Throughout this website you may have noticed photographs of woven textiles. I have been a weaver since the late 1960's and use the weaving lexicon often in my healing work as a metaphor. I also am a collector of ethnic textiles. Many of the Shipibo textiles look very much like a computer circuit board . . . and the early transistors . . . or 'gateways'. I see these textiles as the graphic representation of the bridging of Indigenous wisdom with the cutting-edge technology of the LIFE System that I now use as an adjunct tool in my healing work.

Shipibo Song Pattern
Upper Amazon, Peru

The circle graphic that appears on the entrance page and at the top of each page is a 'song pattern' painted with the sap of a tree on muslin by the Shipibo people of the Upper Amazon in Peru. Some of the elders of this tribal group are still able to remember what these designs on their textiles mean. This is a language nearly lost. To learn more please see Ana Steven's film 'Woven Songs of the Amazon' (www.greenspiderfilms.com).

Shipibo Shamana Herlinda traced her finger along the lines inside the circle and sang the song to me. She told me that the circle means Pachamama or Mother Earth. The tiny arrows on the inside of the circle represent the teeth of the Pirranah and have to do with protection. The outside circle represents the Anaconda, the Snake Goddess who, according to their tradition, sings energy into form. So . . . this design or song pattern has to do with the 'On-going manifestation and protection of Mother Earth'. It is said that the design continues to emit the specific vibrational frequencies related to the song. I invite you to print out the entrance page and place it somewhere. In that way, we will infuse our environment with the 'On-going manifestation and protection of Mother Earth'. Thank you for that!

This Shipibo textile is another song pattern that encourages the patient to open their ears to hear, listen and receive the words of their teacher/healer.

This textile is from the Ashaninka tribe of the Brazilian Amazon and is woven to represent the skin of the Anaconda.

This textile is also from the Ashaninka and represents the jaguar.

This textile is the Shipibo song pattern for 'Shamanic Learning'.

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