Alfredo Cairuna
Alfredo Cairuna is the current spiritual director of Nature's Hospital, and is a distinguished shaman of the Amazonian Shipibo people. He was initially trained by Don Luis Cauper Guimaraes, also known as Don Lucho. He was born in 1952, and grew up in Pucallpa, Peru, and currently lives outside of Iquitos, Peru. He is a sought-after shaman for his ability to sing prayer songs known as icaros, and heal difficult diseases with plant medicines.
Ethnic Background
Cairuna is of the Shipibo indigenous group of Peru. His native name is Sinamano.
Career
Cairuna began his training as healer at the age of fifteen. Under the instruction of Don Lucho, his teacher and a well known healer, he completed a one year solitary retreat in the Amazon Rainforest. Following this retreat, he spent three years living with Don Lucho, working as an apprentice healer.
Cairuna held many labor jobs during his twenties, thirties, and forties, and spent time serving in the Peruvian Navy. During this time, he fulfilled his role as healer whenever requested, and received ongoing training into the use of plants as medicine from various naturalists.
In his fifties, Cairuna became involved as a healer and ayahuasca ceremony leader for foreign visitors to Peru. He gained a positive reputation as singer of prayer songs, icaro, very well, and successfully healed visitors. He first worked at Ashi Meraya until 2011, when he left to become spiritual director And Co-owner of Nature's Hospital.
Initial retreat
Cairuna's initial solitary retreat was the first of many, and was noted by his diet and simplistic lifestyle. His daily consumption was limited to eating farina and small fish he personally caught from a nearby river twice per day, and his supplies were limited to a mosquito net, spear, and matches. He spent his solitary time concentrating in meditation, gaining subtle understandings of the nature of plants, and performing ceremonies. During the visits from his teacher, he would walk through the forest with Don Lucho, learning to identify plants and understand their medicinal functions.
Apprenticeship
For three years after Cairuna's initial retreat, he healed patients in his teachers home under the close supervision of his teacher. He was thus given experiential training in diagnosal, prescribing plant medicines, proper administration, and the necessary type of diet that accompanies each plant medicine.
Ongoing Training
During Cairuna's career, he received ongoing from two teachers who taught him AbOUT hundreds of medicinal plants and their application techniques. One teacher of the Ashaninka ethnic group was Don Marcos Ocampo, and another from the Cacataibo group was Don Baltazar Estrella.
In addition to receiving ongoing oral transmissions of knowledge, Cairuna has maintained his subtle awareness of plants and people with regular solitary retreats for periods ranging from four to 12 weeks.
Personal
Alfredo Cairuna is married to Claudia Romayna, who frequently accompanies him in his ceremonies and healings. They currently live outside of Iquitos, Peru. He has two daughters and three sons.