Painted by Amazon Indian Nixiwaka Yawanawá during his residency with John Dyer at the Eden Project. This painting shows us the story of how Ayahuasca came into being & how this allows the tribe to cross over to the spirit world. The Ayahuasca vine can be seen growing from the shaman's body and the power of the boa constrictor creates can be seen as it snakes through the composition. Find out more

"These paintings represent how death came to the world and was overcome through the discovery of the vine called Uni by the Yawanawá, and known by tribes all over the world as Ayahuasca. At one time people were not mortal. A bad spirit cursed a Shaman who became the first person to die and he was buried. Later his son had a dream in which his father came to him to say that he was still alive but in a different form. He asked that his son should, after a period of time, visit the place where he was buried and that he would find a plant. In his dream he was instructed by his father how to make a sacred drink using the plant. When his son returned to the burial ground he discovered a vine that had grown from all the joints of the Shaman’s body. Following the instructions he mixed the leaves (Ravante) with the root of the Uni and created the sacred drink which, in ceremonies that continue today, allows the tribe to connect with their ancestors in the Spirit world." Nixiwaka Yawanawá

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