Jurema

 
 
Paje Atikum Preparing   Jurema For Rituals

The preparation of the brew from fresh Jurema root bark for trance   possession rituals, is, in itself, a complex ritual of the Atikum tribe. The process begins at the bottom of the mountain Omã, home   to a wild plantation of the sacred plant. O Paje, the spiritual    leader, handles the Jurema. Only those roots that face 
            the rising sun are picked, then beaten, rock against rock, until all   dirt and outer bark is removed. Only the inner root is used for the brew.
           The remaining Jurema is placed in a plastic container filled with cold water and squeezed over and over again, until the water turns a very deep reddish brown colour. The foam that forms on the surface is discarded, along with the coarse residue, leaving    only a liquid extraction. The Jurema brew is now
            ready to be taken during rituals that beckon the spirits of the caboclos called "Encantados de Luz" (Enchanted Beings of Light) to descend into the bodies of the mediums to promote healing while dancing the Toré. Viva a Jurema! (Long live the Jurema!)
The first Brazilian tribes to develop a  ritualistic use of Jurema as a psychoactive brew are extinct. The descendants of those tribes, mixtures of whites with blacks, slowly lost their ancestral homes,  because they lost their legal identity as Indians (also called caboclos). The current  war for land in the interior of Bahia, Pernambuco and Paraiba, the so called Sertão, began over 80 years ago. In order to regain recognition as Indians and rightful ownership of their homeland, tradition had to be strengthened. The Jurema Cult (O Culto da Jurema) was revived to re-establish and sustain indigenous identity. This ageless wisdom was secretly preserved from father to son as the ritualistic use of their psychoactive brew brought severe prosecution from the white man. 
Sertão is a fertile environment rich with Jurema Branca (Mimosa Verrucosa), Jurema Negra (Mimosa Hostilis) and Cannabis-- a true "Garden of the Gods" that is today overrun by conflict. During the healing ritual of The Truká tribe, 
   Jurema is taken with "cura", a drink prepared with aquardente (alcohol) and garlic. Celebrants sit on the floor around a Jurema table and enter trance possession. It is evident that their altered state of consciousness is not provoked by DMT. Over time, the Truka have lost knowledge of the plant (B-Carbolines) needed to activate the effect of the Jurema (DMT).  The power of Jurema manifests, instead, through the syncretism of belief systems, most significantly the ritual and magic of African origins. 

jurema root bark
There are very intriguing similarities between these Jurema rituals and the Ayahuasca rituals of the Amazon Forest. The Jurema rituals exhibit all the characteristics of psychoactive influence although these Indians also drink alcohol to induce an altered state of consciousness. Alcohol is the only available medium through which their rituals can be enhanced and attendant spirits served.(cultural tradition). At the ritual's end, many empty bottles of cachaça (aquardente from sugar cane, the strongest alcohol available in Brazil), are scattered around the altar. However, the participating mediums, through whom the spirits have been drinking, are sober. (Phenomena registered in Umbanda, Cadomblé and other African traditions that are part of the Brazilian syncretism of religions). 

Jurema Plant

 
  A drug war also rages in the Sertao. The biggest Cannabis plantation in South America dominates this area to the extent that it is called " a rota da maconha" (the marijuana route).    Indians and local whites rely on Cannabis for their survival. It is extremely dangerous to enter the area, unless you are accompanied by a tribe member. 
The cacique of the Atikum tribe practices the "Trabalho da Jurema" (Jurema's work) inside a cave within an immense rock. The rituserved. When D. Ana Olindina da Conceição, the cacique, starts to sing, trance possession begins.  She incorporates the spirit of the Caboclo called Jurema, the Indian entity from the forest, who remains through the ritual, singing songs, praying and talking to the people. 

D. Ana - cacique Atikum
The Toré

Atikum- Toré ritual
The Toré, is another kind of ritual lead by the Pajé of the tribe. Wild passiflora juice is served with the Jurema brew while singing and dancing throughout the night in a circle beneath the stars. The circle moves counter-clockwise around a blazing fire.  The dancers seem to reincarnate as ancient Indians adorned with straw costumes and feather headdresses. Those possessed by trance move into the
middle of the circle to dance with enchanted beings of light. No altered state of consciousness is noticed except for this trance possession. 
The tribe Truxá, in Rodelas, by the San Francisco River, celebrates what they call the ancient ritual of Jurema. For the last 20 years, the Truxa have shared their knowledge with other tribes in the Sertâo-helping them to re-establish and nurture their indigenous identity. 

  xucuru indian dressed for the ritual

Yatra at a xucuru ritual

 The Xucurus hold very interesting rituals at the mountain called  " Mountain of the Master King of Orubá" (" Montanha do Mestre Rei de Orubá"), where the enchanted beings of light that manifest during their trance possession are spirits of birds. 

 
The Jurema brew the Indians drink is not Mimosa Hostilis, but the root bark from Mimosa Verrucosa. Different tribes will call Mimosa Hostilis, the Jurema Negra and Mimosa Verrucosa, the Jurema Branca, while other tribes call Mimosa Verrucosa, the Jurema Negra. This means that when an Indian says that they drink Jurema Negra,it does not necessarily mean they are drinking Mimosa Hostilis, but Mimosa Verrucosa which is called both: Jurema Branca and Jurema Negra. 

JUREMA PREPARED BY KAIMBE

The combination of Peganum Harmala or Banisteriopsi Caapi and Mimosa   Hostilis embodies the same cathartic and abreactive properties and the same components of the Amazon forest Ayahuasca and promises a vast potential for a wide spectrum of therapeutic applications. 

tribe Kaimbé

There are many projects inside the forest, introducing new economies to the tribes that supply the Jurema.  While modern means of survival are established, the Indians' appreciation of their homeland and culture is reinforced.
 

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