Songs in the key of life: energy and entropy

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Mystic healing is far from an established profession in the West. And cultural appropriation casts a deep shadow

Irene Lopez, ‘Fantastic Guest’ works available via her site

The western neoshamanism AKA core shamanism movement has gone through its highs and lows since explorers came across ayahuasca in the 1800s.

But there’s a gulf between Instagram ‘shamans’ and the type of grassroots work conducted for example in communities affected by the opioid crisis, where very well-intentioned and ultimately effective healers face risks of incarceration and rupturing their own community relations.

“We’re trying to help somebody, and using our faculties as human beings in order to do that”

How then can mystical healing’s beneficial elements be adopted by western health and wellbeing practitioners?

Apprenticing under an authentic expert would likely involve the path taken by, for example, Reiki healers who are also encouraged to search and wait for the correct master, and may need to prove their dedication upon finding them.

“It’s about real people and some real connection that you might have,” says Dr Tafur, “What opportunities do you have around you? Where are you? Is there somebody in your area where you can explore that?”

There are nonetheless fundamentals to the approach that can be considered. MAPS training assets for example refer to the importance of the therapist exuding ‘loving presence’. And somatic experiencing (which Dr Tafur recommends) coaches are trained to cultivate a ‘neuroceptive aura’ radiating a sense of safety to encourage ‘interoception’ a constructive dialogue between the body, emotions, and conscious thought.

“We’re trying to help somebody, and using our faculties as human beings in order to do that,” is what Dr Tafur distills the healing process down to. During his lecture he was hardly dismissive of authentic western efforts to replicate the process – but it’s essential that these are conducted with an ‘open heart’.

Singing icaros-type songs with substituted words in a shared language is not misguided… as long as it creates the required atmosphere for a mystical healing window to open. Sincerity of feeling is essential, but localised interpretations may be actually more effective than exotic traditional ones.

“Learning something well, then applying it elsewhere is more powerful than just coming up with whatever”

The most graceful nuances of ayahuasca are said to be ontologically lost on outsiders. Occultist Jason Louv points out that eastern spiritual systems like buddhism are guides to living well in different cultures. In response to social media claims that ‘Putin should take ayahuasca’ to end the Ukraine conflict, Shaur-trained shaman and former financier John Perkins recently pointed out that the experience is traditionally believed to make fiercer warriors to highlight how we can’t overlap a different approach entirely onto our own worldview. Tactics specific to western society may have more impact on local patients, if conducted with the same levels of intention, craft and sensitivity.

The “energy” to quote Dr Tafur directly is what is key – its purity of purpose and its intensity. Icaros have an improvised element and he himself will substitute Spanish or English words if required. Nonetheless the language has a vocabulary that is ideal to express the ayahuasca experience, as does the rhythm – but this itself features aspects that might well go over the heads of anyone who can’t claim lineage in the local society and culture.

Equally any expert will tell you that it is best to learn an established system before beginning to develop your own. Dr Tafur feels that his traditional Shipibo education gives his practice, “A strong base. But I’m interested in singing for patients undergoing ketamine therapy for example. So there’s room to mix it up. But there must be a reason why. Is it because it’s better for your patients or just because you don’t like tradition? Learning something well, then applying it elsewhere is more powerful than just coming up with whatever.”

Europeans have been feverishly dreaming up a shamanic culture using both fact and myth for the past few centuries, resulting in for example Wicca. They have also looked to the future in the form of ‘chaos magic’, a method of creating personal spiritual systems based on esoteric techniques passed down the millennia. Even a traditional ‘christian mysticism’ featuring, for example alchemy is in vogue now thanks to writer Damien Echols.

“If this makes you feel special, like you’re right and others are wrong, it’s not working. It’s supposed to make you feel part of something, working together”

All this will still be a massive culture shock for the average agnostic westerner seeking alternative healthcare, especially hipsters raised on Richard Dawkins (who also has his place). But often the psychedelically-active patient will have become curious about these areas allowing for fundamentals to be touched upon at least. In 2015’s Transcendent Mind (see bottom of page) published by the famously orthodox American Psychological Association, Drs Imants Baruss and Julia Mossbridge present serious, rubber-stamped research that pairs ancestor worship with the collective unconscious and (I paraphrase) ‘that way you know your parents are about to call just before the phone rings.’ Refer to that last bit and riff from there…

To end. Experts like Dr Ido Cohen point out that the shamanic path is a calling as opposed to a blessing. Like other (supposedly) rewarding life paths, it comes with its own trials and sacrifices. Dr Tafur says, “if this makes you feel special, like you’re right and others are wrong, it’s not working. It’s supposed to make you feel part of something, working together.”

Women invented chill out DJing

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Abram Hoffer’s wife Rose was in charge of the tunes during Osmond’s 1950s tests

I couldn’t find a picture of Rose Hoffer, Hermina Browne or Helen Bonny in the 1950s so please settle for Delia Derbyshire making one of the earliest and greatest pieces of electronic music in 1962

The soundtrack curated by women for early LSD test remains the template for chill out mixes – plus John Hopkins University (its seven-hour playlist here) and MAPS therapy sessions – today.

After Abram Hoffer’s wife Rose soothed a tripping patient by changing a jarring record to an elegant Bach number, she was thenceforth delegated I/C the tunes. 

Hermina E Browne, director of music therapy at New Jersey State Hospital, began testing music for effectiveness during psychedelic sessions for alcoholics in 1956. Her major innovations were to divide the soundtrack into five thirty-minute parts plus – I love this one – put the music on for half an hour, then turn it off again for the same time. Her playlist categories were:

1 Relaxing to tense

2 Very tense, disturbed with a purpose

3 Solemn, meditative, self-searching, spiritual

4 Relaxing, spiritual

5 Reconciling, restoration of confidence, feeling of hope and faith

Browne passed her findings on to E Thayer Gaston, ‘The Father of Music Therapy’ who eschewed her policy of ‘Five Moods Projected’. Instead he insisted on music ‘familiar’ to the patient. (The handbook says have them ask to change it once, stand ground gently, then cave in if they ask again).

Hermina Browne’s innovation was to put the music on for half an hour, then turn it off again for another thirty minutes

Enter during the 1970s Helen Bonny, who considered music ‘intersubjectively verifiable’ and set out to prove it. Her Maryland Hospital is noted for using four therapists in psychedelic sessions, always including a music therapist.

Bonny’s unpublished research did so, but she’s even better known for conceiving Guided Imagery and Music, the leading form of music therapy in the present day.

Unless you prefer the 2020’s foremost psychedelic tunestress DJ Bus Replacement Service.

Doris Woo AKA DJ Bus Replacement Service