JAGUAR MEDICINE PREDICTED
While developing my shamanic talents, I had acquired a number of medicine teachers over the years. About five years ago some of my teachers informed me that I would be moving into jaguar medicine. I thought it was kind of odd at the time — after all, I lived in North America, not South America, and the jaguar is distinctly a southern cat. I shrugged and said that was fine, and never thought anymore about it. Two years later my teachers again informed me that I would receive jaguar medicine. I thought that I would receive it as I did all the rest — through altered-state activity as a shamanness.
Shortly after that last subtle hint, I received an unexpected invitation to go to Sao Paulo, Brazil, and give several days of workshops on crystal and gem healing. My host, a Brazilian, was an engineer who was vastly interested in gemstones and crystals. While I was thrilled with the prospect, in the back of my mind I thought, Aha, I’ll probably see a jaguar at a Sao Paulo zoo! Then I will receive the medicine. I thought no more about it.
My host, whom I'll call Manuel, faxed me about three months later to ask if I would like to go deep into the Amazon jungle outside of Manaus, the old rubber city. He said there was a hotel in the middle of the jungle but that it had no electricity or running water. Were we interested? You bet! We would have three days in the heart of the Amazon Basin, and I wanted to commune with and honor the spirits of that country with ceremony. I also wanted to see first hand the destruction that was going on, as I’m very active in environmental issues.
The week spent in Sao Paulo was a complete success, but my mind and heart were really on the three days we were to spend in the jungle. We flew to Manaus, which sits on the banks of two mighty rivers that merge to form the Amazon. We took an old wooden tugboat on a three-hour trip down the Amazon River. My host had two young daughters, ages seven and ten, and I had given each of them a tobacco bag so they could "gift" our relatives.
The captain of the tug told my host in Portuguese that there were freshwater dolphins around but that we wouldn’t be lucky enough to see any. I told the girls to throw a handful of tobacco into the Amazon as a gift and to ask the river spirit to invite the dolphins to come to us so that we could honor them as well. Within fifteen minutes the first dolphin was sighted-- large, gray and overwhelmingly beautiful. Within minutes dolphins were leaping all around us like excited children. Needless to say, the captain was surprised and was looking at me with the weirdest expression — one of wariness combined with curiosity and much respect. I smiled at him.
As we neared the channel where the hotel sat, the captain said that sometimes, only at night during a full Moon, one might see the very rare and almost-extinct pink dolphin. Manuel’s children were fast to catch on and gave a second gift of tobacco to the river, asking specifically for a pink dolphin to appear. Within ten minutes, as we slowed to make the turn into the wide, still channel of muddy water, the first pink dolphin arced up and out of the water, not more than fifty feet away from the tug. This time the captain just about leaped out of the boat. The children screamed with glee, waving their hands and shouting to the pink dolphin who had also brought many of her cousins. We saw three or four pink dolphins from time to time as we slowly moved up the channel, which was completely covered with jungle on both sides.
The hotel consisted of a group of native grass huts sitting clustered together about a half mile from where the channel ended. We hiked in, carrying our luggage. It was hot and steamy, near dusk. The odors were all so different and yet familiar to me. By the time we arrived it was nearly dark, and as we were led to our hut with a flashlight, I had a premonition that a jaguar was present but was too tired to do anything about it.
Around 5 a.m. the next morning I awoke refreshed and vibrating with anticipation — over what, I didn’t know. I woke my husband and we agreed to take an early morning exploratory hike. There was a small stream and a wooden bridge a quarter of a mile from the village. As we walked hand in hand down a hard-packed trail, the sky took on a surrealistic tone. The haze and fog hung in the tall, silent jungle trees and vines, the muted glow of Father Sun, not yet risen, tinged the semi translucent fog. I felt as if I were in the "twilight zone" —as if I were indeed on one of my shamanic journeys to another dimension.
ENCOUNTER WITH THE JAGUAR
As we neared the small wooden bridge, I anchored to a halt. There, sitting in front of the bridge, was a full-grown male jaguar! The night before, one of the men who worked at the village told us that the owner had found a baby jaguar a number of years ago, fed it, befriended it and then let it go. He said that from time to time the jaguar would come around if it hadn’t found something to eat on its own, and the man would feed it.
I knew then, as I came to an abrupt realization, that my medicine teachers’ foretelling of my coming into jaguar medicine was becoming a reality. The jaguar, who was lying down at the foot of the bridge, met my eyes and rose to a sitting position. I dropped my husband’s hand and said, "He wants us to follow him." Then I took a step forward. The jaguar moved slowly and sleekly across the bridge. We were no more than a hundred feet behind him. At one point the jaguar stopped, turned and looked back to see if we were coming and then continued across the bridge.
My heart was pounding — I was thrilled and scared at the same time. My husband wasn’t so sure it was a good idea. After all, the jaguar was wild, not tame. The jaguar moved off the bridge, turned right and went down a muddy bank to a small oval of lush green grass that lay next to the ribbon of stream. I smiled, breathless.
