CITY - Issue 60 - (Page 52)

CITY LIFE:Diary Spirit Journey CITY’s fashion director goes on a shamanic exploration in Peru By Julie Ragolia / Photography by Vincent Skeltis I f one word could explain the Peruvian jungle — it’s surrender. Surende you body and you mind. Su ende you love and you defenses. Su ende all judgment; she is bigge than you. My ﬁ st night the e was spent in a th ee-foot high and th ee-foot wide felt tent, half-naked, seated on the jungle ea th, b eathing in smoke in complete da kness. My ﬁ st instinct was that I was ALFREDO, JUST BEFORE going to die. I needed to ﬂee. Each gasp fo ai MY FIRST AYAHUASCA seemed ha de than the next. Su ende . I took a CEREMONY deep b eath and accepted the expe ience, whateve might happen next. Sometime late the doo to the tent was opened. I was cleansed. I was still b eathing. I was eady fo the jou ney ahead. This t ip began fo me as esea ch. I am a fashion edito who ﬁ nds most of my inspi ation fo sto ies in the a t wo ld. I had developed a cu iosity about shamanism a e eading an is-it- eal-o is-it-ﬁction int oduction to Joseph Beuys’ wo ks, as well as in getting to know ce tain contempoa y a tists such as Matthew Stone, Te ence Koh, and B onson — all of whom have explo ed shamanic expe iences in thei a two k, in one way o anothe . I thought that if something was speaking to my inte est f om the a t wo ld, something equally elevant would soon be visible in the fashion wo ld. I wanted to be ahead of my assumption; I wanted to c eate that visibility myself. So I gathe ed a photog aphe , my Wellies, some ugged and light clothes, and set fo th to Onanyan Shobo, a wonde ful place nestled in the mazon, a st etch of time on di t oad away f om elect icity, phones, Inte net, and any othe Weste n convention of which I eadily let go of once I ente ed its g aces. I slept well that ﬁ st night, acceptance still seeping f om all ends as I lay beneath the sta s. I felt the comfo ting sensation of being watched. Pe haps it was in anticipation of things to come, but the p esence of spi it seemed eve ywhe e a ound me. nd befo e I could analyze the thought any fu the , the ooste was c owing to signal mo ning. If anothe wo d could explain the Pe uvian jungle, it’s patience. I set out at 6 a.m. to assist my shamans as they p epa ed ayahuasca, a sac ed tea b ewed f om the ba k of the ayahuasca plant that, by d inking in ce emony late that night, would enable us to ente the spi it wo ld. It is a ﬁve-hou p ocess in which you basically watch a pot boil. It is said that you can get a sense of what to expect f om the b ew by watching the way the bubbles fo m. nd, so, as I an oﬀ to attend to va ious dist actions, while my shamans sat patiently in the sun, waiting. Now would be a good time to int oduce my shamans, as these two men will fo eve play a signiﬁcant ole in my life as a esult of this expe ience. lf edo and Ma iano a e the pat ia chs of the Ga cia Rami ez family, of the Shipibo-Conibo, a 5,000-membe t ibe who eside along the uppe eaches of the mazon, fo whom ancient itual and plants a e a way of life, and who g aciously opened up thei g ounds to teach me the ways of natu e and spi itual union. They wake with the sun, sleep with the dusk and laugh mo e than anyone I’ve eve met. One time in council with lf edo (always a challenge to my Spanish), he said it was his goal that I etu n to New o k happie than I’ve eve been, and that I emain as such. If I can uphold even one tenth of the joy and cha m that he took to eve ything, then his goal and mine will have been accomplished many times ove . I felt kinship with these men f om the moment I met them. They knew less of my wo ld than I knew of thei s, but when night fell, and it was time fo my fi st ayahuasca ce emony, I knew I was in safe hands. When lf edo, d essed in t aditional caftan and co ona, handed me a cup of ayahuasca, I looked I felt kinship with these men from the moment I met them. They knew less of my world than I knew of theirs, but when night fell, and it was time for my first ayahuasca ceremony, I knew I was in safe hands

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CITY - Issue 60

CITY - Issue 60 Contents Our Friends Action Wanted City Moment In Rogue Luscious Life Temporary Contemporary Fast Food Diary Leona Naess Matthew Stone Henrik V Ibskov Massimiliano Nogioni Young Bloods Keys to the Ferarri Fine Craftsmanship The New Frontier Conscious Evolution New World Order Spiral Casual Fridays Where to Buy It Cityscape

CITY - Issue 60

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