My first encounter with a scary witch

I hope you are all doing great! I am getting into a second phase of my writing now, writing the stories that happened in the heart of the Amazon forest, where I kept going with my physical and spiritual cleansing and started training to “work with the medicines.”

It’s like a plane. You can sit in the cheapest economy seat in the back next to the toilets, get a better seat in the middle, a business class seat, learn to be a flight attendant and serve passengers, or become a pilot. For some strange reason, I was still flying low-cost economy (as in barely able to go through the flights of the ceremonies) but knew I wanted to learn to be a spiritual pilot. Deep inside, I wanted to know how to fly the plane. Learning to be a pilot, which I did, takes many years and serious studies. The mystical plane takes even longer to learn to fly than physical planes!

The most advanced masters I have had the opportunity to learn from are mostly silent. They don’t answer questions much and never share their visions. They don’t share much about why we go through something (sometimes they do not know) and don’t warn about any potential consequences of our experiences, especially the dangers.

I was warned very early about the dangers of experimenting with them in person. There is no other way to learn. If you’re called to learn this mystical work, you must know and understand by yourself.

In 2019, I went to the Amazon jungle for the second time. I sat for the first time in a ceremony with mostly indigenous peoples. We were a group of white people coming for healing. It was the second time I took these strange, long little boats on one of the thousands of rivers around which indigenous villages are built. The boat driver they call “motorista” was a teenager. When we arrived in the village, about ten other indigenous teenagers carried our bags; they were very friendly, and I was very nice to them.

A very early teaching was that spiritual knowledge is hidden outside of ceremonies.

I later discovered when we sat in a ceremony that the same teenagers were all-powerful “shamans,” as we would call them. All these teenagers sat with us in the ceremony, and when they started singing, their knowledge became obvious.

During the day, they worked hard, not wearing any feathers or spiritual objects. At night, they wore beautiful dresses and sang like incredibly powerful birds. In the jungle, expect anyone to be a powerful spiritual being, especially when they don’t wear anything and do not look like one.

A strange Italian woman, Francesca, was in the group of white visitors. She did not talk much, and her energy felt extremely weird. She was never looking at anyone in the eye or taking part in conversations. Francesca seemed to be in her world. She always had her meals alone and did not connect much with anyone.

She appeared very dark, and everyone was consciously or unconsciously avoiding her.

The time for the ceremony arrived, around 21h. It was a night with no moon but plenty of stars. The “new moon” beautiful sky was stunning. We all started to drink the plant tea. It was the strongest I ever put in my mouth, almost unbearable to swallow. It felt more like gel; it was more like a difficult-to-keep-in-the-mouth thick liquid with an extreme taste. They were announcing a powerful night.

The songs were beautiful, but something I had never heard before happened.

About twenty indigenous spiritual peoples started singing different songs at the same time. In all previous ceremonies I participated in, when many people were signing, they sang the same song in harmony. The indigenous ceremony keepers always sat together, forming a “heart” and facing those here to receive. Here, it was like hearing twenty songs from all around the circle simultaneously. There was no heart or center. It was very disorientating, and I started thinking negatively: “This is horrible,” “Why do they sing different songs simultaneously?” I thought. It was hard.

The next day, I asked why they were not singing the same songs together as the heart of an orchestra.

“Go sit in the forest and listen. You will hear many birds and animal sounds. They all sing different songs with different voices. The harmony is the diversity of the jungle. Humans sing like nature here, anytime they want and the songs they want.” It took me weeks to adjust to this weird singing environment. I then realized how perfect it was.

It was also incredible training for my brain. When I liked a specific song, I had to train my brain to “ignore” the other songs running simultaneously. The “medicine” helped me develop that precious skill. Now, when conversing at a large dinner table with many people speaking simultaneously, I can focus more on a specific conversation or ignore one I don’t want to hear.

After a few hours and cups of magical tea, the ceremony was about to turn very dark and challenging. Our strange Italian woman, Francesca, suddenly stood up in the middle of the night, walked to the circle's center, and cast weird spells at everyone.

In such ceremonies, people are invited to stay in their seats and only move when they need to go to the bathroom or to purge. It is also a requirement to never sit at someone else’s seat as “spirit and energy works where you are and knows where you are.”

Francesca stood up and went straight to the center of the circle.

The center is always the most unique place, generally empty or with a fire-holding space. It is unique because “spirits appear” in the circle's center, especially when “people of knowledge” sing. Only the “master of the ceremony” will generally walk to the center and do a song or a dance, “taking the stage.”

Nobody is allowed to walk and sing in the circle's center unless invited or allowed to. What’s confusing for beginners is that nobody tells you the rules when you arrive at a ceremony, especially in the Amazon forest. Still, that specific rule is pretty easy to figure.