Hallucinogenic Music: An Analysis of the Role of Whistling in Peruvian Ayahuasca Healing Sessions Author(s): Fred Katz and Marlene

Dobkin de Rios Source: The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 84, No. 333 (Jul. - Sep., 1971), pp. 320-327 Published by: American Folklore Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/539808 . Accessed: 11/10/2011 19:48
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MARLENE

FRED KATZ and DOBKIN DE RIOS

Hallucinogenic Music
An Analysis theRoleof Whistling of in Peruvian Ayahuasca HealingSessions

OF healing drugsin primitiveandpeasant DIscuSSION THE USE of hallucinogenic literaturefor and religious activitieshas appearedin scatteredanthropological manyyears.With the exceptionof some studieson peyoteand a few otherdrugs, have paid little attentionto the crucialrole that music however,anthropologists in structuring areaof culturally the determined arising subjective experience plays states.' fromdrug-induced collected This paper,basedon an analysisof ayahuasca whistling incantations in the PeruvianAmazoniancity of Iquitos and taped during a hallucinogenic healing sessionon August io, 1968, will attemptto examinethe very important in experiences the wake visionary-type place that musichas in evokingparticular in of plant hallucinogenic It is believedthatsuchstudiesareimportant clarifyuse. that music has in many non-Westernsothe often-neglecteddeterminancy ing substances have been used to heal, to comcieties,where powerfulmind-altering and municatewith the supernatural, to open up worlds of heavenand hell.2

EthnographicData One of the authors (Dobkin de Rios) spent a year studyingpsychotherapy with the woody vine ayahuasca the PeruvianAmazoncity of Iquitos,situated in some 2,300 miles inlandfromthe AtlanticOcean.3 Here, as in manyotherregions of Peru, variousplant hallucinogenshave a long history of use in healing ac1 Marlene Dobkin de Rios, "Cultural Variables Effecting Drug-Induced Altered States of Consciousness," in Proceedings, 39th International Congress of Americanists, Lima (in press). 2 In Western society, the best discussion of the importance of the nonverbal in drug-adjuncted psychotherapy can be found in Betty Eisner, "The Importance of the Non-Verbal," in The Use of LSD in Psychotherapy and Alcoholism, ed. Harold Abramson (New York, 1967), 542-560. 3 This study was supported by the Foundations Fund for Research in Psychiatry, G67-395, from June 1968 to May 1969. A debt of gratitude is acknowledged to Dr. C. A. Seguin, former Director of the Institute of Social Psychiatry, National University of San Marcos, Lima, Peru.

HALLUCINOGENIC MUSIC

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tivities.4A potion preparedfrom boiling ayahuasca (belonging to variousspecies of Banisteriopsis often mixed with additionalpsychedelics and containingeither indolic substances datura), is administered a healer, called ayahuasquero, or by in to a groupof patientsin eveningsessionsthatareheld generally jungleclearings on the outskirts the city. Treatment illness is set within a matrixof magical of of of beliefs concerning that markthe populations diseaseetiology.Most infirmities mestizopopulations civilizedIndians (called cholos) or middle-class urbanized, from surrounding urbanand ruralareas,canbe classifiedas emotionalor psychoin origin. They correspond the general successthat other folk healers to logical aroundthe world appearto have in treatingsuchillnesses.5Illness is believedto be causedby the capricious whim of offendedspiritsof nature,or else attributed to the evil of people, who for motivesof envy, revenge,or plain meannesspay a witch to causehorrendousdamageto anotherperson.The main purposeof the when used in healing, is diagnosticand powerful plant hallucinogenayahuasca, session,a patientis given a drink revelatory. During the courseof the therapeutic to induce visions which will permit him to see just what force or individualis deemed responsiblefor evildoing. It is only then that the evil magic causingillness is believed to be deflectedor neutralizedby the healer and returnedto its perpetrator. AyahuascaMusic: Its Setting and Analysis Foremostin importance the healing session, the psychedelicpotion is disin tributedby the healerto those seatedarounda circle.His primaryrole is that of or guide. He whistles specialincantations at times sings. On occasionhe may achimself with a rattlemade from the leaves of a plant, called schacapa company (Cerberaperuviana), which are tied togetherat their base by a thin vine. The healeris generallyskilled in the preparation administration the infusion of and andthe interpretation the ayahuasca of visions. Thereis real difficulty this inherentin recording analyzing type of musical and data.For one thing drug-induced, are alteredstatesof consciousness often qualidifferent from other ceremonialbehaviorwith which anthropologists tatively work. Attendingfestivalsin jungle hamletsor in city settlements where dancing, and gaiety abounded,presentedthe junior authorwith no difficulties drinking whatsoeverin establishingrapportand obtainingmusical tapes. However, althoughcontactwas madewith aboutten healersduringthe year'sfieldwork,only one would permitrecordingof his music. Technicalproblemssuch as the movement of the healeraroundthe circle,the generalquietudeand augmented sensito soundsinherentin the drug state,and the generaldisinclination one for tivity and all to probe,ask questions,or engage in inconsequential verbalized behavior madeit less thaneasyto obtainthe type of datathatmight reallybe useful in cormusicalmodeswith typesof hallucinatory vision. relatingparticular
4Marlene Dobkin de Rios, "Folk Curing with a Psychedelic Cactus in Northern Peru," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, I5 (1968), 23-32; "Banisteriopsis Used in Witchcraft and Healing Activities in Iquitos, Peru," Economic Botany, 24 (July, 1970), 296-300. 5 Ari Kiev, ed., Magic, Faith and Healing: Studies in Primitive Psychiatry Today (Glencoe, Ill., 1964).

