Benjamin Ochavano is a traditional Shipibo Muraya in his late eighties, renowned for his beautiful chants (icaros) in the Shipibo language. He shares insights from his early life as a shaman, including his rigorous plant dieting and spiritual training under his father and uncle. Ochavano emphasizes the importance of the medicinal plants from the Amazon for healing and personal growth, while advocating for cultural exchange between Westerners and indigenous communities.

1. BENJAMIN OCHAVANO
SHIPIBO MURAYA INTERVIEWED
Benjamin Ochavano Is a traditional Shipibo
Muraya .He is in his late eighties, and his
chants (icaros) sung in the Shipibo
language are extraordinary beautiful with a
powerful and extensive vocal range.
Interview by:
Peter Cloudsley & Howard G Charing
2002
Authors of ‘The Ayahuasca Visions of
Pablo Amaringo’ (Inner Traditions USA)
www.ayahuascavisions.com
1 (c) Howard G Charing & Peter Cloudsley

2. BENJAMIN OCHAVANO – SHIPIBO MURAYA INTERVIEWED
Note: This interview was with Peter Cloudsley and Howard G Charing on the Rio
Tamishaku in 2002. The article has been revised to include end notes, plant
classifications, and some additional photos. I last met up with Benjamin in Pisaq
January 2010, he still looking strong and very robust – he is in his late eighties!
Benjamin is holding ayahuasca ceremonies in the Cuzco area, and if anyone has an
opportunity to drink with this traditional Shipibo Muraya and Palero and hear his
amazing icaros – go for it! – Howard.
Benjamin Ochavano Is a traditional Shipibo Muraya .He is in his late eighties,
and his chants (icaros) sung in the Shipibo language are extraordinary beautiful
and with a powerful and extensive vocal range.
I first started taking ayahuasca at the
age of ten, with my father, who was
also a shaman. When I was fifteen,
he took me into the selva to do plant
diets, nobody would see us for a
whole year, and we had no contact
with women, nothing. We lived in a
simple tambo sleeping on leaves with
just a sheet over us. We dieted the
plants: ayahuma i, puchatekicaspi,
pucalupuna ii, huairacaspi iii , verenaquu.
I would take each plant for two
months before moving on to the
next, a whole year without women!
The only fish allowed is bocachicoiv ( a
vegetarian fish), and mashed
plantains made into a thick drink
called pururuco in Shipibo, or chapo (a
drink made from bananas) without
sugar.
Then I had about a year’s rest before going again with my uncle, Jose Sánchez,
for another year and seven months of dieting on the little Rio Pisqui. He taught
me a lot and gave me chonta, cascabelv Jergon vi, nacanaca, cayucayu. He was a
chontero, a shaman a specialist working with darts (in the spiritual world) – so
2 (c) Howard G Charing & Peter Cloudsley

3. called because real darts and arrows for hunting are made from the black
splintery bamboo called chonta. A chontero can send darts with positive effects
like knowledge and power too, and he knows how to suck and remove
poisoned darts which have caused illness or evil spells. To finish off he gave me
chullachaqui caspivii. Then I began living with my wife and working as a curandero
in Juancito on the Ucayali. Later I went to Pucallpa where I still live some of the
time when I’m not in my community of Paoyhan, where my Ani Sheati project
is.
The most important planta maestra is
Ayahuma, Chullachaqui Caspi, Then
Pucalapuna (Quechua) the bark of a tree
which grows to 40 or 50 meters high. This is
one of a number of palosviii that are
consumed together with tobacco and is so
strong, you only need to take it two times. It
requires a diet of 6 month. You drink it in
the morning, then lie down, you are in an
altered state for a whole day afterwards.
Another plant is Catahuaix, you must be sure
that no one sees you while you take it. It
puts you into a sleep of powerful dreams.
Ajosquiro x is from a tree which grows to 20
metres high, with a penetrating aroma like
garlic. It gives you mental strength, it is very healing and makes you strong. It
takes away lazy feelings, gives you courage and self esteem, but can be used to
explore the negative side as well as the positive. You can be alone in the
wilderness yet feel in the company of many. It puts you into the psychomagical
world which we have inherited from our ancestors, the great Murayas xi so you
can gain knowledge of how to heal with plants.
3 (c) Howard G Charing & Peter Cloudsley

