and therapeutic purposes.
The knowledge of medicinal plants is passed down through generations, and the Shipibo-Konibo healers are the guardians of this valuable ancestral knowledge. Traditional plant-based medicine remains an essential part of the Shipibo-Konibo people's culture, and plays a crucial role in their health and well-being. These plants have deep cultural and spiritual significance, and their use is carried out with great respect and knowledge to obtain their therapeutic benefits.
The use of power plants among the Shipibo-Konibo is of a wide richness, in this section we will focus on 2 important medicinal plants for the Shipibo-Konibo people.
Piri piri is the Spanish name for a cultivated sedge of the genus Cyperus. The plant has great importance for the Shipibo-Konibo. There are approximately sixty varieties of Piripiri, and its use is based on ancestral knowledge. The use of piripiri among Shipibo-Konibo women is of great ritual and symbolic value. From birth, mothers apply a drop of this substance in the eyes of their daughters as part of a traditional belief. Piripiri is considered a master plant that allows girls to dream of anacondas, birds, flowers, stars and other symbolic and geometric elements that are then captured in the community's ceramics and textiles (Vivanco, 2004).
For Shipibo-Konibo women, the use of piripiri has a deeper meaning that goes beyond its medicinal properties. It is believed that this plant allows them to "know how to think designs", which refers to the ability to conceive and create the complex geometric and symbolic designs that are characteristic of the Shipibo-Konibo culture. These designs are fundamental to the artistic and spiritual expression of the community and are present in their textiles, ceramics and other art forms.
The use of piripiri as a cure for "knowing how to think about designs" among Shipibo women is of great ritual value, as Leidy tells us:
"My grandmother always had in her garden, of piripiri there are different types. At that time my grandmother told me that the plant was for that, that newborn babies were put piri piri in her eye or else they made her drink it, so that as she grew up she could have that mentality in her dreams or in her mind so that they themselves could also make designs, so that they could make things, in terms of ceramics or embroidery. There is piripiri for designs and for ceramics too, and my grandmother used to pour all those things on me too, and she would cure me with that and she would tell me- so that someday when I die you will continue my inheritance of making ceramics, so that you never stop, so that it stays just there- saying that way she would cure me with that, she would always pour it in my eye when I was in the middle moon". - Leidy Panduro,2023.
Guided by the belief and the power of the piri piri as a generator of deep visions that are located in the subconscious, and that through the years have the power to design the kené more easily. That is why it is said that Shipibo-Konibo men depend on women for their clothing and other objects decorated with kene.
The use of ayahuasca or "oni" as a medicine to cure illnesses, spiritual, moral and social ills, is very present in the knowledge of the Shipibo-Konibo people. However, this knowledge is associated with the onanya or meraya, who are wise healers, and who have differences between them.
The onanyas are capable of healing through ayahuasca and other medicinal plants, but their communication is limited, they do not interact with beings from other spaces. On the other hand, the meraya are the doctors, the highest healer of the people. They have contact with the beings of the different spaces. Unfortunately, few merayas are found within the Shipibo-Konibo people (Sullon, 2012).
The difference between the meraya and the ayahuasqueros of today is manifested in their way of working. The meraya, for example, withdrew into his mosquito net and smoked his shinitapon pipe or drank tobacco in the form of juice. From there, he would physically become a spiritual being through tobacco and songs.
Ayahuasca is identified with the cosmic serpent, ronin, considered the mother of ayahuasca and rivers, the origin of all designs. Both piripiri and ayahuasca are used to visualize the designs of the kené, these represent the paths of the stars of the milky way, that is, the universe is reproduced through the iconographies and symbologies in the artifacts.
