07/03/2023
Hello,
here is a second part of my travel stories from Brazil.
As i mentioned before in the village Aldeia Toniya we spent 7 days. They prepared for us a whole week of activities which is in Brazil called Vivência, which translates to experience. And it really was an experience. Our food was quite good. The native diet is mostly maniok(yuka), rice, eggs, corn, fruits and meat like fish(in the rain period is fishing difficult), Txashu(jungle deer), Macaco(monkey), yawa(jungle wild pig), paka, tatu(armadillo).
First few days we were eating some fish, which we brought our selfs as a gift for the village. After two days all the fishes were eaten and we were eating simple diet of rice, eggs and maniok until the end of the stay. My body felt really good with this diet.
Our fist Uni (ayahuasca) ceremony was on the third night at the village and it was amazing. The Noke koi prepare their medicine from a type of vine(i think it was called Tonka uni but not 100% sure) which is becoming quite rare and so the medicine was quite tasteful and not so heavy for the stomach as it is sometimes the case.
The ceremonies usually begins with a circle where men are on one side and women on the other side. One of the Txanas is singing sacred songs called Txirinti which are used to cal the spirits for protection and for healing, helps to connect the community and allows everybody to flow together in oneness into the magical reality of the medicine.
Next part started with Paje Kochti singing sacred saitis(icaros), sometimes this lasted for few hours but during the singing you could feel how the medicine is working together with the songs of the Paje and some a certain songs brought me a powerful visions. Paje Kochti is one of the most connected Paje which I and my friends have ever met. His voice was sometimes changing and you could feel how certain spirits are talking through him. This part of the ceremony was for me the most healing part where all the healing and adjustments usually occur. After this healing part comes the young generation and starts the celebration of life.
The rest of the night is full of music, guitars, djembes, singing and dance. This part is also very powerful and can bring a lot of healing as certain songs have a specific meaning and can bring you or help you with the process. The ceremonies always lasted until the morning and in the morning the best thing one could do is to go swimming to the river. Then comes few hours of sleep and the day starts with the breakfast and with normal activities and so the life keeps going.
Before the ceremony the natives always prepare them selfs and that start of course with the clothing and all different kinds of hand made decoration and also a face and body drawing so called pintura which were also preprared for us. They usually use two colors, red and black(dark blue). The black or dark blue color is made from fruit called Jenipapo, which is a very hard fruit that is grated and the small pieces of the fruit are squized in the hand until a transparent liquid comes out and this liquid is used to draw on the body. After few hours the color appears on the skin and stays for day or weeks after. The kids are usually all covered by the fresh color from this fruit and that is a kind of initiation and after comes the drawing of the sacred symbols called Kene. This color is usually extracted from the fruit and after it is extracted it becomes black. Transparent is only when it is fresh.
Another color is red which is made from Uruku(Mashé). This color has a protective and healing aspect. The power of this ritual is then connected with the kind of symbols that are drawn on your skin. The Noke koi people likes to draw symbols like jaguar skin, snake(Royal boa) skin, sun rays, and many others which are difficult to describe. Have a look at the pictures.
