Rituals

Hi! I’m Mariska and I’m studying Cultural Anthropology at Utrecht University. Currently I am doing fieldwork for my thesis in Ecuador as participant of the River Commons program. I got to visit a jungle community and experience an interesting ritual that I would like to share with you.

Lessons learnt in dreams

My alarm goes of but I’m already awake. 2:54. I’m trying hard to recall my dreams. I quickly drink a glass of water, grab my scarf and walk barefoot from my hut, across the jungle path to la Casa de Fuego, the fire house. My eyes are still getting used to the dark when Luis (pseudonym) opens the door and says “bienvenido”. Together with the other two guests, I sit down around the fire while Luis starts to hand-out the traditional guayusa tea. We’re invited to a ritual, aimed at finding lessons for the coming day from our dreams. The tea, made from leaves in the garden, is to purify our bodies and mind, and to awaken our spiritual soul. We clean our arms, legs and face with it before drinking what is left in our cups. The fire we’re sitting around is perceived as life. Without fire there is no us, Luis says. He walks in a circle around us with a mix of burning plants in his hands and speaks words I cannot understand. The smell is wonderful and I feel safe.

Am I still dreaming?

One by one we share the bits and pieces we remember from our dreams. Before telling us how he interprets them, he asks us what meaning we find in them. The fire is there to take all the bad and good parts of our dreams, all are allowed to be there, we just have to listen carefully. Based on our dreams, we decide on our intentions for the day, what we will do today, and what things we might better leave for another time.
There is space to share hopes, dreams, ideas and thoughts. We sing a few songs, laugh, cry and sit in silence.

Then its time to offer the oldest man of the family, Carlos (pseudonym), a cup of the guayusa tea. All together we walk towards his hut and friendly but loudly we jointly call him with words in their local language which I do not recall. He opens the door and jokingly says, in his language, “You are crazy, since when have you been awake?” He cleans himself and drinks the tea before wishing us a good day.

River as part of a ritual

Then it’s time for the last part of the ritual, it’s time to go to the river. It’s only a 3-minute walk from la Casa de Fuego but the path is slippery. The water is cold. As quickly as we get in, as quickly do we want to get out. But we have to wait. Until the birds start to sing. Just as fire, the water of the river is perceived as life and we have to interact with it as a way of cleaning our bodies and souls. When we hear the first birds, we hold hands and thank the Earth for this moment, and each other for being together.

I had the honour to join this ritual in one of the Kichwa communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon.