Ayahuasca Visions | Huarmi Taquina (Icaro de la Mujer) by Pablo Amaringo

Huarmi Taquina | (Icaro de la Mujer) by Pablo Amaringo

Huarmi taquina is the icaro for drawing in feminine creative energy into an ayahuasca ceremony. It is a very powerful icaro which connects us to Mother Earth, the Pachamama: the principle that brings new life to the world.

The lianas and flowers to the right show how nature delights us with her beauty. The beautiful women and sirenas seen below near the waters represent divine union and beauty. The horse symbolises the burden that people carry in their lives, but despite the suffering we persevere, and give birth to new life and nurture our children.

This painting  is featured in the book ‘The Ayahuasca Visions of Pablo Amaringo‘  published by Inner Traditions 2011. Authors Howard G Charing and Peter Cloudsley.

Click to visit the website of the book for articles and interviews with Pablo Amaringo, also photo galleries and see the paintings with summary narratives.

To purchase high quality fine art reproductions and Greeting Cards of the paintings click to visit our store

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ABOUT: THE AYAHUASCA VISIONS OF PABLO AMARINGO

Illustrating the evolution of his intricate and colorful art, this book contains 48 full-color reproductions of Amaringo’s latest works with detailed explorations of the rich Amazonian mythology underlying each painting. Through their longstanding relationship with Amaringo, coauthors Charing and Cloudsley are able to share the personal stories behind his visions and experiences with Amazonian people and folklore, capturing Amaringo’s powerful ecological and spiritual message through his art and words.

With contributions by Graham Hancock, Jeremy Narby, Robert Venosa, Dennis McKenna, Stephan Beyer, and Jan Kounen, this book brings the ayahuasca experience to life as we travel on Amaringo’s visionary brush and palette.

Ayahuasca Icaros of the Shipibo

Shipibo Geometric Designs
Photo by Howard G Charing

Ícaro: The word ícaro comes from the Quechua word icarai, meaning “to blow.” Ícaros are magical chants that are sung or whistled by shamans during Ayahuasca ceremonies. There are several kinds of ícaros. At the beginning of a ceremony their purpose is to provoke the mareación or visionary trance state, and to render the mind more susceptible for visions to penetrate. The shaman on his plant diet learns the ícaros directly from the plant spirits.

Ícaros have great power and influence on the visionary experience of people drinking ayahuasca in a ceremony. Pablo Amaringo also regarded the ícaro as the sound of the universe—the planets, stars, comets,and supernovas. He said that everything is created by music, by vibration, by sound. Ícaros are the music of creation (source: The Ayahuasca Visions of Pablo Amaringo).

On a personal note, I recall one night time Ayahuasca ceremony in the 1990’s with a Shipibo Shaman (Mateus Castro), held in a small clearing in the Amazon rainforest. It was a beautiful clear night, there was no moon, and the sky was filled with hundreds of thousands of glistening stars; just looking up at the sky made my head swim. We were surrounded by trees and bushes, but could only discern their shapes and silhouettes. It felt as if I was in nature’s primordial theatre. When I had drank the Ayahuasca, the shaman started to chant his Icaros, and within a few minutes, there was the song of birds, fireflies flitting everywhere, the jungle around us was responding to the chants of the shaman. It was an exquisite experience, and the following day, when I discussed the opening experience, with the birds and insects appearing when he sang the first Icaro, he replied, “the first chant was to summon and ask the birds, and the insects for their protection”.

Shipibo Geometric Designs
photo: Howard G Charing

There are several different kinds of icaros, at the beginning of the session. Their purpose is to invoke the mareacion or effects, other Icaros call the spirit of Ayahuasca to open visions ‘as though exposing the optic nerve to light’.

There are icaros for calling the ‘doctors’, or plant spirits, for healing, while other icaros call animal spirits, which protect and rid patients of spells. Healing icaros may be for specific conditions like ‘manchare’ which a child may suffer when it gets a fright.

The arts of the Shipibo, especially textile designs, are closely related to Ayahuasca icaros. The words of the chants are symbolic stories telling of the ability of nature to heal itself. For example the crystalline waters from a stream wash, cleanse, and purify a person who is unwell, while coloured flowers attract the hummingbirds whose delicate wings fan healing energies.