4. The word ‘shamanxii’ is
recent in the Amazon, my
father was known as a
Muraya or banco, or in
Spanish curandero. A
curandero could specialize in
being a good chontero or a
shitanero who does harm to
people. Virjilio Salvan, who is
dead now, introduced me to
a plant which he said was
better than any other plant ‐
Palo Borrador, maestro de
todos los palos (master palero). You smoke it in a pipe for 8 days, blowing the
smoke over your body. On the eighth day a man appears, as real as we are, a
Shipibo. He was a chaicunixiii ‐ an enchanted being in traditional dress, a
cushma xiv or woven tunic, chaquira xv necklace, and so on, and he said to me
‘Benjamin, why have you smoked my tree?’‘Because I want to learn’ I said.
‘Ever since I was little I wanted to be a Muraya’ ‘You must diet and smoke my
tree for 3 months, no more’ he said. ‘And you can eat whatever fish you like…it
won’t matter’ … and he listed all the fish I could eat. ‘But you must not sleep
with any woman other than your wife’ he said. And I’ve followed this advice
until today. Three nights later, sounds could be heard from under the ground
and big holes opened up and the wind blew. Then everyone, all the family
began to fly. And from that day I was a muraya. Even today I still fast on
Sundays .
What do you think about Westerners coming to take plants in the
Amazon?
It is a good thing for them to come and learn, for us to share and for there to
be an interchange. This is what I would like to do in my community of Paoyhan.
But the Ecuadorians stole our outboard motor.
How could the plants of the Amazon help people of the West?
It can open up the mind so we can find ways to help each other. It can help
them find more realization in life. If a person is very shy for example it can help
warm their hearts, give them strength and courage. You have a different
system in your countries, when we travel there we feel underrated just as
when you come here you have to get accustomed to being here. When we get
4 (c) Howard G Charing & Peter Cloudsley

5. to know each other and become like brothers, solutions emerge. To get rid of
vices and drug addictions, for example, there are plants which can easily heal
people. Pene de mono is a thick tree, which I have used to cure two foreign
women of AIDS. The name means ‘monkey’s penis’. I saw in my ayahuasca
vision that they were ill and diagnosed them as having AIDS. I boiled the bark
of the tree and made 6 bottles which they took each day until it was finished.
They had to go on a diet as well. No fish with teeth, salt, fruit or butter. The
fish with teeth eat the plant so it cannot penetrate into the body. After this
you get so hot that steam comes off the body. In the selva there is no AIDS,
only some cases in the city of Pucallpa.
i
Ayahuma: Couroupita guianensis, a tree with large fruit. Ayahuma in Quechua means “head
of a dead person,” or “spirit head.” It is an important tree for a palero to diet, and the thick
bark and seeds are used by curanderos to protect against brujeria.
ii
Pucalupuna: Cavanillesia umbellata, or Cavanillesia hylogeiton. Puka or puca is the word for
“red” in Quechua. It is the most formidable tree from which a palero can learn and gain
mastery. It requires a demanding diet in isolation over a period of many months. The
power of this tree is used by both curanderos and sorcerers.
iii
Huairacaspi (Cedrelinga cataneiformis)
v
Ayahuasca cascabel (rattle) is a rare variety with very powerful effects. It gives visions in
red and is used by shamans to heal and cleanse a person suffering from malign sorcery.
(Source Pablo Amaringo: The Ayahuasca Visions of Pablo Amaringo).
Jergon Sacha (Dracontium loretense / peruviuanum). The large tuber of the plant is a
vi
well known and effective antidote for the bite of venomous snakes.
vii
Chullachaqui caspi (Remijia peruviana).
Palos: The roots, bark, and resin of trees (typically, the larger hardwood varieties), which
viii
are prepared and taken in the context of a diet. Shamans who specialize in these are known
as paleros.
ix
Catahua (Hura crepitans). is one of the strongest palos and its mastery requires a long and
demanding diet. When boiled with tobacco, the resin provokes powerful dreams.
x
Ajosquiro (Cordia alliodora), a tree that can be used for malevolent sorcery. A curandero
must diet with this tree to learn its icaro in order to heal dano caused by sorcery.
xi
Muraya: A Shipibo term denoting one of the grades of a vegetalista. Pablo |Amaringo
states that a muraya is an accomplished maestro with dominion over the subaquatic realm,
and is able to live underwater.
5 (c) Howard G Charing & Peter Cloudsley

6. xi
Bocachico (P. Nigricans)
Shaman: The term “shaman,” or in Peru chaman, originates from the Turkic Asiatic
xii
word šaman. The term “shaman” is a recent Western import into the Amazon in the past
thirty years or so. In the Amazonian tradition there are many specializations and categories.
The traditional generic term would be vegetalista, which denotes they have received their
power from the plant kingdom. There are many sub-specializations of the vegetalista, for
example:
Palero: Specialist in the bark and roots of trees
Perfumero: Specialist in the perfumes of plants and flowers
Ayahuasquero: Specialist in ayahuasca
Chontero: Specialist in chonta (darts)
xiii
Chaicuni: ancestral spirits of the Shipibo
xiv
Cushma: A traditional, loose-fitting woven cotton tunic. A Shipibo cushma is usually
white cotton decorated with Shipibo geometric patterns.
xv
Chaquira: Typically a necklace or bracelet made from small seeds or coloured beeds.
6 (c) Howard G Charing & Peter Cloudsley