"Let’s go down! He won’t hurt us," I said and leaped off the bridge, sliding down the dry bank. The jaguar waited until we were both there, then moved to the edge of the bank. He looked at us and then at the water. At that moment, I received the impression he wanted to get into the stream and have us sprinkle him with water. I told my husband this message and he gave me a rolled-eyes response. Eagerly, I moved within a few feet of the jaguar. The cat turned and stepped daintily into the crystal clear water and lay down in it. The water was barely a foot in depth, and I knelt at the edge and cupped water across his yellow- and black-spotted back. My husband came closer, convinced that it was safe. The cat hadn’t snarled, shown his teeth or made any move that looked threatening. We both knelt there, sluicing cool water across the jaguar’s back for at least ten minutes.
I was in ecstasy over what was happening, a joy flooding me that was so keen that it was like an ache. I remembered Coffee-Chili’s story about getting medicine the old-fashioned way — with a live animal, up-front and close. I recognized the dangers too, for I knew this jaguar was not tame in the least. As we got to our feet, the jaguar moved languidly out of the water and came to sit at our feet in the grass to lick himself off. At that point I begged my husband to go get the camera — which was back at the hut — so we could have a picture of this. My students would believe my story but I wanted a photo to back it up. After all, how many times would people nowadays receive their medicine in physical reality?
The jaguar and I were alone. I moved about ten feet away from the jaguar, and hunkered down in a crouched position, facing him. At that point, I felt the need to sing him my personal song, and I did. There was a surreal sensation about this time alone with him, but being a shamanness, it didn’t bother me. I remained focused on what I wanted to do, which was to honor him by singing him my song. The cat continued to lick his paws as I sang. The instant I stopped singing, his head snapped up and his ears sheared forward.
I froze. The jaguar’s eyes, once huge black pupils set in a thin crescent of gold, suddenly went to mere black pinpoints upon a blazing yellow background. I felt myself being forcefully pulled out of my physical body, my astral form crashing into and merging with the jaguar’s body. I remained frozen, completely alert and awake to the fact that I was now inside the jaguar’s body! I felt him, his strong musculature and all his feelings — which were powerful! It was an incredible moment. Then I knew that, at all costs, I had to get back into my own body.
All of the years of training, all of the times I practiced staying focused, were called upon in an effort to release myself from the jaguar’s power. I pulled out of the cat, flying those ten feet back into my own body knowing without a doubt that he would leap on me and kill me. When one’s astral body is out of the physical body, one cannot move a muscle; one is literally frozen to the spot, or collapses unable to move.
As I slammed back into my body, I rose in one simultaneous motion, jumped up, turned around in midair and hit that dirt bank at a dead run. Just as I scrambled to the top of the bank, I jerked a look across my shoulder. The jaguar was mid leap and landed exactly where I’d been frozen milliseconds before! With a cry, I ran across the wooden bridge and up the hill as fast as my adrenaline could take me. When I got to the top of the hill, I met my husband. In a panic, I looked back. The jaguar had not followed me. Instead, he was standing in the grassy area, looking at me and switching his tail back and forth.
PHOTO OPPORTUNITY
Gasping for breath, my heart slamming into my ribs, I told my husband what had happened. He wanted to leave that moment but I begged him to come back down to the bridge with me. I had to get a photo of that jaguar! I was very frightened of going back because now I could feel the jaguar as if I were still inside of him — each emotion each frustration and anger. I realized as we approached the bridge that the age-old way of trading medicine between a human and animal had taken place.
I mentally told the jaguar what I wanted. He was pacing angrily back and forth on the grass looking at me, his ears pinned back. He was pissed to say the least. But I felt his respect for me, too. I took advantage of it. I told my husband to get far enough away to take a photo of me leaning down to touch the jaguar. I wasn’t at all sure if the jaguar would leap up and bite me as I leaned precariously over the bridge. Perhaps he would bite my hand, savage my arm or completely haul me off and kill me.
The jaguar came over to me as I leaned down and extended my hand toward him. He lay down, switching his tail. Good! He couldn’t jump me while he was lying down. As I quickly leaned over, I saw him start to get up. Without hesitation I touched his broad, sleek skull, turned to face the camera and smiled. My husband took the photo and instantly I jerked my hand back and climbed back onto the bridge. I thanked the jaguar and quickly walked away, looking over my shoulder from time to time. The jaguar lay back down in the grass beneath the shade of a tree next to the stream.
Back at the huts, I excitedly shared with Manuel what had happened. He just gave me an incredulous look and shook his head. Here’s what he told me: Jaguars are known to be powerful spirit beings who have the capacity to freeze their quarry into immobility with a hypnotic look. Once the jaguar has frozen his quarry, he then leaps upon it and kills it.
Now I knew from firsthand experience how a jaguar accomplishes such a feat — and I lived to tell about it! Further, Manuel told me that in Central and South America jaguar medicine is considered to be the most powerful and the most sought-after. He didn’t say why; that was for me to discover on my own. However, many medicine men have trained their students for years to come face to face with a jaguar, sing their song to it and then exchange spirits. Unfortunately, Manuel told me sadly, most of the students ended up either dead or so badly mauled that they remained crippled for the rest of their lives. Amazed by his facts, I felt not only blessed but lucky to be alive.
That trading of spirits happened two years ago and I can honestly say my life hasn’t been the same since. The jaguar now accompanies me in altered states whenever I work in someone’s behalf. But I’m also discovering that jaguar medicine has a powerful connection to femaleness and feminine consciousness. I understand from Manuel that there is a jaguar cult and/or society in Central America, so who knows? Maybe someday, if it is meant to be, I’ll meet others who have faced the jaguar and lived to tell about it.
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