Inka-Riy: medicina andina

ANDEAN MEDICINE

Pachamama’s medicine has very ancient origins. Part of the knowledge have been passed on orally from generations and part of them have been brought back to light by archeological, astronomical and modern linguistic archeological researches and the quality of information that arrived to the modern world make us understand the wide development of the Andean art.

During the Spanish invasion in 1533, many wise men, priests, scientists and artists, holders of the great knowledge of this medicine, destroyed the records of the foundations of such knowledge that had been turned into coded message painted on wood and also preserved in the form of Khipus (strings on which they had recorded their knowledge through a knotty alphanumeric system). Fanaticism and ignorance didn’t allow the invaders to understand that they were about to destroy a great knowledge.

Some Spanish chroniclers, at that time, begun to record the few information left over right after the destruction. On the evidence they had collected, it was possible to read their judgment on the ancient Peruvians, that they had described as savages and holders of medical empirical knowledge and so declared that the Spanish medicine was far above the one of the defeated population.

During the XX century, archeologists, anthropologists and gastronomists showed interest in the Andean culture and thanks to the modern researches (carbon 14, x rays, infra-red film, magnetic resonance imaging, computerized programs, spectrography, etc…), the truth about the great Andean medicine was brought back to light: The Spanish had destroyed a great culture but had especially underestimated a great medicine.

The Peruvian medicine’s father had been Wiracocha Imaymana, as well as Hippocrates had been the father of the Western medicine.

The ancient Peruvian medicine considered the man in an holistic way, not only from a physical point of view but also instinctual, emotional, spiritual by giving importance even to his thoughts and studies the relation between the man and his inner Nature and the man and his outer Nature. The Peruvian doctors, called Hampi Kamayoq, studied how the outer nature’s expressions might have had an influence on men for instance, Hanan, like the sun, the moon, the cosmic energy and telluric energy. They knew that the earth, the air and water had great influence on the healing process or disease forming.

TheHurin is the inner Nature and consists of three different levels:

1. The instinctive world
2. The emotional world
3. The world of thought.

There was a very good harmonious balance between the above levels. Only when this good relation had been upset, the balance between (Hanan) outer nature and (Hurin) inner nature would break. The right balance between the inner and outer nature was translated into health (Qhali), on the other hand the discordance between the two would translate into (Onqoy) sign of disease.

They also knew the energy called Kallpa, equivalent to an electromagnetic energy, that permeates all human beings and nature. For this reason they would use many symbols in order to describe the energy: Yllapa (lightning) for electromagnetic energy and K'uychi(rainbow) to describe the different vibrations of that energy.

The "Hampi Kamayoq", The “Hampi Kamayoq” men of medicine, a part from the attentive observation of the patient, they also used premonition, clairvoyance, and telepathy but mainly, in order to come up with a good diagnosis, they used intuition. They consulted their knowledge on biochemistry and biophysics to prepare medical remedies and also used herbal-medicine, mineralogy, zoology, psychotherapy, chromo therapy, aromatherapy, extrasensory perception, physiotherapy, hypnosis, power of massage, journeys in time and space and also art-therapy (singing, dancing and music), all in order to solve physical, mental and spiritual problems and help the patient to reestablish the important balance between the inner and outer nature. The Hampi Kamayoq believe that all disease would be triggered off by a spiritual disorder first then mental and finally from a physical one.

There were three different ways to become a Hampi Kamayoq:

1. Look for a curandero and ask him to teach you the techniques.
2. Go to a local village and live a close contact with the curanderos
3. Lead your life as a researcher for the laws of nature until you are called by the wise men.

Quapaqkuna: "When the pupil is ready, the teacher comes", it comes in the form of a lightning or a tornado or disease.
The apprenticeship lasted for many years. The students learnt under the guidance of great men who passed on their knowledge onto the students one by one. This way the student begun to learned the simple cures and as time was passing he would also learn how to use the extrasensory powers, mechanisms of life, death, the energy and art paths to reestablish balance within a person.

Taken from the book: The curandera’s Prophecy
According to an ancient belief, men and women who had been hit by lightning were destined to become curanderos. This was linked to the Pachamama’s medicine that was put into practice by healers like the Hampi Kamayoq. Although this practice wasn’t very popular, it was still practiced in some communities. In Tawantinsuyo’ s society for instance, organized according to a technical distribution of work, heath problems were left to skilled and capable people. For this reason the doctor was considered like the wise man. Since the tasks he had to bring forward wasn’t simple, he also had to be in possession of special qualities and a strong personality. He didn’t limit himself to just cure the single patients but also to face calamities and epidemics that would affect animals and plants and during times of drought, they would ask Nature for rain. For this reason the Hampi Kamayoq was surrounded by a glow of mystery and power. He had great skills high above standard like imagination, common sense, abstraction and observation and belonged to a specific social class well integrated within the social nucleus. Centuries ago, The Hampi Kamayokua they would gather in congregations to whom they were given the secret formulas, rituals and healing techniques. They would receive a complete and specific training, from a theoretic point of view but also practical and almost always they belonged to the priestly order. The rigid initiation process would start with Wamaq. They would also undertake fasts, deprivations of any sort, resistance tests, physical and mental exercises ma most of all they were taught to get rid of fear of the unknown. Their diet was mostly vegetarian and included the consumption of herbs, roots, fruits and mainly maize grains. They were not allowed to consume meat nor fish and couldn’t drink alcoholic drinks. Their apprenticeship was rigorous and difficult. Their goal was to reach physical and mental control. They lived in secluded places, organized in small groups led by a Amauta, in other words by a wise man able to explain to the students about mysteries and human phenomena. They also had to learn the past of their ancestors, legends, myths and also know the festivities and ceremonies during which various methods of healing were passed on. Fasting shouldn’t have caused them problems and it was compulsory for them to take part in rituals that were celebrated every year in order to purify the body. The future healers had to absorb a deep knowledge, understand the healing power of herbal medicines, amulets and messages to reach full comprehension of the visible world. Whoever was assimilating this knowledge and accepted those traditions, they were finally recognized as Hampi Kamayaq. Amongst them there were some who could know the past, present and future by simply using Coca’s leaves, maze’s grains or innards of animals, especially from the guinea-pig species. Some others could come in contact with forces of nature and could communicate with lightning, with the sun and the moon. Some could even talk to the ancestors’ spirits and others to the Apukuna, the spirits, protectors of men.

The main goal of the medicine men was to help live a better life in harmony or, when the cycle of life had come to an end, they would help to take a journey towards a different dimension, death, in peace without sufferance. For this reason those men were also priests. The Peruvian medicine was mainly a preventive medicine, and it was very important to give out the right information about a good nutrition and positive thinking.

To have more information: "Curanderos on the Andes".