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324

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of Description a Session
The music analyzedhere was tapedduringa sessionconducted Don Jos6,a by healer who lived in an outlying section of Iquitos. fairly successfulayahuasca Presentwere seven people and the healer.Eachpatientwas selectedby the curer The himself, and tendednot to be knownto the otherpatientsin attendance. session was held in the healer'sorchard, somewhatremovedfrom the noisesof passwhom he had ing carsor howling dogs. He was accompanied one apprentice, by healed,andwho alsowhistledwith him a seriesof traditional previously ayahuasca melodies. Most healers during their period of apprenticeship(which can last severalyears), secludethemselvesin open jungle, learningthe effectsof different plants on their bodies, and how to preparespecialtonics,medicines,salves, and the like. They work closelywith a teacher, melowho instructs them in traditional dies. Basicmelodies are learnedduringthis period, althoughhealerstend to imon proviseandiniaovate thesethemesonce theytakeup theirown practice. In this particular session,the whistling began right after the drug potion was the healerto his patientsand continuedthroughout most of the session, given by which lastedfrom approximately P.M.until x:00 A.M. the following morn9:00 was occasionalcounselingby the healerto each of severalpaing. Interspersed tients. Somepatientswere not given the drinkbecauseof the natureof their illa or On ness,whichmayhavebeenchronic debilitating. occasion, healerwill advise a patientto forego the drugexperience until he has takenthe purgehimself to see the natureof the illness. Sincemuch of the music found in ayahuasca sessionsconsistsof whistling init is important mentionthe widespread to belief in the areathatwhiscantations, is the way in which the spiritualforcesof natureand the guardianspirit of tling the vine, itself, canbe evokedby the healer.

Incantations Explanation theWhistling of

SectionA: This representsthe beginning of the taped ceremony. The melody is nonmetricaland pentatonic,with interThe mittentgracenotesE b toE L4. mode consistsof the notes C, D, E, G, and A. The tonic in this instanceis C. SectionA, the tonicnote C is reached the by Throughout in startingnote G. Brackets SectionA, line 2, meanthat those notes are very faint and uneven in duration. in Continues muchthe samefashion.

SectionAl:

note = 148 pulsesperminute. Afetronomic Marking: One quarter In this section,the tonic note C is reached the starting SectionB: by note E. Accordingto the musicaldata,the tonic note C is neverreachedas a final cadence.Rather,the tone G is in predominant this section. SectionC: a motif which is metThis represents musicallyrepeated betweenSectionsB and Al. Note the rical,interspersed a shortpause. symbol,represents

