Perú (+51) 984 851 385Kambô Toad Vaccine – The frog vaccine, is a fantastic medicine that addresses various health problems and strengthens the immune system.
This week, I had the honor of receiving in my home, a family representing the original peoples of the Noke Kuin Tribe, also known as the True People, who live in the heart of the Amazon Rainforest – the cradle of the greatest biodiversity on the Planet!
Within the heart of the Amazon Rainforest, one of the most biodiverse places on the planet, live the original people of the Noke Kuin Tribe, also known as Povo Verdadeiro (True People). The Spiritual leader, his wife Meto and his sons Shere and Wesi Noke Kuin belong to the village Shonoya Samauma, located in the municipality of Cruzeiro do Sul, AC, in the Amazon, this family carries out an exhaustive work of divulgation and strengthening of the culture of their people, taking cultural experiences that they live day by day and consider sacred of the jungle to all the Brazilian territory. It is through their experiences and handicrafts that they carry the sustenance and maintains the union of their people in the village.
Among the natural medicines that this community share is the Kambo, or frog vaccine (vacina do sapo), as it is popularly known. Many people outside the community from which it originates consider this healing alternative to be one of the strongest and most sacred natural medicines.
It is a resin extracted from a frog that normally inhabits the Amazon. The green frog – Phyllomedusa bicolor, nicknamed the Kambô frog, is the largest species of the genus of the family Hylidae, which can be found in the south of the Amazon and throughout the territory of Acre, as well as in almost all Amazonian countries, such as the Guianas, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia. Because of its name, the resin extracted from this frog and its medicinal application is also called Kambô.
Based on local legends, it is said that once the Indians of one of the Amazonian villages became seriously ill and the shaman tried to cure them in various ways, but nothing worked. Besides him, the wise ancestral healer of the village used all the medicinal herbs available, but nothing freed those people from the agony that their pain caused them. Thus, during a shamanic ritual, the shaman received the spiritual message to go into the forest. There, under the effects of ayahuasca, he unexpectedly received a visit from the great God, who held in his hands a green frog, from which he extracted a whitish secretion on the animal’s back and taught him how to apply it to the sick. Back in the tribe’s village, and following the instructions he had received, the shaman was able to cure his Indian brothers with this resin.
The story may seem exotic or even fanciful, but the green frog exists and the use of kambô is routine.
This medicinal resin discovered by the local inhabitants of the jungle is used as a proposed vaccine by Amazonian natives to both prevent and combat
diseases. Locally, the vaccine is prescribed for any bodily disturbance and imbalance, as they claim that it purifies the blood by eliminating impurities. It is also used without any symptoms, to strengthen the body’s immunity, prevent, cure, or ward off “panema” – known among the Indians as laziness, low mood, bad luck (in hunting, fishing, harvesting, or love affairs).
It is obtained from the frog, with a procedure that consists of tying it carefully and then rubbing its skin with a hard instrument, collecting the secretion it produces, all this without hurting the animal, which is always treated with great respect and the utmost caution not to harm it, being released into its natural habitat as soon as the secretion is collected and not harming its ecosystem. For the application on the patient or the one who wishes to prevent the disease, this is done using a piece of burning vine, which is burned several times, opening small holes in the epidermis (called dots). The resin diluted in water is applied to the skin and is quickly transported throughout the body through the lymphatic vessels.
The number of points through which the poison is introduced depends on various factors of the individual, such as sex, age, physical stature, the number of times the kambô has been used, the complexity of the case and the judgment of the applicator, based on the shaman’s specialized knowledge.
Men usually apply it to the arms or chest. In the case of a woman, the application of the points is done on the leg. For the members of the community, the mark of the dots on the skin is a source of pride and should not be hidden or placed on the back of the body.
In addition to these requirements, a special diet is also necessary in the days prior to the application and the ingestion of at least 3 liters of water, moments before the application. For Indians, there are no contraindications and children usually start receiving kambô when the lactation period ends. In some tribes, even from three months of age. The members of the Katukina people take up to 100 points in a single application and are applied at different times of the year, throughout their lives.
The action of this vaccine is immediate and brief, but very strong. The process lasts about 15 – 20 minutes, during which the symptoms that are perceived are the acceleration of the heart, the dilation of the blood vessels that seems to cause a more rapid circulation of blood, the face reddens and, after turning pale, there is a strong wave of heat that rises through the body up to the head. Some people come to see everything white, as if the world were covered by a diffuse mist, or they fall to the ground, without strength. Many others experience the sensation of tingling epidermal electric currents throughout the body. Many users swell to a frog-like appearance. Then, suddenly, the body reacts positively to the discomfort and shuts everything down.
