Pablo Cesar Amaringo Shuña (January 21, 1938 – November 16, 2009) was a

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

vian artist, renowned for his intricate, colourful depictions of his visions from drinking the entheogenic plant brew

ayahuasca AyahuascaPronounced as in the UK and in the US. Also occasionally known in English as ''ayaguasca'' (Spanish-derived), ''aioasca'' (Brazilian Portuguese-derived), or as ''yagé'', pronounced or . Etymologically, all forms but ''yagé'' descen ...

. He was first brought to the West's attention by Dennis McKenna and

Luis Eduardo Luna Luis Eduardo Luna is an anthropologist and noted ayahuasca researcher. Biography Luna was born in 1947, in Florencia, Colombia. He received his doctorate in 1989 from the Institute of Comparative Religion at Stockholm University, as well as an hon ...

, who met Pablo in

Pucallpa Pucallpa (, qu, puka allpa, lit=red dirt; Shipibo language, Shipibo: ''May Ushin'') is a city in eastern Peru located on the banks of the Ucayali River, a major tributary of the Amazon River. It is the capital of the Ucayali region, the Corone ...

while traveling during work on an ethnobotanical project. Pablo worked as a vegetalista, a

shaman Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritu ...

in the

mestizo (; ; fem. ) is a term used for racial classification to refer to a person of mixed Ethnic groups in Europe, European and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous American ancestry. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also r ...

tradition of healing, for many years; up to his death, he painted, helped run the Usko-Ayar school of painting, and supervised ayahuasca retreats. Before dying, he was working on the paintings of angels, as well as paintings documenting the flora and fauna of Peru.

Film

Pablo's work can be seen in the documentary film ''Ayahuasca Nature's Greatest Gift''.

Book

When Luna and McKenna met Amaringo in 1985, he was living in poverty, barely surviving by teaching English to young people from his home and selling the odd painting to passing tourists. Luna suggested he paint some of his visions, a project which became the basis of a coauthored book, ''Ayahuasca Visions: The Religious Iconography of a Peruvian Shaman'' (North Atlantic Books 1999). Amaringo occasionally gave interviews in the years following the book's publication, and later penned the preface for ''Plant Spirit Shamanism: Traditional Techniques for Healing the Soul'' (Destiny Books 2006). His artwork was featured in Graham Hancock's book ''"Supernatural"''. Amaringo also appeared in ''The Shaman & Ayahuasca: Journeys to Sacred Realms'' (2010), Michael Wiese's documentary film about ayahuasca.

Death

After a protracted illness, Amaringo died on November 16, 2009.

References

ayar

Pablo Amaringo
at Erowid * {{DEFAULTSORT:Amaringo, Pablo Psychedelic drug advocates Shamanism of the Americas 1938 births 2009 deaths Visionary artists Peruvian animists 20th-century Peruvian painters 20th-century Peruvian male artists Latin American artists of indigenous descent People from Ucayali Region Peruvian male painters

Film

Book

Death

See also

References