So what is Kambo?
... and Sananga and Hape?
Kambo
Kambo is the secretion (not poison) of the Phyllomedusa Bicolour - The Giant Green Tree Frog. It is found in the upper Amazon, living in the tops of 20 - 30 meter high trees. It is 12cm long, has no natural predators, and is unafraid of humans. They come to the tribes when they are called. Read about the ethical collection of Kambo secretions here.
​
The secretions contain peptides (strings of amino acids which are smaller than proteins) and are a perfect biological fit for the human body. The human body welcomes them at a cellular level and each of the 9 types of peptides have very specific beneficial effects, which I outline on the conditions and research page.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
Kambo is used in the Amazon as 'hunting magic' and 'warrior medicine'.
It works on a physical level to bring strength, endurance and speed, needing less sleep and food. It puts them into peak physical performance mode.
Kambo also eliminates human smell for 24 hours, these benefits enable the tribes to hunt very effectively. Kambo is not psychoactive - you don't get any visuals or trip-like effects. However when used in conjunction with sananga and hape, the connection to the spirit of nature, the spirit of the forest is heightened and the hunters are able to see which animals are ready to be hunted, where, how and when it will happen.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
Kambo is used to treat Panema.
In Western cultures we would call this depression.
​
“Kambô circulates in the heart. Our shaman said that when we take Kambô it makes the heart move accurately, so that things flow, bringing good things to the person. It is as if there was a cloud on the person, preventing the good things to come, then, when it takes the Kambô; it comes a ‘green light’ which opens its ways, making things easier”
​
‘a cause for taking Kambô is to fight ‘panema’. ‘panema’ means sadness, lack of luck, irritation: ‘bad aura'. The person is with “panema” when nothing goes right and nothing is good. The basic purpose of Kambô is ‘taking off the panema’ in order to go hunting and to attract women.’
​
'However difficult it is to the Western thought to accept, is the main purpose of Kambô: it establishes a spiritual ‘management chock’ in the life of people, a ‘chakra realignment’, a mark for organic and psychological reorganization, from which the person changes attitude and change their future patterns of health.'
​
​
Kambo is used as a Medicine or Vaccine of the Forest
The most prevalent legend regarding the origins of kambo comes from the Kaxinawa tribe in Brazil.
​
The people of the forest had fallen ill and their shaman, a man known as Kampum, took sacred plant medicine (ayahuasca) to enter a trance and communicate with the spirits of the forest.
​
He was contacted by a feminine spirit ('Mother Aya') who presented him with a frog and taught him how to use its medicine to heal his tribe. When he came to, he brought this frog medicine to his people and was able to cure them.
​
When Kampum passed, years later, his spirit passed into the spirit of the frog, which became known as kambo. I have seen the spirit of the frog, in full technicolour, it came to me as I become more tuned in. I'd actually set an intention to see what it is that I feel, the previous day, and the energy full of frogs appeared, surrounded and engulfed me.
​
For thousands of years the practice of kambo stayed in the forest, it was not until the 1990’s that half-indigenous rubber tappers known as the Cobocla people learned the practice from the natives and began to take it to cities in Brazil. From there use of kambo has slowly spread all over the world, gaining massive momentum in the past ten years.
​
There is a shift occurring, more and more people are seeking alternative and natural paths to healing and looking for deeper connections with themselves and the world around them.
​
Kambo is an important part of this shift.
​
The medicines used with kambo, the sananga and hape (also spelt 'rape') and even this historical use of ayahuasca to discover kambo, are all inter-related. The frogs live within the ayahuascan vines, the sanaga comes from a shrub in the same places too, and the tribes make the hape with their own recipes of local shrubs, barks and herbs and with pure intentions and energatic input. Even the dragon's blood, used to cover the gates where kambo is applied comes from the local trees.
​
We are in a time now where plant and nature medicines are becoming more popular, psychedelics are being used in the UK in hospitals, legalised in parts of Europe, de-criminalised across America. We are lucky that kambo is legal across the whole world with the exception of Australia. So here in the UK we are able to practice openly and reach as many people as we can, who can hear the calling of the frog.
​
I personally believe that where many plant medicines are incredibly highly vibrational in the spiritual realms, with such things as ayahuasca, changa/DMT and psylocibin (and many more) allowing people to experience access to astral-realms, death and higher consciousness, kambo, I feel is a really solid base medicine. It clears the human body through purging, moving and unblocking energetic pathways and emotional sticking points. It targets weak areas in the body to facilitate healing, reduces pain, and in sitting with kambo you draw upon your inner strength, you get support from the frog, you tap into something that may well have alluded you and connect to the spirit of nature. Finding yourself uplifted, out of pain, re-directed, motivated - generally re-calibrated, it is the perfect platform for humans to continue evolving, spiritually, emotionally and physically. Sitting with kambo is such a very physical human exprience, it is the link we can all benefit from.
​
Many of natures medicines cannot be used with people on anti-depressants, but kambo is a rare natural gem that can and has been shown time and time again to really help.