It is not uncommon to also experience severe vomiting and diarrhea. Only then, little by little, do the senses return to normal. The person feels light, clean, in a good mood, and well with life. Within 30 minutes of application, the person is able to go about his or her business normally. Numerous reports describe that after application there is a state of awareness and clarity of thought, as well as a sense of harmony and happiness both with oneself and with nature. There are also indications of the regular occurrence of dreams, improvement of perception, and intuition to strengthen self-esteem.
Research:
Since the 1980s scientific research has been conducted internationally, in the chemical and pharmaceutical fields, this seeks information on the properties of the secretion of Phylomedusa bicolor.
The first to “discover” the properties of the secretion for modern science were Italian researchers. French and Israeli researchers have also published papers on the properties of the secretion. More recently, the University of Kentucky (USA) has investigated (and patented) one of the substances found in the secretion in collaboration with the pharmaceutical company Zymogenetics. Several international laboratories are already interested in kambô venom to develop a drug that could lead to a cure for cancer.
This resin contains analgesic peptide substances (dermorphin and deltorphin), unknown before the research on Phyllomedusa bicolor.
Substances from the frog’s secretion also have antibiotic properties, strengthen the immune system by producing the body’s antibodies against poison, cause the destruction of pathogenic microorganisms, and have also shown a great positive effect in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, AIDS, cancer, depression, and other diseases. Today they are produced synthetically in pharmaceutical laboratories. In addition, due to its purgative effect, there is an obvious detoxification process of the liver (usually bitter bile is vomited), the intestine (through bowel movements), and the entire digestive tract. The Katukina also uses it as an antidote against snake bites, as a medicine for various ailments, such as medicine for various ailments, as a fortifier and purgative.
According to biomedicine expert Leonardo de Azevedo, from the Oswaldo Cruz Institute in São Paulo, the poison contains opioid substances that relieve pain and produce a feeling of well-being. The venom specialist said that other molecules present in the substance – such as dermaseptins, dermatoxins, phyloseptins and plasticins – have demonstrated, in the laboratory, antimicrobial properties, destroying bacteria, protozoa, fungi, and worms. This is why kambô venom is cited in several studies that point to its future potential in the fight against superbugs (antibiotic-resistant bacteria).
But for Indians, the main reason for taking kambô is to fight “panema”.is an Indian word that refers to sadness, unluckiness, and irritation: “low mood,” as someone once said. A person is in “panema” when nothing is going right and nothing is good. The basic objective of kambo is to “remove the panema”. And this, as difficult as it may be for Western thought to accept, is the main effect: it establishes a spiritual “management shock” in people’s lives, a triggering moment in which the organic and psychological reorganization takes place from which the person changes his attitude and alters his future patterns of health.
The sale of the poison in Brazil, as well as any advertising on the subject, has been prohibited by the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa). Its application is only allowed through indigenous peoples.
Since the middle of the last decade, kambô has spread to the large centers of Brazil, where there has been a double interest: as “medicine of science” – in which its biochemical properties are exalted – and as “medicine of the soul” – where what is most valued is the cultural impact it has, its “indigenous origin”. The urban diffusion has taken place, above all, in clinics of alternative therapies and in the environment of ayahuasca religions. The practitioners are very diverse: Indians, former rubber tappers, holistic therapists, and doctors. The locals fear that novice practitioners have poorly elaborated practices or use the skin secretions of other species of amphibians (Rhinella marina), as a result of which there are many health complications and can even lead to death.
About ten years ago, Amazonian Indians who use the substance themselves warned of the dangers of improper and unauthorized use, by inexperienced shamans.
“We are hearing a lot about how in southern Brazil there are people who use (the poison) without any respect, trying to profit from the sale of frog milk through the Internet and applying it without any preparation and without the permission of the Indians, with the risk, even, of death,” said Joaquim Luz, a yamanawá leader from Acre, in an interview granted some time ago to Radio Nacional da Amazonia.
The secretion produced by P. bicolor contains several different uncharacterized toxins. More studies are needed on the pharmacological potential of amphibians and to monitor the risk of biopiracy. The trafficking of these animals and their secretions, as well as the possible impact on the population of P. bicolor in their natural habitats, are issues that need to be studied thoroughly along with good investment and formal interest.
Therefore, when you decide to go through this experience and try the application of kambô, always keep in mind to treat this substance with respect and responsibility, through the true possessors of this medicine: the Amazonian Indians.
