Carlos is a very dedicated and heart-centered curandero based in Spain with a remarkable connection to the plant spirits. He has been studying and dieting with Maestro Juan Flores of Mayantuyacu since the age of 21. He considers himself very fortunate that the plants “raised him” into adulthood since he began his medicine path at a young age. He now leads ceremonies and oversees plant dietas in Europe for those truly committed to their own healing.
He can be reached at: www.casacorazontribu.com.
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Me: “We talked about some serious topics when it comes to curanderismo and the medicine path. What are some of the truly magical experiences that really stand out in your mind?”
Carlos: “One of the first experiences that I ever had in Mayantuyacu was when I was on dieta and sleeping at night in tambo. I was in bed dreaming when suddenly, boom! Everything in the tambo became enveloped by a very strong white light. I woke up but it did not matter if my eyes were open or closed. Everything was just covered in white light. I was in shock and I thought that I was going crazy. I tried to go back to sleep.”
“Suddenly, I started to hear music coming from by the Boiling River. Music, music, music, it was non-stop.”
“Then I heard people come into my tambo and begin dancing. My bed was shaking from the dancing! I opened my eyes and looked around but there was no one I could see. It was completely dark. I turned on my flashlight and looked around but still, there was no one.”
“The next day, I told Maestro Juan what had happened. He just smiled and said to me:”Ah yes, the spirits are happy because you are dieting. You have to keep on dieting.”
[Personal note: After an evening of hearing loud music in my ears, seemingly coming from within the jungle near the Boiling River, the celestial melodies sung by male and female voices continued day and night during my stay at Mayantuyacu in the months of dieta that followed. I joke that my third ear must have opened. Maestro Juan Flores simply explained: The spirits are singing because they are happy. Do not be afraid.”]
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Carlos: “Another experience I had on dieta was very scary. I was on a dieta of Huancahui Sacha [also known as Yawar Panga, a strong purgative plant]. I was on my last day of dieta and already feeling like the dieta was finished, that nothing more would happen.”
“I was smoking a mapacho in my hammock when something very ugly activated inside my mind. Strong, dark thoughts came to me: ‘You are going to die. You will leave your girlfriend. What are you doing here? I am going to kill you.’ So I took my notebook and started to write in it in order to calm myself down. I thought it must be some type of trauma or a healing process taking place.”
“I then began to punch my notebook. I had no idea why I was doing it. My knuckles started to bleed. I did not know if the blood was real or not. It was as if the curtain of ordinary reality had fallen away completely. I wondered if I had entered into some kind of psychosis. I lit up a mapacho and began smoking, when suddenly, I saw a black demon with sharp claws explode out from inside my chest, wanting to hurt me.”
“Well, as you can imagine, I was terrified. I started to smoke mapacho non-stop, pray, and blow the mapacho smoke over and over again onto my body. I must have smoked seven mapachos in 10 minutes. This entity eventually went away. It was at that moment that I learned the power of prayer. I tell the story now and it does not sound very impressive. But believe me, I was very frightened. A part of me thought I might have gone crazy.”
Me: “Looking back upon that experience now, what do you think actually happened?”
Carlos: “In retrospect, I believe it was an exorcism. My own. And this was not a dieta of Ayahuma or Lupuna [dietas that many consider to be “strong”]. This was with Huancahui Sacha.”
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Carlos: “A more beautiful experience was during a dieta of Came Renaco. I had just finished dietas of Tahuari, Clavohuasca, and Lupuna, plants that people consider very powerful, so when Maestro Juan gave me Came Renaco, I figured he wanted to me rest because I was very tired. I was in tambo and singing. I kept singing and there came a point where a certain intonation of the icaro occured, which is not very difficult to get to with time.”
“As I continued singing, the entire tambo suddenly transformed into a hospital. Keep in mind, this was just me in my tambo. I had not taken ayahuasca. My eyes were wide open. And I was just singing an icaro. But I knew where I was.”
“I was inside of Came Renaco. All of the Doctors of Came Renaco were there, along with the Sirenitas. I saw stairs that went towards the water which led to the cave of the Sirenitas. They taught me how to heal with their medicine.”
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Carlos: “During my dieta with Came Renaco, I walked to Maestro Juan’s house. Although there were other people there, I sat there for 2-3 hours without saying anything. In reality, I was speaking with Maestro Juanin my mind, and he was telling me many things about Came Renaco.”
Me: “Do you mean you were communicating telepathically with Maestro Juan for 2-3 hours?”
Carlos: “Yes. I do not talk much about these experiences because who would believe me? But it was real. In fact, at one point, the other people that were in the house started to make fun of me saying: “Come on Carlito, wake up!”
“And Maestro Juan immediately replied outloud: “Shhhh. Carlito and I are talking to each other.”
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Carlos: “Excuse me if I cry, because I cry when I think about this, but I once had a dream during my dieta with Clavohuasca. A Sirenita came to me in my dream from the ravine. I saw her face and knew that I had dreamt about this woman before.”
“This Sirenita had her entire body painted with trees. So from my ego, I thought: ‘What a perfect chance to learn about the plants. She has all these plants painted on her body, so I am going to ask her about each one’.
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“I first asked her: “This plant here, what kind of plant is it?”
“And she replied: “This plant is Love.”
“No, no, no” I insisted, “What plant is it?”
“This plant is Love,” she replied again.”
“So I said, “Okay, and what about this one?”
“Kindness,” she answered.”
“And this one?”
“Mercy,” she said.”
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“And she proceeded to tell me many things about love.”
“As it turns out, this Sirenita that I dreamt about during this dieta is now my “real-life” romantic partner.”
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“I believe our journey with the plants, even though I am very strict when it comes to dietas and this work, is ultimately a journey of love and sharing.”
“Whether it is Christ, Buddha, or Krishna, I believe that any person who is able to reach illumination sees with only love. This “reality” that we live in wants to tell us that we are individuals, but we are one.”
“Sometimes when I drink the medicine and really connect, I see that there is nothing other than love. I have only one tattoo on my body: “Love brings humility.”
“I received this during the very first dieta I ever did. I already know the title of the book I will someday write about my journey: “Love brings humility.”
“Of course, I have to keep reading this book of my life to continue learning about the ways for us to love. But in the end, when we love and fall in love, we are closer to illumination. I love the plants because they gave me this gift. When I am connected and in love, I discover life. I am closer to God. I am closer to all people.”
“In the end, I believe all mystical traditions are all simply about love. When I think about the saints of the past praying, I imagine it was the same as when we sing our icaros. Perhaps with a different rhythm, a different form, but coming from the love within our hearts. This is the way I want to live.”
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