Javier DaSilva Healing a Patient
About Shamanism
Q: Shamanism is an ancient practice by means of which one connects with other worlds, other dimensions, and spiritual beings. Shamanism is practiced all over the world – in North and South America, Africa, Europe, India, and Asia.
Very often shamans receive their powers from the spirits of nature. For example, Russian shamans receive power from the sacred Oak trees, and Korean shamans receive power from the Mountain Spirits. In the same way, the shamans of South America receive their healing powers from the spirits of the trees and plants as well as from the guardians of the forest – the mythological Chulachaqui, Mayantu, etc.
About our Maestros’ Shamanic Approach
Javier and Juan work with many types of spirits and energies. Like most Amazonian curanderos, they work with the plant spirits and the spirits of the forest. They have gained control over these spirits by means of rigorous dieting in the jungle.
They also work with the mythological and yet real gurdian spirits of the forest and the rivers. This includes Mayntu and Chulachaqui, Mermaids, Giant Boas, etc. Sometimes, these spirits can be clearly seen either in visions or with eyes wide open during ceremonies.
Javier and Juan also work with Divine beings, such as Christian saints, the Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ, angels, and the Holy Spirit. Whether you believe in the Christian tradition or not, the energies of these beings can be strongly felt when they are called, and they produce powerful healing.
In addition to the Christian tradition, both our maestros sometimes work with the energies of the Buddha and of the masters of Yoga, as well as with the Rosa Crucian spiritual order. They have the knowledge of chackras and can awaken them through icaros. After a session where the Buddha was called, I returned home and was taught by the Buddha how to meditate properly. Another prticipant saw a light surrounding Javier with sanskrit letters written inside it while he worked with the powers of yoga.
Our maestros also have control over the five elements – water, earth, forest, air, and fire. They often heal with the power of the elemental spirits. Finally, Both maestros are mediums, and they often chanell ancient indian shamans, spiritual beings, and spirits of the land and water.
Typical Bungalow
Q: I am considering coming to the center for healing. What are the accommodations like? What is included?
A: At the center, you will be housed either in a private bungalow or a shared one, depending on your preference and availability. Each house has a bathroom nearby, and most bungalows are positioned near a stream or a river for bathing. At the moment, there is no electricity at the center. The houses come with basic furnishings – a bed, a chair, shelves, a lamp and a hammock. If you need anything else, just ask. Food is included with your price, and we accommodate any diet – vegetarian, etc.
If staying at the center is impossible or difficult for you, another option is to get a room in the city and come for daily healings at Javier’s house.
Q: I am really interested in this work, but I have no job, and only a little money. Am I welcome at the center?
A: Although we would like to make healing available to everyone, there are certain basic expenses that we have to meet. These include maintenance of the center, paying the workers and guardians, and your food and water. If you contact us and let us know your situation, we can be very flexible with the prices.
We welcome people who are short of money but have valulable skills to work with us on an exchange basis. Please write to Andrew if interested.
Q: Is Iquitos a safe place? Am I safe at the center?
A: Iquitos is one of the safest places I know. It feels reallu comfortable, and there is hardly any violent crime. The center is also extremely safe. It is fully mosquito netted and regularly bug sprayed. The people working for us are all part of our family – not paid strangers. For this reason, there are no thefts on the campus. Nevertheless, we reccomend leaving you valulables and fragile electronic items in Iquitos. You can leave them at Javier’s house very safely.
Q: How do I know that my illness will be healed?
A: Faith is a very important factor in successful healing. Spiritual healing is not a sort of placebo effect, but without faith, your progress will be severely undermined. Successful healings have a common feature: the patient wants to heal, has faith in the healer, and follows the instructions given. If you fit this description, your healing will almost certainly be successful.
The sign marking the entrance at KM 50
Getting to the Center
Q: How do I get to the center?
A: If you write to us well before arriving and pay your deposit, we will confirm your place at the temple and meet you at the airport. If you have not arranged for us to meet you, you can go to the center directly, any day of the week.
The Temple is located in the El Huambe district (pronounced Wum-bay), on KM 50 of the road from Iquitos to Nauta. To get there, you can take a “collectivo” (mini van, 3 soles) or private taxi (20 soles). Both leave from Belen market.
