Reference

Glossary of Sacred Terms

Definitions of the words, traditions, and concepts used in Earth Connection Community ceremonies — 10 terms.

A

Ayahuasca

A sacred plant sacrament used in ceremony by indigenous and religious communities of the Amazon to facilitate spiritual communion and healing of the spirit.

B

Banisteriopsis caapi

The sacred vine that forms the foundation of the ayahuasca sacrament, revered in Amazonian tradition as the vine of the soul and the spiritual teacher of the brew.

C

Chacruna

The sacred admixture plant (Psychotria viridis) combined with the ayahuasca vine in the preparation of the sacrament, honored as a spirit ally that opens visionary perception.

I

Icaros

Sacred healing songs sung by facilitators during ayahuasca ceremony to guide the spiritual journey of participants, received through apprenticeship in the vegetalismo tradition.

M

Maloca

The communal sacred space in which ayahuasca ceremonies are held — a ceremonial structure rooted in Amazonian indigenous tradition, designed to contain and support the spiritual work of ceremony.

Mesa

The sacred altar arranged by the ceremony facilitator — a curated gathering of spiritually significant objects that anchors the ceremonial space and embodies the facilitator's lineage.

R

Rapé

Sacred tobacco preparation used in ceremony as a spiritual cleanser and grounding medicine, administered through the nostrils as part of the ceremonial protocol in some indigenous traditions.

S

Shipibo

An indigenous people of the Peruvian Amazon whose ceremonial traditions and vegetalismo lineage form a primary spiritual foundation of ECC's ceremonial practice.

V

Vegetalismo

The Amazonian healing tradition from which ECC's ceremonial lineage descends — a spiritual practice centered on apprenticeship to plant teachers and the cultivation of deep relationships with the living intelligence of the forest.

W

Whistle Songs (Silbando)

A style of icaro sung in a high, pure whistle tone during ayahuasca ceremony, considered among the most powerful ceremonial songs in the vegetalismo tradition.