“Revivir a la gente”: Herlinda Agustín, onaya del pueblo Shipibo-Konibo
Luisa Elvira Belaúnde
July 1, 2015 DOI: 10.15446/ma.v6n2.54498 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Interview |
|---|---|
| Key points | The interview portrays Herlinda Agustin's account of becoming a Shipibo-Konibo onaya through massages and diets before healing with ayahuasca after her last child's birth. She describes her practice as tied to supporting her children's education and argues that spiritual, bodily, and emotional self-protection was essential to reconciling motherhood with shamanism and preventing harm to her children and close kin. |
Abstract
The paper presents an interview with Herlinda Agustin, a renowned Shipibo-Konibo onaya (“doctor”) and kene artist who died in 2010. It describes the learning path that took her from massages and diets to healing with ayahuasca, after the birth of her last child. Herlinda saw her career as intrinsically related to her desire to look after her children and to generate an income to sustain their education in the cities. She also had an acute perception of her power and vulnerability as a female curandera . In her views, the need to protect herself spiritually, bodily and emotionally in order to reconcile maternity with shamanism, went beyond an individual matter since it was adamant to manage the risk of illness inherent to the shamanic practice and to avoid bringing damage to her own kids and close kin.