Tell the taxi or minivan driver to take you to “Wum-bay” or “kilometro cinquenta”
You will see a large sign reading “El Huambe” on your right.
Walk past the sign and follow the path 45-60 minutes (about 3 km), without making any turns. You will see the orange cross that marks the entrance to our center on your left.
Entrance to the property
Plant Diets
In the Amazonian Shamanism tradition, plants are seen as intelligent beings. Many of the plants in the Amazon are powerful spirits that have many things to teach us and many powers to give us. In taking these teacher plants during a period of abstinence from particular foods, an individual embarks on a special retreat, also known as “La Dieta”,or the plant diet.
At the Temple of Inner Peace, we offer several types of Healing Retreats. The minimum time for a retreat is 1 week, but we recommend 10 day or 14 day retreats in order to fully receive the benefits of the Amazon environment.
Retreats can also be ongoing up to one month or more, depending on the person’s needs and the depth of the problem. During the retreat, the participant takes one or more medicinal remedies, made from fresh jungle plants by the healer-shaman. “La Dieta” requires that the participant abstain from the intake of certain foods that hinder the healing process – red meat and pork, eggs, all fats and oils, sugar, salt, spices and alcohol – and also requires abstinence from any sexual activity until the end of the treatment.
Depending on the plant one is partaking, the diet can have more or fewer restrictions. Some spirits require us to eat only one meal a day, others require total abstinence from food (fasting). The participant always has a choice as to how strong the diet will be, but in general, the more one sacrifices the greater are the rewards.
Detoxification
The jungle retreat is an opportunity to detoxify and simplify your mind and your life, strengthen your body, and connect to the spiritual realms. A retreat can be quite challenging, but always rewarding. Maestro Javier DaSilva always says “you have to give from your part”.
To give from your part means to keep focused on what you want to achieve, and to not get distracted by doubts, fears, and thoughts irrelevant to your healing. The jungle environment is very natural and very quiet. Because of this, the first few days are often days of adjustment. Our busy minds are addicted to the distractions and frenzy of city life, and often go on overdrive during a retreat. It is normal to feel strange emotions during the first 2-4 days. Our addictions to various foods can also intensify this process.
If you have doubts, fears, anxieties, worries and so on, remember that it is normal and quite common, and that it will pass. The best thing to do is to stay calm and have faith. Remember that our shamans Javier and Juan are there for you, so don’t hesitate to tell them of what you are feeling or thinking. Their wisdom can often shed a new light on a situation.
After the period of adjustment is finished, most people feels very much at peace and very happy.
Spirits
Maestro Javier DaSilva is a commander of spirits. He doesn’t do everything himself, but has a legion of spiritual beings (he says more than 10 000 of them) under his command. These spirits obey his commands and continue working with Javier’s patients, whether he is there or not. Therefore, once Javier diagnoses a patient’s problem and assigns spirits to work with that person, the healing continues even in Javier’s absence. Javier says that his spirits are doctors and healers of the past – including powerful Indians, citizens of the lost city of Atlantis, and spirits that dwell in the water, land, forests, and air.
There are also spirits of the forest itself, which live on the territory of the Temple. Sometimes our shaman’s channel these spirits and the participants have an opportunity to talk with them and ask them questions. These spirits can also sometimes be seen during ceremonies – either with eyes open or with eyes closed. It often happens that the spirits of the forest bestow spiritual gifts on the persons staying in the center. If this happens, Javier and Juan will inform you. The spirits reward people based on the purity of their hearts and the sincerity of their efforts.
Dreams
The spirit doctors and forest spirits often work through dreams. It is highly recommended to write down whatever dreams one has and to share them with Javier or Juan. Even the dreams that seem ordinary and mundane have deeper spiritual meanings in the context of the jungle retreat.
In general, dreams of the past signify the release of the past. Javier says that the things we dream about our past during the period of retreat are removed forever.
While we may see people we know in dreams, it is usually the case that what we really are seeing is the doctors and the spirits who are working with us disguised in the form of people familiar to us. They do this in order not to scare us, because their real forms can sometimes be strange or frightening.
The spirits and doctors can give us spiritual gifts of healing, protection or power in several ways. If you are offered something to eat or drink or dream of having sexual relations during your retreat, it is likely that the spirits are interacting with you
