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Far away from any scientific laboratory in this heyday of Technology we generally regard as all-powerful, the Kayapo people of the Amazon jungle have discovered the sexiest of secrets: plants that increase virility among men and fertility among women. This knowledge is more precious than the gold the nugget-hunters (garimperos) gather from the Sierra Pelada mines close to their village. For years, pharmaceutical researchers from all over the world have been visiting the region in search of this precious, life- giving seam. Rare-plant hunters have arrived among the Kayapo. Their mission: to collect specimens and discreetly discover the secrets of these people who have learned to control sexual life. Early in the morning, Kwyra-Ka goes into the forest. He makes his way through the dense tangle along trails that only he knows. He stops occasionally to pluck an orchid or a few berries, or to cut a vine or a young leaf. Kwyra-Ka is one of seven hundred semi-nomadic Kayapo Indians of Gorotire, a village deep in the Brazilian Amazon in the south of Para state. Known as a wayanga, or sorcerer-healer, Kwyra-Ka is a shaman who uses medicinal plants to treat physical disorders and illnesses caused by the spirits. He also carries the guarded knowledge of special plants that alter fertility and virility. It takes Kwyra-Ka anywhere from a few minutes to three days to sexual organs. Girls have their first experiences before they begin to menstruate. Fidelity is a question of individual choice. According to Kwyra-Ka, "Some men don't like their women to go with someone else. Others don't care. The same goes for women. The ones who care stay together. The others separate." Some men, especially chiefs, treat themselves to the luxury of several partners, and group love is a feature of ceremonies. The Kayapo's trysts, both official and illicit, are sheltered by patches of forest in beds of leaves and moss. The Kayapo use contraceptive plants, me kra ket dja', to prevent pregnancy. They say that a woman can go with as many men as she wants and not become pregnant. All it takes is to crush a certain part of the orchid Epistephium and rub it over the body, or to drink an infusion of the plant. These remedies, which for the most part consist of Compositae, Orchidaceae and Polygalaceae, are usually taken in one go. Not only do they halt the menstrual cycle for several months, but they are so potent that, according to certain wayangas, it is nearly impossible to reverse the effect. Other plants, me tu jaro dja' , are believed potent enough to cause pregnancy even without sexual intercourse. In th is case, the plant itself is thought to be the origin of the child's birth. "Look at my son. He's handsome, isn't he? That's -l ::::r CD tf) Q) CD 00 :3 ~ ~ :3 tf) ri- CD .., v, CD tf) Q) :3 ""'h ::::r::J o ,~ 0... o 0 ~ :3 ::J_ o CD ri- :3 0 CD ::J A ::J CD CD ..0 C CD tf) ri- O ::J o 11 0... CD (J)ri- 0,< ""'h 0 ~ ri- O ::::r .., 0... C Q) CD :3 .., CD tf) ::J prepare his potions and decide that the color, smell and taste are to his satisfaction. He is not a mere herbalist. He is a specialist who acquired his knowledge of medicinal plants in the spirit realm, where he was befriended by certain animals during his initiatic journeys. High on the plant ayawaska, Kwyra-Ka undertakes vivid spirit travels where the jaguar and the anaconda act as his protector and guide. Now he communicates with them whenever anyone asks for a remedy. For the Kayapo, every illness is connected with an animal. Painful periods, for example, are called "tapir sickness" because of the similarity that the Indians see between a heavy menstrual flow and the tapir'S powerful jet of urine. Sexua Initiation among Ka apo glr s an oys eglns e are ~ Young children decorate their bodies with paintings of outsized because my wife was treated with the plant, and he is the plant's son." Another Kayapo Villager, Pykatire, says the wayanga's song transferred the plant's spirit into his wife's belly to provide him with a son. Kwyra-Ka told him, "Go into the forest to collect the medicines. Early in the morning, after the dry season, you and your wife must go to the river when clean new water begins to accumulate, There, you must cover her body completely with river mud mixed with the medicines, Then the waters will wash away the mixture and remove the cause of her inability to have children, At night you must watch over her. Whenever you see her dreaming, awaken her. If she has been dreaming about a child, it means there is already one inside her." Although the wayan gas are men, women are by no means excluded from this knowledge, They also have complex recipes for potions that affect virility, including memy tyx dja' (the stuff that hardens the penis). Women discreetly administer another potion, memy rerek dja' (the stuff that softens the penis) to their partners "when they don't let us sleep." For the Kayapo, sex is not a random act. Independently, and together, they can control not only the initiation of the sex act, but also the outcome. The use of rainforest plants to manipulate sex ultimately allows the Kayapo to manipulate life. The world wants what the Kayapo know, but they closely guard their medicinal secrets of the jungle . • ::J -00 ri-O n Q) .., CD 0... ri- O 0 n ::::r o n CD