Snake Gourd Rattle

Because the seeds of the gourd rattle embody the voice of the Creator since they are the source of newly created life.

The seeds within the rattle scatter the illusions of the conscious mind, planting seeds of pure and clear mind.In South America, the shaman’s rattle is a most sacred instrument. The rattle is believed to embody the sacred forces of the cosmos through its sounds, structural features, contents, and connection to shamanic trance.

The various parts of the rattle also symbolize the structures of the world.

The handle is the vertical axis that ascends into the Celestial Realm.

The Upper World is represented by the rattle’s great head-gourd, which contains spirits.

so joining the head of the rattle to the handle symbolise the joining of masculine and feminine elements in the universe, an act of fertiliser that bestows the sound of the instruments creative shamanic power.

From a shamanic perspective, care-taking the rattle and playing it properly during ritual, fulfilling the destiny of the human spirit – to sustain the order of existence.

Because the repetitive sound of the rattle, like that of the drum, helps induce trance states. The shaking of rattles creates high-pitched frequencies that complement the low frequencies of drumbeats.

The high tones of rattles resonate in the upper parts of the body and head. The low tones of drums act primarily on the abdomen, chest, and organs of balance while stimulating an impulse toward movement.

Rattles stimulate higher frequency nerve pathways in the cerebral cortex than do drums. This higher frequency input supplements the low-frequency drumbeats, thereby boosting the total sonic effect. Try a rattle and drum shamanic journey.

SHIPIBO-CONIBO TRIBE
The Shipibo-Conibo are an indigenous people along the Ucayali River in the Amazon rainforest in Perú. Formerly two groups, the Shipibo (apemen) and the Conibo (fishmen), they eventually became one distinct tribe through intermarriage and communal ritual and are currently known as the Shipibo-Conibo people.