I wrote this reflection for the Nitze news letter after the trip.
How often in the average American family does everyone sit down and just enjoy each other’s company in the morning? It likely occurs no more often than on holidays or special occasions. More often than not, our morning ritual involves grabbing a cup of coffee to go before rushing out of the house to our respective jobs or schools. At least in my family, I know that morning interactions are limited to sleepy grumblings - if we even see each other at all. In our rushed lives, we rarely find ourselves to be on the same work schedule, let alone sleep schedule.
This is far from the custom of the Achuar people of the southern Ecuadorian rainforest. Each and every day, these people wake well before the sun rises and participate in the wayusa ceremony. During the Ceremony, all members of the household gather around, talk, and drink a warm and fragrant tea made from the leaves of the wayusa plant. The Achuar have no written language and this practice is instrumental in preserving their valuable oral history. The tea is said to promote alertness and help those who drink it to gain the strength they need to begin their day. Then, after consuming roughly six or so hollowed out gourds of the tea, each person will cleanse their bodies by, for lack of a more delicate term, vomiting. The Achuar believe that each day is a new beginning and the cleansing properties of their wayusa ceremony are a way to celebrate this idea. Before the sun rises, they have expelled any negative feelings or experiences from the previous day and have prepared their bodies for a fresh start. As the ceremony continues and the sun begins to rise, each family member shares his or her dreams from the previous night. These are to be interpreted by a shaman or community elder. Dreams are very important to the Achuar and give insight into the lives of the individual dreamer as well as the community as a whole. By the end of the ceremony the family members are ready to begin their day and get to work on whatever jobs they must fulfill, all before the average American has even stirred from bed.
During our visit to the Kapawi Ecolodge we were invited to stay in the Achuar community for a night and experience the way they live. As part of this experience we were also invited to take part in their traditional Wayusa Ceremony. Understandably, there was some initial shock and hesitation as the practice was described to us. Not one of us, when asked about a pleasant way to begin our day, would even think of waking up at 3:30 a.m., chugging some tea made from a mysterious rainforest plant, and puking in a bush. Questions arose about what was this drink they were proposing we take. We really had no idea what it was or if it was even safe. All we were told is that it would likely make us vomit. Then, besides the idea of the physical discomfort we may be putting ourselves through, there was still the whole gross out factor and social discomfort to overcome. Just the word “vomits” automatically congers bad memories and carries a very negative connotation. Would we be able to set aside our societal preconceived notions and really immerse ourselves in this very different cultural ritual?
Initial anxieties and hesitations aside, when morning, if you could even call that time of the night “morning”, rolled around almost all of us joined in the ceremony. We were all awoken without too much trouble to the sounds of our guides preparing the fire upon which the tea was to be prepared. We gathered around on benches that had been set out for us. Still hours before sunrise, with our only light provided by the uncountable stars, those of us participating accepted a hallowed out gourd and scooped ourselves a warm serving of the wayusa tea. I cannot speak for the others, but I know I was still a little nervous. I had prepared myself for a terrible bitter brew that would immediately flip my delicate American stomach upside down after a first gulp. However, as I willed myself to drink, I was surprised to find that the tea was really very nice. It wasn’t harsh and was even a little sweet with an aroma similar to chestnut. After my first bowl, I could feel a mild nausea but nothing to complain about it. Looking around the circle I was beginning to feel more awake and noticed the presence of the house elder sitting calmly in the circle with our guides. Someone asked our Achuar guide if we were supposed to be thinking about anything in particular, maybe having some sort of spiritual reflection. His answer was no, he explained that this was simply a time where he would sit, relax, talk, and laugh with his family.
With tensions eased, we were encouraged to drink more. Many of us were reaching for our sixth or seventh bowl as we saw our Achuar guide demurely slip away from the circle and return not minutes later. We realized that this tea did not have near the emetic, ipecac-like effects that we were expecting, and if we wanted to obtain the cleansing we sought, we would have to take a much more proactive approach. With the encouragement of our naturalist guide each of us downed a final bowl or two and went to find a private spot in the surrounding brush. I’ll spare on the details, but the “cleansing” was easier for some than others. In my experience, it really wasn’t too bad. At risk of over sharing, I can say that the still warm tea tasted just as good the second time. Outside of the psychological shock of the physical action, the experience was not an unpleasant one. Once we all felt sufficiently cleansed, we then returned to the circle, rinsed our mouths, and were served a fresh bowl of chicha, the traditional yucca-based fermented drink that the Achuar people consume regularly throughout the day.
Daybreak came on before we knew it and we convened as a group and gave our attention to the household elder wearing bamboo shoots through his gauged ears, no shoes, and a powder blue Hollister Co. T-shirt with the phrase “So Calif” across the front. One by one we went around in the circle and shared with him a dream for his interpretation. This was a fascinating process to observe as our English was first translated to Spanish for our Achuar guide, then into Achuar for the elder. This was a tedious process, as many of the things we experienced in our dreams simply do not hold any meaning in the Achuar culture. A particularly difficult dream involved the attempt to convey the meaning of sledding down a snow-covered mountain with a polar bear. Most of the dreams were very quickly categorized as either good or bad, with some symbols interpreted in a way that was hardly a surprise; flying seem linked to travel; a predatory cat was the manifestation of an enemy. However, I was surprised when I shared my dream, which was filled with reptiles such as snakes and lizards, carried no negative message at all. In fact, I was told my dream was a very good one.
After the most unique start to any morning I’ve experienced, I had expected to be exhausted and ready for a long rest but I was ready to go. We had some time in the community to purchase handicrafts then headed back for our last full day at Kapawi Ecolodge.
Though unorthodox, after participating in wayusa, I cannot doubt the ceremony’s effects. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that I expect the practice to become common place in here in the United States, though I will say that a lot could be learned from it. It is clearly a way to bring the family together, create stronger bonds as well as preparing the people for the day ahead.
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