Icaro

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Don Solon Tello singing an icaro to a child in a traditional medicine ritual in the northern Amazon of Peru Don Solon Tello ikareando a nino - Foto Jaime Torres Romero, Archivo Centro Takiwasi.jpg
Don Solón Tello singing an icaro to a child in a traditional medicine ritual in the northern Amazon of Peru

Icaro (Quechua : ikaro) is a South American indigenous and mestizo colloquialism for magic song. [1] Today, this term is commonly used to describe the medicine songs performed in vegetal ceremonies, especially by shamans in ayahuasca ceremonies. [2] [3]

Contents

Each Amazonian ethnic group has a specific term for this type of generic magical song: for example, eshuva for the Huachipaire people, [4] meye for the Piaroa, [5] mariri for the Kokama, [6] or rao bewá for the Shipibo. [7]

Etymology

The word icaro is believed to derive from the Quechua verb ikaray, which means "to blow smoke in order to heal". [8]

In healing ceremonies

Medicine songs

Amazonian shaman. Pwanchir Pitu, Shaman et chef spirituel du peuple Achuar.jpg
Amazonian shaman.

Icaro is most commonly used to describe the medicine songs used by shamans in healing ceremonies, such as with the psychedelic brew ayahuasca. Traditionally, these songs can be performed by whistling, singing with the voice or vocables, or playing an instrument such as the didgeridoo or flute. [9]

Traditionally, icaros may come to a shaman during a ceremony, be passed down from previous lineages of healers, or come to a shaman during a 'dieta' where plant spirits are believed to teach icaros to the shaman directly. The singing or whistling of icaros is sometimes accompanied by a chakapa, a rattle of bundled leaves. [10] Due to the complexity of certain performance techniques, it may take many years to learn certain icaros, and experienced shamans may be able to recite hundreds of them. [11]

Therapeutic applications and institutional use

Beyond traditional contexts, icaros have been incorporated into modern therapeutic settings that combine Amazonian medicine and psychotherapy. The Takiwasi Center, located in Tarapoto, Peru, was founded in 1992 and is a non-profit therapeutic community that integrates Amazonian plant-based rituals, including ayahuasca ceremonies accompanied by icaros, into treatment for substance addiction. At Takiwasi, icaros are described as musical elements used by healers (curanderos) to "charge" objects or potions during vegetal medicine rituals. [12] A recent interpretive phenomenological study of participants undergoing treatment at the center found that these icaros contributed to participants' emotional regulation and guided their experience of the altered state induced by ayahuasca. The study concluded that icaros may play a significant role in how ritual and music combine in therapeutic-healing settings. [13]

Types of Icaros

Different kinds of icaros are used across indigenous Amazonian and mestizo traditions, often serving specific ritual or symbolic purposes. Ethnographic sources document a variety of icaros with distinct functions and names depending on the region or language group. In Quechua and Shipibo-Konibo traditions: [14]

Symbolic and mythological associations

In Amazonian cosmology, icaros are often intertwined with the mythological landscape of spirits, animals, and elemental forces. Yacumama (Quechua: yaku meaning water, mama meaning mother) is a giant serpent spirit considered the "Mother of the Waters" and is believed to inhabit rivers and lakes as the guardian of aquatic realms. While specific icaros explicitly dedicated to Yacumama are less frequently documented, the presence of figures such as these in Amazonian ritual songs show the embedding of icaros within broader ecological and mythical frameworks. [15]

References

  1. ↑ Nicole., Maxwell (1990-01-01). Witch doctor's apprentice : hunting for medicinal plants in the Amazon . MJF Books. ISBN   1567313035. OCLC   42683849.
  2. ↑ Pratt, Christina (2007). Ency of Shamanism. The Rosen Publishing Group. p. 220. ISBN   9781404210400.
  3. ↑ Luna, Luis Eduardo (1986). Vegetalismo (Stockholm Studies in Comparative Religion). Almqvist & Wiksell Internat. ISBN   91-22-00819-5.
  4. ↑ "Eshuva, Harákmbut sung prayers of Peru's Huachipaire people - intangible heritage - Culture Sector - UNESCO". www.unesco.org. Retrieved 2016-01-18.
  5. ↑ Rodd, Robin; Sumabila, Arelis (2011-03-28). "Yopo, Ethnicity and Social Change: A Comparative Analysis of Piaroa and Cuiva Yopo Use" . Journal of Psychoactive Drugs. 43 (1): 36–45. doi:10.1080/02791072.2011.566499. ISSN   0279-1072. PMID   21615006.
  6. ↑ Brabec de Mori, Bernd (2011). "Tracing Hallucinations: Contributing to a Critical Ethnohistory of Ayahuasca Usage in the Peruvian Amazon". In Jungaberle, Hendrik; Labate, Beatriz C. (eds.). The internationalization of Ayahuasca. Zurich: LIT-Verlag. p. 34. ISBN   978-3-643-90148-4.
  7. ↑ Favaron, Pedro; Bensho, Chonon (2022-07-01). "Rao bewa: los cantos medicinales del pueblo shipibo-konibo". Literatura: Teoría, historia, crítica. 24 (2): 139–165. doi: 10.15446/lthc.v24n2.102082 . ISSN   2256-5450.
  8. ↑ Berlowitz, Ilana; O'Shaughnessy, David M.; Heinrich, Michael; Wolf, Ursula; Maake, Caroline; Martin-Soelch, Chantal (2022-03-25). "Teacher plants — Indigenous Peruvian-Amazonian dietary practices as a method for using psychoactives". Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 286 114910. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2021.114910. ISSN   0378-8741. PMID   34933085.
  9. ↑ O'Shaughnessy, David M.; Berlowitz, Ilana (2021). "Amazonian Medicine and the Psychedelic Revival: Considering the "Dieta"". Frontiers in Pharmacology. 12 639124. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2021.639124 . ISSN   1663-9812. PMC   8210416 . PMID   34149407.
  10. ↑ Beyer, Stephan V. (2009). Singing to the Plants: A Guide to Mestizo Shamanism in the Upper Amazon. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. ISBN   978-0-8263-4729-9. some songs, such as calling in the spirit of ayahuasca at the start of a ceremony, are performed without rhythmic accompaniment, while healings are all performed with the shacapa.
  11. ↑ Rozendal, Keith. "Meet Mother Ayahuasca" . Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  12. ↑ Cuya, Martín Huamán. "Icaro Song - Takiwasi Center". www.takiwasi.com. Archived from the original on 2025-07-07. Retrieved 2025-11-11.
  13. ↑ Hanks, Micah (2022-12-28). "Ayahuasca's Plant-Based Healing Effects May Be Enhanced by Traditional Music, New Research Shows". The Debrief. Retrieved 2025-11-11.
  14. ↑ "Ikaro", Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre (in Spanish), 2023-12-20, retrieved 2025-11-11
  15. ↑ Zengiaro, Nicola; Jaramillo, Tatiana J. (2025-02-26). "Mythology and Zoosemiotics: Exploring Snake Narratives in Greek, Aztec, and Amazonian Cultures". Biosemiotics. doi:10.1007/s12304-025-09598-x. ISSN   1875-1350.
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