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Of all the photographs taken of indigenous Amazonians over the years, this picture taken by explorer Chuck Clark is perhaps the most incredible and rarest image ever taken.  One night when Clark was sleeping in his hut, he heard the unmistakable sound of a big cat such as a puma or jaguar.  Being raised in the mountains of Colorado, Clark knew all too well the eerie sound of the puma screaming which is almost identical to that of the jaguar.  Clark left his hut to investigate the sound and luckily he brought his camera.  What he witnessed was something that probably no other outsider had witnessed up to that time or since, a secret Ashaninka spiritual session.  If he had been caught, he most assuredly would have been sacrificed.  Clark peeked into the maloka where the ceremony was taking place and hand-held his manual Hasselblad camera to capture this phenomenal image.  Few photographers would have had the skill to correctly expose the image or have hands steady enough to hold the camera without moving, but Clark did.  The sound that he heard was not that of a jaguar or a puma, but rather that of an Ashaninka shaman imitating the sound of the animal spirit associated with the Ayahuasca plant, the jaguar.  Indigenous Amazonian shamans use plants to manipulate animal spirits.  In their worldview, animal spirits are all powerful forces that determine health and fortune.  Plants do not have spirits, but rather can be used to manipulate and control the all powerful animal spirits.  The jaguar and puma spirits are the most powerful of all animal spirits and the ayahuasca plant is how shamans control these almighty spirits.  According to traditional indigenous Amazonian beliefs, ayahuasca does not have a spirit, nor does it teach (as most charlatan shamans falsely preach), however, ayahuasca can be used to manipulate and control the powerful jaguar and puma spirits.  At great risk to his own life, photographer and explorer Chuck Clark secretly recorded for prosperity this rare and incredible image, and it is with great honor that Amazon-Indians.org exclusively publishes this photograph.

Photograph © Copyright Chuck Clark, all rights reserved. Ashaninka Spirit Session