Experiential journalist Rak Razam experiences the "kiss of the Kambo", the Brazilian Phyllomedusa Bicolor frog which secretes the most powerful toxin in the Amazon rainforest. Used by indigenous peoples throughout Peru and Brazil as a purgative, the poison of the frog is wooed by singing to the amphibian. Its peptide secretions are then burned into the skin to promote a full-body flush death and rebirth. Known as "ordeal medicine", the Kambo ritual is still used today in the Amazonian jungles as a body and consciousness sharpening tool and is now following in the trail of plant medicines like ayahuasca as an initiation for Westerners. In this rare interview with Brazilian practitioner Oruam, Razam discovers the secrets of the "vaccine of the forest", its lineage, medical usage and spiritual emergence as one of the next wave of shamanic modalities.
Originally aired on: Jan 24, 2011
