shoemaker

I know you don’t like seeing these mailings anymore than I like to send them out, but they’re essential because there’s timely information here that can save you some money if you’ve decided to come to the 6th International Amazonian Shamanism Conference this July. First of all, Dr. Richard Grossman has put up a couple of hundred photos from the 2008 Amazonian Shamanism Conference and they can be seen here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=382081&id=720330505&ref=mf and here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=382214&id=720330505&ref=mf More importantly, there is a $150 USD discount for all those that pay their Conference deposit by Feb. 15th. There is a $100 USD discount for those that pay their Conference fee by March 15th. More “illustrious Presenters” have been added to the schedule so if you haven’t looked at the website lately, please take some time to do that as soon as you can. We’re incredibly pleased with the website design and give lots of thanks to our website designer Johan Fremin, whom we use every year. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. That’s what I’m here for. www.soga-del-alma.org or contact me at [email protected] Cheers! alan

Blessings of Love and Light for this New Year! 6th International Amazonian Shamanism Conference: "Grace and Madness" will once again be held in Iquitos, Peru this coming July. The website is coming along nicely and we're adding more "illustrious Presenters" and Shamans every day. So far, we have confirmed some very remarkable people with more to come. There is an "Early Bird Discount" as well, ending on the 15th of Feb., 2010 ($150 USD discount)and a $100 USD discount if paid before March 15th. We hope to see you here. There are several Pre-Conference and Post Conference programs available to you as well. The website is listed below. I hope you have some extra time to give it a look, especially the FAQ's. www.soga-del-alma.org for Conference website. We here at Gracia Ethnobotanicals also have a travel agency and can get you the best rates for your Lima to Iquitos roundtrip. We reserve for you and then purchase the reservation and send you the ETICKET CODE. This information and much more is on the Conference website. Please do come and be with 200+ like-minded individuals from all over the World! It’s incredible. The Conference website is: www.soga-del-alma.org (Soga Del Alma is Spanish for Vine of the Soul) If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. be well and do good, alan shoemaker [email protected] Iquitos, Peru

Fenris... really sorry to hear this... I too hope you have a very speedy recovery. Julian, that's incredible information on the cost of flights! YOu'll all be happy to hear some more good news: As of March 7th of this year, all flights going to and coming from Iquitos will no longer be charged the 19% Tax! If you need assistance with the national flights, just write me at [email protected]

We know it's a long and expensive ride to get to Iquitos... but we always have several people from Australia that make the trip. Many found that buying a Round the World pass was the way to go, but then you have to have the rest of the funds to manage that round the world passage. Regardless of how you can manage it, we love all of you here and you always bring new information that we don't see anywhere else. We really appreciate that. The 5th International Amazonian Shamanism Conference: "the Art and the Heart of Healing" is July 11th - 18th in Iquitos, Peru. Iquitos is in the Peruvian Upper Amazon and basically on the banks of the Amazon river. Population is half a million, 8 thousand three wheeled motor car rickshaw taxi's, 110+ internet cafes and ATM's everywhere. It's a very passive place perhaps because it's an island and you have to fly in from Lima, Peru which is on the west coast.. or you have the option of taking a large river boat here from Pulcalpa.. takes about 5 days and that too is an interesting trip. If you're flying, just book your international to LIma and we'll book you at the best rates Lima/Iquitos/Lima. The agencies outside of Peru don't get the best rates like we do from here. The website is: www.soga-del-alma.org/conferencesite that's really looking good this year as the webmaster has discovered another program to manage it. We've got some incredible "Presenters" as well as 15+ of the finest hand picked shamans/curanderos from the Upper Amazon and Andes. We're really pleased to tell you the Tito del Rosa will be at the Conference with his music and his ceremonies. HOpe to see many of you here again. If you have any questions, just write me at: [email protected] Cheers!

spray tobacco juice extract....

the DC, according to the late Allen Gentry. FreeMan, thanks for the abstract! Forget where I saw this exactly.. anyway, DC is vine like but does not enlace like a vine does... so it's not really a climber.

Mutant, the only diplo I know of is DC.... but interestingly enough, in one reference book I have, I discover that this plant also grows in Mexico.

Nice looking plant, I don't know what it is but it isn't DC... My digital camera is in the shop and hopefully they can fix it... Let my kids use it and...well, see what happens? Anyway, hopefully I can retrieve it in a couple of days and take some shots of fresh cuttings growing as well as the very large, older plants and post them here.

Mauve, In your photo above, post #82, that's b. caapi. (first photo shown in the group.)

Baphomet, the "Collecting Diplo Cab. Iquitos 2002" photos? Resembles chaliponga but I don't think it is. .. but I'll get the plant specialist at the University here to take a look and get back. Hey, I'd love to wrong as we all want it to flower, right?

the journalist Peter Gorman is the person that "discovered" sappho. It was a rainy day and so he was in one of the Matses cabins waiting it out, decided to ask for the names of various things in the home and looked up in the corner to see a cloth bag hanging there and asked what it was. The Matses don't call it sappho but have their own name for it, which I can't remember... Peter brought samples out and shipped to two labs, one in France and Heuser Chemical in Colorado. The analysis showed that the sappho contained more bio-active alkaloids than anything ever discovered by man. Apparently this was the medicine that kept them alive and healthy before they moved to the commerce of the river, about 45 years ago. There was a terrible malaria epidemic several years back and so three younger Matses made the trip to Iquitos in search of help. They met me and in order to make them feel more comfortable, I showed them the burn on my arm from having taken sappho. This was really funny cause they unbuttoned they shirts and showed me many razor blade cuts over their hearts where they had been doing sappho. It's just one of those things they do on a rainy day when stuck in their cabins... Peter has written about sappho quite extensively and no doubt you can find the article by using a search vehicle. the frogs have been taken out of the jungle in order to have a constant supply for study, but they found that they don't produce the sappho when in captivity. no doubt it's got to be something about their diet. the Matses call these frogs in when they wish to use their toxin by mimicking the frogs sound. They then walk right up to the frog and pick it up, treat it with tremendous respect. It's 4 legs are tied and streched to 4 sticks in the ground, then the stomache is irritated by a stick which causes the frog to secrete its toxin. That is placed on the bamboo sticks and wrapped in the leaves but then it is hung in a cloth back up over the fireplace so it "cures" and drys. If this step isn't taken it would mold. Once the frog is milked, it's untied and gently placed back into its jungle habitat.

to clear this up... I have never written that I have seen chaliponga in flower, because I haven't. I've been growing it for 10 years and have huge plants. They love very damp earth but will also grow in full sun with only rain, but the vines get very brittle and it doesn't grow very quickly. From one cutting in the ground, it sends out shoots and these too begin growing quickly. the original mother plant of chali was brought to Iquitos by the curandera Adela. She got it from the Huambisa tribe near the border of Ecuador about 40 years ago, so most all the chaliponga (huambisa) growing in Loreto have come from this Mother plant. Adela has also never seen it in flower.

Yes, we will give one half of the Amazonian Conference fee to him... That's 300 USDs per perons that donates... alan shoemaker

If this is real, it's incredible... I have never seen her in flower.. alan shoemaker