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The perfume ritual
The perfume ritual is a therapy derived from traditional Amazonian medicine and used in the therapeutic protocol of the Takiwasi Center, especially in the initial phase of detoxification of drug addict patients. Through the use of some substances such as tobacco, perfumes, camphor accompanied by the healing songs called ikaros, a ritual cleansing, purification and reinforcement work is carried out.
Ancestrally only natural plant essences were used, but later specific commercial products were included such as Florida Water or the so-called "Tabú". These practices have been transmitted to Takiwasi by the master healer perfumero Ignacio Pérez Ortiz. The smells are perceived by the olfactory nerve and directly transmitted to the limbic area of the brain that regulates deep emotions, a topic that western science is only now exploring. Perfumes enhance the effect of ingested plants when mixed with them and induce psychoactive effects that the healer regulates with their songs. Massages also help balance the energetic body. For its sedative mental effects and its regulation of the energetic body, perfume preparations are traditionally used to treat psychological problems, even madness (psychotic outbreaks), and to cleanse and protect from witchcraft and evil spirits.
Description of the ritual
A specialization of the practitioners of traditional Amazonian medicines is that of the perfumero (master healer that works with perfumes). The healer uses aromatic plants and certain commercial perfumes, often associated with pure tobacco juice or mapacho, to cleanse the energetic body of his patient. The healer blows tobacco smoke on the preparation to transmit its strength and boost its energy.
The preparation can be ingested and also passed over the patient's body with massages. The smells directly affect the humoral state of the patient, his mood, to harmonize, pacify, remove anxiety and stress. After ingesting the perfume preparation, the patient is physically activated (he jumps, makes some exercises) so that the blood distributes the perfume ingested throughout the body. The healer accompanies with his ikaros or healing songs. In this phase the perfume can induce intoxication with altered state of consciousness.
The ritual ends with the final cleansing in the river where the psychoactive effects of the perfume are lowered and the healer calls for the spirits of the water to take away the bad energies.