A bit about shamanism

Today shamanism is seen by many as unreal fantasies, by others it's the last resource of healing, and by many more it's the gate into the spirit world.
Here I leave a tiny reflexion on the subject.

What's a Shaman?
A healer, a person that studies the art of healing with plants learning through plants, his objective is to cure. A shaman becomes one when a group of people considers him as healer. He heals any kind of things, from small insect bytes, to madness caused by exterior influence, like indigestion or sickness. An example could be a boy that catches a fever and goes to the shaman for a plant, or another example would be a woman that wants to through herself into the river because she says the dolphins are calling her from the deeps, they also have therapies for this. Jungle solutions for jungle problems. Another kind of example would be a poisonous snake bite, that is treated by the shaman, he would extract the poison and give him a mixture of plants for the wound, but afterwards he would advise him to go to the hospital to avoid complications. A shamans cures but also know his limits.

How does a shaman learn to heal?
Every case is different but two main answers could be given. One would be that he learned from a master shaman (master because it's the teacher) either mouth to mouth or by books. Or the second kind of apprentice is through plants like ayahuasca.

What is Ayahuasca?
This plant mixed with others is commonly used because of it's visions that teach the drinker the properties of other plants. This is one of the most used plants for this purpose, but not the only one. This plant is known worldwide because of the powerful hallucinations that come with it, and the purifying feeling one has after it.
Ayahuasca comes from quechua, means the rope of the dead. It also ain't the only one that recalls the dead, but the name leaves clear that is a powerful being compared with the other side. It's the western culture that provided the term of hallucinogenic, since it does not believe in the power of visions in a first place. Local people do not drink it for the visions, but for the healing properties that come with it. It makes you purge and reset the energies of the body.

¿Is the drink dangerous?
I believe the base of the ego is the main pillar that gives intensity to the plant. If consumed it will shake the ego (among many things)and depending how rigid this is the bigger the collapse.
This is why as part of the ritual a diet is commonly done previously. Some people do it for a couple of days, others for months, some shamans make them for years.
Commonly the brew makes you purge whatever is in your stomach, the more stuff you have inside the more it will come out.
It's western culture that sees vomit as something wrong or tabu, a sign of weakness. Instead locals see it as another possible action of the body, something positive, an exchange strong switch of energy, that revives and straightens the body.

Is shamanism dissapearing?
With the extension of capitalism and the constant increase of poverty, everyday this culture is vanishing, few are left that carry the wisdom. Their teachings are replaced with pills, their values with money, and their ideas with arquetipes. A clear example would be the christian shamans, as everything the concept of the shaman mutates, evolves and transforms. Old school shamans still exists, but are hard to find.