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note= 148 pulsesperminute. Metronomic Marking: One quarter notesin D represent pivotalmusia Note that bracketed SectionD: cal phrase that predominatesthroughoutthis section. Also speciallyannotatedin this section is 4, signifying that the actualsound is lower than the written note. SectionE: This section, interestinglyenough, is a hexatonicscale, as contrasted the earlypentatonicscale. The melody to and contained hereinhas,we suspect,a closerelationship derivationfrom Amazonianrain forest melopossible dies. Note the 3/4 bar, which appearsjust prior to the in repetitionof the melody. The melodic structure this into sub-structures sectioncanbe fragmented A, starting A andcoda. B, note = 148 pulsesperminute. Metronomic Marking: One quarter Comments There is a considerable music is utilized only in drug ceremonies. Ayahuasca of musicthat falls within the realmof festivalmusic,eithercommemoratcorpus suchas religiousholidayswithinthe RomanCatholicChurch, ing happyoccasions or else melodiesthat are playedduringwakes,when friendsand relativesaccoman panythe body of the deceasedthroughout eveningto dawn vigil. These melodies are generallyplayed with a drum (tambor), quena (wooden reedlessflute found in the Andeanhighlands), and a four-stringviolin, probablyof Spanish origin. It is temptingto suggesta comparison betweenayahuasca whistlingincantations in as discussed this articleand suchmusicas the Gregorian chants,at least insofar as basicfunctiongoes. Justas one can arguethatGregorian chantsand ecclesiasticalmodesrepresent in so tonalrelationships whichscalesarestructured asto evoke a spiritual withinthe contextof Christianity, too might the ayahuasca so experience music be viewed as an essentialcomponentof a nonordinary realitysustainedby the sensoryoverloadinherentin drug-induced Such alterationin consciousness. musiccannotbe divorcedfrom its socialcontext.We shouldreflect,for a moment, on the natureof hallucinogenic experience,per se, and the qualityof realityalterationfor the individual.Suchphenomenaas the slowing down or changingof time perception mustbe relatedto how musicis perceived the individualunder by the effects of the powerful alkaloids, harmineand harmaline,present in the ayahuasca potion. The numberof metronomicmarkingslisted earliermay not, be perceived theywouldin an ordinary as state. indeed, The junior author'sexperienceunder ayahuasca pointed up some interesting
aspects of the relationship of the music and the content of visions. At first, visions were very fast moving and difficult to focus upon, as the mind's eye filled with a rather complex and detailed panorama of primary colors and variegated forms. This effect perhaps could be correlated with her perception of the speed of the healer's music. The healer then slowed down his pace, and a full-sized portrait, so to speak, of a woman appeared before her. This dramatic representation of a

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FRED KATZ AND MARLENE DOBKIN DE RIOS

person, who under other circumstances might have been identifiedby a given healeras the personresponsible bewitchment, for be couldmost definitely related to the velocityof the healer'swhistlingincantations use of his schacapa rattle and in rhythmicmotions. Visions do change frequentlyfrom fast to slow, and are controlledand evokedby the healer,who is the creativeforce in decidingwhich melodiesto call upon. When furtherinto the drugexperience, of the authors one nauseaand heavy vomiting. The healer'sattentionsincluded reasexperienced surance his continuing that melodieswould alleviatethe nauseaandcauseit to pass away. Both healer and patient in the courseof the drug session take ayahuasca toThe healer,however,is generallyquiteoccupiedin the performance his of gether. ritual activities.This includesblowing tobaccosmoke over the bodies of his patients and occasionally suckingat a dolorousareato extracta thornmagicallybelieved to have been introducedby an evil witch. The patient is generallyleft seatedby himself for majorportionsof the ceremony only occasionally counand seledandtreateddirectly the healer. by Healersstateit is theirdecisionas to whichmelodiesto elect thatevokescertain for types of visions. As mentionedabove,slowerincantations maybe responsible the often-reported of men and women who are later identifiedas evilvisions doers. Perhaps-and one must remainat a speculativelevel here-faster incantations are crucialin the changeoverfrom one realityto another.Such sensory overloadhas been frequentlyreportedto produceanxietyin the individual,esstates. In Western society,LSD-like substances pecially in initial drug-induced have been utilized in psychotherapy, often by Freudian-oriented Vomitanalysts. been relatedto ing and nausea,which may occurin such cases,have occasionally the inabilityof individualsto deal with anxietygeneratedby rapidaccessto unconsciousrealms.One Peruvianpsychiatrist, diagnosisof making a presumptive an ayahuasca session in the mid-g96os, statedthat approximately percentof 75 initial ayahuasca In ingestionsresultin heavyvomitingor nausea.6 fact, ayahuasca is locally referredto as the purge, becauseof this frequentside effect.To return to the role of music duringthis anxietystate,it may be that the whistlingincantationshelp carry individualmoreeasilyinto this secondrealm. the In addition,one major facet of drug-induced experienceis the role that the or guru plays as an importantother to whom the patientmay turn in the guide anxiousor highly suggestiblestate that accompanies alterationin conscioushis ness. Mastersand Houston,in an authoritative volume, discussthe vital place of the guru in guiding such sessions.7It is possible that the patient'saugmented in of sourceandorigin encounters, the presence the healer,a creative suggestibility of music,whichalleviatesanxiety,tranquilizes, causesa turninginwardby the and musicalevocation particular of visions. From a musicological point of view, we might also suggestthat the prepondor eranceof the tone G couldbe viewedas the dominant activetone awayfromthe the tonic C. Perhapsthis contrastive situationpotentiates activityof the ayahuasca
6 Personal communication, Dr. Oscar Rios Reitegui. R. E. L. Masters, and Jean Houston, The Varieties of Psychedelic Experience (New York, 1966), ch. 5.
7

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alkaloids.As a final comment,we might note that in the experienceof the field lack of vision in variousayahuasca sessions could generallybe corresearcher, relatedwith inadequate musicalabilityon the partof particular healers. StateCollege California Fullerton,California