[0:12 - 1:51]
Our mission as traditional doctors—or doctors with ancestral knowledge, known as “cortas tumbas” in some languages—is to ensure the well-being and harmony of our Mother Earth.
Love...
Love brought us together when we met at school. We never imagined we would share such a beautiful life, and that we would be there for one another as we grew up.
[1:45 - 3:17] We fell in love, we loved each other, and we got married.
We traveled to the territory of Mocoa to meet Taita Paulo Xingdou and his wife Rosario Chi Kung, because we wanted them to teach us the mysteries of the journey and their practice as traditional healers of the people.
What we’ve seen makes it clear: the limitation of territory is great, and the learning of medicine is integral—chagra.
[3:12 - 4:19] Medicine and knowledge are one. There isn’t enough territory or adequate spaces like our ancestors had to apply it.
That’s where commercialization comes in—it’s a serious issue.
Misuse is coming from both non-Indigenous people and Indigenous people who are exporting yagé internationally with mainly profit-driven intentions.
That’s against the way of the “soñador” (dreamer), in Asia, or “vio nada” and “tumba”—three ways of naming a traditional healer or yagé practitioner.
[4:18 - 5:22] “Soñador” or “vio nada” is the one who feels; the “tumba” is the one who knows.
My father was a ya g0, my mother was a midwife, a flag bearer, and an artisan. Between them there was always mutual support—they used to say masculine knowledge and feminine knowledge are complementary. There must always be mutual support.
What is the “viaje”? The journey?
It is a plant—the king and mother of all medicinal plants.
The journey has a spiritual intention—it helps heal people.
[5:17 - 6:11] Physically and morally. That’s why those who take it, take the yagé.
The capital of Putumayo is in the Amazonian foothills. It’s the connection point between Andean peoples and the jungle savannahs of the Amazon. Many native people from this area have migrated to Mocoa seeking opportunities for future generations.
Alderete, perhaps work.
[6:12 - 7:08]
I was 12 years old when I left the jungle. My parents sent me to study at a nearby school. That’s where we settled and where I met my wife.
Love...
Love brought us together and as we grew, we fell in love and got married.
It’s a beautiful story because our courtship basically happened through medicine.
[7:05 - 7:56] My husband would come visit me at home, and my father wouldn’t allow us to just talk—he always shared the medicine with him.
That motivated me to continue learning the ancestral medicine of our elders.
And part of it was because of what happened to my mother—she died because there was no traditional doctor available in time.
When one finally arrived, it was too late.
[7:53 - 8:37] I remember seeing the elders come from my grandparents’ place to take yagé. I loved being there.
My father shared that reality and sadness with me, and it reached my heart. I said to myself, I want to learn how they heal, so that no one else experiences what happened to my mother—even if just to protect myself and my family. That’s what called me to this path.
[8:35 - 9:31] As traditional healers, Taita and Charito know many plants. They grow them in their home chagra alongside food for themselves and their animals.
Many natural processes in life are accompanied by plants that help the mind and body go through grief more peacefully.
In women’s self-care, plants are used to prevent complications during menstruation, like cramps—through hot plant baths.
[9:27 - 10:41] These are warming baths to comfort the womb.
We have many plants with different functions. For example: chamomile, oregano, and “agua abuelita” are warm plants.
“Magia” and “palo cruz” are not as warm.
That’s why the articulation of women’s knowledge is so important. A woman is the right arm for a man, and vice versa—they are one body helping others.
What you see is part of...
[10:37 - 11:39] ...our language, where you can also refer to it as a backdoor—a place full of all kinds of artisanal and medicinal plants, and even food.
Spring onion, for example.
We prepare this as an emetic.
To get ready for the sacred plant—the journey.
Indeed,
you must cleanse your body before taking yagé, so it enters a clean vessel.
[11:35 - 12:30] Just like washing a vessel before filling it with a sacred remedy.
During the evangelization period, the Capuchin friars demonized the use of yagé, but the peoples resisted.
By the end of the last century, U.S. pharmaceutical companies patented its use.
Several taitas traveled to Washington to defend their heritage.
To this day, the use of yagé remains one of the strongest tools in defending tradition and territory.
[12:28 - 13:38] It is a sacred plant in the broadest sense of the word.
It completes all expressions of culture and gives meaning to life.
The purpose of this bath is to do an aromatic “scan” of the body using plants, to prepare for the yagé journey.
It’s a form of harmonizing the body.
[13:38 - 14:33] We use nettle as a companion plant during the yagé ceremony to promote healing, harmonize the body, and help with stress, fatigue, poor circulation, and more.
The names given to “el viaje” (the journey) change by region, as do the types of plants used in its preparation. It is believed that factors such as shade, water, and the spirit placed into its preparation influence the outcome.
[14:31 - 15:40] The journey can have different effects—“tiger journey,” “sky journey,” etc.
Commercialization is a serious issue. Misuse is coming from both non-Indigenous and Indigenous people exporting yagé internationally for profit.
In other cities and countries, people are building “temples,” “malocas,” and foundations around yagé.
That misuse is mostly by outsiders—non-Indigenous, white people—but also by Indigenous people.
[15:38 - 16:44] That’s a problem for those of us trying to preserve the knowledge as it was taught by our elders.
In June 1991, taitas from the Colombian Amazon formed the Indigenous Healers’ Union.
In September 2000, they published “The Thought of the Elders,” a code of ethics to regulate sacred plant use and distinguish traditional healers from charlatans.
The consequences of misuse have...
[16:42 - 17:35] ...been seen in many cases.
People take yagé with someone who has no experience. Instead of healing, they react badly.
If the reaction is too strong, they don’t return—some remain that way.
The person giving it doesn’t have the proper process or control.
They end up unconscious, mentally unstable, or dead.
There have even been cases of sexual abuse due to not recognizing true traditional healers.
[17:32 - 18:42] ...among the many peoples of the yagé culture.
They seek out this “companion of the journey,” which is cooked alongside yagé.
The idea is to make a pair—male and female energies.
Yagé alone has its effect too, but in proper order.
This practice:
“Yahel” means “vine of the soul.” Its scientific name is Bannisteriopsis caapi.
[18:40 - 19:19] This vine is mixed with Psychotria viridis, which contains DMT.
The combination of these two chemicals allows DMT to enter the bloodstream, producing what some call an elevation of consciousness.
For the taitas, it’s a process of connection with nature and healing of the mind and body.
As traditional communities discovered this combination, it became a portal of healing and knowledge—a mystery still unresolved. They say...
[19:16 - 20:16] ...that the Earth itself speaks.
Women cannot attend a yagé ceremony while menstruating.
The belief is that this energy can negatively affect the taita and the patients.
We absorb energies, both positive and negative, and release them under the moon.
A clash between feminine and masculine energy could affect the taita’s health—or even cause death to either the taita or the woman.
[20:07 - 21:33]
During a yagé ceremony, we are accompanied by song and music.
The ritual—the song, the rite, the knowledge—allows the healer to help, to harmonize.
They know what they’re speaking to, what they’re seeing—what is visible and invisible.
And all of us...
Yes...
That’s it.
[21:41 - 23:37]
Right...
And the knowledge we follow—the path left by our elders—is meant to continue being taught to new generations.
This is universal. It’s not just what we share or defend for ourselves—it’s for all of humanity.
[23:32 - 24:43] In the case of using this plant as medicine, we hope there will be awareness and recognition of traditional healers—recognized by their people, in the places where they live.
